Bidspirit auction | WEILL & GERSHWIN

WEILL & GERSHWIN - WEILL KURT: (1900-1950) German-born American composer & GERSHWIN IRA: (1896-1983) American lyricist, the elder brother of George Gershwin. D.S. by both Weill ( ´Kurt Weill´ ) and Gershwin ( ´Ira Gershwin´ ) individually, two pages (separate leaves), 4to, n.p., 11th August 1947. The typescript document takes the form of a letter addressed to The Theatre Guild Inc. and relates to the musical Lady in the Dark , in part, ´You have requested us to, and we hereby grant you an irrevocable license to radio broadcast and rebroadcast our play ”LADY IN THE DARK”......The broadcast hereunder shall take place during the period between September 7th, 1947 and May 30th, 1948, as one of the radio shows to be produced by you and presented under the sponsorship of U.S. STEEL CORPORATION. The running time of such broadcast shall be approximately one (1) hour. You shall have the right for your sole benefit to adapt.....as you in your discretion deem advisable for radio broadcasting purposes. You shall have the right to make records of the radio show.....to be used solely, however, for your and your sponsor´s library purposes. You hereby agree to furnish us at our request, at cost, a complete set of such records. We warrant that we are the exclusive owners of the PLAY......You agree, at the time of broadcast, to announce over the air that MOSS HART is the author of the original PLAY, that the original lyrics were written by IRA GERSHWIN, and the original music composed by KURT WEIL (sic).... As full compensation and royalty for the rights and license granted you hereunder you shall pay to Howard E. Reinheimer, Esq., as our attorney......the sum of Seven Hundred Fifty ($750.00) Dollars, such payment to be made to us within ten (10) days after the date of broadcast.....´ . Signed by Weill and Gershwin at the conclusion, and countersigned by Reinheimer on behalf of Moss Hart. Also signed by the American playwright and actress Armina Marshall (1895-1991) in her capacity as the first co-director of New York´s Theatre Guild, accepting the terms of the contract. Some light age wear, and the upper edge of each page very neatly trimmed. About VG The musical Lady in the Dark first opened on Broadway in January 1941 and ran for 467 performances before closing in May 1942. The original cast included Gertrude Lawrence in the role of Liza Elliott, the unhappy editor of a fashion magazine who is undergoing psychoanalysis. A film version was released in 1944.