Posted: 1/2/16 at 9:37pm
ljay889 said: "Off-topic, but anyone else find it hilarious that she tweeted this?? https://twitter.com/tonyapinkins/status/683395427576713217"
Posted: 1/2/16 at 9:39pm
From a distance, it certainly sounds like Ms. Pinkins thought she was a co-director and that her choices were accepted during rehearsal. And when someone finally said "no," she saw that as evidence of racism and sexism. Maybe her next show should be a one-woman show, written and directed by her? That way there can't possibly be any problems.
Posted: 1/2/16 at 11:13pm
I'm just popping in to corroborate LaneBryant's information from several of pages back--I think she was attacked a little unfairly--I heard Ms. Pinkins refer to herself as "co-director" twice during the rehearsal process for Mother Courage. I have no idea if she was contractually the co-director, and she did not receive credit as one, but LaneBryant didn't pull that out of thin air.
It is also extremely presumptuous to assume that anyone in the cast taking issue with Ms. Pinkins' behavior is not "up to the task" of working with her. Rehearsals have been an uphill battle from day one, but the supporting company has been supporting that cart every step of the way--and they are still giving it their all, even as the show's star phones it in on her way out.
ETA: I don't think Ms. Pinkins is at fault in this situation. My post could come across that way. I think that this concept, of this play, with this star, and this creative team was just never going to work. And it was handled poorly by everyone in a position to lead.
Updated On: 1/2/16 at 11:13 PM
Posted: 1/2/16 at 11:45pm
"Maybe her next show should be a one-woman show, written and directed by her? That way there can't possibly be any problems."
She'd have to run lights and sound too. And confiscate cellphones before the show and return them after. Which is not to say I don't love her. For me it's all about the work.
Posted: 1/3/16 at 12:10am
I would go see her in Gypsy.
Also, Lady Macbeth.
Posted: 1/3/16 at 12:13am
I'm sure that Larry Kramer is writing a play for her as we speak.
Posted: 1/3/16 at 12:29am
It took him like a decade to include people of color in his harangues about AIDS. Everything was "the best and the brightest and the richest and the whitest and the most talented, most handsome" gay men the "we" were losing. Let's just say he was never one for coalition work.
Posted: 1/3/16 at 12:39am
She'd be great in so many things if only it weren't for the awful white people. They ruin everything.
Posted: 1/3/16 at 12:51am
And the directors who cut and alter text for revivals and adaptations. That never happens!
Posted: 1/3/16 at 12:52am
ESPECIALLY before you sign on so that you know exactly what you're getting into. They're the worst!
Posted: 1/3/16 at 1:24am
Don't get me wrong, I'm not denying the sexism and racism in show business. I'm just also not denying that there are unhinged people in show business.
Posted: 1/3/16 at 1:28am
But not in this show. I mean, definitely not in this show.
Posted: 1/3/16 at 9:18am
I actually got a chance to see this last night, and I agree with the other posters who said that the Congo setting felt tacked on, at best- everything came off as generically "African" rather than of one specific country. While it doesn't seem that this is the only issue Pinkins had with the show, I can see why it would be a source of frustration with her.
As for all the drama surrounding this, it didn't show during the performance at all. And it's a shame Pinkins is leaving the show because she's pretty much the only worthwhile part of it. The cast tries, but a lot of the acting felt pretty stiff and wooden. In contrast, she has so much presence and played the role beautifully. Set and costumes are unremarkable, though the lighting is decent. Duncan Sheik's music is mostly lovely, but it feels out of place in this production. And the staging as a whole is pretty clunky.
I'd be curious to see who replaces Pinkins, because I think without her performance, the whole production would have been a total wash for me- not awful, but totally unremarkable.
Posted: 1/3/16 at 10:55am
I would also like to see her in Mother Courage.
Posted: 1/3/16 at 11:05am
Jordan Catalano said: "She'd be great in so many things if only it weren't for the awful white people. They ruin everything. "
Anybody else notice that all three of her husbands are/were white men? Just an observation, not saying that she hasn't dealt with racism.
Updated On: 1/3/16 at 11:05 AM
Posted: 1/3/16 at 11:25am
I've heard of the alienation effect, but this is ridiculous.
Posted: 1/3/16 at 11:50am
So, kad, she doesn't need to be in Brecht because she may be living in it? Possible, very very possible.
Posted: 1/3/16 at 11:53am
Has anyone heard anything about her replacement? I'm seeing this on the 16th, and I'm curious. It seems like a tough role to step into.
Posted: 1/3/16 at 11:59am
Does Charles Busch replace?
Posted: 1/3/16 at 12:11pm
Here is the online exchange between Pinkins and Potts per the previously mentioned blog. Geez.
Ms. Pinkins responded to Michael Potts’s longer statement with this comment: “It deeply saddens me that my wonderful costar feels he must defend, The establishment. Michael, you know nothing of what was communicated between myself and the producers and anyone else. You simply saw the fallout. I’ve been working on this production long before you were even considered. I don’t believe any of the men would have treated me the way I was treated if I was a White woman. Believe me if I had ‘run’ the show , there would be a finer product.”
Mr. Potts then wrote: “Tonya, the show is a fine product. YOU are a wonderful Mother Courage. You are made for the role. No, I do not know what transpired privately between you and the producers. I can only and was only speaking to what transpired in my presence.”
To which Ms. Pinkins replied: “You speak to your perspective as a man in the room. The patriarchy always thinks it can tell a women what to think and feel and interpret when her No is a ‘Yes’.”
Updated On: 1/3/16 at 12:11 PM
Posted: 1/3/16 at 12:38pm
On a serious note, this whole debacle is puzzling. I assume that the vision of a project is discussed and agreed upon by actor/director/writer/creative team before or even during rehearsals. It seems that everyone involved in the staging of this version of MOTHER COURAGE from director, to adapter, to star were not on the same page. It's like everyone was working independently on their own version/interpretation of the material. That it went this far leading to the star of the show walking out is unfortunate.
Posted: 1/3/16 at 12:47pm
It's like everyone was working independently on their own version/interpretation of the material.
Exactly. And that lack of communication is the fault of one person only: the DIRECTOR.
Updated On: 1/3/16 at 12:47 PM
