Unrest Backstage in the West End
Friday, October 3rd, 2008West End theatre producers seem to be playing hardball on the back of the current economic crisis, which threatens to have an unwelcome knock on effect on the sales of theatre tickets.
The Take That tribute, ‘Never Forget’ is involved in the latest example of this. The show is produced by Tristan Baker, Bronia Buchanan and Charlie Parsons Creative Limited.
The show is being moved to a smaller theatre in November. It goes from the 1,150 seat Savoy to the 900 seat Lyric. The Stage newspaper reports that both the ensemble members (the chorus as they were once known) and the principals have been asked to take substantial pay cuts.
Some performers are even having their contracts terminated early despite the fact they had signed up until next April.
This is not the first time that this particular production has faced controversy.
The members of Take That not only refused to endorse the show, they went so far as to say the musical had nothing to do with them. This was despite their record company EMI licensing the group’s songs for the production.
The current dispute happens against a background of unrest as Equity, the actors union, continues its negotiations with the Society of London Theatre for an improved minimum wage in the West End.
The union has already made it clear that they will ballot over strike action if theatre management reject the proposed increases in pay.




