The comedian who cancelled her Raygun-inspired musical after the breakdancer’s lawyers issued her a notice saying she was “damaging her brand” will now go ahead with another “completely legal parody musical” about breakdancing.
It comes after Rachael “Raygun” Gunn, via her lawyers, requested $10,000 from the promoter of the initial show to cover legal fees.
Creator Steph Broadbridge cancelled Raygun: The Musical – which featured on its promotional material a silhouette image of Gunn doing her infamous kangaroo move – ahead of the show’s Sydney premiere after Broadbridge received a notice from Gunn’s lawyers two weeks ago.
Gunn, who is known under her breakdancer name Raygun, went viral in August for her unconventional moves at the Paris Olympics, where she failed to receive a point from the judges and was knocked out at the round-robin stage.
On Thursday, Broadbridge posted to social media a flier for another show called Breaking The Musical. Ticket sales for the Adelaide show state it is a “parody exploration of a breakdancer’s journey to the Olympics”.
“It is based entirely on stuff I read on the internet,” Broadbridge wrote.
“It is a fictional telling of a moment in Australian history. It is now called Breaking The Musical.”
The night before the Raygun-inspired musical was to debut at Sydney’s Kinselas Hotel, the promoter, Anthony Skinner, received a legal notice from the law firm, XVII Degrees, saying Raygun has “exclusive intellectual property rights in the RAYGUN brand” and that the show did not have her permission.
The letter said the use of images and the word Raygun would cause confusion and stated “the musical is sold out, which is directly attributable to our client’s popularity. The ticket sales are clearly a result of our client’s influence and recognition”.
Broadbridge said she had planned to donate proceeds from ticket sales to the Women’s and Girl’s Emergency Centre and that she would issue a $10 refund to ticket holders after the show was cancelled.
In a video posted to social media last weekend, Gunn told her followers after the media had covered the show’s cancellation that it has “never been about the money.”
“I have been contacted to go on just about every reality TV show out there, and I’ve declined big money, because I’m not about that,” she said.
Gunn said in the video that “people assumed that we had developed it, that we had approved it, and it damaged many relationships, both personal and professional”.
“So this is why my management and legal team had to work so quickly to shut the musical down. So it was really unfortunate that the show had to be canceled so close to the launch. I know the artist would have put a lot of work into it, and that really sucks, but had we known about it sooner, there could have been a different outcome,” she said.
Skinner said “if it’s not about the money, then why do I get a $10,000 bill?”
Skinner said he had tried to have conversations with Gunn’s lawyers about changing aspects of the show and promotional material to remove any copyright concerns, so they could still put on the show, but said he was told it would go to court if it went ahead.
“You build something this big or this intricate with this many moving parts, and it looks like it’s going to be amazing, and then it just gets ripped from you,” he said.
Broadbridge said she acknowledged she did not contact Raygun before creating the title and poster, and didn’t intend to “mislead” people into thinking the breakdancer was involved in the production.
“I am deeply sorry to learn that Raygun has faced negative backlash as a result of the media attention,” she said. “The last thing I wanted was for anyone to experience hate or distress from this situation.”
In her video, Gunn said she had trademarked her “now famous kangaroo silhouette pose”, which was featured in the poster of Broadbridge’s original musical. But said she had not “trademarked ownership of the kangaroo dance”.
“It in no way mimics Aboriginal dance. It was instead inspired by the Australian Olympic mascot, BK, the boxing kangaroo, and I wanted to represent and celebrate that spirit,” she said.
“Now I know that this misinformation about the kangaroo dance has upset many members of the Indigenous community, and I’m sorry for that, and I’m really sorry that this hasn’t been corrected sooner.”
Rachael Gunn was approached for comment.
