Help Us Celebrate the Theatre Café Diner Team

Diner Divas: Singing For Our Supper

The former Theatre Café Diner team is proud to present ‘Diner Divas – Singing For Our Supper’, a one-night-only musical theatre concert brimming with love, fun, and the chaos that made our diner such a special place. It’s our chance to serve you one last time—through show-stopping solos, dazzling duets and group performances.

This is more than just a farewell; it’s a celebration of the incredible talent, friendships, and community that flourished at the diner, which became a cornerstone of the West End theatre community. Known for its unique charm, our venue allowed patrons to enjoy their meals while being serenaded by staff performing musical theatre classics and famous tunes. It was a space filled with joy, music, and connection.

Why We Need Your Help

On 1 September 2024, the Theatre Café Diner closed its doors, citing “necessary building works that would have taken months to complete.” While we had no choice but to move forward, we, the performing and kitchen staff, were left in a difficult position. Many of us were not paid for up to two months of work—amounting to hundreds of hours and a significant financial loss for those who relied on full-time wages, tips, and service charges.

Despite our efforts to contact senior leadership, including WhatsApp messages left unanswered, we have seen little accountability. Over 30 of us have come together to raise awareness of this injustice in an open letter that has sparked an outpouring of support from the theatre community.

This concert is not just a way to say goodbye but also a way to reclaim our voices and celebrate what we created together. Your support will help us cover the costs of this event and provide much-needed relief to those of us still waiting for compensation.

Sunday 12th January 2025

5pm

The Phoenix Arts Club

Tickets available at phoenixartsclub.com

Join Us

The overwhelming love we’ve received from the theatre community has been a beacon of hope, and now we invite you to join us for an unforgettable night of Musical Theatre heaven. Together, we’ll celebrate the magic we created and close this chapter with music, joy, and solidarity.

If you’re unable to attend but would still like to support, any contributions through this GoFundMe will go directly towards the event and supporting the impacted staff members.

Let’s stand together, spread the news, and make this final bow one to remember.

Thank you for believing in us.

The Diner Divas

Our Open Letter:

“We, the performing team at Theatre Cafe Diner, would firstly like to thank every single patron who listened, sang along and enjoyed our performances at 154 Shaftesbury Avenue. To all the patrons we had the pleasure of performing to, wherever you travelled from, thank you.

“As performing staff working at The Theatre Cafe Diner, we were employed through non-performing contracts which consisted of a monthly salary and TRONC, made up of a discretionary service charge at the bottom of each bill. This TRONC payment varied in sum based on the monthly turnover of the restaurant. Contractually, this is paid to us each month.

“As of the Diner’s final day of business at the Shaftesbury Avenue location, all relevant performing and kitchen staff have not been paid up to 2 months’ worth of pay, which for many of us equates to a very significant amount of money as we were working full time, some of us in excess of 200 plus hours a month.

“In addition to our unpaid TRONC, as waiters and waitresses, we earned our own personal card tips directly from customers as part of our service – in particular the performing element of the job- which we have unfortunately also not been paid.

“Some of us have been performing at the Diner since it first opened its doors almost 2 years ago. It was a shock to all of us when we found out- at the same time as the general public, (via social media)- that the venue would be closing its doors as of the 1st September 2024. It was made known to us that there was ‘a new venue confirmed’ and our jobs would still be secure at the new venue.

“Despite our efforts to contact CEO Joe Davey, he has ignored correspondence emails, text messages and other forms of communication regarding this matter.

“Why are we as staff talking about this and why do we want people to know?

“As self-employed performers, our industry is already extremely challenging and cut-throat, opportunities to perform are few and far between, and the inflated cost of living in London is sadly the price many of us have to pay in order to be in with a fighting chance of making it in the industry we have dedicated our lives to. Therefore missing an entire summer’s worth of pay has had catastrophic knock-on effects for many of us. It has left us anxious, upset and at a huge financial loss, as our income is vital in upholding rent and living costs.

“We also want to use this opportunity to raise awareness and protect future performers from ending up in this position.

“If the business reopens, it will look to hire more performers to work. As employees, including our amazing kitchen team, want other performers to be aware of the owner’s priorities, that of which does not include ensuring proper payment of its staff… all the while masquerading as a ‘family business’.

“The overwhelming majority of our management, marketing and accountancy team have left the Theatre Cafe Ltd business due to several issues, not solely including this one, and supported us in any way that they could as we were ALL working with difficult circumstances whilst employed by Joe Davey.

“Many of us are seeking legal advice and action against Joe Davey, as there seems to be nothing in place for reimbursement.

“We loved working with the amazing team, and spreading joy to our patrons. Performing every day for you was a blessing.

“Thank you to everyone,

“The Performing Team at The Theatre Cafe Diner.”