Oak Speaks out on great comet controversy — Page 6

I should quit posting about Great Comet, just like Onaodowan should stop talking about it.

But once again, just to reiterate what I've written in past threads:

- Lead producer Howard Kagan certainly doesn't get off the hook here. In the end, it was the producers' call to hire Onaodowan to replace Groban for an 8-week run starting July 3. It never made sense at the time it was announced in February, because there was simply no way Onaodowan was going to bring in the audiences that Groban attracted. The bet was that Hamilton fans would want to check him out; the bet was wrong. Kagan was clearly hoping to win Best Musical, but it was obvious even in February that Dear Evan Hansen and perhaps one of the spring shows (which turned out to be Come From Away) would block that path. This was one of many questionable decisions by Kagan, who is credited (by me anyway) for bringing the show to Broadway but who needed to have everything go right for the musical to stand a chance of breaking even. And despite bringing in about $1 million a week for months, it didn't come close.

- My first reaction to Onaodowan's dismissal was sympathy. He only had been playing the role for two weeks, and the move to bring in Mandy Patinkin for a three-week run struck me as a desperate ploy by the producers that would be a band-aid to the real problem, that the show cost too much and wasn't a huge hit.

- The one person I've learned to trust in this whole affair is show creator Dave Malloy, who is probably too honest for his own good. He's the one who admitted that he should have paid more attention to the "racial optics" of Onaodowan's dismissal, that he compared it to the replacement of longtime Comet star (and Malloy friend) Brittain Ashford with pop star Ingrid Michaelson. And why? Because they needed the box office boost because Onaododwan - through no fault of his own - wasn't a draw. Michaelson was leaving in August, and the late-August advance box office was dismal. That's a big problem for an expensive show.

- Even if one disregards Riedel's gossip columns and the New York Times piece, there is Malloy, who confirmed that Onaodowan wasn't ready to go on July 3 after months of time to prepare. “I had to go in for a week because he was unprepared, and he tweeted that we were unprepared,” Malloy told Vulture. “That was strange and hard.” It's very hard to sympathize with someone who isn't ready to do his job.

- And then there were the online attacks on the show itself. That's been covered at length, but what was Onaodowan's role? He certainly made no effort to help and instead fanned the flames. He's still doing it, more than a month after the show closed. The only conclusion one can draw is that Onaodowan, out of a mixture of pride and hurt feelings, wanted Great Comet to die. Malloy seems both mystified and upset at the irresponsibility of the campaign against his show. The diverse cast and Denee Benton could pound sand. Onaodowan lost his job a few weeks early, with pay, because the show needed a star - and that's when he decides diversity isn't cultivated. Because it was all about him. Now he's Colin Kaepernick.

- Yes, it's true. Great Comet wasn't going to last too much longer at the Imperial no matter what Onaodowan did. Neither he nor Cynthia Erivo or Rafael Casal killed the musical. It was a flawed financial endeavor that required the producers to catch every break and for the show to become a sensation. But it didn't have to die ugly. And I do blame Onaodowan, an artist who should respect the hard work of his colleagues, for that.

Updated On: 10/5/17 at 01:48 AM

bear88 said: "Yes, it's true. Great Comet wasn't going to last too much longer at the Imperial no matter what Onaodowan did. Neither he nor Cynthia Erivo or Rafael Casal killed the musical. It was a flawed financial endeavor that required the producers to catch every break and for the show to become a sensation. But itdidn't have to die ugly. And I do blame Onaodowan, an artist who should respect the hard work of his colleagues, for that."

bear88, i was hoping that you'll show up.

Updated On: 10/5/17 at 02:08 AM

Don't engage with Rafael Casal. This absolutely is him... I'm recalling his tweet in which he attacked the headline of an article about Patinkin and Oak ("Celebrity or Diversity", I believe it was called), and he said "The problem with this headline is that it implies one is a star and the other isn't."

"Don't you DARE say that. My baby is gonna be a STAR!"

PaulWom said: "BroadwayRox, I didn't say Andy shouldn't be hired again! I said Oak shouldn't."

My bad, this was directed at Speed (or possibly Casal?). I should've quoted their comment. You're good. :)

He's not entitled to anything. If they want to fire him they can fire him. Oak turned out to be a narcissist who was unprofessional and unprepared and also didn't bring in an audience. Bye. He got dumped for a bigger name and then decided to become a "SJW." The a-hole actually thinks he's some sort of martyr.

Look, here's the difference between him and Karl: Karl is a 3 time Tony nominee. Oak is one of the supporting roles in Hamilton (one of the few that didn't recieve a Tony nom, I might add) and was a replacement for this show. He's a nobody. If he had originated the role and been nominated for a Tony I would feel differently, but he was the replacement and he acted like a narcissistic diva the whole time.

Now, Speed, I don't know why you get off to calling everyone racist here unless you're a troll or you have a personal relationship with Oak, himself, either way, get your ridiculousness out of here. You're defending Oak's half baked argument with more half baked arguments. No one has any problems with Oak because he's black, they have a problem with him because he's a jerk who put a hard working and incredibly diverse cast out of work and then tries to compare himself to Kaepernick, who was standing up (or rather kneeling) for PoC who were getting murdered in the streets and then proceeds to compare the creative team to Donald Trump. It's revolting, insensitive, tone deaf, and idiotic. I hope he never works again.

I can't even get through all of this. This thread is more labored than the Betsy Wolfe Carousel thread.

The workshop cast of Frozen is just having all the issues.

Speed said: "GeorgeandDot said: "He's not entitled to anything. If they want to fire him they can fire him. Oak turned out to be a narcissist who was unprofessional and unprepared and also didn't bring in an audience. Bye. He got dumped for a bigger name and then decided to become a "SJW." The a-hole actually thinks he's some sort of martyr.

Look, here's the difference between him and Karl: Karl is a 3 time Tony nominee. Oak is one of the supporting roles in Hamilton (one of the few that didn't recieve a Tony nom, I might add) and was a replacement for this show. He's a nobody. If he had originated the role and been nominated for a Tony I would feel differently, but he was the replacement and he acted like a narcissistic diva thewhole time.

Now, Speed, I don't know why you get off to calling everyone racist here unless you're a troll or you have a personal relationship with Oak, himself, either way, get your ridiculousness out of here. You're defending Oak's half baked argument with more half baked arguments. No one has any problems with Oak because he's black, they have a problem with him because he's a jerk who put a hard working and incredibly diverse cast out of work and then tries to compare himself to Kaepernick, who was standing up (or rather kneeling) for PoC who were getting murdered in the streets and then proceeds to compare the creative team to Donald Trump. It's revolting, insensitive, tone deaf, and idiotic. I hope he never works again."

Wow. So human beings only deserve respect if they get nominated for Tonys? That's horrible.

"

No but getting nominated for Tonys does help sell tickets, something that is necessary for a production to stay open and something that Oak clearly could not do without the assistance of Ingrid Michaelson.

Also having a good work ethic earns respect. Showing up months after you were first announced, not knowing your part, and forcing the production to find a replacement for a week, does not. In case you were wondering about Andy Karl's work ethic, he managed to do the show with a torn ACL, so yeah that man deserves a lot of respect, regardless of Tony's.

I want Speed/Casal (notice he hasn't denied that assertion yet) to come on here and defend the fact that Oak showed up to rehearsals unprepared, so much so that his debut had to be pushed back a whole week. Inexcusable, given that he had 5 whole months to prepare.

Speed said: "I, personally, am more famous than most people on Broadway but I'm not entitled to their roles if I ask to play them."

Sigh...

I think lin has too much respect for Dave Malloy to save oak.

Speed said: "I, personally, am more famous than most people on Broadway but I'm not entitled to their roles if I ask to play them."

No Rafael, you are not famous, you are notorious. And not for any work you have done, but for your world alienated statements and tweets and views on this case that will haunt you for the rest of your career, or what's left of it. Whenever people will Google you they will either find this mess, or your Wikipedia of which the main contributor is yourself.

I don't know if it was a dumb move to help your buddy or that you could use some attention for your latest (film)project but be careful is my advice. Nobody wants to work with an agitator.

carnzee said: "So a poster on the other board named "King Speed" has posted comments on how unprofessional Mandy Patinkin is."

Actually, I agree with this. Not only is his unprofessionalism in previous projects well documented, but he had no legitimate reason to back out on his commitment to The Great Comet.

Updated On: 10/5/17 at 09:05 AM