Posted: 10/18/22 at 3:51pm
It would be one thing if Lea Michelle came out and said all of this and refused to backdown under the scapegoat of sexism, but..Sara Porkalob is not doing much with this. She’s transparent and selfish, and not all that bright if she thinks this paints her in a good or hire-able light.
Posted: 10/18/22 at 4:02pm
I’m going to be honest here and say that of all things to divide people, this one really surprises me. I’ve read all the “pro” responses and they just don’t make any sense to me. In a business where, if you’re not a “name”, there are countless people just as talented, right behind you waiting to get their foot in that door you somehow MIRACULOUSLY managed to get open and once you’re just barely inside, you start sh*t-talking everyone in there?
It’s not for me or really anyone else to decide if she SHOULD work again but given the reactions I’ve read (sent by friends) and been told about from the very high-ups, it’s going to be very difficult for her to get another job. And maybe she’s perfectly fine with that.
Updated On: 10/18/22 at 04:02 PM
Posted: 10/18/22 at 5:15pm
I doubt there’s a producer out there who would ever finance a Sara Porkalob project, no matter how scary talented she thinks she is. Everyone I know in the industry is disgusted by her behavior.
Dish your show to your friends at Glasshouse. Not to New York Magazine.
Posted: 10/18/22 at 5:38pm
I don’t know, all the people I know in the industry are applauding them.
Posted: 10/18/22 at 6:08pm
HeyMrMusic said: "I don’t know, all the people I know in the industry are applauding them."
It seems to be somewhat generational and also divided by experience. Everyone I know over 35 and/or has Broadway credits is outraged.
Maybe the praise is coming from a place of youthful optimism. But shows don’t get produced without a village behind them. No one I know would ever want to be in the trenches with Sara. So unless they can self-finance their material, I think they really screwed up.
Posted: 10/18/22 at 7:11pm
Jordan Catalano said: "it’s going to be very difficult for her to get another job. And maybe she’s perfectly fine with that."
She’s basically already stated if that were the case, that it just proves her point of the industry’s stubbornness and refusing to evolve/change. It’s scary how easily someone can make themselves believe something (see also: Porkalob tweeting that BIPOC people who disagree with her, disagree because they have internalized racism).
Posted: 10/18/22 at 7:45pm
Well at least they're giving Beanie a rest. Just when you thought her casting was the worst idea of the seaon Diane P. comes to the rescue. Who knows? Even Diana The Musical could get a revival next.
Posted: 10/18/22 at 8:25pm
Is Jeremy O. Harris still paying for stuff? Because that seems like a good match
Posted: 10/18/22 at 9:09pm
HeyMrMusic said: "I don’t know, all the people I know in the industry are applauding them."
Mine are a bit divided. I think most people agree with her sentiment but not with the delivery.
Posted: 10/18/22 at 10:15pm
It seems to be somewhat generational and also divided by experience. Everyone I know over 35 and/or has Broadway credits is outraged.
Same. I was thinking how divided the opinions are earlier today based on one's age. Older millennials and Gen X are pissed off generally while younger millennials and those lovely Gen Z people who NEED PEOPLE TO KNOW THEY ARE OUTRAGED AT ALL TIMES are supportive. Fascinating stuff.
She sounds 22. Color me shocked to find out she is a full decade older.
Posted: 10/18/22 at 10:24pm
She is 33. Old enough to know better. Interesting - I thought she was in her mid-twenties (which is not a compliment).
Updated On: 10/18/22 at 10:24 PM
Posted: 10/18/22 at 11:20pm
Nothing they have said is out of character. They are not an unknown, just a newbie to the NYC scene. Their goal isn’t commercial theatre or Broadway necessarily; it’s storytelling through theatre. They were handpicked by Diane Paulus based on their own previous work. So this won’t hurt or stop them one bit. People know their name now.
Posted: 10/19/22 at 12:05am
She won’t be stopped from continuing to write one-woman-shows and having them produced at fringe theatres, but no, she will never work on Broadway ever again, and probably not any major regional theatres either (for a while at least).
Posted: 10/19/22 at 12:24am
New York Times article
Not much new ground, just that she emailed the team over the weekend "to repair harm."
Posted: 10/19/22 at 12:26am
Not how I see it, but okay.
This seems to really hit a nerve with people. I think it’s led to some truly eye-opening conversation, and the people with the loudest opinions are probably the people who need to hear the content of Sara’s words the most.
Posted: 10/19/22 at 5:08am
Glancing at the box office numbers confirms what I suspected. TheaterTwitter and our message board may be very interested in this (I have read more than my share), but few New York City theatergoers are actually interested in seeing this revival. They weren’t before the Vulture article, and they aren’t now.
The numbers are really grim, especially for a musical revival. That’s usually good for a few weeks of respectable numbers.
I guess the disconnect between the intense online debates and audience disinterest is what strikes me. The 1776 revival has drawn critical indifference as well. Now they’re going to drag this out with a national tour? Good luck.
Posted: 10/19/22 at 7:35am
So let me get this right - Sara gives an, at worst imo, ill-timed but very honest interview about her role in the show, and according to some people here and on social media, this means that she should never work in Broadway again?! Can I have a Venn diagram please of the people saying this who are also praising Lea Michele being welcomed back to Broadway in Funny Girl, after it’s common knowledge that she used to treat colleagues appallingly.
As for Sara’s 75% comment, she’s even clarified herself what she meant by that, but there’s literally zero nuance when it comes to social media outrage or commentary. And I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve seen posters here comment on performers in shows, saying that they’re just phoning in their performance, without any sense of outrage or demand they be fired.
Once again this whole incident is just another example of how the Broadway community, insiders and fans alike, seems to have lost it’s mind and all sense of perspective. It truly is eating itself now, like others here have said. Just like with Lillias White, where a mistake was made that shouldn’t have happened, but which precipitated OTT reactions and racist and disgusting comments aimed at Lillias.
Oh and don’t get me started on the response by the AD, which was way worse imo than anything Sara said. Especially coming from his position of power.
The constant hypocrisy and drama and need to be outraged over anything is all so tiring.
Posted: 10/19/22 at 7:48am
HeyMrMusic said: "Not how I see it, but okay.
This seems to really hit a nerve with people. I think it’s led to some truly eye-opening conversation, and the people with the loudest opinions are probably the people who need to hear the content of Sara’s words the most."
Or they just disagree with how they handled this opportunity give to them.
Posted: 10/19/22 at 7:50am
Legally, can she be fired? She's undermining her show.
Posted: 10/19/22 at 8:23am
Firing her could turn into a PR disaster for the Roundabout and creative leadership team regardless of the legalities. I suspect she will not be fired explicitly, we’ll just notice she will never probably work on the New York Broadway stage ever again and many other professional contexts.
Posted: 10/19/22 at 9:16am
Honestly, one of the things that bothers me most about Sara is her co-opting of the they pronoun. She admits in a tweet that she is not non-binary and identifies as a woman. In the best case scenario she is trying to display performative allyship by adding the "they" (which is a very recent change based on other interviews with her that list her pronouns as she/her), and at worst she's intentionally co-opting a gender identity that is not her own.
Posted: 10/19/22 at 9:26am
HeyMrMusic said: "Not how I see it, but okay.
This seems to really hit a nerve with people. I think it’s led to some truly eye-opening conversation, and the people with the loudest opinions are probably the people who need to hear the content of Sara’s words the most."
That's definitely true on this forum, lol
Posted: 10/19/22 at 9:34am
SeanD2 said: "Honestly, one of the things that bothers me most about Sara is her co-opting of the they pronoun. She admits in a tweet that she is not non-binary and identifies as a woman. In the best case scenario she is trying to display performative allyship by adding the "they" (which is a very recent change based on other interviews with her that list her pronouns as she/her), and at worst she's intentionally co-opting a gender identity that is not her own."
THANK YOU. I’m so glad someone finally said it. I have had several non-binary high school and college students and it is a real struggle for them. But using “they” pronouns if you are cis and okay with the assigned at birth pronoun often strikes me as someone using “they” as some weird kind of social currency in queer circles (i.e. the theatre industry). There are exceptions to this of course, and I want to be respectful of everyone, but sometimes, as in the case of Porkalob, it comes across as co-opting other peoples’ pain. Porkalob identifies as a woman and her pronouns were she/her until like two months ago, and are still listed as such on her website. Something about it just doesn’t add up, and it seems kind of insulting to actual genderqueer people.
Updated On: 10/19/22 at 09:34 AM
Posted: 10/19/22 at 9:43am
I sort of see it not so much as co-opting or masquerading, but as a slightly misguided attempt at social engineering (virtue signaling if you’re cynical about it): much like progressive straight people have adopted the gender neutral term “partner,” this phenomenon seems to be an attempt by cis people to say “I don’t have any actual dysphoria but I want to actively acknowledge that gender is a construct that isn’t real and doesn’t define people.” Like it’s the next step beyond active sharing of pronouns, the dismantling of pronouns all together.
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