'Five-star Fringe triumph made me no money'

LAST summer's Fringe hit Morecambe, which triumphed in the prestigious Olivier theatre awards this week, will go down as one of the biggest success stories in Edinburgh Festival history. But it has yet to make any riches.

• Bob Golding plays legendary comedian Eric Morecambe in the hit show in London

Veteran Fringe producer and director Guy Masterson won five-star reviews last August for his show about the comedian Eric Morecambe.

It rode Festival success to play to packed houses in London and on a UK tour.

But the cost of staging it on the Fringe – and the loss of seats after a key venue space was shut down for dry rot – means he has yet to make his money back.

While he won accolades in Edinburgh, including a Scotsman Fringe First award, Mr Masterson was left with startling losses of about 70,000.

Morecambe, a one-man tribute to the much-loved comedian written by Tim Whitnall, won "best entertainment" in the Oliviers, seeing off titans such as magician Derren Brown on Sunday night. The show, for which Bob Golding was also nominated for an Olivier in the title role, was due to open in Edinburgh at the 350-seater ballroom in the Assembly Rooms.

But officials at Edinburgh City Council closed the space down in early 2009 after dry rot was discovered in the beams.

With shows being rapidly reassigned in a key festival venue, Mr Masterson's potential seating capacity dropped to 250.

Mr Masterson said: "We lost 100 seats a day, so the show would have made 36,000 more than it did.

"We were 70,000 in the red by the time we left Edinburgh."

He invested in the show again when it won a London run at the Duchess Theatre. It began touring UK theatres in January, and has won a second major tour in the autumn. Later this spring, he finally hopes to balance the books.

Following the Olivier success, Mr Masterson, whose many Fringe triumphs include Twelve Angry Men, joked he now had a "100 per cent record on the West End".

"I've done one show there, and I've won an Olivier," said the delighted director and producer.

Nica Burns, the president of the Society of London Theatres, which presents the awards, named after stage legend Sir Laurence Olivier, said: "It beat Derren Brown for goodness' sake. Little Morecambe won, and isn't it fantastic!"

Ms Burns, a major theatre owner who also runs the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, said that Morecambe was one of the biggest Edinburgh success stories since Beyond the Fringe in the early 1960s.

Black Watch, the National Theatre of Scotland production, had its premiere on the Fringe in 2006 and eventually gained four Oliviers last year.

The Edinburgh International Festival play Blackbird is another recent Olivier winner.

But Ms Burns said it was the first time a small-scale Fringe show, backed by a solo producer, had gone on to a rapid Olivier win.

She added: "It's all about the entrepreneurship and the level playing field of opportunities in Edinburgh, where someone who has a bucketload of talent and can scrape some money together can take a show right to the top of British theatre."