Symphony of the Goddesses Experiences Labor Issues in Las Vegas
Posted on June 13 2015 by Rod Lloyd
The Symphony of the Goddesses visited
The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses announced its June 10th Las Vegas show back in February, promising the participation of the Las Vegas Philharmonic Orchestra and a live taping later to be broadcast on PBS. As good as the event sounded, negotiations between symphony producer Jason Michael Paul and Las Vegas Musicians Union (Local 369) president Frank Leone were heated.
Leone recounts that these negotiations involved “months of phone calls” and “hours and hours of calculations,” as he attempted to work out a reasonable rate for the musicians as well as DVD, CD, and digital rights to the show. He says that Paul stalled him and ultimately “backed out of it with the device of non-communication,” behavior the union president affirms as “reneging.”
After negotiations dissolved, Paul “decided to bring in an orchestra (from out of town).” He asserts that Leone “pretty much bombed that bridge” and said, “I couldn’t work with the guy. I have no understanding of why he insisted on being so rude and unprofessional. But that’s up to him.”
Leone explains that he negotiated about $1,100 USD for each of the 66 musicians, which he states was fair to the digital and broadcast rights involved. Though Paul would not confirm, Leone claims that each musician in the new out-of-town orchestra was paid only $400 USD. As a result, Leone and the union then called for a boycott of the show.
While the symphony concert did happen at the Venetian as planned, a future broadcast on PBS is still uncertain. Las Vegas Review-Journal stated that plans were still in place to film the event, but further negotiations will need to take place before a PBS broadcast occurs.
Because we’re reporting from a secondary source, we’re unable to determine whether there’s more to either party’s story. We hope to gain more clarification from Jason Michael Paul, and his further recount of the events that led to the dissolution in their agreements, when we interview him on Sunday for the Symphony event in Los Angeles.
Whatever the implications this story may hold, we’ve seen some interesting insights into how events like Symphony of the Goddesses are organized. For more information on The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses, visit their website here.
What do you make of this news? Does it affect the way you view the Symphony of the Goddesses? Did you attend the show in
Rod Lloyd is the Editor-In-Chief at Zelda Dungeon, overseeing the news and feature content for the site. Rod is considered the veteran of the writing team, having started writing for Zelda Informer in 2014 as a Junior Editor. After ZD and ZI officially merged in 2017, he stepped into the Managing Editor role and has helped steer the ship ever since. He stepped up to lead the writing team as Editor-In-Chief in 2023.
You can reach Rod at: rod.lloyd@zeldadungeon.net
