The Nashville team of producers for the off-Broadway musical Naked Boys Singing, which had been scheduled for March, has postponed the production citing codes and zoning delays.
"Our hope is to bring this show and this series to Nashville free of any problems or controversy," states co-producer John Lasiter. "We believe that with more time to cover all of the legal bases, this show will open in Nashville to a sold-out run."
In the four months since first announcing the production, the producers have been in constant dialog with Metro Nashville Codes to make sure that all of the necessary permits were in place to stage the musical, which features an all-male, fully-nude cast.
"Their decision was that we would not need an adult business license or any additional permits, however, at this time, they were not willing to put that in writing." admits Lasiter. "Before we can sell tickets and contract a cast of Los Angeles actors, we have to be sure that there are no legal loop-holes through which we might be shut down."
With only two members of the cast coming from the local auditions, the cost of the production was expected to exceed more than $45,000, according to Lasiter.
"We have no doubt that ticket sales would put this production in the black," admits Nashville Stages CPA Teresa Driver. "But this is understandably too much capital for the producing team to feel comfortable with moving forward unless all of the legal bases are firmly covered in writing."
To date, individual tickets have not been available to the public. Season ticket sales have already been fully refunded to the customers.
"With the success of SITCOM in 2005 and the support of Out & About Newspaper, we remain certain that Nashville has the audience for a theatre series dealing with GLBT issues," admits Lasiter. "It is a good thing for the entire community so the last thing we intend to do is have it plagued with controversy."
Future plans for the production will be available at nashvillestages.com or on O&AN's Web site.
