BREAKING: Mandy Patinkin Withdraws from THE GREAT COMET — Page 12

I love Cynthia Erivo, but she's a bit out of control on Twitter.

Let me get this straight.. Mandy Patinkin, who is 64 years old, is supposed to play a role previously played by a 35 year old(Groban) and a 29 year old(Oak). why does this remind me of Joan Crawford stepping in to play Christina's part in a daytime soap?

schubox said: "I know this won't happen, but I feel like the only thing that could save the show at this point is if Oak makes a statement saying he appreciates Mandy's support but that he doesn't want to see the show close over this and that he has his blessing to come in and play the part.

again, that won't happen and would take an incredible gesture from Oak, but it might work



"

I'd like this to happen, but I think the whole situation would look rather comical in a "you're welcome --- oh no, YOU're welcome" way. And the big gesture of Mandy withdrawing from the role will turn into nothing if he changes his mind. I hope I make sense. But once again... I would LOVE something to suddenly save Great Comet.

Except for Hugh Jackman. No Hugh Jackman, please

This is so sad b/c all this was so NOT about replacing someone because of their race. It was hijacked and then twitter-versed, morphing into (for lack of a better term),"the race card". "Comet" is an incredible show in talent and diversity and doesn't deserve to die like this.

A few thoughts...

1) I'm sure that Mandy withdrew b/c he's the kind of person we should all aspire to be. IMO, he doesn't want any negative energy or bad "karma" associated with his performances or involvement with the show. He was so happy on the Today show, thrilled to be able to join the show. His integrity is admirable.

2) I think Oke is, whether intended or not, going to have a lot baggage getting new roles. His career may also crash, along with the show.

3) In today's PC world, everything goes out immediately and often interpreted in unintended ways. CE is an example of "45 like" outbursts and that's disappointing. (Glenn Close, Ben Platt,etc...not her business).

4) Words of irony come from Matt Stone and Trey Parker again, re: Cartman's "Token's Lives Matter", everyone gets sensitive and then insulted and things spin out of control. It's sad so many talented people will now have to pay the price; I really hope something or someone can turn this around.

CallMeAl2 said: "So what's the lesson here? Once a role is played by a black actor a white actor can't be cast?



"

Wouldn't surprise me if the producers of the show tried blaming this on color blind casting.

This was just a series of really unfortunate events, to some people on twitter the problem was that they cut Oak's time short, to others it was because the new lead was white... obviously the producers didn't handle this well at all...

It's just funny that Mandy would tweet that he's not doing the show because he wouldn't take a job that would harm another actor. Well, his decision to leave the show will most likely harm EVERYONE in the show. Except for Oak.

Also, super confused to how Mandy stepping in harms Oak... yes, they treated him poorly, but harming him seems a bit much...

blaxx said: "VintageSnarker said: "blaxx said: I agree it has nothing to do with racism. This is the case of 'Don't do good things that look bad'. Of course people went nuts and tried to find their own reason behind the action. What I'm saying is that THEY can't be blamed for coming to their own conclusion when the production decided to take the desperate measure.

The fact that they didn't how awful it would look, makes me sympathize with the conspiracy theorists. Of course their assumptions were wrong, but I don't blame them for feeling the way they did when you take it from their perspective.

Um, no. Feel your feelings, sure. But starting a hashtag, being vile to Malloy and Chavkin and Patinkin, and who knows who else, heaping scorn and wishing terrible things on the production based on a conclusion that was easy to disprove with a tiny bit of thought or research. Heck, just even coming to this board. They have no excuse. They're on twitter so they clearly have an internet connection. I'm so tired of trying to have sympathy for people who live in a bubble and take one out of context or biased excerpt and use it to form their opinions instead of actually caring about facts and the truth.



I don't excuse the ignorance, nor approve of the extremist reactions; none of which would have happened had this been handled better. It was under the production's power to prevent the fiasco and they blew it. You can't hold an internet mob accountable for their opinions, you can't even assume they know how to do research on the matter.

What you should know as a professional theater producer is that social media can and will take your actions and statements at face value. Give them nothing to support you and they will create a monster out of it. Again, a professional producer can't assume the level of expertise or education from "the internet". Be clear, transparent, fair and people will likely side with you. Make a move that seems unfair and you're done. When people have been walked all over for a long time, they will accuse you of the worst unless you know how to articulate your actions much better than TGC producers did.

And I'm sure none of it was ill intentioned. But man, they failed at professionalism by trying to hide the "why" behind the move. You hide it, the mob will make you sure you'll hear from them; and if they are wrong, make sure it wasn't because you didn't give them enough information to begin with.

"

I'm so confused here. You absolutely seem to be giving the twitter hivemind an out. "You can't hold an internet mob accountable for their opinions, you can't even assume they know how to do research on the matter." Are people really expected to anticipate how uninformed idiots are going to take any change producers may choose to make? Should they really have been transparent and crapped on Oak's good name in the theater by saying he can't sell tickets? How do you envision the best press release to have been worded?

PattyO'Furniture said: "

I agree, giving him the part was the mistake. The producers realize this now too. They should not have to apologize to anyone except Oak, because he's the one out of work.



Wrong.

Oak was being paid.

BroadwayConcierge said: "This is the biggest mess I've ever seen in my life. Oh my God.



"

Pick up a newspaper. The man you voted for for President I think has this beat.

All this behind-the-scenes drama and tweets at GC make the catastrophe of staff changes and tweets going on at the White House look like a comedy. How much longer before Trump starts blaming Oak for his screw-ups? (But that's another thread...)

Overall, I'm looking forward to seeing this tomorrow afternoon. But I do take the side with those saying it was purely a business decision and nothing more, because that's what it was - business. Ask Faye Dunaway and Patti Lupone about those business decisions.

If the money's not coming in - no matter who's the star - then immediate changes need to made to keep the play (or business afloat). Should the producers handled it better? Yes. Should they have stated the real reason (they were hanging by a thread to stay open) up front? Never. What good does that do other than keep a potential audience away? Did the twitter uproar help the matter? Of course not.

But tomorrow is another day, and if there's one thing that can be said about this whole situation - it's keeping the show in the headlines each day. And that's probably the silver lining in this very dark cloud.

so it appears that there's no big name coming in september and the writing was on the wall on comet closing anyway. While the producers certainly come off as horrifically bad communicators in that it seems like they weren't clear in their intentions to Onaodowan or Patinkin and definitely deserve their share of the blame, I appear to find more fault with how Onaodowan handled the situation than others did. It sucks that he was replaced but it was quite clear to any reasonable person it was because of financial reasons. It was no secret that the show needs a big name to last and was struggling, just go to the broadway grosses thread and see how it's discussed every week. The idea that a production that went out if its way to be diverse suddenly would decide that they actually don't want a black person to play the lead is ridiculous. Onaodown knows that. Still, he did nothing to quell the racial storm that was brewing which was tantamount to throwing the production under the bus and putting himself over the rest of the cast. Just egotistical and self-absorbed. When a very similar situation happened to Brittain Ashford, she didn't go crazy. She didn't say a word. Now the show is probably closing August 13 instead of a month or so later. I imagine this situation will have a very negative impact on Onaodown's career (as it should). He doesn't sell tickets and puts himself above the rest of the cast and the show as a whole. Why would anyone hire him? I certainly wouldn't.

spidernight said: "When a very similar situation happened to Brittain Ashford, she didn't go crazy. She didn't say a word."

And neither did Oak, except for a simple statement confirming his leaving date and wishing the best for the cast and Mandy.

I think some of you are very naive about how outrage culture works. People do not stop just because the person involved tells them to. If Oak had said 'it's not about race' people would have just thought he was trying to be professional and would have carried on regardless. Numerous people made statements and yet the outrage carried on. The only thing that stopped it was when Dave Malloy finally revealed that the show may not have a future. It's not Oak's job or right to reveal that.

We also don't know the specifics of how Brittain, or even Oak, was told. It's possible they were upfront, but seeing by how badly this was handled, it's possible they weren't.

With Brittain, it's not too terribly difficult to say to an actor who's been involved with the show for years, "We have an opportunity to have this recording star come in for a few weeks and we'd love to capitalize on this and help the show have a longer life. Would you consider taking a paid summer vacation and come back in the fall?"

BUT when someone has been playing the role for 2 weeks, that's a great deal harder conversation.

Race in this country and industry is REAL, but I agree this wasn't it. Hearing how desperate they were to buy more time, had Idris Elba agreed to jump in, they would've taken it.

As if you guys aren't speculating just as much that Oak encouraged the Twitter rants.

Bored of this crap now. Oak's career will be fine, he has the support of everyone in the industry. Sorry if that will be too offensive for you guys to handle. Peace out.