Mrs Brown’s Boys star Brendan O’Carroll has defended RTÉ’s Toy Show The Musical from rampant criticism after a Government committee announced it is probing the costs of the production.
The 67-year-old Dubliner said: ‘I think it was tremendously brave of RTÉ to take the chance on the Toy Show.’
O’Carroll also said it’s ‘what we should expect of our national broadcaster, who attempted to bring to a live audience the colour and joy that The Late Late Show Toy Show has brought to the screen for so many years’
TD Brian Stanley, the chair of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), said the commercial risks involved in putting on Toy Show The Musical ‘appear to be too high’ due to ‘empty seats [and] shows being cancelled’
He told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that the PAC will be asking RTÉ director-general Dee Forbes for information over the costs involved and what market research was done in advance of the production.
When asked what he thought about the recent criticism over Toy Show The Musical’s cancellations, O’Carroll said: ‘There have been many shows on Broadway or the West End that have had similar illness cancellations. When this happens, of course the audience now become cautious about buying tickets in case it is struck again.
Mrs Brown’s Boys star Brendan O’Carroll has defended RTÉ’s Toy Show The Musical from rampant criticism after a Government committee announced it is probing the costs of the production. Pic: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock
‘Thankfully there are many fantastically entertaining shows in Dublin from the Gaiety panto to the June Rogers show.’
He added: ‘I think it was tremendously brave of RTÉ to take the chance on the Toy Show. It’s what we should expect of our national broadcaster, who attempted to bring to a live audience the colour and joy that The Late Late Show Toy Show has brought to the screen for so many years.’
The comedian also said that ‘if the Government had any sense of Christmas spirit, they should be the first to applaud the effort of RTÉ to expand the choices for the children of Ireland’.
Fianna Fáil senator Malcolm Byrne defended the production by calling for any inquiries into how much the show costs to be conducted after it has finished.
He explained: ‘I’m not going to criticise RTÉ for trying something new and I’m certainly not going to criticise them for cancelling a show because actors are sick, but I think it will be important that RTÉ is able to account for the decision that it makes and the amount of money that it spends on a production.’
He continued: ‘With theatre there is always a risk and a chance has to be taken. Any commercial producer will tell you that.
‘RTÉ obviously felt this was something they could do, building on the Toy Show brand, but at the same time they have to ensure they turn a surplus on it. Equally, they’re going to have to account for that decision.
‘There was a lot of money spent on this and a lot of self-promotion by RTÉ, but what would be better is to look at the accounting statements when the show finishes.’
Mr Stanley also emphasised that there is a crowded marketplace when it comes to family entertainment at this time of the year.
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