Inside The Murky World of ‘Burlesque- The Musical’

A hot mess indeed

CAN I interest you in the sensational turbo-fiasco that is Burlesque – The Musical?

The film, directed by Steve Antin, Burlesque follows Ali Rose, a small-town girl who moves to Los Angeles and stumbles upon a struggling burlesque lounge owned by Tess.

After its initial try-outs in Manchester and Glasgow last year, the stage show has now landed in the West End for a limited run at the Savoy Theatre.

The chaos behind the scenes, however, is proving more dramatic than anything on stage.

Last week, the first preview reportedly ran for over four hours - with the curtain coming down at 11.40pm.

Here’s a comment from a theatregoer who attended a preview: "Jesus wept. Burlesque the musical is the worst show I have ever seen in my life. How does this end up on the Savoy stage?"

Well, quite.

Anyway. If a show’s creative teams do not know what they are doing, it becomes pretty obvious. Especially in the West End.

Cast members have allegedly been forced to buy their own costumes from Primark, work unpaid overtime, and endure inadequate breaks — all the more concerning in this summer’s extreme heat.

Sorry? When you’re charging up to £175 for preview performances I think you need a slap around the chops if you’re decking cast out in glittery bodysuits from discount stores.

It seems this is a shadow of the show that audiences seemed to enjoy in Manchester and Glasgow. Which is a shame.

A stream of creatives have allegedly been fired, replaced, resigned, and / or silenced using Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs).

Elsewhere, union Equity has reportedly recently paid the company a visit due to concerns around performers’ working conditions and pay.

But I’m racing ahead. If you’re not familiar with Burlesque, the musical features songs by Christina Aguilera, Sia, and additional numbers by Jess Folley and Todrick Hall, with extra material by Kate Wetherhead.

In April, Hall was announced as director and choreographer for the West End run — he also cast his boyfriend in the production.

I was genuinely surprised that entertainer Hall was chosen for this musical role, considering his history of questionable business practises and unethical behaviour.

In 2023, Hall settled a lawsuit from his assistant accusing him of sexually harassing him. He has a dodgy history.

burlesquethemusicaluk

A post shared by @burlesquethemusicaluk

The lawsuit alleged that Hall failed to pay minimum wages, violated labour codes, discriminated, sexually harassed, failed to prevent harassment, and terminated employees wrongfully. Well, now.

Anyway, back to horror show Burlesque - The Musical. Drama has also spilled onto social media: on Friday, legend Diane Warren publicly objected to her song You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me — written for Cher’s character, Tess — being cut from the show.

In a since-deleted Instagram post, Warren wrote: “So it appears Burlesque is no longer an adaptation and more lightly inspired by the movie… These reviews are going to be very telling.”

Oof. Against this backdrop, Hall has ended up writing — and performing — around 80% of the show’s numbers himself. Of course. This is all entertainingly depressing to me.

Yup, the West End is dominated by mediocre movie musicals, including Clueless, The Devil Wears Prada, and Back to the Future. Indeed, soaring costs in the US have prompted US producers to head to the West End, making London a new testing ground for tomorrow’s hit shows.

Why do I care? Because I thought we had moved on from such chaotic and shambolic practices in commercial British Theatre.

Silence cloaks abuses of power in theatre, so senior industry figures and unions should do more to condemn any alleged and unprofessional or bullying behaviour.

Alas, I have a feeling that we haven’t seen the last of this fiasco.