Official Kickstarter to get Spring Awakening to perform on the Tonys — Page 19

thirtythirtyninety said: "Scarywarhol said: "Ha! Their Facebook just posted a "WE DID IT!" post thanking the donors, and the entire line of comments is...well..."

Yeah, they're getting REAMED. As well they should be"

The negative commenters are obviously you guys, let's be real.

GreenSharpie said: "^ I agree with you on all of that, and I personally blame those shortcomings on Ken Davenport, because those are classic signs of his involvement. I truly think Deaf West's hands are tied and they can't answer inquiries because I'm sure they feel they owe a lot to him for transferring the show to Broadway.



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As someone who has sit on numerous non-profit Boards, allow me to address this: Deaf West is a public charity. It is owned by the public, for the benefit of the public. They have a moral, legal and fiduciary liability to not only their donors but to the entire community. The suggestion that their hands are tied is absolutely absurd and defies any basic principles or best practices of non-profit governance. The Deaf West leadership should not only be ashamed but concerned, as they have opened the door to future legal action by backers who feel have been duped or lied to. Ken Davenport is irrelevant. From a reporting and accounting standpoint, this money is going directly into Deaf West's coffers. They are wholly responsible for anything that should happen. I continue to be dismayed at the fact their Board of Directors actually approved this campaign. It's beyond disingenuous and goes against the spirit of transparency.

It's fraud and I hope everyone I the business takes a hard look at themselves before working with him. And those people that take his producers classes had better think twice. Although with everything he gets away with, maybe it would be good to learn his slimy tricks.

Are there ANY journalists?

RW3 said: "I'm not sure who I'm more mad at, the cast gleefully going along with this while this controversy is brewing or Ken Davenport. "

Oh they're excited to perform at the Tony's, give them a break.

Yes apparently I am the sole defender of Spring Awakening on this Board, but I am not letting this amazing show get dragged through the mud. Do whatever you want with Ken Davenport, though.

GreenSharpie said: "Yes apparently I am the sole defender of Spring Awakening on this Board, but I am not letting this amazing show get dragged through the mud. Do whatever you want with Ken Davenport, though."

Hardly anyone here is badmouthing the show itself, much less doing anything to qualify for that hyperbole.

LizzieCurry said: "GreenSharpie said: "Yes apparently I am the sole defender of Spring Awakening on this Board, but I am not letting this amazing show get dragged through the mud. Do whatever you want with Ken Davenport, though."

Hardly anyone here is badmouthing the show itself, much less doing anything to qualify for that hyperbole."

I hope you're right, but I have a sneaking feeling I'm going to see a whole lot of hate and snark around here when it comes to people talking about their performance during and after the Tony's.

I really hate Ken Davenport for casting such a shadow on this show with his misguided tactics. This has probably even erased any tiny chance Spring Awakening may have had of taking home any awards.

GreenSharpie said: "LizzieCurry said: "GreenSharpie said: "Yes apparently I am the sole defender of Spring Awakening on this Board, but I am not letting this amazing show get dragged through the mud. Do whatever you want with Ken Davenport, though."

Hardly anyone here is badmouthing the show itself, much less doing anything to qualify for that hyperbole."

I hope you're right, but I have a sneaking feeling I'm going to see a whole lot of hate and snark around here when it comes to people talking about their performance during and after the Tony's.

I really hate Ken Davenport for casting such a shadow on this show with his misguided tactics. This has probably even erased any tiny chance Spring Awakening may have had of taking home any awards.



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You're really quite daft, aren't you? Do you not understand that by allowing the campaign to unfold in this manner, Deaf West is essentially endorsing the tactics? Hoped you would reply to my earlier response. Guess I was hoping for too much.

I've said it before but I'll say it again: I loved this production. Wholeheartedly. The original Spring Awakening was hugely important to me as a teenager, and this production was a gorgeous reimagining of the material. Everyone on the creative team deserves all the accolades they received, both critically and from audience members.

But the blatant exploitation of young people who are enthusiastic about theater (maybe BECAUSE of this show), young actors with disabilities who did beautiful work in the show and who may never have gotten to perform on Broadway otherwise, and the general lying and lack of transparency is unconscionable. It doesn't change how I feel about the show. It doesn't change how I feel about Ken Davenport, because I already hated him. But the fact remains that he and whoever else is responsible for this inane and falsified "fundraising campaign" should be called out on it, dragged for it, whatever, because it's not right.

That, as far as I've seen, is what people here and in other corners of the internet are criticizing.

@Iris, yes the word is transparency. That's what's missing.

@Green, that transparency is missing in your scenario, and DW is complicit in that lack of transparency because they obviously made the deal, didn't disclose it and made affirmative representations to the contrary. This is not on the actors: actors for the most part (a) don't follow things like this-they are too busy getting in shape to perform- and (b) don't necessarily understand the nuances of all this because, well, this is not a part of their skill set. I don't think there is any sentiment here against the performers-that just seems like you projecting. Finally, there is a potentially really bad outcome here for DW if the IRS thinks the transaction is private inurement, which is not impossible. Let's hope not but that would blow up DW and no one wants that. I do think, however, as I said above, that this could also affect fundraising in the future, and I would not be surprised to see some shift at the top when all is said and done.

I REALLY wanted and want to see this cast perform on the Tonys, it just upsets me that the producers are exploiting young fans for money through lies. This show means more to me than any other show ever has, but I'm still very, very livid that this happened.

Actually a few hours after. Just as fishy, but more pathetic.

belrowley said: "A commenter above suggested that the cast are "gleefully going along with this," which implies that they are willingly perpetrating the scam. I might be wrong, but I hardly think the actors know about the deal between Davenport and Deaf West. Most of them are just 20 year olds excited to perform at the Tonys."

Are you implying that the cast of Spring Awakening is a bunch of idiots? If we could figure it out on this board I hope to God they aren't that dumb.

I didn't see this production (it ran like 2 months, right?) and I didn't see the original (though I saw it on tour) but I love the original cast recording and have a soft spot for that original cast. These shenanigans have soured me to the musical as a whole. I kind of want to throw the CD in the trash. And I kind of don't want to watch the cast perform at the Tonys now.

Dancing, they were at around $165K when the list was announced. I didn't keep track of the daily donations but it seemed to be going pretty slowly after the first day or so. Why wealthy individuals not connected to the production would find it in their hearts to each donate $10K AFTER it was announced they'd be performing is beyond me.