La Bohème chorus of disapproval: Singers demand pay after pub opera is Soho theatre success

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12 April 2012

The producers of an award-winning opera have become embroiled in a row after members of its chorus demanded to be paid.

La Bohème, which has played to packed houses every night at the Soho Theatre, won best new opera at the Olivier Awards on Sunday night.

But chorus members have complained they did not even receive travel expenses and were left out of pocket.

Advertisements for the chorus did state that the roles were unpaid when the production, by OperaUpClose, first began playing to audiences of just 35 at the Cock Tavern in Kilburn.

But when the production, a "contemporary take" on Puccini's classic, moved to the Soho Theatre for a month in January, about 150 tickets were being sold per night and some felt they deserved to be compensated. One production insider, who asked to remain anonymous, said: "It is disgraceful that they have been using professional, trained performers in a West End venue and refusing to pay them, not even travel expenses.

"This is an issue that has been raised with [actors' union] Equity who are so concerned that they held a meeting with the chorus to discuss the problem.

"The audacity of what they have been doing, when they have been playing to sell-out houses, in a venue that has signed an agreement to pay performers Equity rates, is astounding."

A spokesman for Equity confirmed it was in negotiations with the Soho Theatre and OperaUpClose. He added: "Equity is concerned about a number of performers being engaged to work on La Bohème for no pay."

A spokesman for OperaUpClose said the chorus "was advertised as a volunteer position [for people] to gain valuable industry experience". He added: "It has always been our intent and our practice to serve the dual purposes of presenting fine operatic productions while serving as a training ground and a stepping stone for the next generation of performers. If we had found ourselves in a position where we had no applications for the voluntary chorus positions as advertised, then - as an unfunded company - we would have had to produce La Bohème without a chorus.

"La Bohème did not transfer to a large, commercial West End theatre, but to the 150-seat Soho Theatre, where tickets cost £10 to £27.50. We stand by our accomplishments, indeed we are extremely proud of them."

A Soho Theatre spokesman said: "We are delighted by the success of OperaUpClose's La Bohème at Soho Theatre No concerns have been directly expressed to Soho Theatre and, as such, we have nothing we can add to this."

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