By Aoife Hilton, ABC
Raygun does her iconic kangaroo dance move at the Paris Olympics.
Photo: Getty Images / Ezra Shaw
- Raygun: The Musical was set to debut in Sydney on Saturday evening at a venue on Oxford Street, in the city’s inner east.
- But comedian Steph Broadbridge announced on Instagram she had to cancel the show after receiving letters from the Olympic breakdancer’s lawyers.
- Broadbridge assured theatregoers the show would go on at a later date.
Sydney comedian Steph Broadbridge says she had to cancel her Raygun-inspired musical after receiving letters from the Olympic breakdancer’s lawyers.
Raygun: The Musical was set to debut in Sydney on Saturday evening at a venue on Oxford Street, in the city’s inner east.
Broadbridge had billed the show as “the inspiring story of a groundbreaking breakdancer and new global sensation“.
But she announced on Instagram on Saturday that the premiere would not go ahead, after Raygun’s lawyers claimed her name and iconic kangaroo dance move were protected intellectual property.
“Raygun’s lawyers got in touch with the venue and threatened legal action,” Broadbridge said in the Instagram video, offering refunds for the tickets.
She said the lawyers told her she was “damaging” breakdancer Rachael Gunn’s brand, and joked, “She doesn’t need me to do that”.
“They were very concerned that people would think that Rachel Gunn was affiliated with the musical. I want to assure everyone she will not be part of the show. She’s very welcome to come. I would love for her to see it,” she said.
“They also said I wasn’t allowed to do the dance, because she owns the kangaroo dance.
“That one did puzzle me. I mean, that’s an Olympic-level dance. How would I possibly be able to do that without any formal breakdancing training?”
Raygun received zero points for her routine at the Olympics.
Photo: Odd Andersen/AFP
But Broadbridge assured theatregoers the show would go on at a later date.
She said she would change the main character’s name in the show to Raygun with an “I” in it, and added in the caption “we will be back soon and with a whole new story arc”.
Anthony Skinner, who heads up the show’s promoter ID Comedy Club, said IP lawyers working for Gunn threatened to take the production to court “tomorrow” with a lawsuit if they didn’t cancel the show.
He told the ABC an offer to remove “infringing properties”, including the name Raygun and a silhouette pose of the breakdancer, did not appease them.
“It was just too much stress on the performers,” he said.
He lamented the production would no longer be making its planned $500 donation in ticket sales to the Women and Girls Emergency Centre in Sydney because the tickets had to be refunded.
The promoter stressed he did not see why Gunn would want the show cancelled.
“It ends up with her being a hero, which is obviously ruined.”
The ABC has contacted Gunn’s management agency Born Bred Talent for comment.
– ABC