Rigby Representative Releases Statement on Barna Lawsuit

As BroadwayWorld reported last week, Cathy Rigby is being sued by composer Craig Barna over the latest tour of PETER PAN. Barna's $2 million lawsuit claims that he has not been compensated for over 30 musical numbers that he contributed to the musical. Tom McCoy, of McCoy Rigby Entertainment, has responded to the lawsuit and gave BroadwayWorld the following statement regarding the situation:

"Cathy and I have never in our lives been dishonest or dishonorable to anyone, especially as it relates to our business. We are absurdly generous in everything we do. We feel like this is extortion because a judge has already thrown out the lawsuit twice and now [Barna] is coming after us again. It's important to realize that he never had any approval from Samuel French, who represent the authors of PETER PAN. So whatever he claims he owns, he never even had approval to make adjustments. McCoy Rigby did but Barna didn't.

In the last tour we took everything that he did out and reorchestarted so that his work was not involved. We will fight his tooth and nail for the third time and will not rest until finally a judge says "This is strike number three please, go away."

Barna contributed to the score and various revisions from 1989 to 2004 and claims that the show's current orchestra conductor, Keith Levenson, has received credit for his compositions.

Click here to read the full Daily News article.

The Tony-nominated, Cathy Rigby made the role of PETER PAN her own when she debuted as the boy who wouldn't grow up on December 15, 1989. She toured the country on and off from 1989 until the present, and has taken flight over 3,000 times in various National Tours, international productions and in special encore appearances in Branson, Missouri. Cathy Rigby's name will always be synonymous with PETER PAN as she has charmed and enchanted audiences in the stage musical and with the Emmy Award winning A&E production of PETER PAN.