I just received my annual royalty check from Pioneer Drama Service and I'm happy to report that this year was another record-setting one for me. That's largely due to a little play called
The Enchanted Bookshop. In the nine months since it was released, this play made almost as much money as my other eleven plays combined.
Not bad for a bunch of public domain characters.
My total number of productions was 312, a 37% increase over the 228 productions I had last year. Strangely enough, I'm still reaping the benefits of the ten months I was laid off in 2016 as the last three plays I wrote during that time were released this year. That includes
The Enchanted Bookshop (July),
Wicked Is As Wicked Does (August) and
The Purrfect Crime (January).
No surprise, but
The Enchanted Bookshop was my #1 play for the year, blowing the roof off my previous record with a whopping 108 productions (
Rumpelstiltskin, Private Eye had 63 productions two years ago). I'm thinking it'll do even better in the coming year as plays usually do best in their first full year of publication. In fact, the play has already booked 41 productions over the next few months.
My #2 play was
You're Driving Me Crazy!, which has been a big hit with schools due to its short playing time (40 minutes), flexible casting (7 to 13 actors) and minimal set (four chairs). It dropped quite a bit from the 61 shows it snagged last year, but still managed to pull in an impressive 37 shows. It remains especially popular in Canada, with 8 of those productions coming from our neighbor to the north.
Million Dollar Meatballs surprised me this year with its strong showing at #3. It got 34 productions, the same number as the previous year, which was its first full year--traditionally the best year a play ever does. Schools gots to have their farces.
I was really pleased to see my #4,
Trouble in Paradise Junction, do so well in its first full year, with 30 productions. My publisher told me that this large-cast satire of reality TV is her favorite play of mine. It holds a lot of meaning for me as well, since the perfect little town at the center of the story was largely based on my own
hometown.
My #5 play was
The Stinky Feet Gang with 23 productions in its first full year. I owe a lot to Lori, the editor at Pioneer who fought to put this one on their slate. It had a slow start last year but appears to be heating up now.
I'm sorry to see
Rumpelstiltskin, Private Eye, my #6 play, continue to drop in popularity. It had 63 productions two years ago, 40 last year and just 19 this year. I don't why it's dropped so much, but I suspect there are so many fractured fairy tales released each year that its hard for an older one to get much attention. One nice surprise, however, is that at the end of this month, it'll get a production in Germany, my 11th country.
My #7 play was
How I Met Your Mummy, which also struggled. It dropped from 30 productions last year to 14 this year.
The Butler Did It! is my feast or famine play in the #8 slot. It had 34 productions three years ago, 14 two years ago, 30 last year and 14 again this year. Here's hoping it pulls off another strong showing in the coming year.
The _urloined Letter and
Wicked Is As Wicked Does tied at #9 with 10 productions. For
The _urloined Letter, that represents a tie with its previous best, an impressive showing for my first play. As for
Wicked Is As Wicked Does, those 10 productions represent a bit of a slow start. As a brand new fractured fairy tale, it should have done much better. Will it get some heat next year? I think so, as it has already booked 8 productions.
Rounding out the list is
Long Tall Lester with 7 productions (its worst year yet) and
The Purrfect Crime with 3 productions, which should have done much better in its inaugural year. It's my most female-heavy play and fairly easy to produce (one set, mostly) so I've got to think it'll do much better next year.
So a few down results, but the up results are so strong that I can't complain. Plus, as they say in baseball, there's always next year.
