Channels

Mamma Mia!
Photo: Eli Elgarat
MK Schneller
Photo: Eli Elgarat

ABBA musical boycotted in Israel?

London Times publishes story claiming Israel is boycotting Mamma Mia!, but show's producer denies report and tickets for production almost sold out

Under the heading "Tel Aviv gets ready to silence Mamma Mia!," the London Times published a thorough report Monday on Israel's response to the proposal of the British University and College Union to boycott Israel.

 

"The ABBA musical Mamma Mia! could be the first casualty of a growing Israeli backlash against a proposed British academic boycott of Israeli universities," the report said, claiming that the British production has been jeopardized by threats from local theaters who refuse to stage it in retaliation over the boycott threat.

 

"But the musical is only the beginning," the report continued, referring to the recent law proposals of a group of Israeli politicians, including Kadima MK Otniel Schneller, who drafted a law that could trigger a consumer boycott of British imports.

 

Despite the Times' alarming headline, the production's participants landed in Israel Monday morning, ready to perform their 24-show tour at the Nokia Arena in Tel Aviv.

 

Tel Aviv theater managers said they knew nothing of a retaliatory boycott, and did not hear of any theaters refusing to host the show.

 

Sources told Ynet that the production could not be staged in certain venues such as the Israeli Opera House due to technical problems and the size of the production, and not as a result of a counter-boycott.

 

The show's producer, Mark Lieberberg, told Ynet, in response to the London Times' report, "We are here, and that's a fact. No Israeli theatre or organization told us anything about a boycott, this is bullshit. The truth should be told. This whole matter is part of the British tabloid business that has unfortunately reached the Times as well.

 

"This is an attempt to blow things out of proportion, and unfortunately, British media lives off of this. They don't care about the details, they want to create news and to do that, they do what completely contradicts the tradition of British journalism. They don't give facts but speculations that are presented as facts. Anyway, we are looking forward to opening the show in Israel and I am convinced the audience will enjoy it."

 

MK Schneller: I didn't push for boycott

MK Otniel Schneller, who is quoted in the Times story, also confirmed that he never approached the production or made efforts to prevent it from coming to Israel.

 

"I spoke to someone who knows the producer, I don't know if this ever reached him. I said, and I still believe, that if the Brits don't change their position, this musical's arrival to Israel should be delayed, although I'm glad to see foreign productions finally coming to Israel. I think we should encourage the arrival of foreign productions," he said.

 

This sounds a bit like you're contradicting yourself.

 

"We should be much firmer in our response to this whole affair and tone down our warm attitude toward the Brits. We are allowed to do this."

 

So the answer to the boycott is a counter-boycott?

 

"I don't think so, which is why I never suggested not to bring Mamma Mia to Israel, but only to postpone their arrival until the crisis is resolved."

 

Although MK Schneller will apparently not be seen at Mamma Mia's opening, it seems that the Israeli public in general doesn't really care about the headlines in Britain, considering the fact that most of the tickets to the shows had already been sold for NIS 200-400 ($45-95).

 

Sonia Verma, the author of the Times story, said in response: "I think that the basis for the misunderstanding may be that the article's headline is misleading. The people of the theater are just one aspect of the story, which refers to the Israeli response to the boycott. I didn't write the headline, but all the information that appears in the story is true and had been verified."

 


פרסום ראשון: 06.12.07, 00:01
 new comment
Warning:
This will delete your current comment