Oct
Interview: Dr Horrible Project Manager
In September Rachel Rhee was appointed as the Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog Project Manager to help deal with the abundance of correspondence. I spoke to her this week to find out how things have been going.
Rachel, you were recently added to the Dr Horrible team as Project Manager, how did you get involved?
Rachel Rhee: I happen to know Jed and Maurissa’s agent and he let me know that they were in need of someone to help manage all things Dr. Horrible. I’m sure after Comic Con, fan mail, press requests, etc. they felt a little overwhelmed! I went into interview with Jed and Maurissa and for some crazy reason they thought I could handle it. And here we are in the middle of an interview!
Dr Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog was released on iTunes in Australia and the UK recently – are there any other international stores you’re working with?
RR: That is something we are definitely looking into. We’re always looking to expand into other markets, so nothing is ever ruled out.
Can you tell us why it took so long for Dr Horrible to become available outside the USA?
RR: There really isn’t any good answer to this question, other than these things take time. If it were up to me, it would have been up on the same day it came out in the US! What’s important now though is that a lot of the international fans can finally get a taste of just how horrible the Dr. really is.
The soundtrack has been released via a number of services in addition to iTunes including Amazon and Napster, was this always planned or was it arranged in response to fan demand after the iTunes release?
RR: Nothing was ever planned. No one had any clue that Dr. Horrible would be the #1 show on iTunes for several consecutive weeks. So in response to the demand, we put ourselves on Amazon, Napster, and we are pending with Rhapsody, and several other music stores.
Will the soundtrack be released on CD?
RR: Yes, it will! Like the DVD, it will definitely be out in time for the holidays.
Will there be any additional content on the Soundtrack CD release?
RR: The CD booklet has some really cool graphics that include behind the scenes pictures. Hopefully the fans will enjoy it!
Is there an estimated DVD release date yet?
RR: The DVD will definitely be released in time for the holidays. We’ll be taking pre orders for this very, very soon. Keep your eyes open for it…
Have you been pleased with the applications you’ve seen for the Evil League of Evil?
RR: Beyond pleased. Amazed, actually. The level of creativity that Dr. Horrible fans have is astounding. We’ve all been sifting through the hundreds of applications that were submitted and it is definitely tough trying to pick out the favorites.
I keep an eye out on the Whedonesque message board to see what fans are saying and I’ve read that a lot of people are feeling like their applications might not get selected because they are not getting written up about by some of the press the ELE has received. I just want to reassure everyone out there that every, single application is being reviewed. If you submitted to us before the deadline, it will definitely get seen by the Dr. Horrible Team.
In addition to the best 10 Evil League of Evil entries, we know there will be a regular and a musical commentary track on the DVD, are there any other special features you can tell us about or will that be kept as a surprise until the release announcement? Will there be any Easter Eggs?
RR: The actual content on the DVD is going to be a surprise, so unfortunately I can’t reveal too much. We’re in the final stages of putting it all together and I definitely believe the fans will fall in love with Horrible all over again. The release date is coming up so we’re all very excited to see the response!
A lot of people are interested in public performances of Dr Horrible either in the form of screenings or live productions, is it going to be possible for people to be granted permission to do this? What will be involved in receiving permission?
RR: It is definitely going to be possible for people to hold screenings or live adaptations of Dr. Horrible. On Halloween, there is actually going to be a charity screening of it at the Fairfax Regency here in LA. We’re actively collecting requests and are reviewing them one by one. If you are interested in creating some sort of event involving Dr. Horrible, feel free to pass that information along to the DoctorHorrible.net webmaster, and she’ll make sure to get it through to us.
Initial response to Dr Horrible was obviously overwhelming, how are things looking several months on?
RR: Still overwhelming. We’re constantly getting approached by companies wanting to help expand Dr. Horrible and we’re still getting a lot of fan mail via email, Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace. The buzz is still going, especially since we just went live on international iTunes not too long ago. Less than 24 hours after we went live, we were already the #1 TV program on iTunes in the UK and Australia. Insane!
Is there anything else brewing that you’d like to tell us about?
RR: Not anything that I can share at the moment. Sorry to be so vague!
Erm, people on WHEDONesque weren’t concerned that the Dr. Horrible folk would ignore some applications because only a handful were getting write-ups. People on WHEDONesque were concerned that they aren’t able to see the official list of applications so they can freely browse around through them on their own.
Generally speaking, it does appear that searching, for example, YouTube for — Evil League of Evil application — yields results that are roughly consistent with the number of actual applications on YouTube, so it works more or less that way.
But just for the record, no one on WHEDONesque was expressing a concern that the powers that be would only focus on the handful of applications that were getting write-ups. That’s simply a mistaken statement.
October 23rd, 2008 at 12:59 amHi
I am the Events Division Head for a regional Science Fiction Convention, a 501(c)3,Arisia. Our 20th Annual Convention will take place in Cambridge MA. January 18-21. We would like to host a Dr Horrible Event as part of our convention.
Please contact me about this.
December 23rd, 2008 at 1:37 pmThank You
Hello. My name is AC McCray. I live in Milford Indiana. I was wondering if you knew of any way to obtain rights to stage a live production of Dr Horrible. I’d like to use it as the second half of a comedy show featuring sketches from Monty Python, SNL, and more. The proceeds raised would go to Riley’s Childrens Hospital in Indianaapolis Indiana. If you can help me out, please get back with me as soon as possible. I look forward to hearing from you.
April 1st, 2009 at 12:15 pmThanks,
AC McCray
So i’m not sure the contact thing worked. I used the contact page to send a permission reqeust to do a show of dr horrible and it doesnt look like it sent or will send.
Fischerp56@yahoo.com if anyone can help me
April 1st, 2009 at 6:57 pmI think I’m trying to contact Rachel Rhee.
April 15th, 2009 at 6:27 amI am just following up a request I made last month about producing a participation sing-along screening or full production of Dr. Horrible this spring as a fundraiser for my teen youth theater here in Portland, OR. We would use professional volunteer talent from around the city with lots of teen volunteers. It’s a great cause and we would do it up proud. Please send us an okay!
I was wondering how I can find out how to have a screening of this film during our Music Fest in October. We have a 299 seat theater to show it at.
April 24th, 2009 at 7:13 amI’m looking for permission to screen “Dr. Horrible” at ConCarolinas 2009. We are a small, non-profit Con located in Charlotte, NC. I’ve attempted to send a request through the ‘contact’ page – but it doesn’t seem to get through. Any help would be appreciated.
April 28th, 2009 at 10:59 amHello,
June 4th, 2009 at 9:21 amMy college theater group is interested in obtaining performance rights for “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog”. We are an official theater group of Rutgers University of New Brunswick with our own performance space. Any information about performance rights and who to contact would be greatly appreciated. We’ve performed a number of musicals before including “Reefer Madness” and “Cannibal the Musical!” and we feel that “Dr. Horrible” would make a great addition to our musical repertoire.
Thanks,
Adam
Hello –
I am also not sure the contact form worked for me, but would love to get in touch with Rachel for licensing Dr. Horrible. Thanks!
September 17th, 2009 at 12:20 pmI am representing a student organization at the George Washington University, 14th Grade Players. We are a student theatre group. We are interested in putting on a staged version of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-a-long blog. Could you please let me know who I can contact to request rights for this event.
Thanks,
Amanda Rhodes
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:19 pmHello,
October 1st, 2009 at 2:58 pmI sent an email through the contact screen, but i’m unsure if it went through. I’m a high schooler in my schools Speech Theatre and Debate Company, and we’re now in interest of using this as a possible piece. COuld you please let me know if this is possible and if a copy of the script is possible? Thanks,
Will Bates
AVENUE 10 is interested in obtaining performance rights for Dr. Horrible.
Could someone please contact us with necessary information? A message was sent through the contact page, but this is the second one that has been sent. The first one was right after Dr. Horrible’s release some time ago and we have not heard anything at all.
Thank you.
October 10th, 2009 at 11:19 amThunder Speech Theatre and Debate Company is interested in the performance rights for Dr. Horrible.
October 20th, 2009 at 2:57 pmWe have attempted to make contact through the Contact page…but we received no response. This is the second request to be sent. We would appreciate your help in securing the rights to this wonderful show.
Thank you,
The Thunder Speech Theatre and Debate Company
Thunder Speech Theatre and Debate Company is interested in using a cut of Doctor Horrible as a piece.
November 30th, 2009 at 2:59 pmWe have sent several emails to this effect. Please respond with any nessicary information.
Thanks,
The Thunder Speech Theatre and Debate company
We would like to hold a sing along screening of Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog at All-Con in March 2011 in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. This will be completely non profit and we guarantee that an audience will be there for the convention as the majority of people who were there, were dressed as characters from Dr. Horrible. We would love to make this an annual tradition for All-Con and the sooner we get the go ahead the better so that we can start publicizing it as much as possible. Thank you for your consideration and we look forward to hearing back soon.
March 17th, 2010 at 12:29 pmMy school would like to do this show !
Mac Fishman
March 18th, 2010 at 9:34 pmJust sent an email to the project team but Amber Does Dallas is interested in doing a shadow cast performance of this near the end of 2010. We have a lovely 800 seat theater and would show it as a double feature with our normal bi-monthly performance of Repo! The Genetic Opera. I know our audience would love to have Doctor Horrible in Dallas
April 26th, 2010 at 7:28 amI am wondering if anyone would be able to help me get me in touch with someone for the rights of Dr. Horrible. Me and some of my friends are hoping to put on the first production of the show in Ireland. We know it would be very well recieved in our town.
May 13th, 2010 at 7:09 amhas anyone received a response from Rachel regarding performance rights?
May 26th, 2010 at 6:26 am@ Danny No I sent a request for information some weeks ago and never received a response. I just sent another message as I know these things can get lost or take time. I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will get a reply this time
June 2nd, 2010 at 5:59 amI’ve written four times in two months without a reply. I don’t even think it’s a valid email address although they never bounce back to me. I submitted a request here so hopefully someone can lead me to Dr. Horrible salvation.
June 9th, 2010 at 11:15 amIt’s an amazing movie
August 4th, 2010 at 8:53 pmHas anybody figured out an alternative way to contact them? The contact page is definately broken and no one has answered me on the message boards about it.
August 10th, 2010 at 1:58 pmI agree with everyone who is expressing frustration with the approval process for the stage show or shadow cast. I know lots of groups that are going forward and having successful performances without any approval while all the people that are trying to do this on the up and up are getting no support or response.
September 7th, 2010 at 11:20 am@jsabbath01 Well Chris is gawjus thats why everyone is obsessed with him .x
November 19th, 2010 at 2:15 amHi!
November 30th, 2010 at 9:41 pmHave also sent a request for permissions information via the contact screen, just a moment ago. And am adding myself to the list of folks who are seeking permission to do a stage adaptation. Thank you!
PERFORMANCE RIGHTS:
I would like to receive permission and royalty information about a stage production that will be performed on February 2,3, and 4th in 2012. PLEASE PROVIDE PERFORMANCE INFORMATION ASAP. We are a small high school in Neenah, Wisconsin.
May 24th, 2011 at 10:44 amI would like for Dr. Horrible for a 1 night event fundraiser for our 501 c 3 not for profit company in Fort Lauderdale, FL. Please contact me with information in order to get this ball rolling.
June 4th, 2011 at 5:34 pmI should obtain the rights for a staged reading/singing of this piece. thank you.
June 4th, 2011 at 5:46 pmLet me try this again, so sorry. (Apparently, proof reading is not my strong point this evening!)
I would like to obtain information regarding how to apply for the rights of Dr Horrible’s Sing Along Blog for a one night only event, a fundraiser for our not for profit (501c3) professional theatre company located in Fort Lauderdale, Fl. We would like to have this fundraiser this summer, mid July, perhaps.
Any information that you could provide would be very helpful. Thank you for your consideration of this matter.
all the best,
June 4th, 2011 at 5:51 pmmargaret
Hello. My name is Bryan Woods, and I’m a senior at eaglecrest high school in aurora, CO. I would like to find out about a way to obtain the rights so that I can put on my own production of Dr. Horrible’s show as a one act for the thespian convention in this upcoming school year. Please email me back!
June 21st, 2011 at 12:01 am