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Posted by Clarion on 8/5/2009, 11:17 am, in reply to "Re: Telegraph article about suing taped music venues"
194.81.124.196
Not excuses - just real life!
Long live the right to choose!
--Previous Message--
: Excuses, excuses, Clarion. Any venue can be
: made to have a band. I've seen many a live
: show, without an orchestra pit and a live
: band. Long live live music!
:
: --Previous Message--
:
: The arguement is not that all musicals must
: have a live band (although i wish that was
: the case). It is that if they don't they
: must explicitly say so. The assumption must
: be that if you go to see a 'musical' you get
: 'music', not taped tracks... but if it was
: clear there would be no case to answer. A
: few years ago there was a touring show which
: used old promo shots with a band, then used
: clic and axed the band completely. Had i
: wasted my money on that I'd be first in line
: to sue. In panto especially it is all about
: the music from the pit, and the relationship
: between the actors and musicians. By the end
: of an 80 show run, much of the music has
: changed slightly and the show undoubtably
: benifits from this space to change/grow over
: a run. With a tape it all becomes mechanical
: and 'safe'. there, rant over! x
:
: --Previous Message--
: And what about theatres with no orchestra
: pit
: or too limited wing space for a band on
: stage or indeed audiences who are prepared
: to accept some compromise to ensure that
: they get some professional product on their
: door step?
:
: I'm afraid the 'one size fits all' argument
: just doesn't cut it anymore!
:
: --Previous Message--
: Completely disagree Sue and Clarion. It's
: somebody standing up to producers who are
: out for profit only. If you can't afford to
: produce a musical with a live band - don't
: do it. Theatre is about the LIVE experience.
: Seeing and feeling a band. If you're going
: to use a backing track for something like
: the wizard of Oz, why not just play the film
: on a big screen.
: Live entertainment should be just that.
:
: --Previous Message--
: Sue - That's the first sensible comment on
: this whole scenario I have read anywhere
: (not just on this site). Well said!
:
: --Previous Message--
: Suing someone because you're dissappointed
: with a performance seems excessive. Unless
: the poster specified "Live music",
: I'm suprised that the judge allowed it.
: All right, I can understand that you'd feel
: annoyed that you'd wasted your money but
: that's the chance you take with anything -
: be it theatre performance, film, theme park
: or any sort of attraction
: What's next - suing a pantomime because it
: didn't make you laugh ? Or a film because
: it didn't live up to it's trailers ?
: I suppose now, we're going to have to have
: posters filled with disclaimers just so
: producers can cover themselves.
:
:
: --Previous Message--
: Here is one of the articles about suing for
: non live music from telegraph.
:
: Adrian Bradbury, 42, launched the legal
: action under the Trades Descriptions Act,
: claiming promotional posters for the show
: were misleading.
: The show was advertised with the slogan:
: "Follow the Yellow Brick Road to The
: Lowry this Christmas for the most magical
: family musical of them all."
: But singers were not accompanied by a live
: orchestra and songs such as The Yellow Brick
: Road were sung over a pre-recorded backing
: tape.
: Mr Bradbury said the tape even included the
: sound of tap dancing and it was often out of
: sync with the dancers on stage.
: Mr Bradbury, who attended the show at
: Manchester's Lowry Theatre with his twin
: brother John, their wives and seven
: children, has now been awarded the £134.50
: cost of the tickets and £50 legal expenses
: at Manchester County Court.
: He said: "We thought we were treating
: our children to the wonders of musical
: theatre for the first time but we were left
: disappointed.
: "I am delighted that a court of law has
: recognised the importance of live
: interaction in a musical performance.
: "A pre-recorded track cannot react
: musically to live singing or dancing, so has
: no place in a musical theatre.
: "Hopefully production companies and
: theatres will now realise you cannot stage a
: musical without an orchestra.
: "Karaoke is fine in your local pub but
: I would never pay to see it."
: Mr Bradbury, from New Cross, London, said:
: "When the music starts it normally
: makes the hairs stand up on the back of your
: neck.
: "But instead it was obvious that it was
: a synthesised backing tape.
: "It meant that there could be
: absolutely no interaction between the singer
: and the music.
: "The worst moment was when the
: performers were tap-dancing - the sound of
: the taps on the tape and those on the stage
: were clearly out of time.
: "There were some good special effects
: and a lovely little dog - but it was
: deceptive to advertise this as a
: musical."
: The production, put on after Christmas by a
: company called Pele Productions, featured
: Lorna Luft in the role of the Wicked Witch.
: Miss Luft is the daughter of Judy Garland -
: who starred in the landmark 1939 movie of
: the show as Dorothy.
: Tickets for the show at the 1,730 capacity
: theatre cost between £15 and £27, with
: children's tickets half price for some
: performances.
: Mr Bradbury and his brother, both of whom
: are professional musicians, had the backing
: of 74-year-old Sir Harrison Birtwistle, the
: UK's foremost living composer.
: In a report accompanying their claim, Sir
: Harrison said singing to a backing track was
: like having a conversation with an
: answerphone.
: He wrote: "The Wizard of Oz is a
: musical, composed for a cast of
: singers/actors with orchestral
: accompaniment, with a musical director in
: overall control.
: "Without the orchestra or MD a
: performance of The Wizard of Oz is best
: described as karaoke."
: Jonathan Harper, Lowry's marketing director,
: said Mr Bradbury was the only person to
: complain about the lack of live music out of
: the 133,000 people who had seen the show.
: He said: "Whilst we respect the judge's
: decision we are disappointed with the
: outcome.
: "The judge based his decision on
: whether he thought that Mr Bradbury's
: individual expectations were met.
: "However, it is worthy of note that
: 133,000 theatre-goers have enjoyed The
: Wizard of Oz at The Lowry and Mr Bradbury
: was the only person who expressed any
: concern with the lack of live music.
: "We are grateful for the judge's
: acknowledgement that he was not offering
: opinion on the sector as a whole, but that
: he was calling the decision based on Mr
: Bradbury's personal response following his
: visit to this show.
: "As a receiving house, The Lowry, like
: many other regional theatres, stages
: musicals which contain live musicians, or
: pre-recorded backing tracks - this depends
: entirely on the circumstances of the show
: and producer involved.
: "The bulk of the musicals at The Lowry
: also tour under the same circumstances to
: other major theatres."
: The Lowry houses two main theatres, studio
: space for performing arts and galleries
: showing the works of LS Lowry, alongside
: contemporary exhibitions.
: It is set in a waterside location at the
: heart of the redeveloped Salford Quays in
: Greater Manchester and opened in April 2000.
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