By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
A HALLAM-BASED amateur theatre group has felt Disney’s legal wrath, and has been forced to cancel a Disney tribute show.
Just eight days from opening night in June, Escapees Theatre Company cancelled its original play ‘For the Love of Disney’ after being denied permission by Disney’s US legal team.
Exhaustive weeks of writing, rehearsing, hiring and making costumes and sets had come to nought.
“It is with heavy hearts and great sadness that we must announce that our upcoming show ‘For The Love Of Disney’ has been cancelled,” Escapees posted on its Facebook site on 15 June.
“We have been awaiting permission from Disney for the show to go ahead, and we were hopeful and optimistic that they would support us and our ambition to create something very special for our audience.
“We have been informed today that Disney’s Melbourne office, in conjunction with Disney’s U.S. legal team, have denied us permission to perform our family friendly and fun-loving tribute to their magical films.”
The Escapees has rebounded quickly, staging an ‘Impro Extravaganza’ comedy night along the lines of “Whose Line is it Anyway?” on 15 July.
For nearly 10 years, the Escapees has been sustained by 42 volunteers including its company directors Alice Scerri, Amy Planner and Alie Davis.
It started as a troupe of past and present Hallam Senior College students, and now accepts recruits from the wider community.
Its shows are original works written from within the company – such as last year’s ‘Playwrighting for Dummies’ and ‘Love and Death’, and the scrapped ‘For the Love of Disney’.
“We’ve got so many passionate, creative and open-minded people,” Ms Scerri said.
“For a lot of people, when they join, they feel they come home. They find somewhere they truly belong.”
The Walt Disney Company did not respond to Star News before print deadline.
The Escapees meets at Hallam Community Theatre every Monday, 6-9pm.
Escapees’ Impro Extravaganza is at Hallam Community Theatre, 74-84 Frawley Road, Hallam, on 15 July, 7.30pm. All tickets $10
