How to Actually Get and Use the Curtains Musical Script
Most people hitting this topic want one of two things: they're a director or producer trying to mount a rights clearance, or they're a student and someone told them to read the book. I'll assume you mean the actual published script — dialogue, stage directions, scene breakdowns — not the vocal score or the libretto separately. Those are different products from different publishers, and mixing them up will get you in trouble fast. The Curtains musical script is published under license by Music Theatre International (MTI). That's the only legal source for a performing script. Samuel French had it at one point, but MTI absorbed that catalog years ago. You can't legally produce a single scene from it without a license, period. I learned that the hard way when I was putting together a reading at a community center and someone brought a PDF they'd printed from a theatre archive. We got the letter three days later. Fixed it by paying the licensing fee and ordering the real material from MTI, but it cost us an extra week of prep.
Curtains Musical Script Licensing and Access
To get the actual script, go to mtishows.com and search for "Curtains." You'll pay a license fee that varies based on seating capacity and performance dates. For a typical small theatre run — under 99 seats, four performances — it usually lands somewhere in the $400 to $700 range for the initial license. That gives you the right to produce, and the package includes the full performing script, the vocal score, and the orchestral score. Sometimes they send digital copies within a few business days; sometimes it takes a week if there's administrative back-and-forth about your application details. The script itself runs roughly 135 to 140 pages depending on your edition. It's divided into two acts. Act One covers the discovery of the murdered ingenue Lena Malene, the formation of the amateur detective group, the flashbacks to the movie's backstory, and the introduction of the prime suspects — the composer, the playwright, the choreographer, the leading man, and the stage manager. Act Two deals with the investigation, the reveal of the culprit, and the resolution of the romantic subplot between Harry Bellafont and Nora Charles. One thing the script gets right that surprises people is how tightly the dialogue serves the music. This is a Sondheim score, and every number is structurally justified inside the scene. "The String Quartet" isn't just a quirky dance number — it's where the characters literally perform a murder reconstruction through movement, and the script's stage directions map that out beat by beat. If you skip reading the directions and just look at the lyrics, you'll miss half the dramatic purpose.
Here's a counter-intuitive point that nobody tells you: the Curtains script has two distinct textual layers. The original 2006 Broadway book by George Furth had some structural issues in Act Two. The show went through significant revisions before and after its Broadway run — notably a workshop version and a later revision that tightened the second act considerably. If you order from MTI, you'll typically receive the most current authorized version, but it's worth checking what year your script is dated. The older editions have different scene transitions and some expanded dialogue in Act Two that got cut. If you're doing a comparative analysis or a historically informed production, that matters. If you're just producing it, the newer version is safer and what the composers intend. I ran into a specific problem once where I was preparing a university production and the script we'd ordered turned out to be the older edition. The third song in Act Two, "Going Through a Motion," had a different lyrical bridge that the characters referenced in dialogue earlier in the scene. The audience would be confused because the setup in the script didn't match the song we were working from. I had to compare it against the vocal score to figure out which version the song actually matched, then annotate the script with pencil marks noting where the dialogue needed adjustment. Took about three hours. Don't wait until dress rehearsal to check the edition date. The physical script is a black hardcover binder-style book. The digital download version is a PDF that's functional but not great for use during rehearsal — the page numbers don't always align cleanly with the bound edition, and some of the stage direction formatting gets on smaller screens. If your cast needs to mark up the script with notes and cue references, the physical copy is worth the extra shipping time. I always order one physical copy per department head — director, music director, choreographer, stage manager — because everyone annotates differently and you'll burn through one PDF quickly trying to coordinate changes.
Get the Full Details
There's also a separate libretto that some people confuse with the script. The libretto is the text-only version — dialogue and lyrics without stage directions or musical notation. It's cheaper and sometimes useful for actors doing line memorization. But it's not a substitute for the performing script if you're mounting a production. You need the stage directions for blocking, entrances, exits, and timing notes. The libretto alone won't tell you that the string quartet plays while the bodies are being discovered, or that the curtain motif appears at specific structural points throughout the evening. If you're a student looking for the script for academic purposes, contact your institution's library or dramaturg. They often have institutional licenses that cover classroom use. Using a pirated copy in an academic paper is one thing and usually fine under fair use — but if you're doing a staged reading in a classroom, that crosses into performance territory and requires a license regardless of whether you charge admission. I've seen schools get away with it, but it's a legal risk that isn't worth taking for a student production. The script also includes several numbers that don't made it to the final Broadway version. "I've Got a Hat" was rewritten into "You Love Somebody Once" during previews. If you're studying the show's evolution, the different versions are interesting to compare, but you shouldn't mix them in a single production. The score materials from MTI are keyed to the final revised version, and the orchestra parts won't match up if you try to substitute an earlier song.
For the actual download or ordering, the MTI website is the standard route. Processing typically takes 3 to 7 business days depending on how complete your application is. Make sure you fill in every field — theatre name, address, contact info, performance dates, seating capacity, whether it's a black-box or proscenium space. Incomplete applications get delayed or rejected, and that adds time you don't have. They also ask whether you're affiliated with a school or professional company, which affects pricing. One more practical note: if you're producing in a country outside the United States, MTI handles international licenses through local agents. The process is the same but the fees are different and the response times can be longer. I licensed a production in the UK through their London office and it took about ten business days instead of five. Factor that in if you're working with a tight season timeline.
