MUSICIANS will picket an Oxford theatre this week to protest against a touring company's decision not to employ a live band.
The Musicians' Union will demonstrate outside the New Theatre, in George Street, on Thursday ahead of the performance of Oh! What a Night.
The show's producer, Handshake Ltd, has ditched the live band used in previous shows in favour of a recorded backing track for its 2008 UK tour.
Horace Trubridge, Musicians' Union assistant general secretary, said: "The union believes that a live performance should be just that - live - and that any move to replace the live music element of a live performance with a recording devalues the product."
Handshake managing director Stuart Littlewood said: "This is the third time they have protested against us. At Southend and Dartford it was just three or four scruffy, out-of-work musicians hassling the public.
"Oh! What a Night is set in a '70s disco where there were no live bands. We recorded the backing track with the musicians who toured with the show last year so they have actually been paid twice."
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