Broadway Political Activism

Audra McDonald, you rock for taking on Bill O'Reilly!

Bill O'Reilly managed to f-- something up, again, as he tried to agree with Michelle Obama's DNC comments about the White House's being built by slaves. O'Reilly's several verbal paragraphs included a bizarre statement that the slaves who built the WH were well-clothed and well-fed.

Hunh? Audra McDonald put O'Reilly in his place in a series of tweets.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Audra-McDonald-Schools-Foxs-Bill-OReilly-On-The-Realities-of-Slavery-20160727

Can anyone think of other examples of Broadway performers taking on the rich and powerful, in this case, a darling of Fox News?

Not all politics has an angry energy. :) If both parties were equally welcoming to, and supportive of, the diverse folks in the Arts, the balance of political support would no doubt shift as well. Until then, we are where we are and I applaud folks in all walks of life who are constructively politically active.

Brava, Audra!

Updated On: 7/29/16 at 06:18 PM

I don't have a problem with what Audra did, but it makes me sad to see the Broadway community basically being political as a whole. I don't understand why everyone has to dive into the fire.

I applaud Audra. Not really political IMO.

It is, however, disheartening to see how many theatre celebs are taking overt and active political stances on social media this election. Of course they're more than entitled to personal expression but I really wish these two areas wouldn't tangle.

People who work on Broadway are human like anyone else and have human opinions about how the world they live in is run and how their lives and the lives of those they love are affected.

@z5 said: That individual did NOT MEAN he would physically assault any other people, it was meant to put out a commercial or a verbal statement or something of the like."

Mea culpa if I truly misunderstood his meaning. Possibly I was confused, since I think this same individual previously offered to pay legal fees for any of his followers accused of physically assaulting his detractors. Or did I get that wrong too?

Updated On: 7/30/16 at 12:12 AM

@z5 said: "That was said...but doesn't mean every little thing should be taken so literally. Additionally, it was an individual who was casing harm to others and intentionally disrupting a paid, and private event. "

I'm biting my tongue except to say that I really think having this sort of discussion here is a very bad idea. Which does not mean I feel the same about the subject of the thread.

I realize that the world of some people who post on the Message Board is limited to worrying if War Paint is coming to Broadway or talking about what Mario is or isn't wearing in A Chorus Line or the latest news about some Diva. I realize that for some people who post on the Message Board their historical memory began last month or year.

Over the years, some members of the Broadway and Hollywood communities have been politically active.

For example, here are some of the people who took part in the August 1963 March for Jobs and Freedom in Washington, D.C.

Ossie Davis

Ruby Dee

Gregory Peck

Sidney Poitier

Harry Belafonte

Marlon Brando

Charlton Heston

Tony Curtis

Theodore Bikel

Sammy Davis, Jr.

Lena Horne

James Garner

Rita Moreno

Paul Newman

Burt Lancaster

Diahann Carroll

Harrisonmlewis said: "I don't have a problem with what Audra did, but it makes me sad to see the Broadway community basically being political as a whole. I don't understand why everyone has to dive into the fire."

Because they are people with opinions. Why should they be disallowed from touting their beliefs just as you or me would, just because they have a louder mouth (as it were)?

Isn't that what the collective "you" wants - to tell your opinion to anyone who will listen? Sure seems that way. So why are they exempt?

oop, just saw Taryn beat me to this argument. Well - seconded.

Much of what I am reading here seems like a manifestation of the same sense of entitlement that permeates this board in a way that I have never witnessed elsewhere. Actors are to be slaves to their audience, without no time off from work, with no expression of their own opinions and with a duty to sign autographs and take pictures no matter how exhaust they may be, or no matter what they had planned to do.

I just remembered an incident that happened in the 1970's or 1980's that involved political activism related to theatre itself. If I recall correctly, a group of performers engaged in civil disobedience over the planned demolition of a historic theater. Several were arrested. Christopher Reeve told a TV reporter that he agreed with the demonstrators, but couldn't bring himself to get arrested. I don't remember who else was involved.

This was definitely a non-partisan issue.

Audrey