Theatrical Rights Worldwide launches Adaptive Editions of musicals for performers with disabilities

Licensing house Theatrical Rights Worldwide (TRW) has announced the launch of Adaptive Editions of musicals in its catalog, modified versions of musicals for performers with disabilities. Adaptive Editions of three TRW shows — “The Addams Family,” “All Shook Up” and “Curtains” — will be the first available for licensing, with further information available on TRW’s website.

TRW’s Adaptive Editions were developed by the musical theater writing team of Janet Yates Vogt and Mark Friedman alongside professionals at the Metzcor Community Campus, a facility in Cincinnati, Ohio, that offers a day program, medical support, job coaching and more for adults with disabilities. Through pilot productions of Vogt and Friedman’s “Alice in Wonderland,” “How I Became a Pirate” and “Snow White and the Prince” at Metzcor, the team determined the ideal script and song lengths, accessible tempos and comfortable levels of stage movement and interaction between performers. 

Now, TRW is applying those lessons to the development of its first round of Adaptive Editions, featuring the three aforementioned Broadway musicals from its licensing catalog. The company plans to make Adaptive Editions of additional TRW shows available at a later date.

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“Our introduction of Adaptive Editions brings accessibility and opportunity for memorable theatrical performance by youth and adults with physical, developmental and intellectual disabilities,” TRW owner and CEO Steve Spiegel said in a statement.

“This program has given our adults with disabilities a place to shine, to be seen and to be celebrated,” said Metzcor’s owners and founders, Michael and Ashley Metz, in a joint statement. “We have watched participants grow in self-confidence, discover talents they never knew they had and form friendships that mean so much to them.”

TRW comprises the licensing divisions TRW Musicals and TRW Plays, along with the production company TRW Production. Founded by Spiegel in 2006, TRW provides licensing representation on behalf of authors and rightsholders to professional, amateur and student theater companies worldwide. In addition to the aforementioned three, TRW Musicals’ catalog of shows includes “Schmigadoon!,” “Boop!” and “Pirates! The Penzance Musical.”