There's Blood On The Cobblestones And Nowt In The Bank!

[MamasDoin'Fine]

Paul O’Grady has spoken out for the first time about his experiences working on the ‘postponed’ musical 'Street of Dreams', labeling it “bedlam” and calling on the show’s producers to pay all of the cast and crew involved immediately.

O’Grady accused the producers of being “incompetent, inept and unprofessional”.

The arena tour of the 'Coronation Street' show which opened in Manchester on May 9th and 10th has postponed dates for Dublin, Belfast and Newcastle.
In an email sent to those involved in the production, the show’s producer, John Ward, claimed he had been “far from happy with the show artistically” and did not want the show to be seen again in its “present form”.

However, O’Grady, who plays the show’s narrator, said it was “out of order” to put the blame on artistic factors.
He said no proper reason for the show’s postponement has been given to the cast and crew, insisting everybody involved in the production “worked above and beyond the call of duty” on the show.
He also revealed that the majority of the cast have yet to be paid and urged Ward, who is the managing director of the show’s production company, Reckless Entertainment, to “pay up”.
“That is what is killing me. I can afford it, but they [the cast and crew] can’t. I feel like screaming out, ‘Pay your crew’.”
He added: “That is what is sickening me. And there were people on this for whom this was their first job, and I had to tell them it’s not like this all the time.”

The performer said he had contemplated leaving the production during rehearsals, but said he had decided not to because he was “determined to stick the bloody thing out”.
“I also thought, if I go, it gives them the perfect excuse to close everything and blame it on me,” he said, adding: “So I stuck it out, as did the rest of the cast, because we felt a commitment to this thing, which we had been involved in for so long.”

O’Grady said the show had been postponed already from its original opening date of March, and that some of the cast and crew are now without work, because they had “moved jobs around to accommodate working on the show”.
He also revealed that when the production opened there was no complete script in place, with the performer claiming he had to “cobble stuff together” during the Manchester performances.

He added that the set was unfinished, and that cast members were asked to provide their own costumes for the show, which features music by Trisha Ward.

Even if the musical does come back to the stage, O’Grady said he is unlikely to be part of it.
“I don’t think I could to tell you the truth, I have been poisoned so much,” he said, adding: “We all feel like we have been thrown down the rabbit hole, gone through some crazy wonderland, and come out the other side saying, ‘What was that about?’.”
O’Grady said he did not “want a penny off them [the Wards], but said: “All I am concerned about is that they pay the cast and crew.”

[devonian.t]

This sounds a complete bloody mess!

Who decided to grant the rights to this company? What were their credentials?

It doesn't seem like rocket-science to stage this show- what went on in rehearsals?

And what are Equity and Bectu (and MU?) doing about it?

[songanddanceman2]

Hes right in what hes saying but he was one of the worst things in it

[MamasDoin'Fine]

...and I hear, totally vile backstage!

[devonian.t]

Well to be fair it sounds pretty stressful.

It's not like he has an on-going reputation for that kind of thing.

[Phantom of London]

End of the pier!

[MamasDoin'Fine]

Equity has claimed there is a “little bit of light” for cast members owed thousands of pounds by producers of postponed musical 'Street Of Dreams'.

The union, speaking publicly for the first time since it was announced that the 'Coronation Street' musical had postponed all future dates following its premiere in Manchester in May, said recent conversations about members’ pay with the show’s producer - Reckless Entertainment - had “become quite constructive”.

However, it refused to rule out the possibility of legal action to recoup money owed to its members, should the conversations fail to find a solution.

Paul Fleming, an organiser in the union’s live performance department said: “Since Manchester, where the tour was postponed, we have been in a conversation around outstanding sums of monies that are owed to them [actors, stage managers and members of the creative team]. That conversation has encompassed a whole range of parties, principally the investors, ITV and the producers. It’s been a chaotic few weeks, which at some points has been more fruitful than others, but where we are at the minute is those conversations have become quite constructive and we are trying to work out a realistic way of recouping our members’ money.”
He added: “We are also ensuring that the production itself has the viability to provide members work in the future, which is phenomenally important to us. At the minute there is a little bit of light.”

Fleming said he had met producers John and Trisha Ward from Reckless Entertainment last week. Following this, he said he was “confident that discussions have started to make it a realistic possibility” that the 30-plus union members involved in the show will be paid.
But Fleming added that, while various deadlines had been set throughout the conversations, he did not know “when the end point is going to be”.
He said Equity would always consider legal action where its members are owed money, and added: “In this case, it will remain on the table until that money has been paid. I am categorically not ruling that out, but I think there are more constructive ways of getting a result.”
Fleming said he had met Equity members involved in the show last week and they had indicated they are “prepared to go down the most constructive route” to get the remainder of the wages they are owed.

The Equity official added that actors had not initially been employed on the musical on union-agreed contracts, which had made it harder to “have a conversation when things, as they will do from time to time, go wrong”. He said that when the show is remounted, the union would seek to have Equity contracts for any future engagements on it.

'Street Of Dreams', starring Paul O’Grady, opened in Manchester on May 9th and 10th.
However, after the run, producer John Ward wrote to those involved to say he was not “happy with the show artistically” and that he did not want to take it out again in its “present form”.

Following this, the show’s composer, Trisha Ward said the show had been postponed after its lead, Katy Cavanagh, pulled out. She said this had given Reckless Entertainment an opportunity to “rework the script and get it back to what it should be”. She stressed the production would go ahead in the future.

John Ward said Reckless Entertainment had been “working closely with Equity” and disputed Fleming’s claim there was only a “little bit of light” regarding pay.
He added: “The cast will be paid as soon as possible. It’s something everyone has been working hard towards and it will be achieved.”

[devonian.t]

Cast AND crew because everyone I know of has not been paid.

There is no way the cast will put themselves through hell with that production company again. Just pay up!