Pittsburgh community theater cancels BIG FISH over inclusion of gay characters- Page 5
Pittsburgh community theater cancels BIG FISH over inclusion of gay characters
Pittsburgh community theater cancels BIG FISH over inclusion of gay characters#100
Posted: 5/16/18 at 5:22pm
JoeKv99 said: "I wonder if they'd remove a hot dog cart to be sensitive to vegans?"
Not really, they have had vegan hot dogs for quite some time now.
Also, vegans are a minority, so it is a slightly backward correlation to this situation. In this case, it is the majority not wanting to see a minority experience represented onstage.
Pittsburgh community theater cancels BIG FISH over inclusion of gay characters#101
Posted: 5/16/18 at 5:23pm
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.
Pittsburgh community theater cancels BIG FISH over inclusion of gay characters#102
Posted: 5/16/18 at 5:24pmtolerance is not inclusion
Pittsburgh community theater cancels BIG FISH over inclusion of gay characters#103
Posted: 5/16/18 at 5:29pm
Did these people learn nothing from Rise? You tell the producers you'll make the changes and then... don't do it.
Pittsburgh community theater cancels BIG FISH over inclusion of gay characters#104
Posted: 5/16/18 at 5:42pm
haterobics wrote “If the same sex family was murdered, then that would be ideal.”
That deserves a “Bravo” and a :).
And I strongly suspect jimmycurry is now merely trolling and not expressing any sincere opinion.
Broadway Star Joined: 5/27/04
Pittsburgh community theater cancels BIG FISH over inclusion of gay characters#105
Posted: 5/16/18 at 5:42pm
The only way to right this wrong is to announce a 2018/2019 season of gay focus.
Pittsburgh community theater cancels BIG FISH over inclusion of gay characters#106
Posted: 5/16/18 at 6:37pm
This explains why Brokeback Mountain was made by Focus Films.
Pittsburgh community theater cancels BIG FISH over inclusion of gay characters#107
Posted: 5/16/18 at 7:20pmThey’ll be the first church basement to ever produce AFTERGLOW.
Pittsburgh community theater cancels BIG FISH over inclusion of gay characters#108
Posted: 5/16/18 at 9:27pm
TOM5 SAID: John August was the sole author of the screenplay in addition to being the book writer for the musical. I think his opinion - artistically - would be the only one that mattered.
According to Wikipedia, John August is openly gay, and lives in Los Angeles with his husband, Michael August, and their daughter.
Pittsburgh community theater cancels BIG FISH over inclusion of gay characters#109
Posted: 5/16/18 at 9:28pm
Is this all actually a crazy tie-in to the finale of Rise?
"Hey little girls, look at all the men in shiny shirts and no wives!" - Jackie Hoffman, Xanadu, 19 Feb 2008
Pittsburgh community theater cancels BIG FISH over inclusion of gay characters#110
Posted: 5/17/18 at 2:25am
I'm shocked and disgusted that a gay couple walking on stage during 30 seconds carrying a child caused so much trouble in 2000 bloody 18
Broadway Star Joined: 11/22/17
Pittsburgh community theater cancels BIG FISH over inclusion of gay characters#111
Posted: 5/17/18 at 4:38am
"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...........
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
Pittsburgh community theater cancels BIG FISH over inclusion of gay characters#112
Posted: 5/17/18 at 6:33amIT made him leave? Oh, please.
Broadway Star Joined: 11/22/17
Pittsburgh community theater cancels BIG FISH over inclusion of gay characters#113
Posted: 5/17/18 at 6:42am
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
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
Pittsburgh community theater cancels BIG FISH over inclusion of gay characters#114
Posted: 5/17/18 at 7:24am
If you don't care what people think, why are you on a public discussion board? Oh, right, because you think we need to hear what you think.
Maybe he should make better choices. People need breaks from ALL sorts of jobs -- the show didn't make him leave bway. He chose to do so -- to work that is a lot less demanding of your energy and time while at the same time making more money. It's hard on a soul being part of flops -- on B'way or tv or film. Sadly, NLB hasn't been in a success for a long time (not including the current MFL).
To blame the show is ridiculous.That also has no bearing on any other group mounting a production - as if they deserve to fail just for picking a show you have a personal (ridiculous) grudge against.
Good to those standing by their personal convictions. I think the producers are incredibly in the wrong, but within their jurisdiction to make that choice. It's on them if the theater has to close over the financial loss.
Pittsburgh community theater cancels BIG FISH over inclusion of gay characters#115
Posted: 5/17/18 at 8:24amBig Fish is also very frequently produced all over the country.
Pittsburgh community theater cancels BIG FISH over inclusion of gay characters#116
Posted: 5/17/18 at 9:41am
It is. In fact, another Pittsburgh-based company did it a year ago this month!
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
Frankly, I'd have hoped for something more strongly worded from two married gay men, one of whom has a child, but I'm also glad that they've weighed in at all. It would be truly wonderful if they made good on their pledge to help the show be produced with the same cast and creatives elsewhere.
Pittsburgh community theater cancels BIG FISH over inclusion of gay characters#117
Posted: 5/17/18 at 9:56am
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.
Pittsburgh community theater cancels BIG FISH over inclusion of gay characters#118
Posted: 5/17/18 at 10:50am
EllieRose2 said: "he left Broadway and then did two television series, after being consistently in the theater scene for 13 years."
Is not doing a Broadway show because you were booking TV work considered leaving Broadway? I mean, if he stopped acting entirely after Big Fish, then that would be easier to read into, but he never stopped working as an actor, just stopped showing up in one medium? Eh...
Pittsburgh community theater cancels BIG FISH over inclusion of gay characters#119
Posted: 5/17/18 at 10:58am
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."
"Michael Riedel...The Perez Hilton of the New York Theatre scene"
- Craig Hepworth, What's On Stage
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/14/05
Pittsburgh community theater cancels BIG FISH over inclusion of gay characters#120
Posted: 5/17/18 at 11:18am
Great publicity for the show, ha.
Pittsburgh community theater cancels BIG FISH over inclusion of gay characters#121
Posted: 5/17/18 at 7:35pm
So we've now heard from the source. Watcha think, Auntie Toms?
Pittsburgh community theater cancels BIG FISH over inclusion of gay characters#122
Posted: 7/6/18 at 3:52pm
Per the theater's Facebook page, the theater is closing and the owners/producers are moving out of state...
https://www.facebook.com/palisadeplayhouse/
Pittsburgh community theater cancels BIG FISH over inclusion of gay characters#123
Posted: 7/6/18 at 5:14pm
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.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
Pittsburgh community theater cancels BIG FISH over inclusion of gay characters#124
Posted: 7/7/18 at 2:51amIn the owners announcement page on the FBI's link, they reveal a lot of their side of it. And they are getting trounced. Playing the victim to the hilt.
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