Here we go again....

[BEtourfan]

Not sure where to put this post, but the following article has a very unfortunate (and presumably inaccurate) headline!
"Billy Elliot US Tour to Close – Record Losses" http://www.ticket.com/blog/billy-elliot ... oses-1542/

[ERinVA]

I suspect this is a reincarnation of information from the inaccurate article that resurfaced a few days ago. It is totally unclear about which version of the tour is being discussed, and the caption under the photograph is completely off-base and contradictory to the reference about the Broadway closing further down the page. Again, as with the other article from a few days ago that got posted on here under the mistaken impression that the London show was closing, this is an inaccurate rehash of old information.

When I see a closing notice from Broadway World, Playbill, or another reliable US source that keeps up with current events on the American theatre scene, then I will consider the claim to be legitimate; otherwise, not.

[ERinVA]

I just posted this comment to that blog. It has not shown up, but perhaps it needs to be approved first.

In recent days this mash-up of inaccurate reporting has shown up in several versions on the web. The current US tour of Billy Elliot the Musical is ongoing. The losses referred to were incurred by Old Vic Productions in 2010 (and reported in 2011) as a result of a financially unsuccessful effort at a sit-down version in Chicago, which impacted both the subsequent Toronto production and the first over the road tour that Old Vic had sent out concurrently with the longer stay version. The currently running version of the North American tour, now operated by Networks Tours (http://www.networksontour.com/ ) , is booked through June of 2013, and there has been no indication of this tour closing early.

[StevenKing]

thank you for the less tramatic topic heading.

[ERinVA]

Since my comment has not appeared on the blog, I have sent the following email via their "Feedback" link:

Dear ticket.com,

I am the Site Administrator for http://www.billyelliottheforum.me.uk, a forum dedicated to all productions of Billy Elliot the Musical, past and present. I tried to post the following comment as a response to your July 25 blog post by Kelly entitled “Billy Elliot Tour to Close—Record Losses,” but the comment has not appeared. I believe the July 25 post needs to be removed because it is inaccurate. Here is what I said in my comment:

“In recent days this mash-up of inaccurate reporting has shown up in several versions on the web. The current US tour of Billy Elliot the Musical is ongoing. The losses referred to were incurred by Old Vic Productions in 2010 (and reported in 2011) as a result of a financially unsuccessful effort at a sit-down version in Chicago, which impacted both the subsequent Toronto production and the first over the road tour that Old Vic had sent out concurrently with the longer stay version. The currently running version of the North American tour, now operated by Networks Tours (http://www.networksontour.com/ ) , is booked through June of 2013, and there has been no indication of this tour closing early.”

The internet is a wonderful tool; however, before information is picked up and passed on, as it was in this blog post, that information needs to be thoroughly checked to make sure it is current and accurate.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Best regards,
Ellen Rolland (ERinVA)
Site Administrator
http://www.billyelliottheforum.me.uk

[ERinVA]

Well, glory be!

From: Depesh Mandalia
Sent: Thursday, August 02, 2012 9:05 AM
To: erolland.....
Cc: Ticket.com Team
Subject: Re: Billly Elliot Tour to Close--Record Losses


Hi Ellen

Thanks for getting in touch. With respect to comments on the blog, there is currently a delay in approving due to the large amount of spam comments we receive, so we apologies for that.

Having researched this myself I agree the article was not 100% accurate - we usually check 2 or 3 sources before publishing material however for this particular article we (incorrectly) trusted the authority of the Telegraph

The original article is no longer on our site and once again thanks for taking the time to get in touch and highlight this

The forum you run looks interesting we'll add it to the list of useful theatre related websites!

thanks, Depesh
Head of Online @ Ticket.com

My reply:

Hello Depesh,

Thanks so much for researching this and taking the time to respond to my message. Thanks also for adding our forum to your list of useful theatre related sites. Much appreciated!

Ellen Rolland

[angelenroute]

The forum you run looks interesting we'll add it to the list of useful theatre related websites!

Awesome!!!!!

Thanks for getting in touch with them. Wonderful to see the response and effect of your letter!

Sean

[ERinVA]

That was all in all a very gratifying result. Glad I pursued it. Misinformation like that spread all over the internet could conceivably impact ticket sales for the tour, and we definitely would not want that to happen.

[Billy Whiz]

Great job Ellen.

Well done.

[porschesrule]

Bravo, Ellen! Well done!