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Chit chat - Kenwright and Landis battle boils down to soap wars

Published Tuesday 27 May 2008 at 11:55 by Tabard

Tabard was amused to see a rather unsightly spat developing between Equity president Harry Landis and West End producer Bill Kenwright on the front of the paper last week. For those of you who didn’t read it, Landis accused Kenwright of being the ‘worst payer’ in the West End. Kenwright’s people weren’t very happy.

If this were a boxing match (which it doesn’t appear to be yet) then many promoters would be billing it as a real David versus Goliath fight. A performer of a pensionable age takes on one of the biggest names in showbusiness - and football.

Tabard, however, would rather look at it in different light.

Landis, you see, is a former EastEnders actor, having appeared in the BBC1 show as the regular character Felix the barber from 1995 to 97.

Kenwright, on the other hand, is best known for his work as a theatre producer and football chairman (or for Tabard’s younger readers, he’s that greying chap who sat as a judge on Any Dream Will Do).

But, we should not forget, that he was also once a jobbing actor - appearing as Gordon Clegg in Coronation street from 1968 to 1969 with subsequent guest appearances.

So this fractious kerfuffle is not really Equity versus The Employers, it is EastEnders versus Corrie. Or, Felix the barber versus Gordon Clegg, if you’d prefer.

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