Concord Music is pleased to announce the acquisition of legendary theatre publisher and licensor Samuel French and the formation of Concord Theatricals. Concord Theatricals is comprised of the professional and amateur theatrical licensing catalogs of Samuel French, Rodgers & Hammerstein Theatricals, Tams-Witmark and Concord Music’s joint venture with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Really Useful Group, The Musical Company.
This merger of businesses makes Concord Theatricals the most substantial licensing house in the world and the only one providing comprehensive services to creators and producers of musical theatre, including theatrical licensing, music publishing and cast recordings. In addition, Concord Theatricals develops, licenses, produces and invests in new musicals for first-class production.
Over its 188-year history, Samuel French has represented some of the finest plays and musicals in the English language throughout the world from their offices in the U.S. and U.K. Its catalog of over 10,000 titles includes plays by August Wilson, Ken Ludwig, Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, Lorraine Hansberry and Neil Simon, along with the musicals GREASE, CHICAGO, FUN HOME, THE WIZ, THE SECRET GARDEN and HEATHERS.
For Concord Music executives Steve Smith, Chairman, Scott Pascucci, CEO and Jake Wisely, Chief Publishing Executive, bringing Samuel French into the Concord Music family and the creation of Concord Theatricals fulfills a significant and ongoing commitment to theatre. Concord’s investment began with the acquisition of the Marvin Hamlisch catalog in 2011, the creation with Andrew Lloyd Webber of The Musical Company in 2016, the acquisition of the celebrated Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization as part of Imagem Music in 2017 and Tams-Witmark in 2018. The company also recently participated in the creation of two new productions aimed at Broadway and the West End with an investment in Alanis Morissette’s JAGGED LITTLE PILL and the development of SOUL: THE STAX MUSICAL. Additionally, Concord Music is proud to see the transfer of the St. Ann’s Warehouse production of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s classic OKLAHOMA! to Circle in the Square Theatre in March 2019.
“Samuel French adds to Concord Theatricals a broad diversity of rights, relationships, experience and executive talent, along with a great family legacy that will continue to flourish with Nate and Abbie’s participation,” comments Wisely. “French also broadens our existing relationships and business synergies, as we now represent all of the musicals of Marvin Hamlisch, both the stage rights and film and TV music rights of Agatha Christie Ltd., as well as various recordings and now the plays of Steve Martin. With Samuel French, Concord is no longer just music.”
“The Samuel French team is incredibly excited to join the Concord Theatricals family,” states Samuel French President Nathan Collins. “For 188 years, Samuel French has been the iconic name in theatrical licensing and publishing and this merger will enable us to continue to provide our clients with the most innovative products, dynamic marketing and transparent reporting. Under Sean’s leadership, we will build upon the great catalogs of the two organizations and create the preferred home for the works of playwrights, composers and lyricists.”
Concord Theatricals is led by Sean Patrick Flahaven, who has spent the last two years as the founding CEO of The Musical Company. Flahaven has over 20 years’ experience as a music publisher, licensing executive, record and show producer, music director/arranger, and composer/playwright. He will report to Concord Music Chief Publishing Executive Jake Wisely. Collins, who has served for eight years as President of Samuel French will be General Manager, Concord Theatricals, reporting to Flahaven.
“It’s a genuine privilege to represent these iconic shows and catalogs. We are uniquely positioned to promote our writers’ work and competitively expand our roster going forward,” says Flahaven. “Our focus is on serving our clients’ art, protecting their rights and helping our customers bring great theatre at every level of production to audiences all over the world.”
Concord Theatricals is guided by an executive team of experienced theatre professionals drawn from all four companies worldwide. The team includes Ted Chapin as President and Chief Creative Officer of Rodgers & Hammerstein and Sarge Aborn as Chief Executive Officer of Tams-Witmark. Concord Theatricals senior staff includes Victoria Traube, Imogen Lloyd Webber, Abbie Van Nostrand, Amy Rose Marsh and Vivien Goodwin. Concord Music’s Publishing business maintains a wealth of theatrical experience in its President for North America, Bill Gaden, and its President for Europe, John Minch.
Lisbeth R. Barron and Barron International Group, LLC initiated and acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Samuel French for the transaction. Barron also represented Concord on its acquisition of Rodgers & Hammerstein and the other assets of Imagem Music Group, as well as having advised Tams-Witmark on its sale to Concord.
ABOUT CONCORD THEATRICALS
Concord Theatricals is made up of Rodgers & Hammerstein Theatricals, Samuel French, Tams-Witmark and The Musical Company. With a team of experienced theatre professionals drawn from all four companies in New York, London, Berlin and affiliates worldwide, Concord Theatricals has now become the most important licensing house in the world, the only firm that provides truly comprehensive services to creators and producers of musical theatre, including theatrical rights acquisition and licensing, music publishing, cast recording and first-class production under a single banner.
Concord Theatricals represents a list of iconic musicals from the catalogs of Rodgers & Hammerstein, Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hart, George and Ira Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Kurt Weill and Irving Berlin; a lineup of successful shows by young musical theatre composers including Lin Manuel Miranda, Adam Guettel, Jason Robert Brown, Shaina Taub and Michael John LaChiusa; and some of Broadway’s enduring classics such as A CHORUS LINE, HELLO DOLLY!, GYPSY, HAIR, WIZARD OF OZ, BYE BYE BIRDIE, FUNNY GIRL and DREAMGIRLS. Concord Theatricals also works with Andrew Lloyd Webber and the Really Useful Group to license the composer and his collaborators’ smash hit musicals, including JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, EVITA, CATS, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA and SCHOOL OF ROCK and will continue to administer Lloyd Webber’s incomparable song catalog.
Concord Theatricals proudly claims an unparalleled roster of playwrights because of its acquisition of Samuel French. This well-balanced and widely diverse catalog includes Dominique Morisseau, Anne Washburn and Mac Rogers combined with prominent American and British playwrights such as Neil Simon, Tom Stoppard, Edward Albee, August Wilson, Tennessee Williams and David Mamet.
Concord Theatricals additionally facilitates cast albums with Concord Music’s Craft Recordings label, allowing for international distribution and dedicated promotion and marketing. To date, these collaborative recordings have been nominated for two GRAMMY® Awards (COME FROM AWAY and CAROUSEL).
Concord Theatricals is a part of Concord Music.
ABOUT SAMUEL FRENCH
Samuel French was founded in 1830 and has a deep and rich theatrical history. Samuel French, its namesake and founder, was born in Massachusetts in the early 19th Century. He began publishing French’s American Drama in the mid 1800’s in New York, which quickly became the most extensive and widely distributed catalogue in the U.S. Soon after, French acquired a London dramatic publishing company that was originally founded by Thomas Hailes Lacey. The business continued to flourish on both sides of the Atlantic with Samuel French managing the London business while his son, Thomas Henry, took control of the New York operations.
In the late 1800’s, Samuel French, Inc. began publishing contemporary American dramas which encouraged the growth of the amateur theatre movement by making more plays available to “Little Theatres”. As the quality and quantity of available plays improved, the number of amateur groups increased. The seeds of the “Little Theatre” movement were sown, and Samuel French, Inc. was a proud contributor. By WW1, these “Little Theatre” groups, along with the High School societies, were the firm’s best customers. Although both father and son had long since passed away, the NY and London entities continued under the capable hands of their managing partners.
From the mid 1940’s to the early 90’s, the company witnessed massive growth in its catalogue and business. During this time, the Stock companies, including the League of Regional Theatres, were flourishing in the theatre community. The “Little Theatres” continued their growth alongside the developing “Dinner Theatre” which proved to be increasingly more popular. From the mid 90’s to the present, the Samuel French catalogue grew with an increased focus on emerging playwrights carefully balanced with additional acquisitions of the most prominent American and British playwrights such as Neil Simon, Tom Stoppard, Edward Albee, August Wilson and David Mamet.
To this day, we strive to cultivate and expand our catalogue in ways that meet the artistic needs of all of our theatres. We continue to be ever mindful of how our history has shaped not only our company, but the theatrical industry as a whole.
ABOUT CONCORD MUSIC
Concord Music is the independent, worldwide leader in the development, acquisition and management of recorded music, music publishing and theatrical performance rights. With offices in Los Angeles, New York, Nashville, London, Berlin and Miami, Concord Music has a diverse and vibrant roster of active recording artists, composers, and songwriters, and a vast and historic catalog of works by some of the most treasured names in music history.
Concord Music’s master recording portfolio contains more than 12,000 active albums and includes no less than 271 GRAMMY ® winners (representing approximately 6.25% of all the GRAMMYs ® ever awarded) and 400 gold, platinum, multi-platinum and diamond RIAA certifications across 213 titles. The company’s active labels – Concord Records, Fantasy Records, Fearless Records, Loma Vista Recordings and Rounder Records– collectively release more than 100 new recordings per year across many musical genres. Concord Music is also home to the #1 kids’ music brand, KIDZ BOP. The company’s historical labels, which are managed by its Craft Recordings team, include such storied imprints as Fania, Fantasy, Independiente, Milestone, Musart, Nitro, Pablo, Prestige, Riverside, Savoy, Specialty, Stax, Telarc, Varèse Sarabande, Vee-Jay and Wind-up.
Concord Music’s publishing business was transformed in 2017 when it acquired Imagem Music Group and integrated it with Concord Music’s existing publishing operation, The Bicycle Music Company. This combination resulted in a catalog of over 390,000 copyrighted works, spanning all musical genres and containing many of the world’s most celebrated compositions. Concord Music also supports a diverse group of current composers and songwriters who are continually creating important and commercially-successful new musical works. With the Imagem acquisition, Concord Music also added Boosey & Hawkes, the world’s leading specialist classical music publisher, and the legendary Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization. Boosey & Hawkes remains an individual business unit under the Concord Music umbrella. In 2018, Concord Music welcomed the renowned theatrical licensing agencies Tams-Witmark and Samuel French to its publishing business, which combined with R&H Theatricals and Concord’s interest in The Musical Company, officially launched the Concord Theatricals area of the company’s business.
Concord Music is the operating entity of Alchemy Copyrights LLC, an investment company that is owned by Barings Alternative Investments, Sound Investors, and seventy institutional and individual partners, including forty members of Concord Music’s management team. At the forefront of intellectual property valuation, acquisition and utilization, the Concord Music investment underscores the partners’ belief in the lasting and appreciating global value of superior original entertainment content.
For more information, please contact:
Rick Miramontez – DKC/O&M, 212-695-7500, [email protected]
Kelly Voigt – Concord Music, 629-401-3906, [email protected]
