Dear Hunter Foster, Meredith Patterson, Chris Sieber and Anyone Else With Internet Access- Page 4

[jo]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 8:53pm

I wonder how long the resentment towards Hollywood actors have been simmering among Broadway thespians?

It is rather sad because Broadway and Hollywood seem to collaborate on many artistic endeavors together - look at the many movies derived from original stage hits and the many stage adaptations of popular movies. I would think that this makes actors from both mediums happy to work in either one, if they work hard or lucky enough to be given the opportunity.

It is ironic that Catherine Zeta Jones is singled out when she chose not to miss a few performances of ALNM so she could continue hosting the yearly concert for the benefit of members of the film industry called A FINE ROMANCE. She has been doing this for the last 4 years, but this year her co-host Hugh Jackman did the solo honors ( he said he was unemployed at the moment ).

Guess who came to sing for this benefit - a dream Broadway cast of musical theatre performers, except for one ( or two?) who came from the movies.

Performers in The 5th Annual A Fine Romance

Hugh Jackman (Host)
Christine Ebersole
Hector Elizondo
Joel Grey
Cheyenne Jackson
Melina Kanakaredes
Patti LuPone
Shirley MacLaine
James Marsden
Brian Stokes Mitchell
Kelli O'Hara
Lea Salonga
Aaron Tveit
Leslie Uggams


https://www.mptvfund.org/cm/fundraising/events/a-fine-romance.html

It goes to show that versatile actors can be embraced in either community. Patrick Wilson and Hugh Jackman are two big examples of musical theatre specialists who have done well in films. I don't remember anyone from Hollywood saying that they are not welcome!




Updated On: 6/20/10 at 08:53 PM

[pattibelle]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 9:11pm

Thanks for the link, Lizzie. You know, this whole brouhaha has made me think of something. I know there was much talk a couple years back about the negative effects of anonymous sites such as BWW. But I kind of think that for the "Broadway Community", Facebook may be worse. Broadway is different from Hollywood in that a fan can 'stagedoor' and actually have face to face time with someone in a Broadway show. Then, the fan can 'friend' said actor (perhaps with a message reminding the actor of their encounter at the stage door) and as it's hard to ignore a flattering friend request....voila, a facebook "friendship" is born. (Notice that these actors who have been involved in this discussion have thousands of "friends" - most of them, obviously, fans. Or not even fans, but people who just want to be associated with Broadway actors.) So, said actor makes some ludicrous post on facebook, and in an effort to gain favor with this actor, his or her "friends" comment with unwavering support, whatever the bizarre post that was made by the actor. And, unfortunately, the actors involved think that they have actually made a legitimate point because of all of the positive comments. Thus, the LACK of anonymity is the problem. These fan/friends WANT to have their names attached to the supportive comments. Being noticed by the Broadway "star" (and I use that term loosely) is more important than the merits of the "comment." It kind of reminds me of the recent Alice Ripley craziness. While her use of the term "fag" was obviously inappropriate, I don't think she is a homophobe at all. However, it took her quite some time to apologize for losing her temper (as we all do) because her facebook fan/friends were so eager to support her, even though had a non-Tony winner called someone a "fag", these same people would have (rightfully) gone ballistic. But that apology probably took longer than it should have because of all of the comments which seemed to say "Go Alice! Call him a fag! Loved you in N2N! Thanks for accepting my friend request!" This facebook phenomenon seems to make these Broadway journeymen (sorry, they aren't stars) lose the objectivity and accountability that would give them the common sense to realize that, for example, this "movement" is nothing more than pettiness, envy, and jealousy. It's quite sad.

[othell]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 9:25pm

Apparently Meridith has read the comments on her blog and she does not understand all of the mean-spirited criticism. I am disappointed in her and have lost some respect for her.

[iflip4musicals]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 9:28pm

othell where did she post that?


nvm, it was on her twitter: http://twitter.com/merpatterson

Updated On: 6/20/10 at 09:28 PM

[kidbroadway2]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 9:32pm

yeah, can someone point me to where in "Every Little Step" she is?

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 9:33pm

patibelle, I agree -- the fan/friend line issue has been a problem for a while. But as has been discretion.

[othell]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 9:33pm

Seems like the truth hurts, for she has now made her blog private.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 9:34pm

Love dominates? Really? Like she was being so loving.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 9:35pm

I'm sad someone is so personally hateful toward me and I'm going to have to now make my blog private/invite only for family and friends.
10 minutes ago via UberTwitter

I have some horrible mean spirited people commenting on my blog. Wow, I'm shocked at their hatred. Its sad.

18 minutes ago via UberTwitter

Well some of them are pretty shocked by your horrible, mean spirited comments about Catherine Zeta Jones.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 9:36pm

I still have the page open with the blog post if anyone didn't get a chance to read it, but I don't really want to cause any further trouble and post it on here...

[wonderwaiter]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 9:36pm

"This blog is open to invited readers only"

Well!

[adamgreer]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 9:41pm

The irony is just too delicious.

She's shocked at peoples' "hatred" towards her and refers to them as "mean-spirited." Well, what about her mean-spirited hatred towards Catherine Zeta-Jones, Scarlett Johansson, and Denzel Washington??

She truly doesn't get it.
Updated On: 6/20/10 at 09:41 PM

[pattibelle]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 9:45pm

Again, I find this whole thing just sad. I like Meredith Patterson, but what, her nasty comments (in a pubic forum) about CZJ and Scar Jo are not mean spirited, but someone calling her out on them is? Again, there seems to be a common sense disconnect. "But, you're my friends! My fans! I'm in 'the community!' I can say whatever I want about people I don't see every day at auditions! Right?" Honey, some of us value good theatre. More than we value "the community", whatever the hell that means. As Scar Jo gave a great performance on Broadway, she is thus (whether you like it or not) part of the community. And hey, even if I grant you that CZJ didn't give the best performance at the Tonys, her being cast in that show gave actors in your "community" months and months of work. Look at the NYT story about how the show's grosses dipped by hundreds of thousands of dollars when she wasn't in it. It would not have been profitable without her. And thus stayed open. Proof positive that she was, by definition, "good" for the "Broadway community." You wouldn't have turned down Charlotte in that production. No way.

[Sleeper2]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 9:46pm

She's kind of biting, nasty and clueless -- it's the recipe that made Sarah Palin a national treat.

I still think Sieber's comments were worse. That asinine boooooo. I mean, seriously, Chris. You should be ashamed of your non-Tony winning self.

[Anakela]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 9:46pm

Can someone tell me where in Every Little Step she is, because I watched it several times and don't notice her. I've noticed several others. Including that Natscia girl who was referenced to in the other thread. Or however you spell her name.


yeah, can someone point me to where in "Every Little Step" she is?

She auditions in between Nikki Snelson and Jessica Lee Goldyn in the Val segment.

[pattibelle]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 9:57pm

It's funny, Sleeper2, that you mentioned Sarah Palin. That has been the first thing that has come to my mind repeatedly about certain Broadway actors (Cody, Patterson, Foster) that have been discussed here. They all live by their facebook accounts. And think that enough goodwill on these facebook accounts can supercede REALITY. They think that enough positive comments about whatever crap they post proves them right. And any negative comments to their posts just gets filed under the category of "hate". Kind of reminds me of that James Frey guy. Who wrote "A Million Little Pieces." When people first started to uncover evidence that he had made up so much of it, the first thing he put on his blog was "Let the Haters Hate." Apparently, these days, the opposite of fantasy and ego is "hate."

[othell]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 9:58pm

I bet she does some blocking on her Twitter next

[ljay889]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 10:19pm

I honestly have lost respect for, and have no desire to see any show that Hunter Foster, Jen Cody, Christopher Sieber, Natascia Diaz, and Meredith Patterson are in.

Same here. Completely agree. I wish one of them had the balls to post here.

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 10:27pm

It strikes me as funny that Meredith writes on her twitter, "Bullies exist everywhere, love dominates. :)"

Did love dominate her comments towards Catherine? What a meanie she is and totally clueless about "love".

[callitquits]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 10:38pm

Patterson is especially hilarious and delusional in her Twitter posts. She is acting like she is a victim of random cyberbullying:

"Wow, sad ppl @erynroberts: It's really sad. They did a story on NBC about it, people just browse blogs and leave mean comments just for fun.
37 minutes ago via UberTwitter"

PLEASE. This was not a case of 13-year-olds commenting "for fun" and saying "UR UGLY AND U SUX KILL URSELF." All of the comments I saw had valid, mature points, and some of the posters seemed like they genuinely wanted to help her when they asked her to take the post down or apologize. The only "mean" one was the one about the Olive Garden commercial, but even then, there's a POINT there. When are these people going to get it? There's no way to make themselves look good at this point. Accusing people of "buying" Tonys just because they happily turned to their husband when they won, calling winners "vulgar cows"... even if they WERE being bullied in a mean way, I'd say they deserve everything that's coming. With their immature, bitter, and idiotic "campaign", they have done everything they possibly could to try to tarnish the wins of CZJ, Johansson, and Washington. Luckily, Team Hollywood is having the last laugh, as evidenced by Johansson's eloquent and tactful response to the Facebook group.

But you know what, I'd like to see... MEREDITH PATTERSON AND CHRISTOPHER SIEBER IN FENCES! NATASCIA DIAZ AS CATHERINE CARBONE! JENNIFER CODY AND HUNTER FOSTER AS DESIREE AND MADAME ARMFELDT! YES! That'll show those Hollywood ****ers!

[adamgreer]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 10:41pm

Here's another little gem from Delusional Meredith Patterson. This is her twitter "bio":

Bio: The Official Tweeting Place for MP Fans updated by Miss M herself. Updates on Broadway, TV, Film, Music.

TV???
FILM???
MUSIC?????

But, she is a BROADWAY actress!!! How DARE she try to work in other mediums and take jobs away from the hardworking, struggling film and TV actors. The NERVE!
Updated On: 6/20/10 at 10:41 PM

[Patti LuPone FANatic]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 10:42pm

I'm curious about something. Will this controversy dissipate over time or does it have "legs"? I'm trying to be like Switzerland (neutral). from RC in Austin, Texas

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 10:45pm

There is no neutral here. What we have are actors bashing other actors for being too famous. It's a fight started by the unpopular kids in hopes to get more unpopular kids to think they're more popular than the popular kids who populate the populace.
Updated On: 6/20/10 at 10:45 PM

[Kad]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 10:46pm

She's unpopular with the populace!

[StageManager2]

Posted: 6/20/10 at 10:49pm

Quite the tongue twister there, Jordan!