The Danish Royal Theatre announced today that it has cancelled its plans for a play about Amy Winehouse, citing a "lack of permission" to use the late singer’s music.
Koda, the Danish music rights management organisation, withdrew its authorisation for the piece, but declined to give a reason for its decision.
The play, the creation of the Copenhagen theatre group Det Røde Rum that had previously made a similar play using the music of Alanis Morissette, was intended to premiere in Copenhagen in early January. It was expected to portray Winehouse’s life, her relationship with drugs and her destructive love affair with boyfriend Blake Fielder-Civil.
Entitled ‘Amy’, the play was based on interviews with the late songstress, concerts, letters and newspaper articles.
Mitch Winehouse, the singer’s father, had expressed his disapproval about the piece from the beginning, saying it would be “a load of rubbish”, according to Yahoo News. "They're only interested in making money and nothing else bothers them," he claimed back in October.
Winehouse quite correctly predicted that the theatre group would not have permission to use any of his daughter's songs, despite claims to the contrary from the actress, Johanne Louise Schmidt, who was lined up to play the lead.
"We've been given access to all her material," she told Ritzau news bureau in October. "We can use all her songs, notes and recordings."
But in the end, Daddy knew best.
