Pittsburgh community theater cancels BIG FISH over inclusion of gay characters — Page 5

Also: this is a community theatre. IF- big IF- anyone was getting paid, it was paltry. If your producers have a moral stance you object to and they aren't paying your bills, reclaim your damn time.

Did these people learn nothing from Rise? You tell the producers you'll make the changes and then... don't do it.

The only way to right this wrong is to announce a 2018/2019 season of gay focus.

Is this all actually a crazy tie-in to the finale of Rise?

"The addition of this moment was not in the script, it was not necessary to the story."

Thank you, I totally agree. If they want to do a sad musical that closed within 4 months on Broadway, then do it. I mean, fu*k, they are talking about the goddamn musical that made NORBERT LEO BUTZ LEAVE BROADWAY FOR FIVE YEARS! I am so glad to have him back!

I apologize. Carry on...........

I don't particularly care what you think, but he left Broadway and then did two television series, after being consistently in the theater scene for 13 years. And yes, the second to last performance of Big Fish in December, he told the person next to me outside that he was "taking a long break after this one". Just like Andy Karl told his followers on social media after Groundhog Day. There are only so many flops one can be in before they try a different path.

Updated On: 5/17/18 at 06:42 AM

This was an interesting thread to follow (Kad, you post about being offended that it was Big Fish make my morning). At first it seemed like a minor kerfuffle between a director and a producer but then as I kept reading it seemed there was a lot more to the story. Could the director have realized that this group was a bunch of nuts and decided he/she (not sure of the director's gender) wanted out? Could be. Regardless of the reasons, the director had their artistic view of the show and the producers had theirs. The director thought that it was important enough to quit over (as did other cast members) and the producers could have replaced the director but chose not to, again, THEIR choice. Don't blame the director for the producers closing down the production. People make choices and there are consequences. They hired the director for his/her vision, if you don't like what they're doing then replace them. It's one of the reasons theatre's have contracts. Both parties spell out the must haves and if you breach the contract, either way, there are penalties. To me it sounds like this company wanted this director and told them that they could include a gay couple however he got too uppity by choosing to highlight the couple downstage which was too much for the producers to handle (so it's ok to include them but they need to sit in the back of the bus?) Bravo to the director for standing up for their vision.

themysteriousgrowl said: "The show's authors, John August and Andrew Lippa, have issued a statement.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Exclusive-BIG-FISH-Creators-Speak-Out-Following-Show-Cancellation-At-Pittsburgh-Community-Theatre-Over-LGBT-Representation-20180517"

This:

"nowhere in the script does it say that any character is gay or lesbian or trans. But nor does it say they aren't. A director's decision to signal that two silent characters are same-sex parents isn't changing the text. It's providing context and framing. It's directing."

So we've now heard from the source. Watcha think, Auntie Toms?

I really don't have the time to read through 5 pages but just wonder how these 2 men would have been dressed, how were they walking, were they holding hands? What actually made them stand out as 2 gay men and a baby--wasn't that actually a title '2 men and a baby?'. It could actually have been a straight father and his best mate trying to get the child to sleep whilst the mother had hers--who knows.

The directors intent was deliberate to make the characters gay, so I would be more interested in knowing how he depicted 2 obviously homosexual fathers in a 30sec crossover in a crowd to create such a storm.