Actors having their contracts terminated on their first Broadway show — Page 3

nasty_khakis said: "LarryD2 said: "Matt Cavanaugh in the 2009 revival of WEST SIDE STORY:https://nypost.com/2009/11/06/west-side-whack/"

I worked FOH during this and while I can't say I was present for the actual conversations it seemed to just be Arthur's fickleness. He basically was in LOVE with Matt until one day he wasn't and was basically ice cold to him, not renewing his contract in favor the new stand-by Jeremy Jordan who Arthur was in more than love with basically. Then, oddly enough, Jeremy himself talked about how Arthur one week said he was the best he's ever seen the role/he's a revelation/what an angel to being told he's worthless in an email from him. Arthur was...Arthur."

I have had this experience in a production once, where the director and producer was narcissistic. He had a long history of this kind of behaviour. He came into my dressing room, was totally enamoured by me, promising me a more luxurious hotel than the rest of the cast, totally putting me on a pedestal, which I truly didn't want but I always reacted gracefully and professionally. And then after a month, he fired me, it turned into blind hate, he couldn't even stand to look at me or talk to me any longer, he just erased me.

The worst part here is that I was very professional and kind and everybody else in production liked me, and it was like he became jealous of that. This whole issue had nothing to do with work, professionalism or quality. It was purely the fickle love bombing turning into hate bombing of an unstable narcissist.

I was devastated, I gave blood, sweat and tears in the grueling audition process and my family was so proud I had landed this job. I now had to explain to them and my agent that I was let go. I really had a hard time processing this. I also started to realize that this must happen everywhere. And that every little personal obsession or hate projection of a person can erase you in showbusiness.

I wish there was more we could do about situations like this. Maybe a psychological test for directors, or look at their past, or put more people in charge of a production that do not allow these kind of personal things to happen, who look at the professional stuff, it's very difficult.

Chase Miller said: "I'm sorry that happened to you. People think being a professional is being a straight up jerk and it's really not. That seems to be a problem in every industry."

Thank you for that. Yes, I think it makes them unprofessional, but the problem is that they often are in a position of power (director and producer in my case), but are lead by personal issues, so because of the position every body else in production is scared to say or do anything in fear of losing their job, so they can get away with it. It becomes a very unhealthy situation for all involved.

But indeed, it seems to occur in every industry, maybe many people are just not able to be professional due to personal issues. Maybe it's human. Maybe it's not evil but they just can't help themselves. Maybe it's mental illness (which was the case in what I experienced), but does that rule out character? Maybe it's character or a lack thereof. Maybe people just can't handle professional positions of power. It's complicated. But in any case, I know that private satisfaction, ego or insecurities should never be a reason to misbehave like this professionally.

Updated On: 6/1/23 at 05:26 PM

poisonivy2 said: "Also did Diana Rigg get fired from the MFL revival?"

HIGHLY doubt that. Chances are she was on a strict 6-month contact as a UK performer, which feasibly puts rehearsals starting March 2018 and her tenure ending after Labor Day - which was probably when the run was supposed to originally end.

Since it became a hit, they extended, but she probably could not (and with Harry Hadden-Paton also dealing with UK equity, they probably worked out another deal for him to stay).