Todrick Hall: American Idol or Oz Scammer?

Todrick Hall is sweating and not just from the stage lights. As Todrick Hall prepares for competition as one of the top 24 of the 2010 American Idol season, thousands of parents around the nation are going to media with complaints about another of Hall's musical endeavors: they say they were never refunded audition fees for his national tour of "Oz, The Musical" once the production was canceled last year.

Hall, who wrote "Oz, The Musical" as a "contemporary twist on the classic story, with all new music" (as described on the production's Facebook page), has been producing and directing modest performances of the show since he wrote it at the age of 17. He used local talent, most non-professional actors, and invited local children to play munchkins and flying moneys.

Greg Money, a business owner in Dallas, told ABC news that his daughters were in these early "fabulous, just wonderful productions." When Hall decided to expand his production to include professional actors in the major roles in fall of 2008, Money opened his wallet to help fund production. Money said the result was a "financial disaster" as they tried to tour major Texas cities in early 2009.

Todrick Hall forged on with his idea for a national tour, setting up auditions in cities across the United States. Thousands of parents, including 3,000 in Tennessee alone, eagerly paid the $50 performance fee to get their children on stage for "Oz."

But Money said Hall's other offers for financing fell through causing "Oz, The Musical" to die suddently and leaving those parents with no musical and no refund.

Some parents and local venues were never informed officially of the musical's demise. They showed up to rehearsals only to wait on "Oz" personnel who never showed up.

Parents asking for their performance fees refunded received information that the show has run out of money. There is no money to be refunded.

Mia Sargeant, from Waco, Texas, said she decided not to let her children perform in Oz The Musical after doing some recon work into Hall's ads. "I called the theater where he claimed the play would be performed. They said he had contacted them, but had not officially secured the venue or paid any kind of deposit. At that time, the show was only three weeks away! That sounded like a scam. Any professional has their venue secured well in advance, especially if you are charging people money."

Lacey Hollis, a talent agent in Nashville, said she would never advise a client to pay to be in a production. "If you charge them to perform in your play or musical, that's your first clue that it's a scam. Agents may charge for services to acquire bookings and auditions, but a flat fee just to be allowed to perform in the show is never legitimate."

Sargeant said she knew parents who had paid the fee and had allowed her own children to participate in plays with "audition" fees. "But that production was through a local dance troupe. I knew the people involved and knew they were real. They charged the audition fee to narrow it down to serious children with a strong dance and vocal background."

Sargeant said she knew Todrick Hall was a "drive-through scammer" when he claimed the show would be three weeks after the paid auditions. "He even had people with him claiming to be a local family who had participated in his shows before. They had their children talk about what a great experience it was. This guy's good and he needs to be stopped!"

Money claims responsibility for the financial issues with the show. He says there is no "devious plan" to scam parents out of the $50 performance fees without making good on the production. "I simply cannot afford to put any more into that production."

One question that has not been answered by Money is where the performance fees went, and how the show ran out of money, if the performances in the cities in question were never....performed? With the 3,000 children involved in Tennessee productions, Hall and Money should have collected $150,000 alone. Another 30,000 in the Pittsburg production.

Diana Messner, a mother from Pittsburgh who has lost $100 in performance fees, told ABC news that she was finally able to contact Hall through his personal Facebook account and has spoken to him on the phone. Messner said Hall refuses to claim responsibility for the 1,000 children in her area who lost performance fees. In an email sent July 10, 2009, Hall told Messner, "As director it is not my direct responsibility to pay back this debt." He went on to say he felt the ordeal of "Oz" would "jeopardize my reputation."

Comments on national media sites, Facebook and Twitter show Todrick Hall's fans backing his professional career and defending the project as loudly as parents and critics call him a scam.

Nf87999 posted on ABCnew.com, "This continues to anger me that people constantly put the blame on Todrick. First of all the producer, Greg Money, clearly takes the blame and claims Todrick to only be the writer and director! . . . How is it his fault the tour ran out of money?? Secondly, there is visual and audio PROOF that the show went on in MANY other cities. So to call it a scam is the most idiotic statement I have EVER hear! I feel that these parents MUST HAVE HAD the most perfect life, because they are acing like this is the out right MOST damaging event that has ever transpired in their miserable little lives. Trust me, if this is the worst thing that happens to you, then you've had a pretty damn good life!"

MPuricelli posted: "The only part of the story that tempted me to respond was the story's last quote. 'I just don't think that it's fair if he ends up being the next American Idol.' Guess what? Life is not fair. Haven't we all figured that out by now? It's not fair that children didn't get to be in a show of their dreams that they were promised. It's not fair that parents paid the costume and staging fees and were not refunded because of the disorganization. It's not fair that Haiti had the life-changing earthquake of the century. Not fair the New Orleans was the only city that FOREVER changed by Hurricane Katrina in 2005....Nothing is fair."

Conveniently, Hall's contract with American Idol prevents him from giving media interviews about the scandel. However, he has released statements promising a new musical this fall, after his stint with American Idol is over. The money earned from that musical will go to pay back the thousands of parents who lost money in the Oz, The Musical deal. Hall has publicly invited concerned parents to contact him privately at OZthemusical@yahoo.com.

Hall was named in the top 24 finalists of this season's American Idol in media releases on Tuesday. Todrick has been making a name for himself with a slight diva attitude during Hollywood Week. He scored his golden ticket with an original song bout the judges at the Dallas audition, but said, "I'm a dancer. I have never had a voice lesson in my life." Todrick worked with previous America Idol Fantasia in "The Color Purple." He said Fantasia's story and experience on the show encouraged him to pursue his own audition.