Lupita N'Yongo will not be doing any Wednesday evening performances starting 3/9- Page 2

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 3/3/16 at 9:26pm

She's flying to LA once a week to film her part of Star Wars?

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 3/3/16 at 9:28pm

RippedMan, her role is interesting - she has a heart-wrenching monologue in act II, but the show is an ensemble piece. All the roles are important, and The Girl's soul serves as the main issue in the play, but this concerns the other players as well. It's just odd with this type of show for one person to take one show a week off - especially when the show is equally emotionally taxing on the other actors. If she wasn't a movie star, this wouldn't happen. Yet again, if she wasn't a movie star, this piece would have never been produced at The Public.

[CarlosAlberto]

Posted: 3/3/16 at 9:30pm

Ripper_Man none of us know the reason why she needs Wednesday's off. For you to jump on your judgmental soap box and call her lazy is really unfair. 

 

Everyone here is so quick to judge, so really quick to tear down without knowing the facts of any given situation.

 

 

 

 

[Lunch_Lady]

Posted: 3/3/16 at 9:31pm

Sally Durant Plummer said: "She's flying to LA once a week to film her part of Star Wars?

 

"

I think it's being filmed elsewhere, I read that the cast will be filming this month.

 

Her replacement is a stand-in, while the others will be having understudies according to the website. http://eclipsedbroadway.com/

Updated On: 3/3/16 at 09:31 PM

[RippedMan]

Posted: 3/4/16 at 3:30am

Eh, I can judge all I want. 

[LarryD2]

Posted: 3/4/16 at 7:23am

Well Helen Mirren didn't have an alternate and she slated it in The Queen. And she never left the stage.

 

The show was called The Audience and it only played seven performances a week. But that's really a nonissue. Lupita and her agent were able to negotiate a performance off. That's really the long and the short of it. The show wouldn't be coming to Broadway without her, so she has some clout and can get a perk like this. Telecharge is listing her alternate, and the other night at TKTS I overheard one of the ticket sellers telling an interested patron that Lupita wasn't performing that night. It really is the responsibility of the ticket buyer to know these things when the information is readily available.

[JM226]

Posted: 3/4/16 at 8:13am

Lunch_Lady said: "Sally Durant Plummer said: "She's flying to LA once a week to film her part of Star Wars?

"I think it's being filmed elsewhere, I read that the cast will be filming this month."

 

they are filming the next movie in Croatia and Mexico among many other foreign places. there is no way her weekly absence (of one evening performance) is due to filming on star wars. I am sure she will begin shooting her scenes after this show ends... 

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 3/4/16 at 10:00am

"Her replacement is a stand-in, while the others will be having understudies according to the website."

 

There are no "stand-ins" on Broadway. They are called standbys, which just means their only job is to cover one person.

[mamaleh]

Posted: 3/4/16 at 10:21am

I didn't see the play at the Public. Could the role really be more physically or emotionally strenuous than those played by Michelle Williams and Jeff Daniels eight times a week?  Now that's a workout.

[newintown]

Posted: 3/4/16 at 10:29am

The big difference here - I've never heard of an over-the-title star doing fewer performances than the rest of the cast (as a set schedule).

 

Anyone else? Am I forgetting a prior delicate star?

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 3/4/16 at 10:32am

I can't think of one either.

[Yero my Hero]

Posted: 3/4/16 at 11:22am

I overheard a few ladies yelling at the house manager after the show this past Wednesday because they were not told that Lupita was not in, and he had to awkwardly tell them that she was, in fact, in the show they had just seen. If people don't notice when she is in the show, they might not notice when she is out.

 

(FWIW, I thought the play was really excellent and moving, but there is no way it would have transferred without Lupita involved, and she knows it, so she can ask for whatever she wants.)

[Lunch_Lady]

Posted: 3/4/16 at 1:28pm

I don't know why people are getting so worked up about this. There are apparently 2 shows that day, one at 2:00 pm and the other one at 8:00pm. She just won't be at the 8:00 show on Wednesdays.

 

[JM226]

Posted: 3/4/16 at 3:35pm

Lunch_Lady said: "I don't know why people are getting so worked up about this. There are apparently 2 shows that day, one at 2:00 pm and the other one at 8:00pm. She just won't be at the 8:00 show on Wednesdays."

 

i think people understyand that. but they also question why someone in a non-demanding role in a play really needs a weekly break.  this is not HAMILTON. this is not CURIOUS INCIDENT. 

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 3/4/16 at 3:38pm

What JM226 said, PLUS the fact that I can't remember another above the title marquee name who didn't do all 8 shows. Bryan Cranston and Bradley Cooper did 8 shows a week. And she can't?

[JM226]

Posted: 3/4/16 at 3:42pm

actually, i think what is more frustrating is that the producers have tried to hide this and were not honest..transparent..upfront about it.  if there is a legitimate reason, they should blast out a press release explaining why.  complete and utter lack of respect for their ticket-buying patrons who are being deceived. 

[neonlightsxo]

Posted: 3/4/16 at 3:47pm

Yep, that too.

[newintown]

Posted: 3/4/16 at 4:00pm

"I don't know why people are getting so worked up about this."

 

There are many here who can help you acquire that knowledge - and knowledge is power!

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 3/4/16 at 5:33pm

Yes, I definitely hold the producers to task for not being more upfront. Has Lupita said anything as to why she is only doing 7 shows a week? This is a graduate with an MFA in drama from Yale. Surely they teach you how to handle an eight show a week run in a program like that..

 

And when I think about little Saiorse Ronan, who has never been on a stage before, giving a great performance that truly IS physically demanding 8 shows a week...

 

it it all seems odd.

Updated On: 3/4/16 at 05:33 PM

[JBroadway]

Posted: 3/4/16 at 5:50pm

I can't deny I also find it a bit odd that this role would require an alternate, but as someone said earlier in this thread, people are not all the same. Lupita Nyong'o can't or doesn't want to perform 8 shows a week. She is not Bradley Cooper, Helen Mirren or Bryan Cranston, she is Lupita Nyong'o and she has her own reasons. Maybe the role is too emotionally taxing for her and she needs a day away from it for her own mental health. None of us knows for sure. 

[Sally Durant Plummer]

Posted: 3/4/16 at 5:51pm

Do not misunderstand- her role IS demanding. Very emotionally demanding and probably a very draining experience, but the same goes for each woman on that stage. Nothing is easy in this play, which is why it's odd that only one actor is getting a mini-break rather than all five. I mean, I understand it's because of her clout and who she is, but it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth (and her performance is truly a wonder, one of the most truthful and raw things I have seen ).

[JBroadway]

Posted: 3/4/16 at 5:55pm

Does it leave a bad taste in your mouth any more than someone getting a role because they are famous? Or that a name actor is paid more than a non-name? Or that famous actors have cars waiting for them after the show and others don't? That's show-business! People negotiate with the leverage they have. 

Updated On: 3/4/16 at 05:55 PM

[Carlos Danger]

Posted: 3/4/16 at 6:51pm

It's obviously something that just came up and concessions had to be made. What a bunch of drama queens.

[newintown]

Posted: 3/5/16 at 8:40am

Why does criticism of an over-the-title star regularly missing performances offend you so much that you need to call people nasty names, Carlos? Truly curious.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 3/5/16 at 1:53pm

We have no clue why she is taking the time off. Perhaps she is shooting a film, perhaps she can't handle the emotional toll of the show eight times a week, perhaps she has to take a friend to chemo on Wednesdays, or perhaps she doesn't feel like it. We don't know. What we do know is that the producers allowed her to do this. It was ultimately their call and they felt the presence of Nyong'o in the play was far more important than her missing a day, much like the producers of SHUFFLE ALONG preferred to have McDonald leave for three months during the summer rather than not have her at all. The producers absolutely had the choice to say no and find a replacement. To put this on Nyong'o is a bit misguided. Also, re the cast, really, if my friend from work had enough clout or whatever to take one day off work every week, I'd be happy for her and tell her to do it and wish that I could do the same rather than resent her or feel cheated or something. I doubt the cast members are making as big of a deal of this as the board is.

Updated On: 3/5/16 at 01:53 PM