← MickeyJoTheatre
MickeyJoTheatre
Why is a Broadway musical getting sued? | How the Ciara Renée WANTED lawsuit might impact theatre
00:30:28
Loading summary
Transcript22 lines
- [00:00]
A
Sometimes an identity threat is a ring of professional hackers, and sometimes it's an overworked accountant who forgot to encrypt their connection while sending bank details.
- [00:09]
B
I need a coffee.
- [00:10]
A
And you need Lifelock because your info is in endless places. It only takes one mistake to expose you to identity theft. LifeLock monitors hundreds of millions of data points a second. If your identity is stolen, we'll fix it, guaranteed, or your money back. Save up to 40% your first year at lifelock.com sponsored special offer Terms apply.
- [00:32]
B
Acast Powers the World's Best Podcasts Here's a show that we recommend.
- [00:39]
C
Hey everyone, I'm Robert Mays, host of the Athletic Football show and I'm excited to welcome you to the 2025 season and everything new we've got going at Tafs. First and foremost, get ready for a whole new look. We're coming to you from the Athletic Football Show Studio in Chicago. Get the full experience by checking us out on our YouTube channel. Second, whether you watch on YouTube or listen to us on your podcast platform of choice, you'll hear a new voice. Dave Hellman joins Derek Klassen and myself as the third host on the show, bringing a different perspective to the conversation. Finally, Dane Brugler is back with year round NFL draft coverage with Building the Beast. No matter what type of NFL fan you are, there's something for you on the Athletic Football Show. Join us Monday Through Friday on YouTube, Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
- [01:27]
B
ACAST helps creators launch, grow and monetize their podcasts everywhere. Acast.com.
- [01:37]
D
Oh my God. Hey, welcome back to my theatre themed YouTube channel. Or hello to you if you're listening to this on podcast platforms. My name is Mickey Jo and I am obsessed with all things theatre. I'm a professional theatre critic and content creator here on social media and today we have a musical theater lawsuit to discuss how exciting for all of us and how minimally exciting for the parties involved. Apologies to them, but this has been making the rounds in news coverage over the past few days. Partially because it's August and it's a very quiet theatrical news month, but also because it's something of an interesting story. Now this is of course not the first legal drama that we have seen in the musical theater realm, but interestingly, this is not about a Broadway show. This is a pre Broadway show because the actress Kiara Renee, who starred in the pre Broadway Paper Mill Playhouse production of of the impending Broadway musical Wanted, which was then titled Gun and Powder, is suing the production for apparently recasting her in the already announced and upcoming Broadway transfer of the show, which she alleges constitutes a breach of contract. I'm going to talk a little bit through the details of the case, but also the implications that this has for the notion of recasting performers from developmental productions of shows when they come to transfer to Broadway or to the West End. Because there is some interesting history here with other shows, with other high profile instances of this happening, and it would be very intriguing if this became something of a landmark lawsuit that encouraged producers to go about this kind of casting a little differently in the future. In any case, lots for us to talk about and I'm sure plenty of opinions that you would love to share in the comments section. Let us all know what you think in the comment section down below. And if you enjoy listening to my thoughts and want more Broadway breaking news and drama recaps, make sure to subscribe right here on YouTube or go follow me on podcast platforms. In the meantime, let's talk about it Kiara Renee versus the upcoming Broadway musical Wanted who is she? What is that and what is going on now? If you're not meeting me for the first time today, you know that I love a little bit of history and context. Let's talk first of all about this show about this actress before we discuss the impending lawsuit betwixt the two. So Kiara Renee, an actress of stage and screen who made her Broadway debut in the musical Big Fish just over a decade ago. Some of her most known roles are replacing Patina Miller as the leading player in the Broadway revival of Pippin, as well as playing the role of Esmeralda in the Papermill playhouse production of Disney's the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Around 10 years later she would return to Papermill Playhouse with the show in question that we are discussing today then titled Gun and Powder. But in the intervening years she was seen in many other shows, Broadway and Off Broadway. Interestingly, she was in a pre Broadway workshop production of Hamilton that is going to be relevant later. She was also a replacement Jenna in Waitress. And she had some really dreadful luck replacing as Elsa in Disney's Frozen on Broadway, becoming the first actress of color to play that role, on a major stage, sadly joining the show in I think February of 2020, obviously one month before the theatrical shutdown as a result of the COVID 19 pandemic with frozen being one of a handful of shows sadly to never reopen on Broadway. And she never had the opportunity to reprise her performance as Elsa, which was not only a huge deal when it came to casting for that show, but presumably would have been a huge professional opportunity for her as well, although not the first time she'd played a leading role on Broadway. Now let's discuss the musical Gun and Powder, now titled Wanted and heading to Broadway. Though official dates and the theater have not yet been confirmed, it is now called Wanted. A new musical, the Leg Sisters Clark. Here is what it says on their website. Sisters, outlaws, Legends, and a little New York Times critics pick accreditation there as well. Texas 1893. A time gone but not forgotten. Twin sisters determined to save their family, take fate into their own hands. Hiding who they are and taking what they're owed. They straddle the line between two Americas. A new Broadway musical that brings a defiant legacy to life. Wanted is the mostly true story. The mostly true story we love those of Mary and Martha Clark, two extraordinary women who went from farm girls to outlaws to legends. This is entirely beside the point, but I don't understand when people, and, you know, the Kardashians notwithstanding, name twins with the same beginning initial because it's just gonna be very hard for them to not only define their own identities, but also signatures. Like to come up with a distinct. I say this as someone who was given a name with the same first initial as my father, who obviously has the same surname. I've held onto this clearly for years. Those children are going to have enough in common their entire life. The least you could do is give them, you know, unique initials. Anyway, two extraordinary women who went from farm girls to outlaws to legends. Worth pointing out that it would seem that they had bigger problems than those that I'm suggesting. Wanted previously. Gunpowder Features book and lyrics by Angelica Cherie, a real life descendant of the Sisters Clarke. How cool is that? First of all, it's often said by audiences that, you know, we don't want jukebox musicals. We don't want films turned into stage musicals. We want original musicals. We want unique stories. We want stories from underrepresented cultures. Here you have a story about historic, real life women of color who took ownership of their own lives and destinies being told in part by one of their descendants. I mean, that is surely everything that audiences have been asking for. That is the most authentic version of this story that you could possibly get. Music by Ross Baum and direction by Obie Award winner and Tony nominee Stevie Walker Webb. This New York Times critics pick is a open quotation marks. The thrillingly original new musical with open more quotation marks. A powerhouse score. And I've listened to a little bit of it already because they have shared some tracks as part of a studio ep which conspicuously does not feature Papermill Playhouse star Kiara Renee. Now she was part of the Papermill Playhouse production alongside Lisi Lafontaine, who has been seen in shows like Dreamgirls and Moulin Rouge in the West End, but has also worked in New York. And though casting has not yet been confirmed for the Broadway production, Lisi can be heard on the EP alongside Soleil Pfeiffer, who was in a version of the show prior to the Papermon Playhouse. One Worth pointing out at this point that before these shows arrive in the West End or on Broadway, they go through not only years of developmental readings and rewrites and workshops, but also in many instances, a lot of regional or pre Broadway productions. And the show formerly known as Gun and Powder seems to have had at least two workshops and at least two pre Broadway productions, one of those starring Kiara Renee as Mary Clarke, the other which happened earlier, starring Solea Pfeiffer in the same role. And it wouldn't hurt to briefly take a look at a little review roundup here and find out what critics thought of the Papermill Playhouse production. Marina Kennedy for Broadway World in April of last year called it a fast paced western adventure that includes thievery, romance, deception and remarkable courage. Juan A. Ramirez for Theatrely said Renee and Lafontaine have a fast and easy chemistry. It's a good thing because once the plot kicks in, the production becomes a breakneck sequence of songs and old school tableaux. Renee gets the bulk of the solos and her voice smoothly fills out every genre, tempo and mood thrown at her. It's an unsurprisingly excellent performance that nevertheless feels like a revelation for the undervalued performer. And Undervalued now hits very differently in light of what has emerged since. Which brings us to the actual lawsuit. Let's talk about what's going on there. Let's begin with Logan Colwell Block's coverage of this news in Playbill with the headline Kiara Renee Files Suit against Producers of Wanted over Broadway Transfer. The Waitress and Frozen star co led the musical's Papermill Playhouse production last year, but her role was recast for Broadway. Casting for the Broadway production of Wanted has not been announced, though the show is expected to bow on Broadway next year, that is to say, early 2026. According to Renee's suit, she will not be starring on Broadway in June of this year, 2025, a workshop of the musical was held with Lisi Lafontaine and Solea Pfeiffer as the leads. Pfeiffer played the role of Mary in the show's world premiere at Virginia's Signature Theatre. Gosh, it was all happening in 2020, this being presumably another musical that would have come to the stage much faster if it wasn't for the shutdown in that period of closure. Pfeiffer and LaFontaine, as I mentioned before, also sang on the musical's newly released ep, which incidentally, go and take a listen. There's some cracking songs now, the suit alleges. Here we go. Here's the details that Chiara o' Neill's contract for the Paper Mill Playhouse run guaranteed her the right to continue in the role in a production of the play mounted by the producers in New York or London upon completion of good faith negotiations. That's very interest. Let's pause there. So this is what is often referred to within the industry as the right of first refusal, which means that at the conclusion of the period of time for which the performer is contracted an initial version of the show, they are guaranteed the opportunity to either accept or turn down the role in a subsequent production, meaning that the actor is not bound to accept that role in a new production if they want to pursue an alternative or more lucrative opportunity. But crucially, it is theirs to refuse. And obviously the opportunity to create a new leading role in a brand new Broadway musical is a not significant one. And as this has been bubbling up on social media, this is the thing that people have been talking about. Did she have first right of refusal? Because people have been saying if she did, well then that's that, and if she didn't, well then that's that in the other direction. And before we go on to discuss whether it actually is that simple, there's an interesting detail here about future productions of the show. And according to the allegations made in the lawsuit, the right of refusal was offered for future productions in New York or London. And it doesn't whatsoever mean that we can assume that the London production of this show is imminent. It's absolutely something that only exist in the contracts just to cover the possibility that it might happen. But it's interesting to know that that is being considered as a possibility. If you don't know, they later go on to acknowledge that one of the implicated producing parties here is P3 Productions, who were also producers on this summer's production of Call Me Izzy on Broadway, the upcoming New York production of Mexico, and the Broadway musical How to Dance in Ohio, which it was said a little while ago was going to be making its way to the uk, although everything on that front has gone relatively quiet, almost to suggest that it's no longer happening. But as a production company, they have also had something of a footing in the UK with involvement in productions like Next to Normal here. So interesting to know that they are aware of the possible frontier of London when it comes to producing these new musicals. Anyway, carrying on the filing shares that Kiara Renee completed the Paper Mill Run and was later hired to record some of the musical's songs to perform for potential investors at a 2024 Martha's Vineyard event to participate in an October 2024 developmental reading and attend the 20 for Vivian Robinson Audelco Recognition Awards for Excellence in Black Theatre as a representative of the musical. That's four different things. But the suit also alleges that in late November of last year, Samuel Lopez of P3 Productions aforementioned and Alicia Parker of National Artists Management Company and executive producer of the musical, told Renee in a phone call that she would not be continuing with the show to Broadway. Their reasoning, Renee said, was that she had materially failed to collaborate during the Paper Mill run and that she was unwilling to accept feedback from the creative team. In other in other words, Kiara Renee, having played the role in the Paper Mill Playhouse production and been reviewed well, was anticipating that she would be guaranteed the opportunity to play the role on Broadway if the show was going to transfer, but was told just under a year ago by producers that she would not be playing the role on Broadway for reasons that sort of seem to fall under the familiar brackets of creative differences and someone being difficult to work with, which is a topic I want to return to. But before I do, there is more to this because Kiara Renee says that those claims are are false. In the filing, she says that she was never previously told of any breach of agreement, and says the events that she was hired for after the Paper Mill performances indicate that Lopez and Parker had not considered her in breach of their agreement either. Which falls on slightly shaky ground because basically she's saying, if you didn't like my performance in the show, why on earth would you have had me do all of those other events subsequently? And the reality of the thing is that every subsequent event that she was invited to do and you know, the recording and attending events and things for the investors are of course not the same thing as returning into a professional collaboration fully and reprising her entire performance. Not to mention that from the perspective of the producers, having just completed the most high profile production that the show had had so far. And having got a New York Times critics pick, you are obviously going to use the cast members from that production in order to promote the show's future life. And that seems like something that from either perspective could be looked at a different way. Kiara Renee was viewing all of these events as very much pre Broadway and the beginning of the chapter, whereas you could also see them as something of an epilogue to the paper mill run. Now let's talk money. Kiara Renee is asking for a jury trial and $486,000 or nine months of the 13 and a half thousand dollar weekly salary she anticipated earning while in the show. Along with punitive damages, pre and post judgment interest, consequential damages, attorney's fees, costs and other relief. A lot of money. Basically the most interesting detail of which is the thirteen and a half thousand dollar weekly salary. And it being a fairly ambiguous world, I have no idea where that falls within the world of Broadway performance salaries. I don't anticipate that being the biggest salary on Broadway doesn't sound like the smallest. Certainly I know it's considerably higher than what performers are being paid in the West End, but that's a discrepancy we already knew about. What I will say without wanting to rain on anybody's pre Broadway parade, is that any new musical that is not based on existing intellectual property and is opening on Broadway without celebrity star names would be lucky to run for nine months. And if there's a world in which an out of court settlement awards Kiara Renee anything close to those actual damages and the show doesn't end up running for nearly that long, then, you know, decent win for her. Now Richard Roth, the lawyer representing the multiple defendants here, has also issued a statement in response, part of which reads we vehemently deny Renee's allegations and will vigorously defend her falsehood. And while I am your friendly neighbourhood social media theatre critic, I am not a legal analyst, so I am not going to weigh in on who I think has the stronger case here or what I think is going to happen. I will offer a little bit of insight that has been shared with me by a considerably more credible legal mind which basically boils down to a legal he said, she said re the breach of contract here, in which it is Kiara Renee's responsibility to provide the burden of proof. And if a clause exists within the contract granting her first right of refusal, then that speaks for itself. However, it seems to be the allegation of producers here that she breached the contract prior to that and in doing so pierced that right for herself as a result of her conduct during the Papermill Playhouse production, which doesn't have to just be something that she describes in which they describe in response. Because the way that theatrical productions work is that everything gets written down. If you don't know there are many, many notes kept during rehearsal, but particularly during performances. Show notes are made at every single performance of a show. And if there were documented issues, then these will likely brought up during the discovery phase of the suit. I am also told, for what it's worth, that around 99% of civil cases such as these settle out of court. And obviously we can all infer that the timing of this is deliberate in order to apply a little bit of pressure onto the producers because the show is set to announce details of its Broadway run. They've released the ep, they've said it's officially going to Broadway, they are starting to begin their press and marketing campaign. And the worst possible thing is to have this lawsuit looming over them them, which means that all parties are going to want this fairly quickly resolved. And while this is an interesting and juicy little lawsuit, I am more concerned with the precedent that it might set and other previous examples of this that have sidestepped any kind of formal litigation. But before we talk about those, I do want to make one final comment about the case itself, because I personally have not met and do not know the actress Kiara Renee. I have met a minority of Broadway performers and so I'm not going to presume to comment on her character. I will leave that to the people in the comments section whose nephews, brothers, sister in laws, dentist, knew someone who worked with her one time and has plenty to say about the experience. But with every possibility of truth to the allegations that have been leveled by producers, I am also in this moment feeling particularly aware of the frequency with which women, and in particular women of colour, are branded difficult to work with within the industry or more readily referred to as opinionated and indifferent to feedback. And as it happens, just a couple of hours ago on this nice Sunday evening, I happened to be listening to some old anecdotes and stories about Ethel Merman and her time spent on Broadway. And it's so interesting that the behavior that is fondly recalled and even celebrated from the Ethel and the likes of her is now the justification of the firing of a leading lady in 2025. We could also speculate, you know, Solea Fiver had played the role first. Is it that the producers really wanted her to do it the entire time? Was she unavailable during The Paper Mill Playhouse production Soleil has been fairly booked and busy on Broadway back to back in Moulin Rouge until very recently in Hadestown. That I'm also reminded, as I'm sure many of you are as well, of the Patti LuPone of it all and the Sunset Boulevard 1990s legal dispute between her and Sir Lloyd Andrew Lloyd Webber, when she had the first right of refusal to do the Broadway production but was recast and there was a lawsuit and she was victorious and she now has a swimming pool named in his honor. It will be very interesting to hear about any potential water features or home improvements that Kiara Renee is able to make as a result of this legal action. Obviously, P3 Productions isn't quite as regal as the Andrew Lloyd Webber Memorial swimming Pool, and it does sort of sound like it ought to describe a toilet. But time will tell on all fronts. What I'm much more interested in talking about is what this means for other actors hired to do early versions of shows who later get recast. So as I mentioned earlier before, a show makes its way to Broadway, there are years and years of development. There are readings and there are workshops and there are out of town tryouts and there are pre Broadway productions. Even beyond a show shows Broadway life, it can continue to be changed and revised and metamorphosize into something different. It gets revived decades later in a reworked capacity. There's a version in the West End that gets changed when it's brought to Broadway. There's a version on Broadway that gets changed for a US national tour and then gets changed further when it goes to London. We have seen every single example of this. And in almost all of those instances when the material is being reworked, particularly after it's already been on its feet beyond the workshop phase, and during the workshop phase it is being revised with actors in the space. And so that company of performers, the ones involved in developmental versions of the show, are helping to hone and refine and shape the material and maybe even in small ways contribute to it and edit it. And certainly as a result of their characterizations, as a result of their vocal choices, perhaps help to establish the characters that are being created and inspire additions to the piece or affect permanent changes to the score. I mean, how many of the details in Wicked exist? Because that's the way that Idina Menzel sang them in the original Broadway cast recording. Not just the exact way that that Alphabet battle cry at the end of Defying Gravity sounds, but also things like feeling things I've never felt, like the specificity of the way that that particular section is sung. I've always thought there are several things that Adina does in the score in terms of her musical phrasing that have endured in almost every single subsequent Elphaba performance. But interestingly enough, Idina was not the first ever Elphaba, because there was a worksh version of the show prior to Broadway in which the role was played by, do you know the answer? Stephanie J. Block, an actress who would go on to play the role of Elphaba years later, and in fact one of the most iconic to do so, and an actress who is now hugely celebrated in her own right, a Tony Award winner for the Cher show. But that Tony Award took a really long time to get to her. When you consider that she just missed out on playing Elphaba in 2003 on Broadway, for which a Dean won a Tony as the actress who was green before she was, that has to be a difficult pill to swallow. And Stephanie's talent was such that she was always going to become a star. And other shows came along like the Pirate Queen and nine to Five, and then a string of revivals that really catapulted her to Broadway star status. She replaced Sutton Foster in Anything Goes and was then seen in the Mystery of Edwin Drood and Falsettos. Now she's a celebrated actress, firmly out of the shadow of being the workshop Elphaba. But who's to say that there aren't parts of the Wicked score that are even now shaped by choices that she made made during that workshop process? And when it comes to the score and explicitly, the original Broadway cast recording Idina Menzel as a vocalist on that will receive royalties. But if there are details within the script and jokes etc, and line readings that changed because of choices that she made, she doesn't, to my knowledge, receive royalties from the stage production. Original Broadway cast members in general don't. Unless we're talking about Hamilton. And I'm not just talking about the show's writer and original star, Lin Manuel Miranda. I'm talking about other members of the original Broadway company who, in what I believe at the time was something of a first, negotiated small percentage royalties of the show itself as a result of contributions that they had made during the developmental process. And this is why I thought it was really interesting that Kiara Renee had been linked to a workshop of Hamilton at one point. This was reported back in 2016, when the producers of Hamilton were said to have bowed to pressure from more than two dozen actors and dancers who had engaged a lawyer because they felt their participating in the show's development helped to bring it to where it was today. And of course, that's very true. And it was noted even then, this was 10 years ago, that their victory raised questions about how performers ought to be compensated in other shows during the development period. I don't know to what extent this has affected permanent change in the years since, though there was speculation in this article that it might. And of course, for a show like Hamilton, this is going to minimally impact them at the box office, where they are doing fantastic business. Interestingly enough, original Broadway cast member Leslie Odom Jr. Is set to return to the show this month, I believe, for a limited period. And tickets in response have once again skyrocketed with dynamic pricing, and the show is going to do even better business than it's been doing for the 10 years of its run thus far. But if you're Interested, among the 22 cast members who signed the original letter to Jeffrey Cellar asking for permanent royalties were Daveed Diggs, Renee Elise Goldsberry, and Leslie Odom Jr. So evidently there is no lasting bad blood. As the story goes, they had been offered lump sum checks ranging from 29,000 to 36,000 dol a piece. But on the advice of the Actors Equity union and their attorneys, the group decided not to accept these until a percentage deal was reached, which obviously was the considerably smarter decision. And from what I remember, there were details within their arguments about people like Philippa sue, you know, singing songs like Helpless in a way that would go on to be how they would forever be sung. My point in all of this being there are a great many performers who won't be guaranteed the first right of refusal when a show moves from a development production to a more high profile production production to a Broadway production. Perhaps, though, the show may benefit creatively from their input. So how is their enduring work protected? If this was something like an academic field, then their work would be cited and referenced and credited. But there's very little capacity within the context of a live theatrical performance for somebody to stop and say, by the way, that riff was first developed by this person in La Jolla. And they can be credited in the playbill, and they can be thanked in the playbill. And there can be an extraordinary amount of goodwill Will. And they can be acknowledged. But a lot of these working actors can't eat acknowledgement for dinner. They can't pay their rent with playbill. Thanks. So how then does the industry appropriately recognize the creative and artistic contributions of those performers? I think it's A conversation worth having.
- [25:49]
E
Weight bears Labor Day clearance is here right now. Score up to 70% off everything home plus fast shipping on everything right to your channel door Shop now through September 2nd at Wayfair.com Wayfair Every style, every.
- [26:03]
D
Home and I mentioned Stephanie J. Block losing out on the role of Elphaba on Broadway to Idina Menzel, even though Stephanie had done the workshop first. Truthfully it would seem in that instance that there was no guarantee she was going to get the role on Broadway. But there have been more egregious examples of this. Not necessarily a league legal, but one of the more controversial instances was when Jeremy Jordan was engaged to play the role of JM Barrie in the pre Broadway version of Finding Neverland, only to be replaced by Matthew Morrison when the show transferred. And even at the time Jeremy Jordan was something of a name. Newsies had happened, Bonnie and Clyde had happened and he had a following and he had recognition. Which is why, you know, I think more people cared about it when this happened to him. It's happened to many other actors previously because anecdotally the kind of stars that producers want to call court for Broadway productions because they need to sell tickets in this current financial climate now more so than ever are not necessarily available or eager to go and do out of town versions of shows in other parts of the country. They're very happy to take a New York Broadway paycheck, but it can be a little bit harder to get that big name star to go and do the out of town version. And there was at the time, possibly as a result of Jeremy Jordan's not insignificant fan base, a little bit of lingering resentment, resentment about him being recast with Matthew Morrison for Broadway. Now here's another example of this that I only ever heard as a whisper on the wind. This was just rumored and it obviously never came to fruition. But before the current London production of Evita at the London Palladium starring Rachel Zegler, there was a rumor that the art developed revival production, that's the American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, Massachusetts was set to transfer to Broadway, but that the actress who was playing the role of a Ava in that production would be replaced once it got to Broadway by Rachel Zegler. With that I believe being the first time that she was linked to the role of Ava Perron on stage. It was around the same time that she was actually announced to be playing Juliet in Romeo and Juliet at the Circle in the Square instead. That production was directed by Sammy Cannold, I believe, based on a production that had run previously at New York City center when it was at Art, it was Shireen Pimentel starring as Eva Peron. Had she been replaced by Rachel Zegler on Broadway, I wonder if there would have been the same kind of outrage or if there wouldn't have been win because her fan base truly would have been eclipsed by the many fans that Rachel Zegler has. And interestingly enough, when the show was at New York City center prior to that it was Solea Pfeiffer playing the role of Eva Peron. Soleil Pfeiffer who is mixed up in all of this, but just sidestepping the drama neatly enough by simply being on stage belting out great songs and giving great performances. She may be named in the drama, but it is not about her. She is too busy being fantastic on stage to get involved and I don't love any version of this that forces women of color into competition with each other. But that's all also how casting and the industry works. So what, if anything, is the upshot of all of this? Well, my anticipation based on how these things normally seem to progress is that the result of this particular legal dispute between Kiara Renee and the producers of Broadway bound musical Wanted is going to be something of an anticlimactic one. I don't think it's going to make for a good musical in and of itself. I imagine that it will likely be settled out of court due to their eagerness for this to not overtake the press campaign for the actual show itself. I would be lying if I said I didn't have some concerns about the show itself when it comes to its Broadway run. They seem to be bringing together some fantastic performers, they have some great material, and I wish that I could say that that was enough, but in the current Broadway theatrical climate it's Listen, it's getting very tricky out there. Not only are fantastic talked about award winning and star led shows not recouping after months and months on Broadway, but you also have brilliant, acclaimed and comparatively inexpensive pieces of theater like Dead Outlaw closing disappointingly fast and some of P3 productions. Previous Broadway shows like how to Dance in Ohio like Call Me Izzy this summer have not been financial successes to say the least. What I think is more interesting is the precedent that this could potentially set. And sadly I don't think it's going to be a positive one for the industry because I think if anything this is going to encourage producers to be a little more light footed when it comes to promising Broadway opportunities to the company members of regional or pre Broadway productions I watch wonder if it was a particular stipulation of Kiara Renee when negotiating her contract for the Papermill Playhouse run, that she be offered first right of refusal. I wonder if that was a necessity for her. And if an argument is eventually made that her unwillingness to creatively collaborate, or however they referred to it during the process, does in fact constitute a breach of her contract, then I think that enters us into very dangerous territory wherein producers who have had to offer someone first right of refusal but know in advance that they don't want to uphold that when it comes to the broad way transfer could potentially be able to engineer a very toxic workplace environment that creates the kind of drama that they could later look back on and hold up as an example of bad workplace behavior. I think all of this just points in a very toxic direction, so color me concerned. But these remain from me one part insight and one part speculation. These are just my thoughts about this particular situation which is continuing to develop, and I would love to hear yours as well, particularly with regards to the way in which developing company members of shows are compensated and credited and acknowledged for their work. I think that's really interesting and not something that we're talking about enough as musical theater, you know, moves forwards and we begin to try and be more mindful about the way that we are treating people in an already very difficult industry. Let me know all of your thoughts in the comment section down below. And not for nothing, if anyone has seen Gun and Powder already, let us know what you thought of the show. If there are any major updates to this, then you can bet I will be back here letting you know all about them. Make sure that you're subscribed to Mickey Joe Theatre on YouTube. Turn on notifications so you don't miss any of my upcoming videos, whether they are Broadway or West End news or drama or theater reviews of the shows that I have been to see or you can follow me on podcast platforms. In the meantime, I hope that everyone is staying safe and that you have a stagey day for 10 more seconds. I'm Mickey Jo Theatre. Oh my God. Hey, thanks for watching. Have a stagey day. Subscribe.
- [32:28]
F
Hey there. You hear that, right? You don't? That's what it's like to order food for your workplace with EasyCater. No hold music while you wait to place your order. No tap tapping as you type in special dietary instructions or long, complicated searches for options in your budget. No crinkling of paper receipts.
- [32:48]
D
Just dang, these are some tasty stuff.
- [32:51]
F
Sandwiches EasyCater the better way to order food for work. Order now@ezcator.com Botox Cosmetic out of Botulinum.
- [33:00]
E
Toxinae FDA approved for over 20 years. So talk to your specialist to see if Botox Cosmetic is right for you.
- [33:08]
D
For full prescribing information, including boxed warning, visit botoxcosmetic.com or call 877-351-0300.
- [33:17]
E
Remember to ask for Botox Cosmetic by name. To see for yourself and learn more, visit botoxcosmetic.com that's botoxcosmetic.com.
- [33:30]
B
Acast powers the world's best podcasts. Here's a show that we recommend.
- [33:38]
D
This area was sort of a shark tank for predators. Not just the Green River Killer, but.
- [33:44]
E
Other others in who Took Misty Copsey? I'm investigating the disappearance of a 14 year old girl who vanished from the Washington State Fair in 1992.
- [33:55]
D
How? Why? She was so sweet and so young.
- [34:01]
C
What happened to her?
- [34:03]
E
Listen to who Took Misty Copsey? Wherever you get your podcasts.
- [34:09]
B
ACAST helps creators launch, grow and monetize their podcast. Podcast Everywhere Acast. Com.