Oak Speaks out on great comet controversy- Page 12

[CPannullo]

Posted: 4/29/20 at 3:00pm

pollster2 said: "I can safely say that after the Great Comet debacle, I won't support anything that has Rafael Casal, Cynthia Erivo, or Oak attached to it."

What did Cynthia Erivo do in this situation? 

[AndreyIsntHere]

Posted: 4/29/20 at 3:42pm

Didn't Dave Malloy imply that some bits of OCTET were inspired by what happened with Oak and COMET? (Particularly the verse in "Refresh" about cancel culture.) I believe I recall him mentioning that in an interview or something and it seems pretty accurate, but I don't want to spread it around if it's untrue.

Regardless, the whole thing still upsets me three years later. I can't look at Oak the same, even in the context of when I listen to him in HAMILTON's cast recording, as petty as it sounds. I still do enjoy his acting and singing (when he's actually being professional), but he was so immature about the Pierre debacle that I find it hard to believe he has a good personality.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 4/29/20 at 3:55pm

It's incredibly amusing people are still pressed about this. It's been three years, everyone has moved on, Oak is making tv dollas now, get over it. 

[Broadway61004]

Posted: 4/29/20 at 5:08pm

Sutton Ross said: "It's incredibly amusing people are still pressed about this. It's been three years, everyone has moved on, Oak is making tv dollasnow, get over it."

Exactly the point.  After the crap he pulled, Oak should be working a day job, not getting TV dollars.  An insanely unprofessional moderately talented actor is making millions of dollars on TV.  And that's why we're still calling him out.

[lachri5]

Posted: 4/29/20 at 5:12pm

pollster2 said: "I can safely say that after the Great Comet debacle, I won't support anything that has Rafael Casal, Cynthia Erivo, or Oak attached to it."

Same. Although I wouldn't go so far as boycotting Cynthia Erivo (if she's involved in something I'm interested in, I will still see it), it's hard for me to appreciate her performance anymore.

Updated On: 4/29/20 at 05:12 PM

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 4/29/20 at 5:13pm

Yep, I'm sure he GREATLY cares. Jesus. The bitterness about someone who you don't know is incredibly sad. Get lives, please. 

[Impossible2]

Posted: 4/29/20 at 5:14pm

Broadway61004 said: "Sutton Ross said: "It's incredibly amusing people are still pressed about this. It's been three years, everyone has moved on, Oak is making tv dollasnow, get over it."

Exactly the point. After the crap he pulled, Oak should be working a day job, not getting TV dollars. An insanely unprofessional moderately talented actor is making millions of dollars on TV. And that's why we're still calling him out."

Doll the show is pretty much a flop, he ain't making anywhere near millions...

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 4/29/20 at 5:18pm

People should really stop talking about things they know nothing about.

Station 19 ranks as the No. 1 program in the Thursday 8 PM hour this season in total viewers and Adults 18-49. Its viewership is up +9% vs last season as Station 19 is on track to to deliver its most-watched season ever. After 35 days of delayed viewing on linear and digital platforms, Station 19 averages 13.5 million Total Viewers and a 3.71 rating in Adults 18-49 this season. And it was just renewed for a 4th season. Happy to all involved including Oak.

Be bitter weirdos, he couldn't care less

Updated On: 4/29/20 at 05:18 PM

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 4/29/20 at 5:45pm

Sutton Ross, the reason this rose again was because Oak actually did express some lingering bitterness just a month ago. (I happen to be a big fan of Station 19, FWIW)





https://twitter.com/OakSmash/status/1242455316203274240"

 

[Impossible2]

Posted: 4/29/20 at 5:47pm

Sutton Ross said: "People should really stop talking about things they knownothing about.

Station 19ranks as the No. 1 program in the Thursday 8 PM hour this season in total viewers and Adults 18-49. Its viewership is up +9% vs last season asStation 19is on track to to deliver its most-watched season ever. After 35 days of delayed viewing on linear and digital platforms,Station 19averages 13.5 million Total Viewers and a 3.71 rating in Adults 18-49 this season. And it was just renewed for a 4th season. Happy to all involved including Oak.

Be bitter weirdos, he couldn't care less "

The deplorables gotta watch something *shrug

 

[JennH]

Posted: 4/30/20 at 11:04am

CPannullo said: "pollster2 said: "I can safely say that after the Great Comet debacle, I won't support anything that has Rafael Casal, Cynthia Erivo, or Oak attached to it."

What did Cynthia Erivo do in this situation?"

She absolutely refused to listen to any rational reasoning about this. She wouldn't hear of any other thoughts that this one scenario just might not have been about race relations. Do I know that POC even in 2020 are still at a socioeconomic disadvantage? Yes. Can many similar incidents be tied to subconscious racial biases? OH YES. But this ONE incident wasn't about that, it was about Dave trying to save his show any way he could. He later apologized for those optics, but still stating that wasn't his intention to snub a POC actor for a white actor. ANYONE not selling tickets to that show at that point would have been snubbed to make way for Patinkin, no matter who they were.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 4/30/20 at 11:20am

I have to admit that I found it slightly amusing when Cynthia Erivo was cast as Harriet Tubman and there was a lot of internet outrage over that (I believe it was because she is British, if I remember correctly).

[JennH]

Posted: 4/30/20 at 11:39am

^^ Correct. I'll admit I was one of them, but considering what a coup the movie itself is, just by being the first major Hollywood film about her that we finally got in 20-friggin-19, still made me want to see it. I still haven't and that's another story, but I won't refuse to see it based on that. I still refuse to see Little Women for the same reason. It's been oversaturated for a while anyway, so I don't feel the need to see it apart from the casting issue. 

[Jarethan]

Posted: 4/30/20 at 11:50am

JBroadway said: "Jarethan said: "I have to say that I am soooooo tired of this topic. The whole subject comes down to two things for me: (1) the producers were STUPID to think that, just because he was a member of the original cast of Hamilton, somehow that would help the box office when the show's hugehuge star left. What were they thinking? It wasn't exactly like Hercules Mulligan was a character that people left the theatre thinking about or praising the performance; and the reason at least half of the audience was attending every performance (at least at full price) was because of that huge star THEY WERE STUPID. (2) The Great Comet -- which i liked, not loved, but absolutely loved the physical production and absolutelylove the cast recording -- was never a show that was going to appeal to a huge audience...it was just too 'cerebral', for want to a better word. When the mega-star attraction left, the only waythey were going to survive was by either hiring another mega-star or figuring out a way to reduce the operating costs big-time. I may be wrong, but I seem to recall that the operating costs were high enough to require great business to eekout a long run. Given the material, that was NEVER going to happen."



Totally agree with you on your first point.

As for your second point - it contains its own rebuttal. You say it was "never going to happen" UNLESS they found big stars to sell tickets, but that's exactly what they did, and what they were trying to continue doing. As we allknow, star-casting was, in fact, their business strategy. And for a while, it worked, and if things hadn't gone awry, it might have continued to work. So I think the show very well could have recouped if their strategy hadn't been interrupted. It might have been a long, slow road, but it could have happened."

But they broke that strategy the second they hired him.  They never should

have done that (back to my first point).

[JBroadway]

Posted: 4/30/20 at 12:05pm

Jarethan said: "But they broke that strategy the second they hired him."

 

No, they didn't.

You may be forgetting that Ingrid Michaelson was cast as Sonya during the same period of time that Oak was supposed to play Pierre. So they still had a name in the cast curing that time. Ingrid Michaelson joined the cast immediately after Groban left, and Mandy Patinkin was scheduled to come in immediately after Michaelson left. So based on that timing, it's clear that they were still sticking to the same strategy. And Oak was just another actor thrown into the mix to fill the role of Pierre while they used Sonya as the star-casting role. 

Maybe the marketing team thought they could take advantage of the situation and advertise Oak's Hamilton connection, but I don't think they hired him because they thought he would keep the show afloat. 
 

Updated On: 4/30/20 at 12:05 PM

[Impossible2]

Posted: 4/30/20 at 12:16pm

Oak was hired as a temporary 'fill in' not a replacement, while the next 'star' was prepping for the role. He was never meant to be a full-time Pierre. He showed up completely unprepared and broke his contract in doing so. He wouldn't take direction and wanted to 'change' the role to suit himself better which is not what they wanted. Instead of being fired he was offered a way out so HE didn't look bad which he agreed to and then threw it back in their faces the minute he saw an opportunity to bring the whole thing crashing down as revenge for his own lack of prep...the end.

[Broadway61004]

Posted: 4/30/20 at 1:12pm

Impossible2 said: "Oak was hired as a temporary 'fill in'not a replacement, while the next 'star' was prepping for the role. He was never meant to be a full-time Pierre. He showed up completely unpreparedand broke his contract in doing so. He wouldn't take direction and wanted to 'change' the role to suit himself better which is not what they wanted.Instead of being fired he was offered a way out so HE didn't look bad which he agreed to and then threw it back in their faces the minute he saw an opportunity to bring the whole thing crashing down as revengefor his own lack of prep...the end."

To be fair, I believe he was originally hired to be the long-term replacement. Remember, they announced his hiring way back in January or February of that year, when they were still anticipating winning more than just the design Tony Awards and figured they could use those wins to boost sales instead of needing a huge name. But then the Tonys came and went and sales plummeted and they said "uh-oh, better find some names". Still changes nothing about what Oak did and how it was not at all unjust that they moved on from him, but I believe he was actually originally in their long term plans.

[Impossible2]

Posted: 4/30/20 at 1:25pm

Broadway61004 said: "Impossible2 said: "Oak was hired as a temporary 'fill in'not a replacement, while the next 'star' was prepping for the role. He was never meant to be a full-time Pierre. He showed up completely unpreparedand broke his contract in doing so. He wouldn't take direction and wanted to 'change' the role to suit himself better which is not what they wanted.Instead of being fired he was offered a way out so HE didn't look bad which he agreed to and then threw it back in their faces the minute he saw an opportunity to bring the whole thing crashing down as revengefor his own lack of prep...the end."

To be fair, I believe he was originally hired to be the long-term replacement. "

He wasn't, he was always a fill-in. Yes they were probably hoping they could cash in on his Hamilton fame and get a different kind of audience in while he was in it, but it was always a LTD time agreement which its probably why he didn't do all the prep he was supposed to do in the first place. x

[JoeyC3]

Posted: 4/30/20 at 4:05pm

It is A FACT that he came in unprepared for rehearsals. He didn't learn the material after he had 5 months to prepare. That is why his debut was pushed back...Unprofessional.

Trust me, I was in these rehearsals!!

Updated On: 4/30/20 at 04:05 PM

[JoeyC3]

Posted: 4/30/20 at 8:59pm

Very well said… Oak was unprofessional and unprepared from the start. He had months to prepare for the role he accepted and never even bothered to learn the lyrics, piano and accordion to most of the songs. The producers had to delay his start because he wasn't ready. I was personally part of many of the rehearsals (I was a member of the orchestra).  He was late and missed blocking so often that he was actually getting fined by equity. He even cancelled rehearsal once because he said he ate too many doughnuts!! 

When it was clear that Oak was unprofessional and unprepared, the producers began looking for his replacement. (They actually almost fired him before his first performance because of all the things mentioned above.) He then used the race card to justify his firing and caused a media backlash that destroyed the show.

#POISONOAK