In Ralph Siegel’s musical “‘N bit of peace – Rock’n’Roll Summer” bankruptcies, bad luck and mishaps lined up next to each other. The show was canceled shortly after the premiere due to poor ticket sales. Now numerous actors are going to the barricades.

After the bankruptcy of the Ralph Siegel musical “‘Nttle Peace – Rock’n’Roll Summer”, more than 20 former actors filed a criminal complaint against the producer Wolfgang DeMarco. The Hamburg lawyer Gregor Rothmund confirmed that he had filed a corresponding complaint with the Duisburg public prosecutor’s office last Thursday.

“As far as I know, the actors have not received any money. There are certain suspicions that we have collected. 23 actors and employees are behind the ad,” said Rothmund. The public prosecutor’s office could not confirm receipt of the complaint until Monday afternoon.

The elaborate piece had its premiere on October 20th at the Marientor in Duisburg. Due to poor ticket sales, all performances of “‘Nttle Peace” planned for October and November were canceled just a few days after the premiere. Nothing came of the restart of the musical planned for mid-December – then with star actor Heinz Hoenig.

The allegations are directed against the Vienna-born theater director and producer DeMarco, who acted as managing director of the production company NBF Musical GmbH, which was specially founded for the seal musical. There is suspicion of fraud and embezzlement.

The producer dismissed all allegations as “baseless and unfounded”. “I can’t explain what the whole thing is about. A call from the lawyer to the insolvency administrator would have been enough to clarify everything,” he explained. According to DeMarco, as early as November 18 – nine days after the production company filed for bankruptcy – there was a virtual works meeting of the artists, employees and employees with the bankruptcy trustee. All those affected could have asked questions there – and would have received answers.

“Every employee is entitled to their salary for the three months of October, November and December, i.e. for the entire contract period. Everyone knows that their salary will be paid by the insolvency administrator in January.”

As a producer, he himself received a gross salary of 1,500 euros per month, he said. To accuse him of fraud or even embezzlement is grotesque. According to some artists, they have not received any money to this day, which the head of the theater confirmed.

A total of 32 performances of the play were originally planned by the end of the year, only a handful were performed after the glittering premiere with many celebrities. In November, DeMarco’s production company filed for bankruptcy.

(This article was first published on Monday, December 12, 2022.)