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Broadway pro speaks out

I send a “fuck you” to the hot-shit William Morris Endeavor “talent agency” and the predatory “law firm” of Levine, Plotkin and Menin.

And a very special fuck you to Gwyneth Paltrow and the has-been Go-Go’s.

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by Anonymousreply 225April 27, 2020 2:56 PM

He didn't use the opportunity to call Gwenyth a cunt?

by Anonymousreply 1April 15, 2020 3:24 AM

Does anyone know what happened?

by Anonymousreply 2April 15, 2020 3:28 AM

She is not a well woman.

by Anonymousreply 3April 15, 2020 3:37 AM

Hi Gwynnie ^^^

by Anonymousreply 4April 15, 2020 3:50 AM

DL is missing one of our own.

I no longer hate myself. But people? Meh. I am fucking broke in the middle of a pandemic. You businesspeople and celebrities are rich. I don’t want any of your fucking money. I want you to spend your time in seclusion fucking yourselves.

by Anonymousreply 5April 15, 2020 3:59 AM

Damn, what is the back story?

by Anonymousreply 6April 15, 2020 4:04 AM

I know this was discussed on DL in 2018 but I can't find an in-depth thread about it. Here's a comment from a theatre thread at the time.

[quote]Honey Child Sugar Lamb!!! Bring the.Highpoint deGaffeinated coffee because Miss Jeff Whitty is spilling the TEA. She's back on her old Facebook page Jeff Whitty and TRASHING everybody from Michael Mayer to the musical director to his agency to his old lawyers. I don't know when I've seen a book writer go so completely off the tracks. Her lips ARE NOT SEALED on the next show at the HUDSON!!!

by Anonymousreply 7April 15, 2020 4:12 AM

I know a little bit of the backstory, but I might be wrong in some of the details. Essentially, Whitty wrote a version of the musical that was very well received at, I think, something like the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. His agents at the time, WM/Endeavor, wanted him to fire his long-standing music supervisor in order for them to use someone whom they represented. They thought the show had Broadway potential, and wanted it to be an all WM venture. Paltrow and Leitch got involved, and tried to take control from Whitty, who did not want to fire his musical director. I am not clear on the rest, but, apparently, they harassed and hounded and threatened him until he gave up his control of the material. There was much conflict of interest, as his attorneys, I believe, also represented WM/Endeavor. The resulting show as a mess, which is a shame, because it seemed to have been a success in its previous version.

I dont understand why Whitty is in such a bad professional and financial situation. He has a Tony Award and a hit show to his credit; he probably still gets decent royalties from versions of Avenue Q; and he was recently nominated for an Oscar for his screenplay for Can You Ever Forgive Me. He has talent, that is for sure, and he seems to have the connections necessary to have at least get a movie produced. Why is he not writing more screenplays, or doctoring some that exist? Surely he still has the connections to that; he surely has the skills.

I can't imagine how difficult it is to have something you created wrested from you, only to see it fail. I know he entered a dark place after it all happened, and I hope he finds his way back to lightness and a place where he can forgive what has happened to him. He has a future; I hope he doesn't waste it by remaining to live in the past.

by Anonymousreply 8April 15, 2020 4:14 AM

[quote] the predatory “law firm” of Levine, Plotkin and Menin

Jeff, I'm inviting you to our Mortimer Club event next week.

by Anonymousreply 9April 15, 2020 4:17 AM

An old thread about Jay Leno and him.

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by Anonymousreply 10April 15, 2020 4:17 AM

thanks for R10 for linking to that, and to Jeff for calling out that bullshit.

That would not be tolerated in 2020.

by Anonymousreply 11April 15, 2020 5:20 AM

Can I just say that when he is dressed normally and not in a weird drag outfit or a radical fairy outfit or with bad air WHITTY is very handsome although I know he doesnt see it that way . whiichh is probably why he thwarts his normal good looks. With the right grooming and clothes, he is still a stunner. He has so much going for him, and I hope he leads his past bad dealings behind. Learn from them, but don't be held back by them , We need voices like yours Jeff.

by Anonymousreply 12April 15, 2020 5:46 AM

SCANDALAMITY!

by Anonymousreply 13April 15, 2020 5:54 AM

Showbiz411, the original link, now just says:

[quote]UPDATE April 15th: Jeff Whitty removed his Facebook post, and at his request I’ve removed it, too. But the substance of it — that he and the “Head Over Heels” team fell out grievously over that show — remains. So I’ll have more on that in the days to come. Certainly, something is very wrong with this story. So more to come. Stay tuned.

The web being the web, though, nothing can be disappeared quite that easily.

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by Anonymousreply 14April 15, 2020 8:28 AM

Jeff -- Write a book about this, how a creative story can be stolen and changed. It will be required reading for all of broadway.

by Anonymousreply 15April 15, 2020 8:42 AM

Wow

by Anonymousreply 16April 15, 2020 9:10 AM

I love that Jeff posts here. Hot Daddy

by Anonymousreply 17April 15, 2020 9:13 AM

Why now at this time?

by Anonymousreply 18April 15, 2020 9:36 AM

I don't think Jeff posts on here, R17. He is fairly honest in his FB accounts, but I don't think I have seen his hand on here.

by Anonymousreply 19April 15, 2020 2:39 PM

From R14's post -

"It's a shame that this all happened. I remember during the time of "Head Over Heels", there was a lot of speculation about what was going on, behind the scenes. I want to say even Michael Riedel hinted to some of this.

At the same time, I remember watching the documentary 'Show Business: The Road to Broadway" in which he is featured with the rest of the Avenue Q cast and creatives and noting something being off with him. Like, didn't like criticism and seemed to be very protective of his work...which to me was an interesting slice of his personality to see at that time."

by Anonymousreply 20April 15, 2020 4:13 PM

But Ave Q was 10 years ago, and he was also involved with that mess of trying to get Tales of the City to the stage, which didn't fly.

by Anonymousreply 21April 15, 2020 4:17 PM

We know the Go-Go's are a dysfunctional mess, but I don't think they were all that involved in this, other than the initial discussions over rights.

They're at the stage where making money trumps all else. It's why they had to eat crow and apologize to Kathy Valentine, since she has the rights to two of their biggest songs, Vacation and Head over Heels.

How anyone thought THAT story went well with the music......that's a serious lack of good judgement.

by Anonymousreply 22April 15, 2020 7:01 PM

I can't even imagine ANY jukebox musical, especially one with GoGo's music being witty ...

by Anonymousreply 23April 15, 2020 7:39 PM

I saw Head Over Heels at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and it was Not Good. I felt bad for the very hard-working performers trying to sell that dreck. As my friend said afterward, "Was there no ADULT in charge of that?!" We couldn't believe the show (although not the OSF production) went on the New York (and flopped there, too).

by Anonymousreply 24April 15, 2020 8:02 PM

I feel bad for Whitty. And I support him as a fellow theatre writer. His lawyers and the Dramatists Guild have completely failed him. As I know first-hand: you can lawyer up, but it's usually a matter of whoever's got deeper pockets. Writers almost never do.

I agree that he should find a respected journalist, stay off of social media, and spill all.

by Anonymousreply 25April 15, 2020 8:08 PM

she sounds like a bit of a dramatic mess

by Anonymousreply 26April 15, 2020 8:09 PM

He may be talented but these jukebox musicals are like a death knell. Are there any good ones? Mamma Mia really only worked on the nostalgia of ABBA and Louise Pitre was great as Donna in the Toronto and Broadway productions. But the story? Absolute shit. The Queen musical We Will Rock You was also shit. The only good moment was when Freddie Mercury's face appeared on a screen.

I saw the Spice Girls musical in London and holy shit, it was a turd. No wonder it bombed. Maybe if they had actually done the story of the Spice Girls forming it might have been better but they chose to do a take on X Factor, dating it right away and it was lame. And it had good talent behind it.

This musical sounded horrible.

by Anonymousreply 27April 15, 2020 8:43 PM

An Elizabethan era farce set to music from '80's band The Go Go's. Hmm. Move along, nothing to see here but a dead body.

by Anonymousreply 28April 15, 2020 9:01 PM

MAMMA MIA is awful stuff. Even the "good" jukebox shows like BEAUTIFUL are pretty terrible.

by Anonymousreply 29April 15, 2020 9:18 PM

I've only heard the soundtrack for Crazy For YOu. How was that as a jukebox musical?

by Anonymousreply 30April 15, 2020 9:20 PM

CRAZY FOR YOU took Gershwin songs (including much of the score of GIRL CRAZY) and shoe-horned them into a brand new script (based very, very loosely on GIRL CRAZY). So yes, it's technically a jukebox musical.

It was fun on Bway, but even back then I didn't think it was the work of post-modern genius that a lot of critics and theatrefolk were crowing about.

by Anonymousreply 31April 15, 2020 9:26 PM

There have always been jukebox musicals of greater and lesser success. But what makes one more successful than another?

I’ve enjoyed

Ain’t Misbehavin’

Smokey Joe’s Cafe

Swinging On A Star

With these, they didn’t create a story around them, they just had very talented singers perform the songs. The songs and orchestrations were so good, they didn’t need a story.

by Anonymousreply 32April 15, 2020 10:13 PM

I'd like a behind the scenes miniseries on "Ain't Misbehavin'." Didn't Irene Cara miss a performance and she was found strung out in her hotel room? She was dumped form the production. I'm sure there are some Nell Carter stories as well.

by Anonymousreply 33April 15, 2020 10:27 PM

Gloria Estefan's "Get on Your Feet" was a more conventional (but very enjoyable) jukebox musical.

by Anonymousreply 34April 15, 2020 10:29 PM

It just sounds like he put glue on his hands before he grabbed those fucking grudges

by Anonymousreply 35April 15, 2020 11:36 PM

[quote]I've only heard the soundtrack for Crazy For You.

Oh, dear.

by Anonymousreply 36April 15, 2020 11:41 PM

[quote]But Ave Q was 10 years ago

Closer to 20. Opened in 2003.

by Anonymousreply 37April 15, 2020 11:42 PM

R32, some of those shows are quite enjoyable.

But they're musical revues. Not jukebox musicals, which take existent songs and graft a book (plot, characters, etc.) onto them.

by Anonymousreply 38April 16, 2020 12:28 AM

[quote]An Elizabethan era farce set to music from '80's band The Go Go's

I don't understand how anybody could think this is a good idea.

by Anonymousreply 39April 16, 2020 1:16 AM

[quote]I'd like a behind the scenes miniseries on "Ain't Misbehavin'."

Well, for starters, Charlaine Woodard hated her role. She wanted to be known as a serious black actress. Then she gets a Broadway musical where she can get tons of notice as there are only five cast members and she ends up playing the goofy black girl.

by Anonymousreply 40April 16, 2020 1:32 AM

I actually enjoyed the Broadway Head Over Heels. It was a cross between Shakespeare/John Waters and the 80’s...the musical arrangements were great. It was about the gayest thing I have seen on stage.

by Anonymousreply 41April 16, 2020 2:01 AM

R41 It was reminiscent of that high school basket ball musical based on that Greek play of women withholding sex. I think it would have run longer except for the name, which was hard to remember, hence hot remembering.

by Anonymousreply 42April 16, 2020 2:30 AM

[quote] It was about the gayest thing I have seen on stage.

Did it come anywhere near the Howard Crabtree musicals? Because *those* were the gayest things I've ever seen on stage.

by Anonymousreply 43April 16, 2020 2:37 AM

Lysistrata, if you mean the Greek original.

by Anonymousreply 44April 16, 2020 2:37 AM

The adaptation was Lysistrata Jones.

by Anonymousreply 45April 16, 2020 2:38 AM

There was also a musical version with Melina Mercouri, in 1972. That one was just called Lysistrata.

by Anonymousreply 46April 16, 2020 2:40 AM

[quote] I'd like a behind the scenes miniseries on "Ain't Misbehavin'." Didn't Irene Cara miss a performance and she was found strung out in her hotel room? She was dumped form the production. I'm sure there are some Nell Carter stories as well.

I thought Nell had Irene fired because she felt she was being upstaged.

by Anonymousreply 47April 16, 2020 3:02 AM

Irene Cara was more of a name at that time than Nell. She had already done "Sparkle."

by Anonymousreply 48April 16, 2020 3:07 AM

But Irene worked steadily around that time in both theater and film, so if she was that strung out, she wouldn't have had the career she had at that time. I don't buy that story.

by Anonymousreply 49April 16, 2020 3:13 AM

I don't believe anyone could upstage Nell Carter.

by Anonymousreply 50April 16, 2020 3:18 AM

These stories that Irene Cara ruined her own career are lies.

She was blackballed for fighting back against the type of abuse described by OP.

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by Anonymousreply 51April 16, 2020 3:19 AM

Here's someone's account of an Irene Cara interview on Wendy Williams' show a few years back. I don't think it's not credible that she was able to get away with erratic behavior in her young, "hot" years. Stage producers cannot indulge what movie producers can...

[Quote] I just saw her on the Wendy Williams show and all I can say is...WOW!!!

[Quote] What happened to her???

[Quote] During the interview she was:

[Quote] 1. Dressed as though her luggage may have been lost. She had on a suit jacket and what appeared to be warm up pants (stripe down the side and all).

[Quote] 2. Could barely give a cohesive response to questions asked.

[Quote] 3. Could not sit still.

[Quote] 4. Could not remember names of people in her past.

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by Anonymousreply 52April 16, 2020 3:24 AM

[Quote] She vows, “I’m gonna live forever,” in her rousing hit from the movie Fame, but the real Irene Cara isn’t about to wait that long. What’s she done so far to get her name in lights? “You’re obviously not from New York,” Cara sniffs to an interrogator. “Everyone in New York knows what I’ve done.”

[Quote] Cara, who now lives temporarily in her mother’s Manhattan apartment, can be feisty and at times abrasive. Eating in an L.A. restaurant, she became belligerent when a waiter took her still burning cigarette away and clamorously berated him to the maître d’. She remains hush-hush about the men in her life, but says she prefers to spend her time among close women friends. “Men have put me through so many changes,” she complains. “They can’t deal with me as just a person, as pretty and as talented as them. They get very ‘Where’s my Barbie Doll?’ ‘Where’s my groupie?’ ” Though she doesn’t frequent discos, she likes to go “partying until you see daylight and people start falling out.”

[Quote] Now Irene has been cast by ABC as an anorexia nervosa victim who befriends Jodie Foster in a forthcoming made-for-TV movie, The Best Little Girl in the World. Though she has her astrological chart read regularly, Cara isn’t sure whether a Fame sequel is in the cards: “Yeah, maybe,” she shrugs coolly, “called Failure.”

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by Anonymousreply 53April 16, 2020 3:30 AM

I'm not saying Irene didn't have her problems with drugs, but it was coke, not heroin, and the real troubles came post-Flashdance.

I remember a story about her touring in JCS with Dennis DeYoung in the 90s. She played Mary Magdelene and the legend has it she sneezed during I Don't Know How to Love Him and half her collapsed septum went flying across the stage.

by Anonymousreply 54April 16, 2020 3:34 AM

Maybe she coked it up the night before and missed the performance, I don't know.

by Anonymousreply 55April 16, 2020 3:41 AM

Awful stuck-up for someone with ugly titties.

by Anonymousreply 56April 16, 2020 3:42 AM

...it always becomes about Irenes' ugly titties.

by Anonymousreply 57April 16, 2020 3:44 AM

Irene's titties are gonna live forever

by Anonymousreply 58April 16, 2020 3:47 AM

BTW, why hasn't anyone posted the rant at the link? WHICH is Broadway World, but after ten seconds turns into a McAfee ad.

by Anonymousreply 59April 16, 2020 3:52 AM

It's on the theatre gossip thread

by Anonymousreply 60April 16, 2020 3:55 AM

R59, he deleted his own post. It doesn't seem right to republish it, as he seems to be in the right here and is obviously suffering.

by Anonymousreply 61April 16, 2020 3:55 AM

I know nothing about broadway or theater but this is scary. This is one of the reasons the WGA West is almost voting another strike, because no agency should have this type of creative control over an artist's work. They shouldn't be producing or packaging, which is, if I understood correctly, what evil Ari Emanuel's minions are doing here. I'm so sorry for this guy. I might want to watch a bootleg of Avenue Q finally. I don't like musicals but I love satire, will I like this one?

by Anonymousreply 62April 16, 2020 3:57 AM

R62 Avenue Q is pretty much a must see, the songs are referenced all the time.

by Anonymousreply 63April 16, 2020 4:17 AM

Wow, Irene comes across as a real bitch in that People article. But then again, the writer seemed to really have it out for her, taking every opportunity to make her look bad especially that comment about her opening for Ray Charles.

by Anonymousreply 64April 16, 2020 4:25 AM

Buzzetti is a raging egomaniacal asshole

by Anonymousreply 65April 16, 2020 4:32 AM

What did the Go-Gos do to deserve a special "Fuck You"?

Ironic that Gwyneth got one, after singing "Fuck You" at the Grammys.

by Anonymousreply 66April 16, 2020 4:42 AM

For someone with stage experience, she didn't really own the stage, so maybe that Ray Charles attendee assessment was fair.

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by Anonymousreply 67April 16, 2020 4:46 AM

Why is he having a fit over a show that is basically done? And, it sucks he got screwed around in a show business deal but.....

That's show business. (Actually, all business).

And, since when is the guy who writes the book to a jukebox musical supposed to be the one calling all the shots?

As for calling out the GoGo's....uh, there wouldn't be ANY show without their music. That was the drawing card for the show...not nutty Jeff Whitty.

by Anonymousreply 68April 16, 2020 5:11 AM

[quote] And, since when is the guy who writes the book to a jukebox musical supposed to be the one calling all the shots?

Well, I think it was his concept from the get-go as opposed to some producers who said- Hey, let's do a musical using the music of the Go-Gos and set it in some weird storyline. Who can we get to write the book? So really, there wouldn't be any show without Whitty.

by Anonymousreply 69April 16, 2020 5:32 AM

Jeff discusses the inspiration for the musical:

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by Anonymousreply 70April 16, 2020 5:38 AM

I used to work with Jeff in the late 90s when he was still acting and he was really a nice guy. He was far more conventional and buttoned down than he appears now. I hardly recognize him in his later iterations, and although I was thrilled for his success with "Avenue Q", he seemed to have gone off the deep end shortly after it became a success.

I've been around a LOT of addicts and drunks, I'm sober many years myself, and the vitriolic, paranoid letter Jeff posted is exactly like what EVERY meth user who's coming down off of a binge writes. Full of bile and accusations of being stalked and threatened by unnamed, shadowy dark figures about whom they hold receipts, of course!

Broadway can be a dirty business I imagine, but this intrigue is something we've never heard before. I'm tempted to say I bet it didn't happen exactly like this, especially since Whitty mentions drugs/sobriety and a suicide attempt. Plus, Avenue Q ran on Broadway for SIXTEEN YEARS, Bring it On the Musical while not a big success in NYC, ran on the road running up big grosses for about a year, and he has an Academy Award nominated Hollywood film made from his script...WHERE is all the money? Only someone with a drug/booze/mental illness issue could run through all of that money, which if well invested should have been enough to live on and not work much at all, instead he's $48,000 in the hole? None of that makes sense!

by Anonymousreply 71April 16, 2020 6:15 AM

Avenue Q is still done all over the world....it's hugely popular with regional, community and collegiate theater. He's still making money from it, though not to the degree he was when it was in big professional theaters and tours.

All his woes seem to be someone else's fault.

by Anonymousreply 72April 16, 2020 6:54 AM

I recall hearing that there was friction among the creative team back on Avenue Q, specifically Whitty and songwriters Lopez and Marx.

Lopez and Marx stopped working together around the time of BOOK OF MORMON, which Lopez completed with the SOUTH PARK dudes, so there's that part, too.

Writing musicals. It's not for sissies, kids.

by Anonymousreply 73April 16, 2020 2:52 PM

R73 I'm sure Jerry Herman and Harvey Fierstein would contradict that.

by Anonymousreply 74April 16, 2020 2:54 PM

[quote]I recall hearing that there was friction among the creative team back on Avenue Q, specifically Whitty and songwriters Lopez and Marx

They openly talk about not liking each other and developing Avenue Q as not being particularly pleasant in that Showbusiness film.

One of the best things about Avenue Q was the look on Nathan Lane's face when he had to announce it won the Tony for Best Musical - he clearly was not a fan.

by Anonymousreply 75April 16, 2020 5:39 PM

[quote]I don't believe anyone could upstage Nell Carter.

It ain’t easy.

by Anonymousreply 76April 16, 2020 5:56 PM

Miss Whitty sounds like she's the issue

by Anonymousreply 77April 16, 2020 6:19 PM

[quote]I don't believe anyone could upstage Nell Carter.

Please, the fish she vacuumed up in the opening of "Give Me a Break" could upstage Carter.

by Anonymousreply 78April 18, 2020 1:25 AM

For history's sake:

On another note, now that I am coming short on my bills and got dropped by my business manager Altman, Greenfield and Selvaggi for lack of money, I send a “**** you” to the hot-**** William Morris Endeavor “talent agency” and the predatory “law firm” of Levine, Plotkin and Menin.

And a very special **** you to Gwyneth Paltrow and the has-been Go-Go’s.

All of you stole and destroyed three years of my work, turning a no-brainer success into an embarrassing camp skit asking Broadway prices. The greatest work of art of my career. I met every end of the contract and then some. The producers didn’t pay me for 15 months a mere $25K I needed desperately, and then stole half of my scant royalties for the 32-week Broadway flop. F*CK you, **** you, **** you, **** you.

F*CK you, John Buzzetti, you lying greedy cokehead piece of **** agent. The clients you shoved on my show - as you stole my creative control with my first contract - are talentless hacks, awards aside. Michael Mayer isn’t a director, he’s a decorator. The proof is in the flop pudding, bitch. Remember, John, when you called my work a “work of genius” that would “run forever” before you got greedy and ****ed it up?

Remember those phone calls and email chains where you would shame and humiliate me before producers knowing that you had stolen my creative control?

Shall I run some before-and-after tapes of my show and then the hilarious disaster that “the king of Broadway punk” Michael Mayer and your beloved Tom Kitt did? Because it would bring me great pleasure to do so. If Equity has a problem with it I can argue that it’s for my personal safety given the many threats I received. The clips are funny as **** if you’re not me. They show what happens when an agent decides he has the knowledge to be an artist. Want to play, John? You lurk in the shadows normally and will shrivel when exposed to the light.

F*CK you, Conrad Rippy, you grossly unethical predator posing as a lawyer and friend. You sad-sack know-nothing. You and John drew up that first contract that was a theft of my creative control because you were repping the Go-Go’s and the producers and me. I didn’t stand a chance. F*CK you. F*CK you for urging me not to join the Dramatists Guild who would have stopped your predations. Your betrayal destroyed me because you had posed as a friend for so long. Every minute of life I spent with you was a waste. All the kindnesses I showed you, a waste.

And **** you, Gwyneth Paltrow, who Mr. Rippy was representing in secret without telling me. You and all of your idiot first-time producers who fell for John Buzzetti’s bull****. Donovan Leitch. Rick Ferrari. Shame on you all.

by Anonymousreply 79April 18, 2020 1:40 AM

I crafted a show that ran commercially in New York City for for sixteen years. I won a Tony Award. I would later receive an Academy Award nomination and win the Independent Spirit and Writers Guild awards. I was at the top of my field in the most difficult of storytelling mediums, the stage musical. What the **** were you thinking?

And shame on you, John and Conrad, for lying that I refused to change my work to make me seem unreasonable, which is easily disproved by a letter I wrote to the excellent New York Times critic Charles Isherwood saying “Please do not review this work as finished because I am not done.” John, you told a commercial producer not to take on the show - because you hadn’t yet secured a place for your clients - on the basis of a lie (that you made up) that I refused to change anything! Shame on you. What a disgusting abuse of my trust. I’ll just post the letter I wrote. It’s a great letter. I’ll post it tomorrow.

And a special **** you to all guilty parties for sending that “intelligence agency” to give me warnings to shut up for those two ****ing years - I guess the nondisclosure agreement wasn’t enough - and then telling the industry I had just gone mad when I would tell people about the scary encounters, begging for help. You have no idea how terrifying that was and how scarred I am from what you did to me. You have no idea how horrifying it was to fall apart under your overt abuses and find that you were capitalizing on my immolation to justify your theft.

I’m sober. How’s John Buzzetti doing? Still going into coke-fueled rages and slamming down the phone when the truth becomes too much?

I can fight your lies. One by one by one. Because I hold the ****ing records of all of it. Contracts. Emails. Texts. Audio of the first threat I got in August 2017. Email accounts of the terrifying encounters with strangers giving me warnings as they happened. The moment when dunderheaded producer Christine Russell accidentally revealed that she knew about the mercenaries that were hired, after which nobody spoke to me for a year. You have no ****ing idea.

I once had a light in my eyes that you put out from your years of abuse. I used to really like people. You taught me to hate myself and hate people in general.

by Anonymousreply 80April 18, 2020 1:40 AM

You drove me to a suicide attempt in San Francisco that I’ve not discussed yet, but that friends and family will confirm. Sober six months of the drug I fell into when John Buzzetti’s abuse, plus the loss of my livelihood, plus the destruction of my self-expression, plus the stalking and harassment, all became more than I could take alone.

I no longer hate myself. But people? Meh. I am ****ing broke in the middle of a pandemic. You businesspeople and celebrities are rich. I don’t want any of your ****ing money. I want you to spend your time in seclusion ****ing yourselves.

Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose. You took everything in life that I valued. Thank you. F*CK all of you cretins. It’s the funniest ****ing story in a way - if you aren’t me - because it shows how bumbling and inept you really are.

I took massive risks in my career and a bunch of greedy businesspeople who juggle dozens of clients found a way to steal an artist’s property while taking no risks at all.

Well. Except that the artist might survive. So go ahead, make good on the threats that were made to me. By all means. Go right the **** ahead.

There is a difference between power and strength. Power can be lost.

There is a difference between truth and lies. Truth cannot be assailed. It can be covered up by lies. But lies are fragile things.

I apologize to everyone who read this. You have no idea how awful these people have been to me, and how many lies they have told to justify - to others and themselves - the destruction of the artist who trusted them.

In the comments:

The Dramatists Guild can suck my balls, with all due respect. They are a useless organization who really ****ed me over in a couple of ways. They said that my treatment was a matter of “disrespect” rather than a gross ethical violation - having looked at none of the paper trail - which just left me dangling - and my stories of being ignored during the staking are really awful. I wish them nothing but ill, I fear. I’m not a nice person like I used to be. I joined them too late to stop the first abuses - because my lawyer urged me not to join, wah. But when I did join they really behaved disgracefully.

by Anonymousreply 81April 18, 2020 1:41 AM

You drove me to a suicide attempt in San Francisco that I’ve not discussed yet, but that friends and family will confirm. Sober six months of the drug I fell into when John Buzzetti’s abuse, plus the loss of my livelihood, plus the destruction of my self-expression, plus the stalking and harassment, all became more than I could take alone.

I no longer hate myself. But people? Meh. I am ****ing broke in the middle of a pandemic. You businesspeople and celebrities are rich. I don’t want any of your ****ing money. I want you to spend your time in seclusion ****ing yourselves.

Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose. You took everything in life that I valued. Thank you. F*CK all of you cretins. It’s the funniest ****ing story in a way - if you aren’t me - because it shows how bumbling and inept you really are.

I took massive risks in my career and a bunch of greedy businesspeople who juggle dozens of clients found a way to steal an artist’s property while taking no risks at all.

Well. Except that the artist might survive. So go ahead, make good on the threats that were made to me. By all means. Go right the **** ahead.

There is a difference between power and strength. Power can be lost.

There is a difference between truth and lies. Truth cannot be assailed. It can be covered up by lies. But lies are fragile things.

I apologize to everyone who read this. You have no idea how awful these people have been to me, and how many lies they have told to justify - to others and themselves - the destruction of the artist who trusted them.

In the comments:

The Dramatists Guild can suck my balls, with all due respect. They are a useless organization who really ****ed me over in a couple of ways. They said that my treatment was a matter of “disrespect” rather than a gross ethical violation - having looked at none of the paper trail - which just left me dangling - and my stories of being ignored during the staking are really awful. I wish them nothing but ill, I fear. I’m not a nice person like I used to be. I joined them too late to stop the first abuses - because my lawyer urged me not to join, wah. But when I did join they really behaved disgracefully.

by Anonymousreply 82April 18, 2020 1:41 AM

Don't understand how a poseur failure like Donovan Leitch could get a snob elitist like Gwyneth to work with him unless they are still fucking. He is a user of the highest order with no discernable talent who has screwed over everyone he has ever worked with.

by Anonymousreply 83April 18, 2020 2:04 AM

I don't think that FB post was written by someone "sober."

by Anonymousreply 84April 18, 2020 2:10 AM

[quote][R73] I'm sure Jerry Herman and Harvey Fierstein would contradict that.

I'm sure they wouldn't. Do you know anything about the history of Hello, Dolly? Bad reviews in Detroit and behind Herman's back, David Merrick brought in both Bob Merrill and Adams and Strouse to write new songs. (Merrill's two numbers were used, Adams' and Strouse's version of Before the Parade Passes By was not.)

Back in the 1950s or '60s, someone famously said "Hell is being out of town with a Broadway musical." I couldn't find the source with an initial Google search but it is well known.

by Anonymousreply 85April 18, 2020 2:34 AM

[Quote] Hell is being out of town with a Broadway musical.

I said "Hell is doing a Broadway musical out of town with Dolores Gray"!

by Anonymousreply 86April 18, 2020 2:53 AM

Wow. I wonder who would hire him after that. That does seem like a drug fueled rant.

by Anonymousreply 87April 18, 2020 3:04 AM

Cokey St. Clair:

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by Anonymousreply 88April 18, 2020 4:46 AM

That Asian fop director never stood a chance.

by Anonymousreply 89April 18, 2020 4:59 AM

Uncanny.

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by Anonymousreply 90April 18, 2020 5:01 AM

Wow, Whitty looks sweaty, and coked up, and really believing this dopey idea is art.

It sounds insufferable of course. It MUST ALL be everyone else's fault that it flopped, I mean it sounds like such a guaranteed crowd-pleaser!

by Anonymousreply 91April 18, 2020 5:47 AM

Jeff is kray-kray and always has been. His trie talent was dancing in a jockstrap at the Slide in the 90s.

I know some of the players in this tale—and Jeff’s reportage is neither accurate nor credible.

In short....

SHE KRAY!

by Anonymousreply 92April 18, 2020 6:04 AM

R91 Coke-induced grandiosity, and - wow - the original concept is so cringingly awful. It sounds like satire of bad theater. It makes me wonder exactly how much worse could the meddling interlopers have make this abomination? It was dead on arrival.

by Anonymousreply 93April 18, 2020 6:04 AM

Most of the trade reports of this story have been careful to say this is only one side of an obviously difficult situation and there is probably more to it.

by Anonymousreply 94April 18, 2020 6:09 AM

[quote]I’ve been wanting to adapt The Arcadia by Sir Phillip Sidney for twenty years, and had never quite found a venue. And I thought, “Gosh. I wonder if it would work with this amazing catalog of Go Gos songs?”

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by Anonymousreply 95April 18, 2020 6:20 AM

LMAO, R88! W&W

by Anonymousreply 96April 18, 2020 10:25 AM

r87 in fairness, anyone with a track record (even a decade ago) is given a pass on his/her public coke/meth meltdown. If s/he's a self-important, bitter asshole with zero self-awareness 3+ months afterward--well that changes outcomes. That's probably part of the reason the trades mentioned above are being cautious; they're waiting to see if he calms down.

r95 WTF??? JFC that sounds like bad 70s television. Davey stumbles into a Time Machine, and the boys to go back to Henry VIII's court to rescue him! Does Davey lose his head? Find out next week.

by Anonymousreply 97April 18, 2020 11:55 AM

Jeff Whitty is psycho.

Almost unrelated - the show itself was actually a lighthearted fun, if puzzling show. I was seeing a string of shows around that time with my sister, and we enjoyed it enough. The music was great, at least.

by Anonymousreply 98April 18, 2020 12:11 PM

Meth-induced rants are always regrettable

by Anonymousreply 99April 18, 2020 12:18 PM

R85 I think it was the dazzling Larry Gelbart. For some reason I recall it as, If somehow Hitler is alive today, I hope he’s out of town with a musical, or something like that.

by Anonymousreply 100April 18, 2020 4:43 PM

"We Got the Beat" performance:

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by Anonymousreply 101April 18, 2020 4:50 PM

I've seen... worse.

by Anonymousreply 102April 18, 2020 5:07 PM

[quote] Michael Mayer isn’t a director, he’s a decorator. The proof is in the flop pudding, bitch.

Anyone know his DL userid?

by Anonymousreply 103April 18, 2020 5:12 PM

Michael Mayer's career, particularly his (well, mixed) success directing musicals and opera remains a mystery to me.

Shows (like "Spring Awakening" or the Hedwig revival) seem to succeed in spite of him (eg, on star power, the strength of the score, etc.), not because of his input. Or they just look terrible. Even the "We Got The Beat" excerpt is an example: hyper-designed sets that are probably expensive but just look dumb and cheap and amateurish. He has no taste.

by Anonymousreply 104April 18, 2020 5:24 PM

I saw it and liked it, it was a more creative approach to the jukebox musical and the GoGos music needed another element to structure the show around beyond just the songs themselves. But watching the Macy’s Day clip what jumped out was the element that if anything sunk the show, Peppermint, who I remembered as Spearmint until I looked it up.

Right away a RuPaul personality seemed like stunt casting and might have worked had the poor thing any talent. But she was wooden, tone deaf and seemed very uncomfortable in her body on stage. The show would come to a halting, grinding stop when ever she showed up. It was a part Eartha Kitt would have been perfect for and added so much to the show. But it was more like let’s put this transgendered person in our show and be the first Broadway production to do it. Most of the cast looked like they were have a great time, she did not.

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by Anonymousreply 105April 18, 2020 6:15 PM

SHOW ME THE CLITTY OF METHY JEFF WHITTY!

by Anonymousreply 106April 18, 2020 6:40 PM

[quote]the element that if anything sunk the show, Peppermint,

Yeah, that was it.

by Anonymousreply 107April 18, 2020 6:52 PM

R101 looks like a fun concept by a high school show choir director that’s entertaining to watch for a few minutes, but gets tiresome by the 3rd song. The GoGos’ Saturday morning cartoon music set to Elizabethan times is too much, IMO, and would work better set to ancient mythology or the 60s, maybe. Instead, it comes off as lame Shrek knockoff.

by Anonymousreply 108April 18, 2020 7:30 PM

[quote]Macy’s Day

Oh, dear.

by Anonymousreply 109April 18, 2020 7:31 PM

They should have done something like "Almost Famous" with the Go Gos music.

by Anonymousreply 110April 18, 2020 7:43 PM

Was Peppermint's understudy a Broadway performer?

by Anonymousreply 111April 18, 2020 7:47 PM

R21 Tales of the City did make it to stage. I saw it in SF and it was HORRIBLE a musical train wreck.

by Anonymousreply 112April 18, 2020 7:51 PM

He should stick with his forte - x-rated puppet musicals.

by Anonymousreply 113April 18, 2020 8:06 PM

[quote]it comes off as lame Shrek knockoff

Can you imagine anyone stealing from SHREK?

I turned down a free ticket to that thing after hearing word of mouth.

by Anonymousreply 114April 18, 2020 10:04 PM

Speaking of Whitty, I've been wanting to watch Can You Ever Forgive Me, and it is STILL not streaming. It was in the theaters well over a year ago. It is available for DVD purchase, but not for streaming. I read the book, and would love to see the movie.

by Anonymousreply 115April 19, 2020 2:57 AM

Is there any way we can set up Jeff Whitty on a date with Sam Heughan?

by Anonymousreply 116April 19, 2020 3:00 AM

Based on this thread, I went back and rewatched "Show Business: The Road to Broadway" from 2007, which tracks AVENUE Q, WICKED, TABOO, & CAROLINE OR CHANGE openings that season. Worth a look all these years later! Some observations:

Jeff W comes off a bit unhinged even back then. He and the AVENUE Q songwriters did dislike each other, but the source of friction is not disclosed. Jeff then wins Best Book TONY. It is a genuinely funny, charming book, if a slight one.

The greater surprise for me was AVENUE Q winning Best Score over WICKED: fun score, but whose songs are they singing in auditions and piano bars 13 years later, I ask?

And yes, Nathan Lane does throw some facial micro-aggression shade when he announces Q as Best Musical.

The theatre press (Riedel, Isherwood, Brantley) all show themselves to be the clueless, smug assholes they continue to be today.

by Anonymousreply 117April 19, 2020 3:22 AM

More:

Whatever happened to Euan Morton from TABOO? Papi Raul is still with us.

I never saw CAROLINE OR CHANGE. Considering the critical reception sounds mixed (at least based on the doc), and that it ran all of 5 months, why the planned revival? Was it reworked extensively? I listen to a lot of show music and must confess: I've never heard anything from this show, not once. Am I missing something wonderful?

by Anonymousreply 118April 19, 2020 3:26 AM

[Quote] Whatever happened to Euan Morton from TABOO?

He had a child with a woman. The child now plays young verision of Jim Parsons' character from the Big Bang Theory on a spin off. IIRC, Morton came out as bipolar, or at least suffering from depression a few years ago. He did some Broadway work (Sondheim on Sondheim) and he led a tour of Hedwig after the Broadway run.

by Anonymousreply 119April 19, 2020 3:33 AM

*plays a young version

by Anonymousreply 120April 19, 2020 3:33 AM

Thanks, R119. I'm mildly surprised Morton is straight.

I could see where he might make a great HEDWIG. At least, singing.

by Anonymousreply 121April 19, 2020 3:35 AM

[Quote] I'm mildly surprised Morton is straight.

I didn't say that...

by Anonymousreply 122April 19, 2020 3:35 AM

Morton also put out a few albums. I think they were self released.

by Anonymousreply 123April 19, 2020 3:36 AM

R117 Road To Broadway - Jeffy has little coverage, maybe three scenes. Seems highly strung. Wasn't Caroline, or Change about to be revived on Broadway?

The reviewers are, total cunts.

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by Anonymousreply 124April 19, 2020 3:44 AM

[quote]The reviewers are total cunts.

They really are. Riedel (who's a gossip columnist at this point, not even a critic) is completely dishonest in his reactions to several of the shows, revising his take again and again. Little weasel. And he really did campaign against TABOO. What was the point?

The others are pontificating dickwads, trying to sound savvy about business, how to market a show successfully, younger audiences.. and none of them know a freaking thing. They can't even assess the value of a show when they see it.

by Anonymousreply 125April 19, 2020 3:52 AM

TABOO was a mess. It was in London as well. The show is crying out to have the George - Jon Moss romance at its centre. But I guess George wouldn't give Moss the satisfaction, nor perhaps would Moss have signed of on it back then.

by Anonymousreply 126April 19, 2020 3:54 AM

1) Euan Morton has been playing King George in Hamilton for awhile.

2) People may enjoy braying the awful songs from Wicked but that doesn't mean they're actually good songs. I'll argue that Avenue Q will be around just as long if not longer than Wicked. It's cute and far easier to produce than Wicked (with a far better book).

by Anonymousreply 127April 19, 2020 3:58 AM

[quote]The greater surprise for me was AVENUE Q winning Best Score over WICKED: fun score, but whose songs are they singing in auditions and piano bars 13 years later, I ask?

I really enjoyed the songs in Avenue Q. I was totally bored by the songs in Wicked.

by Anonymousreply 128April 19, 2020 4:17 AM

[quote]The greater surprise for me was AVENUE Q winning Best Score over WICKED: fun score, but whose songs are they singing in auditions and piano bars 13 years later, I ask?

That says more about the current crop of actors on Broadway than it does about which show has the better score.

by Anonymousreply 129April 19, 2020 4:41 AM

How much of Avenue Q did he really write? I think Marx and Lopez created the characters developed what the show would be about before Whitty joined the team.

by Anonymousreply 130April 19, 2020 5:00 AM

The quality of a score needn't be judged by whether it's sung at auditions and piano bars but by how it serves the piece it is composed for. The score for Avenue Q served its show very well and deserved the Tony. That said I love Wicked, love its score, and wouldn't have been disappointed if it had won the Tony. One short day in the Emerald City....

by Anonymousreply 131April 19, 2020 5:02 AM

[quote] Speaking of Whitty, I've been wanting to watch Can You Ever Forgive Me, and it is STILL not streaming. It was in the theaters well over a year ago. It is available for DVD purchase, but not for streaming. I read the book, and would love to see the movie.

It was on HBO Go for months.

by Anonymousreply 132April 19, 2020 5:15 AM

[quote] He had a child with a woman. The child now plays young verision of Jim Parsons' character from the Big Bang Theory on a spin off. IIRC, Morton came out as bipolar, or at least suffering from depression a few years ago. He did some Broadway work (Sondheim on Sondheim) and he led a tour of Hedwig after the Broadway run.

Tried to hire him several years back for something, but needed to have him come in mostly to make sure he could do a convincing American accent. We bent over backwards to make him comfortable in the audition, I'd already met with him prior to discuss the role at length, and it was something he definitely seemed to want to do.

He completely fell apart at the audition, got belligerent, stormed out, came back, fell apart again and the rest of the time was spent assuring him he did fine while he tried in vain to have us change the character to someone who was Scottish.

I reported back to the money people that it was a no-go before I contacted him and I was urged to figure out how to make it work. So it was a series of back and forth phone calls and texts with this guy explaining to him that I would work with him to nail the role and everyone wanted him, etc. I couldn't believe I was having to suck up to this guy but I went out of my way to give him confidence, he agreed to do the role, we sent over a contract to his agent who slept on it for weeks, getting us to the point where we were about to start working (meanwhile I was going through almost daily pep talks with this guy) and he finally decided he didn't want to do it and I threw a fucking fit, which I rarely do with actors unless their behavior warrants it. His behavior more than warranted it.

so I hope the motherfucker IS bi-polar, because otherwise he's just a complete asshole.

by Anonymousreply 133April 19, 2020 5:28 AM

Interesting. Was this a short? Independent feature?

by Anonymousreply 134April 19, 2020 5:32 AM

R133 Now, that's good dish!

by Anonymousreply 135April 19, 2020 5:38 AM

Sorry EM is an asshole (or emotionally unstable, in all likelihood) but yes, that's exactly the kind of inside story I come here for.

by Anonymousreply 136April 19, 2020 6:20 AM

R124 Thanks for posting that.

I wonder if the critics are embarrassed about how they came across. Especially the dick from the Post. I'm glad Boy George called him out.

The guys who wrote the songs for Avenue Q where so schlubby. But I felt sorry for the lyricist. His father was a pain in the ass, embarrassing him while the cameras were rolling about how he could never keep a job and was constantly getting kicked out of high school.

by Anonymousreply 137April 19, 2020 1:48 PM

Anyone else think the composer for "Caroline, or Change" came across as hilariously pretentious in R124?

Of course, there was more than a whiff of pretentiousness that came off of the entire show. "We are doing something very important here!"

by Anonymousreply 138April 19, 2020 1:51 PM

[quote]And a very special fuck you to Gwyneth Paltrow and the has-been Go-Go’s.

Maybe . . . it wasn't such a good idea to create a whole show around the songs of people you regard as "has-beens." Just sayin' . . .

by Anonymousreply 139April 19, 2020 2:05 PM

Bobby Lopez is still a fat schlub, but thanks to Q, BOOK OF MORMON, and the FROZEN franchise, he is a fat schlub with many, many millions of dollars.

Is Jeff Marx writing with a new partner?

by Anonymousreply 140April 19, 2020 2:36 PM

I didn't realize that Bobby Lopez was the youngest (and quickest) person to win the EGOT.

And that Jeff Marx sings with the Gay Mens Chorus in LA.

Didn't they have a falling out?

It appears that Lopez writes now with his rather plain wife.

by Anonymousreply 141April 19, 2020 2:51 PM

Yes, Mr. and Mrs. Lopez now write together professionally. I found them incredibly annoying and smug in their press together for FROZEN 2 (a really crap score BTW, after the home run of the first FROZEN movie and the disappointing Bway version).

I wonder if he'll ever work with the MORMON team again, the guys who do SOUTH PARK. I don't love the show, but it's a clever score.

by Anonymousreply 142April 19, 2020 3:10 PM

Wicked is a confounding mess but its score - and most of Stephen Schwartz's work - is way better than he gets credit for - well constructed lyrics, good internal thoughts and humor, and solid melodies. The Ave Q score states its joke in its title and never gets past the one wink, with barely jingle-worthy tunes.

by Anonymousreply 143April 19, 2020 4:32 PM

r132 -- I only have Amazon and Netlix. I didn't realize it was already on HBO. DOn't they release their shows after a while, though?

by Anonymousreply 144April 19, 2020 4:45 PM

It is a genuine travesty in Tony history that Avenue Q won all those awards. Anyone with half a brain could see that Caroline, or Change was a masterpiece and easily stands as one of the best musicals of the decade. Its book and score are marvelous achievements.

Poor Tonya losing to that shrieking Idina! Years later, I ran into Tonya and told her she was robbed of Tony and I was still upset about it after all this time.

As for Head Over Heels, it was a terrible and lame show, with only the hilarious performance by Bonnie Milligan as a saving grace. Spencer Liff’s chaotic choreography was an embarrassment and the show was done on the cheap, cheap, cheap.

Whitty should be happy that his name wasn’t attached to this crap. I felt most sorry for Rachel York, a real talent who finds herself in bomb after bomb. Now SHE is someone who should fire her agent.

by Anonymousreply 145April 19, 2020 6:56 PM

Yes, R145. Why isn't Rachel York a huge star? I watched the video someone posted of Victor/Victoria. I hated the musical, but she as absolutely amazing. I saw the original run, and hadn't remembered just how wonderful she was. How was she not nominated for a Tony that year? and why is not a bigger star?

by Anonymousreply 146April 19, 2020 9:02 PM

Was Jeff Whitty involved in Book of Mormon and then removed?

I saw the Broadway Head Over Heels. It was weird and fun but enjoyable. The sets were incredibly cheap.

I don't know that it was ever going to a big success. It opened right after the Tonys in the dead of summer which is not a strong time for a Broadway show to get any attention. It also was aimed at wealthy gays who were all mostly out of town. Besides all of this the Keri Russell/Adam Driver revival of Burn This had already been announced for early 2019, so even if Head Over Heels had caught on it would have needed a new home and ATG, the owners of the theatre have no other theatres.

Jeff Whitty sounds like a drug addled lunatic and posts like this do not make things better for him.

by Anonymousreply 147April 19, 2020 10:09 PM

No, Jeff Whitty was not involved w/ BOM.

by Anonymousreply 148April 20, 2020 1:29 AM

Sorry, guys. I was locked out of posting because of Prime Time. I would rather not say anything about the type of project it was. It was not theater and it was not a short film.

After all this time, I can't do anything but laugh at it, but at the time I was really pissed. Just all the excuses and lies and the game playing. There's definitely a reason he doesn't work much.

I ran into his name a couple weeks ago when I sat down to watch the CBS series Evil. He's a semi-regular on it, but I'm not sure what he does on it. He's either the voice or the body double of the demon on there. So I see someone was able to put up with him on an ongoing basis.

by Anonymousreply 149April 20, 2020 1:40 AM

R149 ...who?

by Anonymousreply 150April 20, 2020 1:47 AM

Euan Morton.

by Anonymousreply 151April 20, 2020 1:48 AM

It's comical that an actor would come to the US and not bother mastering an American accent. You should give him Lulu's number.

by Anonymousreply 152April 20, 2020 1:49 AM

Oh god, I edited my post and cut his name out. Sorry!

by Anonymousreply 153April 20, 2020 1:50 AM

[quote]It's comical that an actor would come to the US and not bother mastering an American accent.

In fairness to him, he came to the US to play a part of someone from Great Britain.

And most American actors go to other countries without being able to master their accents and dialects.

by Anonymousreply 154April 20, 2020 2:27 AM

[Quote] And most American actors go to other countries without being able to master their accents and dialects.

They don't tend to stay, though, do they?

Euan Morton has made his career in America. And he didn't luck out with a long term gig where he played a Brit (e.g. Jane Leeves).

by Anonymousreply 155April 20, 2020 2:36 AM

r145

Caroline or Change is no masterpiece. Crikey, a singing washing machine—and the big question at the first act curtain is whether Caroline the maid is gonna keep the change she finds in the kid’s jeans? Um, no.

by Anonymousreply 156April 20, 2020 5:44 AM

I loved that performance at R101.

Sorry, I don't buy blacks being treated as equals back in those slavery friendly days

& why did they mention all of those dance moves in the song that hadn't even been invented yet?

by Anonymousreply 157April 20, 2020 5:52 AM

[quote]Caroline, or Change was a masterpiece and easily stands as one of the best musicals of the decade.

I agree. I thought I would hate it and I was really engaged and moved.

by Anonymousreply 158April 20, 2020 6:27 AM

R145 & R146, I worked with Rachel York on a road tour for over a year. She's not a huge star for a number of reasons:

One: she can't do 8 shows a week for an extended period of time and never could, and though that kind of work ethic in shows is becoming a thing of the past (sadly), when you're the star you're expected to be there- and she wasn't. She has never been able to pace herself and find a consistent vocal performance she can do for long run- it was always all or nothing with a lot of poor technique. Her constant absences pissed off a lot of local promoters in major markets (LA and SF) and those people invest in and produce shows in NYC. People (rightly) complain about Karen Olivo- Rachel York is just as bad, but without Karen's coke problem.

Two: her (now ex) husband was also her manager and negotiated her out of many jobs with crazy demands. She has a daughter with him and raising the kid became a priority for a few years. At the time she had also an agent based in England, I think- not helpful.

Three: She's typecast as a type that no one writes shows for anymore. More than anything, she is one of the many 80s/90s era Broadway actors who can't find work in this crap era of jukebox musical/screaming pop/SJW non-traditional casting. She's lucky to have gotten the parts that she has.

by Anonymousreply 159April 20, 2020 9:34 AM

R159, Thanks a lot for your insights. I never realized she had Karen Olivo levels of attendance problems. Disaster was, well, a disaster, but I thought York gave a great performance (her line about only looking at the pictures in Highlights magazine had me in stitches) and she was great in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes at Encores too.

You’re very right that people aren’t writing good roles anymore, though.

R156, you are completely missing the point of Caroline keeping the money. It is a huge decision and a brilliant idea for conflict- very real and human conflict.

by Anonymousreply 160April 20, 2020 9:47 AM

Didn't York do the national tour of the last Anything Goes revival?

by Anonymousreply 161April 20, 2020 10:11 AM

I remember renting Show Business (enjoyed it) because the special features were supposed to show an argument or tense exchange between Rosie and Raul but it wasn't there.

Anyone know what I'm talking about?

thanks

by Anonymousreply 162April 20, 2020 10:39 AM

With Morton’s son starting on one of CBS’s top shows, I’m sure the network will find places for him to work even if he acts up.

by Anonymousreply 163April 20, 2020 12:00 PM

R157, the source material, Arcadia, was written decades before the African slave trade. I do not think it occured to anyone that slavery could be tied to ethnicity at that point.

(This makes me wonder how the world would be different if they had decided Scandinavians or Chinese people would be the race of slaves.)

by Anonymousreply 164April 20, 2020 1:48 PM

Does Karen really have a coke problem? Does anyone remember years ago when she left NYC to make pottery in the midwest?

by Anonymousreply 165April 20, 2020 2:30 PM

R164 Fortune cookies would be a lot more jaded.

by Anonymousreply 166April 20, 2020 2:38 PM

Sigh.

Remember when the biggest upset of the theatre season was the mixed response to THE INHERITANCE?

Good times.

by Anonymousreply 167April 20, 2020 2:49 PM

[quote]I don't think that FB post was written by someone "sober."

I disagree, I've read plenty of posts written under the influence and they are never, EVER that coherent. There's always some point where the story turns into wild fiction, but his rant never crosses that line. It's angry but it's not a meltdown.

by Anonymousreply 168April 20, 2020 3:44 PM

Wasn't York reported to be a wee bit indiscreet about her iconic co-star's sexuality?

by Anonymousreply 169April 20, 2020 3:46 PM

[quote]I disagree, I've read plenty of posts written under the influence and they are never, EVER that coherent. There's always some point where the story turns into wild fiction, but his rant never crosses that line. It's angry but it's not a meltdown.

It is EXHIBIT A of something written on meth.

People on meth can have laser, obsessive focus. But they also get wildly paranoid.

by Anonymousreply 170April 20, 2020 3:46 PM

I think Tony Kushner is rather overrated.

Even Angels in America, which was beautiful, was also a bloated mess.

by Anonymousreply 171April 20, 2020 3:48 PM

[quote] There's always some point where the story turns into wild fiction

You didn't find his claims of being followed just a wee bit fictionish?

by Anonymousreply 172April 20, 2020 3:54 PM

Fiction: Everyone he has ever worked with had only one goal in life: To screw him out of money and credit.

by Anonymousreply 173April 20, 2020 4:30 PM

R164 You read too much slavery timing into my post.

I can't buy black characters being treated as equals back then

because slavery proved that they weren't (even if the official spin is that the story happened before the slave trade had begun).

by Anonymousreply 174April 20, 2020 4:50 PM

R174 - The concept is a GoGos musical set in the 16th century, and you’re complaining about show’s lack of historical accuracy?

by Anonymousreply 175April 20, 2020 6:23 PM

R172 In fairness to Whitty when I read that I was at first dismissive, but then remembering that Weinstein hired ex-Mossad agents to track actresses and journalists, it does seem anything could be possible.

by Anonymousreply 176April 20, 2020 8:22 PM

I've seen a bootleg of the Broadway version, and it was...ok. The heavy-set girl who turns out to be gay was brilliant -- I forget her name -- but the thing called "peppermint" was entirely unnecessary. Her character was not, I believe, in Jeff's version; she was a late edition. She slowed the show down because we were all supposed to think she was just the most fantastic thing to walk the earth, yet her performance and persona were complexly wooden and useless. It made the show seem desperate to be woke.

Also, why on earth call the show Our Lips are Sealed, when the song We Got the Beat is far better known, and sets the tone for the entire story. Maintaining the beat is what drives the plot. So why call it anything other than We Got the Beat?

There were a million misguided choices along the way, but I do think a stronger directorial hand and savvy marketing might have saved the day.

by Anonymousreply 177April 20, 2020 9:17 PM

The show was called HEAD OVER HEELS, R177.

The big actress is Bonnie Milligan, and yes, she's wonderful.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 178April 20, 2020 9:50 PM

Conscious Uncouplings can be messy

by Anonymousreply 179April 20, 2020 9:55 PM

R174, I always find it it interesting what anachronisms people choose to be bothered by and which they choose to ignore.

Or in this case, projecting modern racial views backward and complaining that the production does not conform to them.

As one scholar recently pointed out that the three characters in Shakespeare specified as black have certain traits attributed to them because of their skin, but so do redheaded and short characters. However, all three are presented as being part of the same social world and class as the white characters.

Black people in English Renaissance literature are more likely to be kings, princes, and military leaders. Only a few are servants. And none are slaves.

by Anonymousreply 180April 21, 2020 1:49 AM

Yeah R175.. Kind of like if they staged this show back in the late 1700s (before women & blacks could vote) & made it about a black openly lesbian President of the USA.

I couldn't get pass that either.

by Anonymousreply 181April 21, 2020 2:11 AM

[Quote] the thing called "peppermint"

Is that really necessary?

by Anonymousreply 182April 21, 2020 3:49 AM

R182, I was the one who said it and, no, it was not necessary. I try to be kind in my posts, and that kind of comment is far from typical of me. Thank you for calling me on it.

by Anonymousreply 183April 21, 2020 4:31 AM

Why is it that the white, Jewish writers of Caroline or Change are given a pass about writing stories of the black experience? It seems inconsistent with the shrill SJW era we live in.

by Anonymousreply 184April 25, 2020 5:15 AM

[quote]Why is it that the white, Jewish writers of Caroline or Change are given a pass about writing stories of the black experience? It seems inconsistent with the shrill SJW era we live in.

I think because they are both well-known writers, especially Kushner, the sacred cow of gay Jewish intelligentsia, whose work is mainly above reproach because of above characteristics, and it was just long enough ago before that foolish bit of artistic fascism was in full effect.

Also because "Caroline or Change" is an especially wonderful work, destroying the petty and infantile notion that artists must "stay in their own lane", or else be banished by some arbitrary "rule of authenticity." Remember, not a single Puerto Rican was on the creative team of "West Side Story", yet that gets produced constantly whether we want it or not!

by Anonymousreply 185April 25, 2020 5:35 AM

I didn't see CAROLINE but had been looking forward to discovering it through the revival.

I'm listening to the OCR. Some of the vocals are just stellar, but I do not love Tesori as a songwriter for the theatre. Didn't love the score for FUN HOME and I don't love CAROLINE so far.

by Anonymousreply 186April 25, 2020 5:46 AM

[quote]Why is it that the white, Jewish writers of Caroline or Change are given a pass about writing stories of the black experience? It seems inconsistent with the shrill SJW era we live in.

In fairness, Kushner was writing about his own childhood, being a young boy with a black servant in the house.

by Anonymousreply 187April 25, 2020 4:43 PM

Also, if you do it well, no one is going to complain about writing characters of an experience outside your own.

The SJW only get up in arms if its done badly and rings false.

Caroline, love it or hate it, presents fully dimensional black characters and does not condescend. That is all anyone really cares about.

by Anonymousreply 188April 25, 2020 6:01 PM

[quote]The SJW only get up in arms if its done badly and rings false.

That's bullshit, unless that's specific to Broadway, which is not on the radar of the average SJW.

Their whole point is that it shouldn't happen at all; the work itself, including quality is irrelevant to them.

by Anonymousreply 189April 25, 2020 9:15 PM

I follow a lot of this stuff, R189, and I cannot think of any well-done work that engendered much outrage.

But I have to admit, that there are so few works that get cultures with any accuracy, that it might seem like everything gets attacked.

I used to be bewildered about how lax artists are when presenting other cultures, because it is so easy in these times to do the research needed. But when I read American Dirt, I realized that a lot of these people just do not care. They use people from other cultures are reflections of themselves rather than trying to meet them where they are. (American Dirt reads like it was written by someone who has never met anyone from Mexico.)

by Anonymousreply 190April 25, 2020 9:33 PM

I sometimes wish the DLers who constantly whine about PC/SJWs/"woke" young people destroying culture as we know it would think about gays and lesbians the same way they think of POC. Or disabled people. Or any other minority class still standing in the shadow of a vast majority.

Then think about our stories, about how accurately, how humanely, how fully dimensional those representations of gay people have been in commercial theatre until recently. In the first 75-80 years of the film industry. Up until the past decade or so in TV.

Think hard.

Then tell us all again why it's not essential to let people from marginalized groups tell their own stories.

by Anonymousreply 191April 25, 2020 9:46 PM

[quote] I cannot think of any well-done work that engendered much outrage.

Miss Saigon.

Although I would quibble about well-done.

by Anonymousreply 192April 25, 2020 9:47 PM

Then why bring up Saigon?

by Anonymousreply 193April 25, 2020 9:50 PM

[quote] I sometimes wish the DLers who constantly whine about PC/SJWs/"woke" young people destroying culture as we know it would think about gays and lesbians the same way they think of POC. Or disabled people. Or any other minority class still standing in the shadow of a vast majority. Then think about our stories, about how accurately, how humanely, how fully dimensional those representations of gay people have been in commercial theatre until recently. In the first 75-80 years of the film industry. Up until the past decade or so in TV. Think hard. Then tell us all again why it's not essential to let people from marginalized groups tell their own stories.

Oh fucking please. Just because you ARE what you write about doesn't suddenly give you any more insight or talent. I can think of several plays written by gay men about gay men that were absolute fucking garbage, and hundreds more films that were even worse. Perspective doesn't mean shit if you don't have anything to say or any talent to say it.

by Anonymousreply 194April 25, 2020 9:53 PM

I think the outrage about Miss Saigon had more to do with casting than with how the characters were represented, so it is not in the same category.

(Though I would say that its representation of all characters, Asian and white, is pretty one-dimensional.)

by Anonymousreply 195April 25, 2020 9:58 PM

To each his/her own, R194.

But please feel free to share all the marvelous, insightful stories of gay life and love that have come from straight writers over the past century.

by Anonymousreply 196April 25, 2020 9:58 PM

R194, I do not think that straight representations of gays are any better. In fact, most of them are worse--filled with stereotypes and condescension.

Being gay does not make anyone a great writer. But it does mean you are more likely to see gay people as individuals rather than types.

by Anonymousreply 197April 25, 2020 10:01 PM

[quote] Being gay does not make anyone a great writer. But it does mean you are more likely to see gay people as individuals rather than types.

No it doesn't. Go watch any movie put out by Wolfe Video, TLA Releasing or Breaking Glass Pictures, Casper Andreas, Rob Williams, JC Calciano, or the play Party or The Last Sunday in June, etc. etc. All stereotypical bullshit.

by Anonymousreply 198April 25, 2020 10:10 PM

[quote] But please feel free to share all the marvelous, insightful stories of gay life and love that have come from straight writers over the past century.

Two that come to mind without me even having to look are Laura Z. Hobson and Andre Aciman. And Diana Son.

by Anonymousreply 199April 25, 2020 10:17 PM

Jeff Whitty was so hot when Avenue Q came out. I was 15 and he basically made me realize I was gay... the Tony speech and that Geocities website he ran for years. Whitless. I'm laughing my ass off at this *open letter* ... drama is definitely the right industry for her. I hope there is more to come.

by Anonymousreply 200April 25, 2020 11:31 PM

Euan Morton did go full-frontal in some off-Broadway or fringe show in which he played an emperor, perhaps Nero? Did anyone see it?

Rachel York, usually quite excellent when I've seen her, was very good indeed in "Victor/Victoria'; I think one reason she didn't get a Tony nod was because she was basically doing a very good imitation of Lesley Ann Warren in the film (with a couple more crappy songs).

by Anonymousreply 201April 25, 2020 11:43 PM

Andre Aciman is about as straight as a picnic basket full of dildos and lube.

by Anonymousreply 202April 26, 2020 12:29 AM

R198, so your argument is that you can make a list of obscure film release companies and writers no one cares about?

For every Kushner, Baldwin or Firbank there are MANY bad artists. That is why I said "more likely" rather than "guaranteed" to to see gay people as individuals rather than types.

If you look in the mid-range of okay, but not great writers you have folk like Adam Bock, Joe Keenan, Christopher Bram, etc who can write gay characters that do not embarrass me.

But lists like you started (and like I added to) really proves nothing. There are hundreds of people we can add to each list. We are talking about trends--not rules.

by Anonymousreply 203April 26, 2020 3:12 AM

I see. So I prove my point and you start in with the qualifiers. Nice playing with you. Sorry you're a poor loser.

by Anonymousreply 204April 26, 2020 5:02 AM

If writers of the past had never taken imaginative leaps into the experience of the “other,” most great works of fiction would never have been written. I agree with R204 - there are enough examples to debunk the claim that you have to be part of a certain group to write accurately and sympathetically about them.

.And straight-identified writers ain’t necessarily straight. Just sayin’.

by Anonymousreply 205April 26, 2020 7:14 AM

Lord of the Flies is false, written by a dirty adult.

by Anonymousreply 206April 26, 2020 7:22 AM

Long after “Fun Home” is forgotten. [italic]A Doll’s House[/italic] and [italic]Anna Karenina[/italic] will still be assigned reading in high schools and universities. It’s the quality if the writer, not the oppression points they’ve earned, that matters.

by Anonymousreply 207April 26, 2020 8:09 AM

What R204 and R205 do that is fascinating, is when they cannot argue with the point being made they make up one they can argue with.

No one said all gay people write gay characters well or that straight people can never write gay characters.

No one ever said that you cannot write accurately and sympathetically toward a group you are not part of. (This all started with Caroline or Change!)

But it is easier to use the argument you practiced over the years against points that were never made.

So you get to feel like you are smart, which I suspect is what is really at issue here.

by Anonymousreply 208April 26, 2020 12:22 PM

I also enjoy R207 making a point that even Fun Home fans would probably agree with, as if it were a strike against a culture gone wrong!

Go get 'em tiger!

by Anonymousreply 209April 26, 2020 12:24 PM

Wow I’ve rarely seen a thread become not fun so fast.

by Anonymousreply 210April 26, 2020 2:33 PM

r118

Caroline or Change bored me to the point that I almost left but I do love Lot's Wife... I just don't understand why the show is so beloved by some though. I do remember Anika Noni Rose was good in it

by Anonymousreply 211April 26, 2020 2:47 PM

R209 No - Fun Home was NOT a strike against culture, and is quite trivial, yet was hailed by critics as being “profound and important” because an actual lesbian wrote the book and lyrics, which shielded it from negative criticism. The effort to flesh it out into a movie version has been troubled, to say the least. I love Jake Gyllenhaal, but the film version is going to BOMB in theaters.

by Anonymousreply 212April 26, 2020 4:38 PM

R212, what reviews are you talking about. Most of the ones I found on a google search liked it because they liked the story, characters or music. Where are the ones that say it is profound and important because Lisa Kron is an actual lesbian?

by Anonymousreply 213April 26, 2020 5:01 PM

This guy has made bad decision after bad decision.

As for his Oscar nomination, he wouldn't make much money from that. It may get his name out there among producers more assuming he was able to campaign and do roundtable interviews and present himself as smart and good at what he does but he's a loose cannon. It was an indie. He may get some money from DVD sales and streaming, but it's not like he got a cash bonus from the distributor.

by Anonymousreply 214April 26, 2020 5:06 PM

[I didn't realize that Bobby Lopez was the youngest (and quickest) person to win the EGOT.]

He's also the only double EGOT.

by Anonymousreply 215April 26, 2020 5:21 PM

Suddenly, EGOT is a much less impressive achievement.

by Anonymousreply 216April 26, 2020 5:22 PM

[quote]A musical with all the dramatic richness of a memorable play . . . — a rare sighting that could induce a theater critic to genuflect if not erupt in a chorus of hallelujahs. - Los Angeles Times

[quote]The score, by Jeanine Tesori (music) and Lisa Kron (book and lyrics), is rich and troubled and psychologically nuanced, in a way that seems inescapably Sondheimian. - The New Yorker

[quote]A memory musical, as haunted and haunting as The Glass Menagerie, thanks to Kron's quicksilver script and lyrics and the music by Tesori (Violet, Shrek, Caroline, Or Change), whose work merges the experimentalism and euphony that suffuse the best of Sondheim; the only other contemporary composer in this vein was the late Jonathan Larson (Rent). - Deadline

And then there are the 12 Tony nominations and 3 wins. Fun Home will go down in history as the one of the most forgettable musicals to receive those awards.

by Anonymousreply 217April 26, 2020 5:31 PM

R212 should look at R217. Not a mention of Kron's lesbianism as profound and important. No one even claims Fun Home is in any way significant. Like most of the reviews they find it a moving and effective show.

Fun Home may not be the best musical in the world, but it is certainly a crowd pleaser. I have seen two regional productions and know people involved with many others. Red state audiences go nuts for it.

I think for gay people it is ho-hum, but for conservative audiences it humanizes gay people--and they love it for that. Maybe they also love themselves for being accepting of the work.

by Anonymousreply 218April 26, 2020 5:57 PM

have read his rant and this entire thread and am still mystified why the Go-Gos get called out.

On the face of it, they did nothing but write and/or perform the original songs.

by Anonymousreply 219April 26, 2020 6:16 PM

[quote]No one even claims Fun Home is in any way significant.

It was a finalist for the Pulitzer prize in drama, for god’s sake. That and the Tony wins are products of guilt and the soft bigotry of low expectations.

by Anonymousreply 220April 26, 2020 6:19 PM

r216 for four years, there was a possibility for any Broadway performer doing number from their show on a daytime show to be eligible to win an Emmy for outstanding musical performance in a daytime program. Erivo, Platt and others won Emmys that way. The category was eliminated last year.

Offsite Link
by Anonymousreply 221April 26, 2020 6:21 PM

This idea that people were claiming that Fun Home was profound and important because the librettist was a lesbian is not borne out.

It got the awards that shows get when they are popular. But no one claims it is as significant as Rent, Hamilton, Sweeney Todd, etc.

Being well-received is not enough to make a argument against. So we see claims that it was considered "important" and that Kron's lesbianism was cited as a factor in its significance.

But when you actually look at its reception, you saw none of that.

It is like Ave Q, Wicked, Bat Boy, etc. It is a show that will make money, be done regionally. but no one considers a gamechanger or a masterpiece. In 30 years it will be infrequently revived.

by Anonymousreply 222April 26, 2020 6:31 PM

R222 Critics may not have explicitly stated that Kron’s identity made Fun Home significant, but there certainly was a campaign by the show’s marketing team to promote it as a “groundbreaking musical” about lesbians, created by lesbians. Many critics responded by praising FH for subject over content.

This is understandable considering it was the first Broadway production with a lesbian protagonist. Unfortunately, the show - being lighthearted, nostalgic, and shifting focus to the gay father, collapsed under the weight of unfulfilled expectations and lost much of its audience. I totally agree with you that it’s become an inoffensive flyover state crowd-pleaser.

by Anonymousreply 223April 26, 2020 7:22 PM

Marketing campaigns always promote things as groundbreaking and culturally significant. That is how marketing works.

And maybe that creates a confirmation bias for some people reading reviews and hearing word of mouth.

by Anonymousreply 224April 27, 2020 1:35 PM

R224 It’s not so much cognitive bias as the inductive logic of why a play with forgettable songs and the depth of an ABC Afterschool Special has been Pulitzer-nominated and compared to the works of Stephen Sondheim/Tennessee Williams.

by Anonymousreply 225April 27, 2020 2:56 PM
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