The perfect actor(s) for the job?
The Shawshank Redemption without Morgan Freeman, Forrest Gump without Tom Hanks, both inconceivable. In most movies there is only one perfect man or woman for the job. However, this is different in the world of theater. It is not unusual that instead of the acclaimed Tony Award winner, you get to see a so called alternate in the lead. Not everyone is aware of this system though. And so, a visitor of the Dutch musical “Was getekend, Annie M.G. Schmidt” filed a complaint with the Dutch Advertising Code Committee (ACC).
The person that filed the complaint went to visit the show and felt misled when the role of Annie M.G. Schmidt was performed by the alternate of Simone Kleinsma. From the newsletter and the website, the complainant understood that only Simone Kleinsma would star in the lead. This was mostly because the advertisements all said that she was the perfect actress for the job.
Stage Entertainment, the producer, argued that it is a well-known fact that alternates are used in big productions. Additionally, Stage Entertainment put forward that it did not conceal the fact that it used alternates, because they placed a notification on the cast-page of their website. According to Stage Entertainment, the musical was sold as a complete experience and not as a solo-show that only revolves around Simone Kleinsma.
The ACC did not agree with Stage Entertainment. The average consumer would understand that a lead would be replaced by another actor in unforeseen circumstances in order to prevent the cancellation of the show. However, the consumer would not expect this to happen outside of these emergencies. Because the success of the musical was largely attributed to the performance of Simone Kleinsma, the possibility that she does not actually play the lead qualifies as essential information that the consumer needs for its purchase decision. This information must become clear in the advertisements and the notification on the cast-page did not suffice. Therefore, the ACC considered the advertisements to be misleading and dishonest.
Mathijs Peijnenburg