It just adds to a growing list of situations similar to this, namely the way that the closings of SHUFFLE ALONG, MOTOWN (the 2016 return), and AFTER MIDNIGHT were handled. Each of those shows received abrupt closing notices under shady circumstances and were thoroughly discussed on this board and elsewhere. As a black actor, it just begins to feel like producers have very little faith in black performers unless they're in a show that's a hit right out of the gate like HAMILTON.
Wait a second...I'm confused. Are you saying that the shows were doing well and closed with no warning whatsoever?
After Midnight was struggling to keep its head above water from the beginning. Ticket sales were largely dependent on fan bases of the cast of featured performers that were to be rotated every couple of months. It stayed open through the Tonys, but only won for choreography. With grosses averaging around $565k, there was simply no warning that the show created for black actors would close shortly after losing out on multiple Tonys because the producers had no faith in black actors?
Motown had the exact same producers in its return as it did in its original run when it was making money. When it returned just 18 months later, subsequent to a national tour, it barely broke $400k. But its because the producers had no faith in black performers? In a hit show they created for black performers?!?! That most of the country had already seen and no longer needed to travel to NYC?
Shuffle Along was riddled with controversy from the start, but it did sell fairly well, with a bit of a dip near the end. I know there was a lot of gossip and not everything is 100% known to everyone, but Audra did get pregnant and the show opened during the season of Hamilton. Did the producers simply give up on a show they created for black actors, specifically to pay tribute to the history of Broadway's first all-black musical, that potentially could have turned a profit or did the advance dry up when Audra announced her departure?
And now with Great Comet, the Oak issue is because he's black but Denee, Sumayya, Lulu and Azudi...aren't? Or are you being more specific that the producers have no faith in a black male lead? To me, it appears as though the producers are doing a really crappy attempt at stunt-casting replacements and whoever fills in as a placeholder gets the shaft. But you're saying the producers did this because Oak is black?
Maybe I misunderstood what you're trying to say because to me, the dots aren't really connecting.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
