Expert: Arlene Schulman - 2/6/2005

Question
Hi! I would like to ask you if " Witches of East wick" is also a play and if it is, who is the writer and where can I find it? Is the screenplay available in the website and if it is, could you inform me about it? Thank you very much  

Answer
Hi,

I do not have any record of "The Witches of Eastwick" being available as a play.  It is however a musical which was produced by Cameron Macintosh and played in London, closing on October 27, 2001 with a cast including Lucie Arnez and Ian McShane.  It latered played in Japan, Moscow and Australia.   

I would highly doubt that the screenplay is available in a website.  Nor would be the libretto and score of the musical (which has not yet come to Broadway, having been not very well received in London and the other cities it played in, and may not yet have actually been published).  These are copyrighted and protected works.  Screenplays are sometimes available for sale, as are, occasionally, librettos and screenplays, usually of plays that have already closed their Broadway runs, but I can't see why anyone would GIVE away their source of income with no payment, royalties or other financial consideration to the writers.  Would you?

However, both the movie and the musical were based on the book of the same name written by John Updike in 1984.  The book is available on Amazon.com and, most likely, at most bookstores and libraries.

Best,
Arlene (MsDirector)