ANGRY musicians will stage a demonstration in Sheffield tomorrow night in protest at a live stage show - with pre-recorded music.
The Musicians' Union is furious that the current touring production of 1970s musical show Oh! What a Night - featuring Dinnington-based entertainer Kid Creole - is set to a pre-recorded backing track.
The musical campaigners say a rise in the number of productions opting to use pre-recorded scores is putting musicians out of jobs, as well as disappointing audiences.
Horace Trubridge, Musician's Union assistant general secretary, said: "The union believes a live performance should be just that - live - and any move to replace the live music element of a live performance with a recording devalues the product."
Regional members and organisers from the union have vowed to protest outside City Hall as ticket holders, who have paid up to £27.50, arrive for the Sheffield date of the tour tomorrow.
They plan to wave banners and hand out leaflets highlighting their plight - something they have done at other venues where the show has played.
The union claims many previous audience members were shocked to discover they had bought tickets to a live show minus a live band - as the show's producers, Handshake Ltd, had used a live band previously.
Sheffield City Hall declined to comment but the show's producer Stuart Littlewood insisted Oh! What A Night was set in a New York disco - and "they did not have any live bands there".
"The director wanted to bring the show up to date, bring it into the 21st century, and use screens, projectors and images as well as music and dance," he said.
"We'd toured this show before and it had been fairly predictable - orchestra, set, dancers, audience. The director felt recording the music would give us more room on stage for dancers and screens. Nobody is losing out, but the audience get a different experience from before."
He added: "We got all the musicians previously in the band to record the music. They have been paid to play the music and now they are working on another show - therefore they have been paid twice.
"The musicians have been paid and the public are absolutely loving the show as it is. All the cast perform live on stage with great choreography creating a fantastic feel-good atmosphere."
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