CMU School of Drama


Thursday, March 29, 2012

Judge Tells Sugarland to Answer Delay-of-Cancellation Questions by April 15

PLSN: Mid-America Sound Corporation, owner of the staging structure that fell in high winds at the Indianapolis State Fair, has been seeking testimony from Sugarland band members and its management on whether they resisted attempts to cancel their Aug. 13, 2011 show, despite the bad weather. A judge ruled March 23 that band member Jennifer Nettles will need to testify no later than April 15, according to published reports.

5 comments:

K G said...

It's tragic that this disaster occurred. Also, somehow, unsurprising that the court process is delayed. After a large scale catastrophe, it is not shocking that those allegedly responsible (at least in part) would want to postpone their legal process. However, this also drags the friends and families of those involved along with it. Instead of kindly laying it to rest - large corporations are dragging the incident, in which seven individuals lost their lives, on and on. I'm sure the others loosely involved in the legal dues would appreciate a speedier settlement, but unfortunately this is not often the manner in which the United States court system operates.

Timothy Sutter said...

I would first like to say that this is a tragedy and it is a true sadness that it occured. However, having been in a theatrical build, this could have been avoided. Rigging like that is build to withstand weather conditions and the constant take down and put up. While I agree that this process should not be extended more then necessary, I also feel that someone needs to take responsobility. But not one person in particular. It is important to understand that in a situation like this one, there are many people who should have checked and rechecked the rigging to insure it was installed correctly and even if that was not the cause for the fall, there were more then enough people to call it quits once they saw that it was not supported. I feel that there were many times during the entire process that someone should have said "Stop. This doesn't look/feel right. Lets exmaine this farther." I only hope that other places learn from this event to understand what can be done differently to ensire the safety of their audience/performers.

skpollac said...

Of course agree that this was a tragedy that was completely avoidable if the proper precautions had been taken. I am not surprised at all thought that the settlement is taking this long, especially when it is a case that has been this publicized. I don' t fully understand why Sugarland should have to testify as they had no involvement in the tragedy except for that they were the next act to go onstage. Who am I to say though, I by no means claim to understand this country's legal system at all.

Anonymous said...

I think it's pretty shady that the band members have been so reluctant to testify. Don't they realize that they can't just get out of a court appearance like that? It's bad enough that this whole thing happened, and now these band members have to stretch the process out even further? The people who lost family members would probably like to have some closure. I don't think by any means that getting all of these financial and legal matters settled will make the loss any less painful for these families, but I do think that it will make it easier in that they won't have to be on the emotional roller-coaster that they must be experiencing while hearing about/dealing with all of these legal proceedings. I hope that this was all an unfortunate accident, but even so the proper parties need to be held accountable for their mistakes. I hope that the band members will comply with this most recent request and do their part to get this all settled.

Luke Foco said...

Why are we waiting to hear from the talent? They are not the ones who should have the final say. They might be able to state their objection to cancellation but the call is up to the producer and the venue not the band. If a band calls for pyro to be fired and there is an unsafe condition not firing that pyro is the only choice that you can make and there is no discussion. If the wind is too high safety is paramount and you call the show. Even if the producer feels that the cancellation will cost him money they will typically weigh the cost of catastrophe against their profit margin.