Theatre News

G4 singer Jonathan Ansell protests onstage over pay

The singer stood up ahead of a performance in Scunthorpe to protest about unpaid wages

Will Longman

Will Longman

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23 January 2017

Jonathan Ansell
Jonathan Ansell
© Dan Wooller for WhatsOnStage

Jonathan Ansell, of opera quartet G4, took to the stage in Scunthorpe on Friday to protest over unpaid wages.

Ansell addressed the audience of Baths Hall in Scunthorpe before a performance of A Viennese Strauss Gala, produced by Stephen Leatherland.

Ansell claims to be owed around £10,000 in wages from when he appeared in Leatherland's 2015 production of A Night in Venice, which toured the UK.

During his protest, which he streamed live on Facebook, he apologised to the crowds for the "extremely unfortunate, drastic action" he felt he was forced to take.

Speaking about A Night in Venice, he said: "Myself and none of the other singers have been paid. We absolutely love what we do but I'm sure you'll agree this is totally unacceptable.

"Stephen Leatherland continually disregards to pay countless performers as they travel around away from loved ones."

He went on to say some of the performers were left unable to pay their rents or mortgages.

Ansell then left the auditorium and later confronted Leatherland offstage.

The live stream has been viewed over 125,000 times.

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