Music Theatre International (MTI) is a theatrical licensing agency based in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Description

MTI was founded in 1952 by American composer and lyricist

Frank Loesser Frank Henry Loesser (; June 29, 1910 – July 28, 1969) was an American songwriter who wrote the music and lyrics for the Broadway musicals ''Guys and Dolls'' and ''How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying'', among others. He won a Tony ...

and orchestrator Don Walker. Along with the licensing rights to Loesser's works, the firm licenses production rights of over 500

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

, and West End musicals, including many hit shows.

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

acquired MTI in 1976. After SBK acquired CBS' music publishing in 1986, MTI was spun off as a separate company to a group led by

Nicholas Firth Nicholas Louis Douglas Firth (born October 1942) is the former head of Chappell & Co. and BMG Music Publishing. Career Firth's career in music publishing began in 1962, where he worked for the Chappell Group, then a division of PolyGram BV, cul ...

. A group led by Freddie Gershon acquired MTI in 1989.

Cameron Mackintosh Sir Cameron Anthony Mackintosh (born 17 October 1946) is a British theatrical producer and theatre owner notable for his association with many commercially successful musicals. At the height of his success in 1990, he was described as being "th ...

became a partner in 1990 and majority owner in 2015.

Musical types

MTI holds various types of musicals one can license. * MTI Show: These are shows from various types of theater such as Broadway. These include musicals such as ''

Ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott ...

'', '' Ain't Misbehavin''', ''

Pippin Pippin or Pepin may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Pippin (comics), ''Pippin'' (comics), a children's comic produced from 1966 to 1986 * Pippin (musical), ''Pippin'' (musical), a Broadway musical by Stephen Schwartz loosely based on the life ...

,'' and ''

Seussical ''Seussical'' is a musical comedy by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, based on the many children's stories of Dr. Seuss, with most of its plot being based on ''Horton Hears a Who!'', '' Gertrude McFuzz'', and ''Horton Hatches the Egg'' while inc ...

''. * Broadway Junior: These sixty-minute musicals have been adapted for middle school kids to perform. Any subject matter deemed inappropriate have been cut. It also is reduced to one act. These include junior versions of ''

Annie Annie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Annie (actress) (born 1975), Indian actress * Annie (singer) (born 1977), Norwegian singer The ...

'', ''

Fiddler On The Roof ''Fiddler on the Roof'' is a musical with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and book by Joseph Stein, set in the Pale of Settlement of Imperial Russia in or around 1905. It is based on ''Tevye and his Daughters'' (or ''Tevye the ...

'', ''

The Lion King ''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 32nd Disney animated feature film and the fifth produced during the Disney Renaissance, it ...

'', ''

The Little Mermaid "The Little Mermaid" ( da, Den lille havfrue) is a literary fairy tale written by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen. The story follows the journey of a young mermaid who is willing to give up her life in the sea as a mermaid to gain a h ...

'', and ''

The Music Man ''The Music Man'' is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments and ...

''. * Broadway Kids: These thirty-minute musicals have been specially adapted for elementary kids to perform. These musicals have been made exclusively for the Kids Collection. Such musicals include: ''

Winnie The Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear and Pooh, is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. The first collection of stories about the character w ...

'', ''

,'' and '' 101 Dalmatians''. * Musicals From The Disney Collection: Consists of musicals originally produced by Disney. * School Editions: These are Broadway musicals that have been adapted for high school students to perform. These musicals have reduced certain subject matter, orchestration, and more. Such School Editions include: ''

Rent Rent may refer to: Economics *Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property *Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production *Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...

'', ''

Sweeney Todd Sweeney Todd is a fictional character who first appeared as the villain of the penny dreadful serial ''The String of Pearls'' (1846–47). The original tale became a feature of 19th-century melodrama and London urban legend, legend. A barber fr ...

'', ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its original ...

,'' and ''

Avenue Q ''Avenue Q'' is a musical comedy featuring puppets and human actors with music and lyrics by Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx and book by Jeff Whitty. It won Best Musical, Book, and Score at the 2004 Tony Awards. The show's format is a parody of PBS' ...

''. * Theatre For Young Audiences: These seventy-minute musicals have been adapted for adults to perform for children. The cast requirement is small (usually 6-12). * Concert Library: This collection has Broadway songs adapted for concerts.

Key executives

, Chairman * Freddie Gershon, Co-Chairman * Drew H. Cohen, President &

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

* John Prignano,

COO COO or coo may refer to: Business * Certificate of origin, used in international trade * Chief operating officer or chief operations officer, high-ranking corporate official * Concept of operations, used in Systems Engineering Management Process ...

and Director of Education & Development * Carol Edelson,

Senior Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

of Licensing * Rita Thibault,

CFO The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for managing the company's finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and financ ...

* Deborah Hartnett, Senior Vice President of General Counsel * Jason Cocovinis, Director of Marketing * Brian O'Sullivan, Director of Amateur Licensing * Jody Edwards, Music & Materials Manager * John Vantuno, CIO

Rating system

MTI uses a rating system that determines the content in the musical and it is shown on their website. The ratings are as follows:

Footnotes

External links

Music Theatre International HomepageList of MTI ShowsMTI History
{{Authority control Licensing organizations Children's theatre Broadway theatre American companies established in 1952 Arts organizations established in 1952 1952 establishments in New York City