Dracula recording

"But because "Dracula" was so poorly received, no record company picked it up.

So Wildhorn decided to record it himself.

And in an effort to keep costs down, he's using performers who are not in the show and therefore do not have to be paid Equity wages."

I have never heard of anything like this. Does anyone know if it's happened before?

What could Equity say about it? Wildhorn's under no obligation to make a recording at all, let alone one using the same performers that were in the show.

This is about a commerical music recording and has nothing to do with actors.

It sucks majorly for the actors involved in the production but to be honest, it's all business and Wildhorn really owes them nothing. Perhaps if the show was better received then he would have chosen to use the cast but as it is, he's trying to recoup some of his losses and nobody can blame him for that.

BTW: I'm not particularly a Wildhorn fan, this is just my point of view.

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This makes me so mad that I can't even find the words to show how disgraceful I believe Frank Wildhorn is to people in this industry.

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I'm sure his contract includes certain fees for his work, but probably the biggest potential chunk would have been from box office, which has turned out to be a bust.

And redhot, this isn't about people. It's about business. He is not breaking any contractual agreements. You can't expect people to lose money hand over fist to be nice to the actors who are employees and are making the salaries that they agreed to. Would your employers lose their own money in order to pay you more?

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You know, I cannot believe this. CANNOT believe this. I LOVE the show, but I will be first to admit that it would be a piece of CRAP without those actors. They have stood by this show since it opened and WHAT?! now all their hard work has come to nil. I would be SO ANGRY with him. I'm sure they are.

I have lost all respect for Frank Wildhorn and I just hope that James Barbour hears about this and pulls his ass out of Frankenstein before it's too late. I don't want to see yet another amazing actor get treated like this.

WHO DOES THIS?! I feel really, really bad. I emailed Melissa Errico a couple of weeks ago after she got back from her sick leave and this is what she said about the recording:

"My husband and I are having dinner with Frank Wildhorn on next Sunday and I will try to get to the bottom of the cd issue. I believe it will happen, just slowly. Don't fret. Its impossible not to get it made. If i have to beg and scrape I will!"

*I* feel betrayed and I'm only a fan, I don't know what the actors are feeling. Why would they want to show up to work after this?

This is ridiculous. Say all the bad things you want to about Wildhorn now. I'M NOT GOING TO DEFEND HIM ANYMORE.

Rathnait

The issue of contracts and rights is the very heart of this issue.

This will be an interesting "issue" to watch since I believe it's the first time a "cast" recording is attempting to be made while the show is still on broadway and NOT with the cast.

It all comes down to two major issues, I believe

1) Who has the rights to record the music at this exact time
2) Whether or not the cd would be promotional or commerical

As I said on the other thread, I can only assume the reason Frank is so hot to get the CD done (and done cheaply) is to have it in time to sell the tour. Otherwise, he could have waited the 19 weeks and probably had the cast do it for next to nothing (and probably less that he is paying any "replacements")


https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?thread=621445&dt=121504095811

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Updated On: 12/15/04 at 11:20 AM

Great news! Another log for my fire.