about the jonathan pryce situation: jonathan pryce wore the (disgusting) yellow face makeup on the west end, not broadway. equity usa were NOT the ones who said that it was fine in the first place, equity kicked up a storm to stop him! they were pretty much bullied into letting pryce perform by the media circus that followed the story. cameron mackintosh said that he would withdraw the broadway transfer if pryce were not allowed to perform, so equity had to relent with the condition that any actor playing the role after pryce HAD to be asian. a wonderful video though, thank you so much! x
I like Jonathan Pryce but that situation was not a good look. I feel the same about Rita Moreno as Tuptim and Natalie Wood as Maria. You could do a whole video about whitewashing just in musicals and movie musicals.
Also 2 white guys threatened to leav the union if he couldn’t play the engineer, as well as mackintosh threatening to cancel the show, like white people really went there
sorry but you’re telling me jeremy jordan could’ve had a part in the greatest showman and ZAC EFRON got it over him??? that is shocking jeremy jordan is literally incredible
eve mathieson it would have made absolutely zero sense for a black man to have gotten that part. There was still strong racism at the time and the society would not have accepted him. Additionally he wouldn’t have been rich.
It makes me sad that most of the actors that did the workshop for the Greatest Showman, aside from Keala, did not end up in the movie. Caroline Bowman, Jeremy Jordan, Cynthia Erivo, and Andrew Keenan-Bolger are all excellent, but it would be nice to see them have a chance at a big film like this.
@Mattbrain The actual guy who played Tom Thumb was 4'10 did not have dwarfism and, I think his voice was lowered and he was on his knees to have the same effect as someone with dwarfism.
Why is no one talking about the fact that they cast CAMERON DALLAS as Aaron Samuels in Mean Girls. Some stunt casting is okay but this one is just awful!
apparently there’s a conspiracy theory that they confused cameron dallas with shawn mendes and by the time they figured it out they were too far in to switch them out?
Ahhhh those clips hurt my soul, you are absolutely right. And like, sometimes stunt casting can be amazing! I mean, Jordan Fisher as Evan Hansen??? Yes please. But Cameron Dallas is mediocre at best
the thing everyone forgets to mention about the beetlejuice scandal is that he music man was offered another theatre to move to but they turned it away because they wanted the winter garden so the worst thing is it’s unnecessarily putting people out of jobs and actors out of roles even though they didn’t have to, it’s not like they would’ve had to move their set and change things because nothing is set up at the winter garden yet but beetlejuice (if they could find a theatre big enough) would have to move their entire set and that would be expensive, inconvenient and downright frustrating.
If the show does find another theatre (And I'm remaining optimistic that it will. After all, the Marquis Theatre is wide open now. And I know that it's a Nederlander Theatre and not a Shubert Theatre, but still; not to mention that the Marquis Theatre has more seats than the Winter Garden), I think that the set can and will be moved. If they can move Pride Rock and the gorge from "The Lion King" three streets north, they can move the Maitlands' house,all three versions of it, four streets south.
Apparently the Beetlejuice stop clause was invoked months ago when the show was not selling as well as it is now so people involved in the show have known about it for a while. No one could have predicted the turnaround. Even if you love Beetlejuice, you have to admit the Winter Garden is incredible Broadway real estate. The Music Man wasn't just being petty about not going to another theater. The Winter Garden is a big theater but not a barn like the Lyric. If you're doing a show like The Music Man that you expect to sell a ton of tickets, you want a theater like the Winter Garden, especially with that great signage in front. Shows have moved to other theaters before but I feel like the producers are not confident enough that the success of Beetlejuice will hold to go through all the expense.
TheSongwritingCat The bad thing is of course that Beetlejuice was fun, exciting and new and now it will be replaced by (yawn) another revival. The only musical I want to see Hugh Jackman take part in now is “Wolverine: The Musical”.
I saw Jeremy Jordan live and heard him tell the greatest showman story he was so funny telling it but you could tell he was upset he was amazing singing all the songs tho
My biggest issue with Amar is that the girl he sent pictures of was very young, a lot younger than he was. He then got cast in WSS which has 32 people making their broadway debuts, many of which are young girls. It doesn’t sit right with me.
Exactly. It bothers me that he was casted and that the producers are choosing to sweep it under the rug. I can't imagine how the girls in the cast are able to work with him knowing about his disgusting actions.
If "The Greatest Showman" ever came to Broadway, I think that could be Jeremy Jordan's shot at finally playing Phillip. (Also, as a side note, I think that John Owen-Jones should play Barnum.)
Luigi is my baby boy cinnamon apple Isaac Cole Powell, playing Tony, has blocked and unblocked me I think 3 times for asking him about the situation and expressing my disappointment in his silence :( I was a huge fan of his!
I saw Jeremy Jordan tell the story live on the last show in London, he was basically on the verge of tears throughout the entire thing, it was an amazing experience too see live, but it really broke us to find out why he kept it a secret from us all.
I was so annoyed with the "Natasha, Pierre" issue. The show already had blind casting, they unfortunately were dealing with a miscast actor who felt threatened by another talented actor, and it was blown out of proportion. I was looking at tickets because of Patinkin and suddenly they announced the closing and it made me so sad. What a beautiful gem of a show, closed too soon.
I read somewhere that the two leads were supposed to visually contrast each other; each cast member is interesting in some way and then Pierre is just a plain old [white] guy which makes him look out of place.
This isn't an actual Broadway scandal as such, but a shocker nonetheless. During the 1982 run of Evita in Vienna, the star Isabel Weicken was attacked. It turns out the instigator was the boyfriend of the understudy to play Eva ... he hired 2 thugs to do the dirty work, so his girlfriend could take over the run. The three guys were arrested and jailed. And the understudy Vera Gutmann had no idea nor took in any part of the attack, did end up playing the role.
One thing Amy failed to mention is that a huge part of the drama was driven by one of Oke's friends on twitter acting like a fool and stirring the pot.
People get confused about what “racist” actually means. If Oke had kept the part because he’s black THAT would have been racist. Racism is treating someone differently because of their race. He was treated just like anyone else in that situation would have been treated. Race simply didn’t come into it. When people use the term incorrectly it’s a lazy cop-out, and it damages progress in situations where racism ACTUALLY exists. Love the video!
I saw him in Carousel around the time the story first hit the news. This is not a hot take... he's not a great actor. Many people have said it. Not that talent excuses wrongdoing but it feels particularly egregious for him to continue getting roles when most people seem to consider him a great dancer and terrible actor. Surely they could cast someone else.
Another thing about Finding Neverland is that Jeremy Jordan was hired on for the previews and was told he was going to broadway with the crew while Harvey was really using him to entice morrison to join the cast. Jeremy was fired and is really upset over it still he actually shared a boot of one of his performances even though he doesn't usually condone them because he was so upset over it. this was a recent tweet too. Just got to the Greatest Showman part... wow I thought I had heard about that but other reports had said otherwise and I am so sad to know that that is true. He just keeps getting messed over
Neverland wasn't very good so if this is true, Jordan may have dodged a bullet with this one. The Greatest Showman situation is a shame. Especially if he flew himself out there.
@@captainKbobkeeshan Honestly Findind Neverland was decent with him in it but so many issues behind the scenes, and tech issues made for some crazy situations. He really loved that play and wanted people to see it, which is why he ended up sharing it when he found it
I admit, I'm a tough critic and very selective on musics that I like... so no offense to fans of it. I'll revise my post... I should have said it was middle of the road IMO. I liked the Peter Pan flying sparkly dust scene. And the climbing up the ropes ship scene. Maybe with Jeremy (who I'm a fan of) it would be better. IDK. The wink and nods to Frasier/Cheers, it was a little much, for me (and I love Frasier). I'm surprised they didn't do that with Matthew and Glee jokes (or maybe they did and I missed it).
@@captainKbobkeeshan They weren't present in the previews. The Jeremy version is better in my opinion and he has a better energy than Matt in my opinion especially in stronger. But that is just my opinion. Not sharing anything or condoning it but it's out there for those that seek it
oh they’re gonna make stupid money. reasons: a) it’s The Music Man, rich boomers love it b) Hugh Jackman c) Sutton Foster (I’m not sayin it’s gonna be better or worse than Beetlejuice, or even do better/worse, just saying giving what we know about this production so far it’s gonna make bank for sure)
Finding Neverland: "Harvery hiring and firing well loved Broadway stars".. *cough* Jeremy Jordan *cough* ....The poor guy is in the middle of all the drama.
@@batekush8135 so iconic that when she had to go back to the States for a funeral while in Sunset Blvd., the pilot on her flight literally used every signal short of Mayday in order to get her back on time for her curtain time that night.
I am still upset about The Great Comet. I love Oak, but if Mandy was going to be better prepared, he would have definitely given the show new life and would have been amazing. The handling was just wrong. Both men should have had more time to calmly discuss and agree on the changes with the producers. I hope the Broadway community learned from this.
Despite Oak pushing the rhetoric that it was a race issue, many members of the cast spoke out defending the show saying that it was one of the most diverse shows on Broadway. The actress who played Natasha was black, and her understudies where white and Indian-American. That's just one example of how it was the perfect example of true colour conscious casting.
The only broadway scandal I care about is the alleged affair of Christian Borle and Laura Bell Bundy while Christian was still married to Sutton Foster.
@@MaddieMP3 it's been debunked quite a lot over the years but it was never directly adressed, so we can assume that it didn't happen, either way him and sutton divorced shortly after and that is what mostly fueled the rumour along with lbb and christian's onstage chemistry for legally blonde.
I would love to see him as Phillip and Cynthia Erivo as Anne! I heard somewhere that Shoshana Bean did the demo for This Is Me and I would sell my soul to see her as the Bearded Lady
Call me paranoïd but i feel Jackman wanted Efron rather than Jordan is cause Jordan is vocally superior and might have made him look "bad". Jackman is good but Jordan is better.
“A Broadway actor admitted on Thursday that in 2001 he seduced a 15-year-old girl who visited him backstage, and agreed as part of a plea bargain to reveal that admission to anybody he works for in film, television or theater for up to the next three years. The actor, James Barbour, was accused of having criminal sexual contact with a high school student who was an aspiring actress when she attended a performance of “Jane Eyre” in June 2001. The student’s drama teacher arranged for her to visit the Brooks Atkinson Theater with her parents. Mr. Barbour told Justice Micki A. Scherer of State Supreme Court in Manhattan that the girl visited him in his dressing room before the final curtain call and that he fondled her, knowing that she was only 15 years old. He also told the judge that he had oral sex with the girl in his apartment the next month. She did not come forward with her account for several years. Under the negotiated deal, Mr. Barbour, 41, pleaded guilty to two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, both misdemeanors, in exchange for a promise that he would be sentenced to 60 days in jail and three years’ probation” James Barbour went on the play the Phantom (one of the most famous roles in musical theatre EVER) in the Phantom of The Opera from 2015-2017
I remember when I was little, his version of If I Can’t Love Her was my favorite. Then in high school, I found out about this. I haven’t listened to it since. He’s horrifying.
From what I’ve seen mixed, Arab and Latino roles are the ones who rarely cast actors of that race and as a Latina, it boils my blood! Love Solea Pfeiffer but I’m so heartbroken that a Latina actress wasn’t cast in the most recent production of Evita.
Andrea Munoz as much as I demand POC roles be played by POC actors, Eva was actually of Basque descent, meaning that she was essentially white. Moreover, she aspired to be even whiter than she was and modelled her whole appearance on the white Hollywood image. So I personally don’t have a huge issue with white actresses playing Eva. Plus, Solea is part Latina or at least POC, and most actresses who’ve played Eva are partly or even mostly Latina despite being white-passing. Just because someone looks white does not necessarily mean they aren’t POC.
Henry Lee I understand that but at the same time, most people in Latin America aren’t white so I feel like it’s a symbol of the white washing of these roles and this is just one example. Solea Pfeiffer is mixed race, not Latin American and I just feel like it’s an example of how terrible production teams are in doing proper casting. I watched On Your Feet and only the girl playing Gloria Stefan was Latina, everyone else was white.
Andrea Munoz oh definitely! The whole cast (except Eva) in Evita should definitely be Latinx apart from perhaps the one or two members who have European characters in their tracks. And as for On Your Feet, the Broadway production was pretty much all Latinx, but some other productions have had some dubious casting 😬
Henry Lee I still feel like Evita should be played by a Latina though because anyway you slice it, she was almost the personalisation of Argentina. Yeah I watched the London production and it was very non-Latino and very white. Funny enough the white European actress who played Gloria Fajardo, also played Evita at one point.
My biggest pet peeve in evita is when white bread actresses can’t even pronounce Buenos Aires correctly. It also irks me so much to see mimi’s Hispanic identity be erased over and over again
honestly natasha, pierre, and the great comet of 1812 got me into theatre - i was big into war & peace and it was the first time i watched ANY award show fully. if they had won atleast ONE major tony - actor, actress, best musical, whatever, i'm sure they could've stayed open!! the fact that people kicked off about the actor for pierre being switched so long sucks, and i'm so upset that people said the great comet was racist even though they had racial-blind casting,,, a lot of the drama was unnecessary, and the same didn't happen when anatole's role was swinged between lucas steele and blaine krauss :/ i really hope the great comet gets revived without drama soon because the show was really gorgeous and didn't deserve to be known as natasha, pierre, and the great tony robbery of 2017
I have deep, deep issues with “Dear Evan Hansen”, but I bet Ben Platt did a good job in the musical. I’ve only seen reviews of the movie, so…yikes! “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812” was ROBBED!
Can’t forget when BWW broke character during mean girls, lost her shit at the conductor, and had her understudy come on for act two to finish the show.
@@BriannaGibbsLovatictaylorcyrus No you can look at the brodway chat boards about it she apparently couldn't hear the music or something but they never really explained what happened
Che in Evita. Was that ok because he wasn’t wearing bronzer?? He also played Georges Seurat, the French impressionist. So who gets to decide what’s appropriate and what isn’t? How about Natalie Wood in West Side Story? ANY of the cast of Les Mis?? I mean, where is the line drawn? I get that that horrid makeup was inappropriate and changed for the Broadway run but that was a just a very bad make-up call. It seems like being offended is a pick and choose thing. Some get a pass and some don’t. Did you know that in the film cast of West Side Story many of the actors playing Sharks were not even Latino? Some were Asian. Wood wasn’t the only one playing a different ethnicity. I am all about representation but calling out roles from the past is really unfair. Today, more and more, roles are being cast with attention to culture and ethnicity. When we look at the past, it’s important to learn about the climate of theater then as opposed to now.
As you were talking about Finding Neverland and bringing up people being fired, the ever-burning fire of indignation over Jeremy Jordan not getting to continue on for the Broadway run as Barrie was fanned dramatically into full force and I had to pause the video while I forced myself to calm down..
Her agent read it in the paper and called to tell her while she was in her dressing room getting ready to go on to perform in the London production. I feel like that was a super bad call from her agent too. At least wait until after the show.
Oh no... are we going to talk about Great Comet? Edit: Ok, so I saw Comet twice before closing, and I'm a huge fan of it. I don't think Oak is a bad person or anything, but he listened to Rafael Casal, and other people who told him it was a race issue instead of a money issue. I can see why the race thing is an issue, and it should have been handled better, but I do also think Oak should have been a little more understanding before fueling the Social Media mob that tanked the show. If he had handled himself just a little differently, there's just the slightest chance that the show could have stayed open. Edit 2: And no, the producers are not entirely free of blame either. They could have told Oak what they were doing, and again, could have been a little more conscious about the race stuff. So both sides share blame, but it's difficult to fault either. One wanted to do his job, and play the role, the other one just wanted to save the show. They got in each other's way, and it turned into a big storm that tanked the show. The show might have been saved if both had been a little more understanding
Jamie Hood i disagree either way the producers had no right to secrectly cast mandy WITHOUT telling oak before hand imagine getting your dream role then have the producers backstab you after a few runs
@@tipsybun6017 Like I said, it wasn't handled well by the producers, and they should have thought more about the race stuff as well, and told Oak about bringing Mandy in, but I still think he should have put more thought into it before getting people riled up online. If he had put more thought into it, that huge diverse cast full of wonderful people would not have lost their jobs. So yes, it is definitely more the producers fault, but I don't believe Oak is entirely free of blame
Its not ok to tell people that it was a race thing to get them on your side and mob the show that fired you. Its selfish and it hurts everyone who is working on the show
@@meggypeggy9142 Actually, I don't entirely fault Oak for that. It was his friend Rafael Casal who told him it was a race issue, and he listened. So I fault Rafael more than Oak. Although Oak still does have some of the blame imo, it's mainly the producers and Rafael.
@@tipsybun6017 Sorry if my opinion wasn't super clear the first time around. Both sides share blame, yet you can tell where both of them were coming from. I've edited my original comment to reflect that.
So according to Hugh Jackman during his Australian tour both Aaron Tveit and Sutton Foster were part of Greatest Showman somewhere along the way to the movie being made.
I don't think Great Comet was handled well, but when Mandy was first announced, it was said that he would fulfill his contract after Mandy's limited engagement. While that (in my opinion) would have been smart, because Mandy Patinkin is a much more known actor (especially among older generations, who are more likely to have the money to see a show), I agree that it came off as having a racial element. What I'm most disappointed in is how the fans responded - at the end of the day, actors get bought out of contracts, removed from roles, etc. all the time for stupid reasons, and to cite "he had to learn how to play the accordion for the role!" as the only reason for keeping him in ??? (Yes, I genuinely saw that!) Like I said, I don't think anyone handled that situation well, but I agree and truly think the fans are what created the scandal! xx
@@punkwrestle because the composer/orchestrator wanted Pierre to play an instrument that most people don't play?? Josh Groban had to learn it, Mandy would have had to learn it; it isn't uncommon for actors to learn instruments for certain roles, when the instrument isn't something common like guitar, piano, etc.
Jillian Elizabeth From what I’m reading about it, they weren’t going to force Patinkin to learn/play the instruments for his 3 week run he was just going to do the singing and dancing.
Imagine being in the cast of The west side story... like. You have to be professional with your fellow cast members.. but I would be so uncomfortable working with that guy!! And I may be wrong, but wasn’t he in the revival of Carousel as well?!
The cast all signed NDA’s about it, so they can’t do or say anything about it either way or risk getting kicked out. Which is a shame because the rest of the cast from what I’ve heard are actually pretty great. The revival itself is already iffy enough with Amar in it but now that it’s a one-act they’ve made an odd choice to reduce the roles of the women in the show, cut I Feel Pretty, cut the Somewhere ballet sequence, and made it all take place in the digital era sooooo your mileage may vary whether or not you like all that. I’m sure many cast members want to speak out about it, and who knows maybe something’s in the works and they’ll all plan a mass exodus or we’ll hear one or two quit on their own accord, but I highly doubt that.
It’s actually against official Tony rules to ‘campaign’ for Awards/nominations, which is what Weinstein was doing. This is what caused Finding Neverland to receive no nominations, the show was disqualified. In Sunset Boulevard’s LA run, there was also a second controversy. Faye Dunaway was supposed to take over from Glenn Close when she left to do the Broadway production, but ticket sales began to decline after this announcement, and ALW believed Faye’s singing to be inadequate, so he closed the LA production with Glenn Close, leaving Faye without a job. This caused ALW to be sued AGAIN over the show, by Faye. She won.
I need to vent about Oak for a second, because holy crap. When I was in Pippin as Berthe, I was also singing and dancing in the ensemble AND I learned additional choreography because I was one of the dancing Players. Our King Charlemagne played trumpet in the pit ON HIS ON NIGHTS! When I was the Head Waiter in She Loves Me I also played Customer 3 and a caroler AND I sang and danced in the ensemble. In both shows I also managed all the marketing and social media, put together all the programs and posters and social media posts, and was assistant to the director. I was 15/16 and did not plan on pursuing theatre as a career, was taking honors and AP classes, and had a job. Oak trying to claim that he wasn’t incompetent, that he just didn’t KNOW, is complete BS. Did he not even see the show before he joined it??? I’m so unimpressed by his attitude. It’s not because you’re black it’s because you couldn’t do it! OMFG! His sole career is Broadway and he couldn’t do it??? So instead of, I don’t know, taking ownership or saying “it was a learning curve!!” or something like that, he decides to drag a wonderful production through the mud by blaming it on race. Great Comet was and is historically the most diverse cast to have ever been on Broadway! I’m so pissed thinking about it again, WHEW!
I was so sad about the Beetlejuice situation, because I was going to go see it in NYC as a part of my Senior Trip, but it'll be closed before I get to see it 😢😢😢
My friend was in an off-West End production of Ragtime and everyone had to play an instrument because there wasn’t an orchestra pit. Even the children were playing the xylophone and other instruments and lucky for my friend she already played the cello, but even some of the actors had to learn a brand new instrument (and none of them had seen the show like this before and still learnt the instruments) I just find it really inspirational that they did all that for Ragtime :)
it’s still so crazy that the greatest showman was even considered a good idea to make. they way they changed history to make barnum look like a good person is disgusting.
I don't know what to name my account Not quite sure about the Rebecca thing but Spider Man was a Broadway musical back in 2010 (I think); it was notoriously bad and had a lot of safety problems
Along with the whole “when a musical doesn’t win a Tony it has the tendency to not progress and close” thing...equally complicit in the downfall of Great Comet was the fact that somehow DEH swept the Tony's. I saw all of the nominees for best musical in 2017 and the only thing DEH deserved was Ben Platt's lead actor award, y'all can fight me on that. It was absolute robbery. Come from Away was better than DEH and Great Comet was far and beyond the best thing on Broadway that year. The Tony Awards could have helped keep Great Comet around long enough to potentially move past the essentially fan created scandal around Oak if they had given it attention beyond scenic stuff. DEH was fine and emotional (I cried because of Ben Platt), so I'm not hating on it without seeing it (granted I saw it in its 2nd week so maybe it got better with time), but it's unlikely because Pasek and Paul also performed songs from DEH at my university's commencement ceremony later in 2017, and the music was still just as basic. Ultimately, I doubt it really changed from how it was 2 weeks in when Ben Platt was killing it trying to elevate generic pop music masquerading as a musical. Pop musicals aren't bad, but they have to also be orchestrated effectively. DEH actually sounded good in that arrangement from Cynthia Erivo at Elsie Fest, so it has potential.
Lo Tamburro even if DEH deserved best musical, it did not deserve best orchestration over great comet. malloy understands music and how to use it to build character and plot. his use of dissonance for mary an natasha to highlight how they clash was brilliant. he deserved to win for his wonderful music over DEH.
Hey would love to see you react to “That song in Every Musical No One likes”! It came out last week and ended up in my recommendations because I was watching Cats reviews. Like I said, not a musical person, but it was pretty spot on to old ones I remember seeing :D x
Oooh yeah! I'm not super into musicals but my friends are and that shit was still one of the funniest songs I've ever heard. The performer/writer is genius!
On the NYCB front this is not hugely surprising. Ballet cultures success is dependant on the silence of women whether it’s about abuse or eating issues etc. (Gelsey Kirkland former principal wrote a book called Dancing on my Grave which is an autobiography about bullying while she was in the company and the subsequent deterioration of her health)
Considering I'm a huge Finding Neverland fan, I'm glad to hear why it got snubbed. As much as I wish this show had the ability to flourish, I kind of don't blame them for being sick of the tactics.
I saw great comet with Oak and Ingrid and it was a beautiful show, the effects were amazing and the cast was great. It was literally like 3 days before the whole story broke too so like the second we got home from our New York trip we found out the show we just saw was closing. I think situation was handled poorly on all ends, but I don’t know how well it would have done even if the issues were sorted. As a theatre person, I thought so many aspects were unique and it was a major difference from so many other productions but I don’t think the average ‘I’m going to go see a show as a tourist’ person would have appreciated it the same way. It wasn’t Hamilton or Dear Evan Hansen, both of which were just getting super big outside the theatre community (Hamilton had already been huge for like a year, DEH was just growing), and even with Mandy it probably would have closed soon, which is a sad thought.
The thing with Oak is he was a huge liability once he took over the role. He had plenty of notice and was offered teachers for the accordion and piano parts and he turned them down, he attempted to change the plot of Pierre once he took it over, and was struggling hard core during performances that he wasn’t acting in certain scenes and was essentially bringing the show down. At that point it is no longer about anything but a toxic actor in the middle of your production that you need to find a way to fix. He was offered to pause his run and then continue with an extension to his contract. He then proceeded to be the first voice out the gate saying discrimination and riled up his fans from Hamilton. From there it all fell apart as we all saw. But having been in a similar situation you can’t risk the show and the jobs of your actors and crew for one actor who is bringing such a toxic energy and not pulling their weight on your show. He was screaming discrimination when he was acting along side Denee Benton and her understudy who was the first East Asian actress to play a lead on broadway in a non designated POC role. Boy messed up and destroyed a beautiful show because he had an ego that didn’t match his abilities.
The thing with Sunset Boulevard is that there was so much more drama besides just the Broadway transfer thing, not only were the reviews terrible but the everyone was being smashed by audiences and there was so much back stage drama that when Patti LuPone found out what has happened, she DESTROYED her dressing room. So yah.
Also the mess with Faye Dunaway...the change from Betty Buckley to Elaine Paige and closing the show for a week to make the steps of the staircase taller because she is too short. And then the investors drawing back because the show was too expensive to keep it rolling.
Next time you do this kinda video, you GOT to look up the Rebecca scandal. Like... THAT is the TRUE biggest scandal to EVER hit Broadway. Other you could look up: Hello Dolly's Tony awards performance, James Barbour and his return to Broadway in Phantom, Daniel Davis's removal from La Cage Aux Follies Revival
ooh I don't know about James Barbour but a few people have commented it - maybe ill have to make a part 2!! I did actually film and include the hello dolly performance and bette Midler but then took it out when I was editing!
Amy I don’t know if this would count but when Carrie Hope Fletcher was in Heathers she was body shamed on social media and during wicked in west end London, Ben Freeman who played Fieyro cheated on his wife Gina Beck who was playing Glinda at the time a few years back.
thanks so much for sharing these. I do know about them both but they both seem a little too "personal" to chat about in one of these kinds of videos though xx
Amy Lovatt oh it’s fine! I was wondering if you ever heard about them! and did you hear about Ruthie Anne miles car accident from 2018? she and her husband lost their four year old daughter and also she had a miscarriage with her unborn daughter and it was really sad.
I saw Heathers in both locations in the West End and knew nothing about that. I've got Carries autograph as I ran into her going home on the tube after the show in Victoria. She's awesome and beautiful and as a big girl myself it was great to see a woman who wasn't a stick insect.
I have a lot of thoughts and opinions about The Great Comet scandal. As a black person who’s favorite musical is The Great Comet I truly don’t see how the choice for Mandy was based on race at all. When the show opened the other lead, Natasha, was played by Denée Benton, a black actress who then went onto to play Eliza in Hamilton. In fact when the show was starting off- broadway the original Eliza from Philippa Soo, another POC, was playing Natasha the same role as Denée played. She instead opted to take the Hamilton job instead of playing Eliza on the broadway run. Not only was Natasha played by a POC another principal character Hélène was played by Amber Gray, another POC, who went on to play Persephone in Hadestown (fun fact: the director for Hadestown is the same director for Great Comet). Adding on to that right before opening on broadway the showed played at the American Repertory Theater, the cast was mostly the same as the broadway except Lili Cooper of Spongebob, Tootsie and Spring Awakening fame, who is another POC, played Ambers role. At the time of the alleged racist incident that cast was one of the most diverse broadway had ever seen. I personally don’t believe those allegations to be true at all, and unfortunately it forced a show that is beautiful and was something broadway had never seen before and still hasn’t to close.
have another drama: I found this on the spring awakening tv tropes page, and though I've looked, have found it no where else so it could be 0% true, but apparently lea michele and jonathan b wright had an affair during the original spring awakening production while in respective relationships with other partners. they were found out and had a rough break up, and lea allegedly did something to annoy him onstage, which he then ranted about offstage with _his mic still on_ , leading to his removal from the production. again, this all could very well be wholly made up, but he didn't come to the 2013 reunion of original spring awakening cast members, so¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Amy! Have you heard about the 1988 flop of Carrie on Broadway? I’ve heard it was the worst flop to this day. It closed after 5 performances or something like that!! Would love to see if you could uncover anything more about that, I for one would think it’d be a fascinating video!!
Maddisyn WhoLikesMusicals I didn’t know that! I was going off of several things I read about Carrie, after seeing a clip from the Off-Broadway revival in 2012. (No hate taken, dw) it’s so interesting to learn about lifespan of productions!!
(Slight rant about TGS that I didn't mean to write so long, also a lot of Comments about Jeremy Jordan because I love him and want only the best for him) Feel so bad for Jeremy Jordan with the greatest showman thing, this is the first time I heard about what happened but when I look back on it all it seems clearer. :( I remember watching the video and being so shocked to see him in it, (side note, went back to watch it and just the way Hugh is shaking his head as Jeremy sings I remember being so confused) and then them basically fully cutting Jeremy (and his reaction) from the video as soon as Hugh starts to sings, although you can see a hurtful smile of sorts on Jeremy's face and pained looks during Hughs performance which honestly breaks my heart. You can see he tries to make the most of it as he sings with the rest of the performers but you can also see him clenching his teeth in parts and then when he pats Hugh's shoulder as he walks off... Knowing that he spent money to book flights and get injections so he could push through and perform just makes my heartbreak so much. As for finding neverland, I absolutely loved when Jeremy was in it (cough, swear I didn't watch clips on youtube, cough) and was so sad to hear that he wouldn't be playing the role anymore and then the fact that the musical was closing. I still hope that there might be a revival of it but hopefully, this time around there won't be as much hassle behind the scenes in regards to the producer because all actors deserve to be treated with respect. All in all, Jeremy being an amazing broadway singer, actor...etc, means that sometimes he can get the bad end of the stick, which is hugely annoying and disappointing to see because he is extremely talented as we all know, but that's what, in my mind, everyone in this business sometimes has to face :/ It's nice to see when broadway singers get roles in new musicals or you hear that they may be working on stuff behind the scenes, but then, how much stuff have they been let down for?
I HATE that the Great Comet situation turned into a race thing. It's not like the producers or anyone had anything against POC actors in the lead roles because there have been so many POC in that show. That kind of thing happens all the time and I think Oak made it out to be about race so he could get people on his side. Kind of a slimey and selfish thing to do because that caused the show to close and people to lose their jobs.
Re: Shows Performing at the Tonys. BASICALLY... shows nominated for either Best Musical or Revival are automatically given the opportunity to perform though they CAN opt out if they wish to (it does cost a few hundred thousand to perform and some shows that have already closed don't bother with the money). So then if they are still looking to fill in some space with more performances, other shows can seek out a performance slot... for a price. And it's all about availability. If they end up with the MAX amount of shows getting nominated, they might only take on one or two non-nominated shows but in a season like last year where they only had 6 nominated between the two categories, they had some extra room. Not everyone that seeks it though will get it. Unsure who makes the call on which extras are accepted but they only take on as many as they have time for. Like I know this past season, ALLEGEDLY Be More Chill expressed interest in preforming and was ready to pay but they were not picked. BUT THEN they were also NOT told ahead of time that the broadcast would feature a parody of one of their songs.
Finding Neverland performing on the 2014 Tonys INSTEAD OF Bridges of Madison County with its TONY WINNING SCORE AND ORCHESTRATIONS (also Kelli O'Hara) was a travesty.
Hugh jackman doesn’t seem the type of guy to go behind someone’s back, maybe he wanted zac efron to play the guy all along and someone else told Jeremy Jordan to come and sing the songs. Hugh probably was ignorant to him and didn’t know the extent of why Jeremy was really auditioning for the part.
tash evans oh yeah don’t get me wrong, I’m not blaming Hugh Jackman. I think it was probably just crossed wires and no one ever told JJ he had the role but it just stung extra hard after everything happened ♥️
Amy Lovatt yea that’s what I meant as well. The writers of the music probably had no right to invite Jeremy without the other cast knowing and paying for everything. He was quite mislead and should of had a proper audition with Hugh jackman who should of had a heads up of the situation because that’s not on. He is a fantastic singer from what I’ve seen,
Idea for a musical: 1. Make a bunch of characters of specific ethnicities. 2. Produce the musical with actors of blatantly wrong ethnicities. 3. Sit back and enjoy the chaos.
Really interesting video. That Jeremy Jordan story is so heartbreaking. Do you ever plan to do more covers on this channel. Cus I really loved your Michael in the Bathroom and I would love to see some more of your singing (although obviously I love the theatre chat too :))
so glad you enjoyed the video. oh thank you! I think id like to do some more covers in the year, I don't think im very good at the sound mixing so it always sounds a bit weird haha!
@@AmyLovatt1 I think your sound mixing improved a lot from your first video. The later ones sound really good. Anyway I'd rather see your great acting and musicality than someone else singing with a super slick production :)
How did you not talk about the musical Rebecca? It's a story of fraud, false inventors, passionate artists desperately trying to get their project off the ground, and the FBI. That's not the plot of the show, that's the scandal! The weirdest and shadiest musical theatre scandal ever in my opinion.
Okay, I thought I had calmed myself sufficiently, but then you brought up The Greatest Showman story and I felt my pulse physically elevate again. (Nothing against you, truly. It just makes me so sad.)
My old roommates husband was the sound engineer for Great Comet and I felt for them because he was so excited to do his first potential long run Broadway show (he had only worked plays prior), only to have it end the way it did. It definitely deserved better!
Anyone rewatching Amy's videos, or watching this for the first time, go watch "the day I saved The Greatest Showman" where Jeremy talks about the greatest showman scandal thing. Amy does a perfect job explaining it but the video includes Jeremy singing the songs so it's amazing!
Okay with Beetlejuice (get ready this is a novel) a stop clause was put into effect in May 2019 before the Music Man Revival was going into the theater and the decision to close the show was made beforehand and because the theater was going to be empty by the target opening of The Music Man, it will be replacing Beetlejuice due to it being evicted for COMPLETELY DIFFERENT REASONS. Just because it was framed this way, there is much more to the story than Beetlejuice is closing because of The Music Man, it's because they made under their target quota 2 weeks in a row and the Shubert Organization decided to give the show a few months before evicting it and, in turn that made space for The Music Man. You can be sad, it's a good show but don't blame The Music Man for the show closing.
Jeremy Jordan being snubbed for Greatest Showman broke my heart, since i saw and heard him in performances like Rapunzel tv show, Heathers (demo), and Newsies. I do love Zac Efron in the role but i would have admired Jeremy just the same. I wish Jeremy Jordan was acknowledged by the makers in some way. BTW, the video you linked on his scandal had its comments section turned off. I presume they're getting tired of "Holy shit, it's Jeremy Jordan"-comments
I’m a vet, prednisone suppresses the immune system, and since sickness systems come from the immune system trying to fight them off, prednisone improves the symptoms.
every time i hear the story of great comet closing i get SO SAD. it was such a terrible situation and especially worse because it was hands down the best show i've ever seen on broadway
The Great Comet scandal was the most devastating situation, the Great Comet was the THE most incredible theatrical experience I’ve ever had in the theater after decades of theater going. Saw it 4 times, I’ve never done that. It was also incredibly sad because yes the cast was the most diverse and talented cast. The whole feel of the production was loving, self expression, inclusion. I saw all Pierre’s. Unfortunately Oak was the weakest , a very hesitant performance, low energy. David actually was my favorite, very earnest and approachable. It’s a shame this scandal closed the show. I was at the final performance, and it was the most emotional experience. Standing ovations after every number, some standing ovations before they even sang. The whole of the community embraced this show and it was very special.
I LOVE this video, this is so so interesting!! More videos like this if you have more conspiracies or stories to share please! Love that you try and give a balanced viewpoint on everything 😊 xxx
Amy Lovatt they didn’t do themselves any favors with more scandals since Vietnamese/ Asian people in general were against the musical because it portrayed them as “weak victims”
One of the BEST shows I ever saw on Broadway was The Secret Garden with Mandy Patinkin. I was a kid and didn’t know he was so famous. But now The Princess Bride is my favorite movie and I know all about Mandy Patinkin. He is supposedly very difficult to work with. He walks off sets all the time. When he quit Criminal Minds he did it by just not showing up.
I probably first heard about him through The Princess Bride, but I loved him in The Secret Garden..I also love him in Yentl, and I wish he could have sung, even though only Barbara did.
I was a cast member of Sunset Blvd with Patty. She was a delight and a professional at all times. Lloyd-Webber and The Really useful Group, on the other hand were petty and disrespectful to the entire cast. The American production premiered in L.A. (not Broadway) because the show was bankrolled by Paramount. It had always been their plan to promote Glen Close and keep the show closer (no pun intended!) to its Hollywood roots (it was rare at that time to adapt a movie into a musical). That was kept secret from us in the London cast, and the reason for the crappy way we were treated was revealed when we found out.That was why we'd spent a year being treated like unwanted step-children, We were all affected, but he was particularly awful to Patty. I don't know if she tore up her dressing room and smashed a lamp, but if she did, it was justified. Lloyd-Webber is only lucky she didn't smash it over his head.
Beetlejuice isn't closing it's getting evicted. They are currently looking for a new theater to which they could move the show to. Though there is a chance that if they don't find one the show will close and go on tour
I haven't been able to stop thinking about that Jeremy story since I heard him tell it at his concert! It broke my heart! The standing ovation after he sang 'From Now On' at his concert was one of the best moments of my life. I had chills!
I just watched the greatest showman clip with Jeremy Jordan and I honestly couldn't finish it because of the emotional rollercoaster. the joy of getting to redeem himself, the disappointment when Hugh takes over, and then the hope when he's with the choir and high fives Hugh. I'm usually pretty emotionless, but this almost made me want to shed a tear
ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-08AGzOmCk-s.html jeremy telling the story. i'm sure you've seen it. but just putting it here for others
