"Pleasures and Palaces" actor objected to same-sex kiss on religious grounds- Page 2

[SonofRobbieJ]

Posted: 1/29/13 at 3:01pm

^ That's rather impressive.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/29/13 at 3:24pm

Not that it would be surprising, b/c this theater is in Texas

I'm very surprised considering I personally saw shows and performed shows with same-sex kissing and gay love scenes in Texas since the late 80s. The first play I ever saw with a gay kiss was in Dallas (home of my favorite gay var in the country, the Round-Up), as a matter of fact.

Most actors have objections to various stage situations for a variety of reasons, so I can't really fault this guy for that (though if it was a week before opening when he refused to do it, I wonder if it was even in the script to begin with). The director can choose to either alter the scene or replace the actor. It's possible in this case altering the scene may not have damaged the integrity of the work anyway. I did see a production of Deathtrap in college that cut the gay kiss and I was infuriated.

[ghostlight2]

Posted: 1/29/13 at 3:27pm

"Not that it would be surprising, b/c this theater is in Texas"

"I'm very surprised considering I personally saw shows and performed shows with same-sex kissing and gay love scenes in Texas since the late 80s."

I deserved that, and I hereby retract my statement, as it was borne of the very kind of bigotry that I myself abhor. Thanks, Mister Matt.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/29/13 at 3:54pm

No worries. The biggest misconception about Texas is that it is far less diverse than it actually is. I wouldn't have been surprised if this theatre were in some small town (though any small town in any state would hardly be surprising), but a large repertory company in Dallas isn't the same thing at all. If the kiss was considered controversial, it could have to do with the demographic of the company's audience as well, which is typical for any large musical theatre repertory company pretty much anywhere outside of NYC.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 1/29/13 at 3:57pm

There are only three cast members, right? So this guy was turning down a kiss with Christopher Carl?

That alone is madness.

[KylePKJP]

Posted: 1/29/13 at 4:06pm

The whole tone of the article seems to be reporting for the sake of being a royal b*itch. Seems like he caught on to a rumor and took it public because he found it salacious.

Why not contact the theatre BEFORE you go to print about an issue at hand? And, he doesn't have a Facebook or Twitter? So what? Clearly, someone easily found his resume because it's posted here in the thread and both his phone number and email are on it. If one can easily locate those two direct methods of contacting the actor why let a "lack" of Facebook or Twitter account stop you?

Calling B.S. on this story.

[KylePKJP]

Posted: 1/29/13 at 4:09pm

Or at leat this version of it.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/29/13 at 4:25pm

Oh, Musto's definitely trying to stir the pot. His enormous lack of detail makes the comment "I didn't know institutionalized bigotry was allowed as an excuse to interfere with the creative process" worthy of Fox News.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 1/29/13 at 4:30pm

Seriously, Lizzie, I would be all "wouldn't French kissing be EVER FUNNIER???"

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 1/29/13 at 4:45pm

Wasn't this the plot of a Roseanne episode, or am I misremembering?

[JMPlayer6]

Posted: 1/29/13 at 4:46pm

You mean the guy didn't read the script before agreeing to do the role?

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/29/13 at 4:55pm

We have no idea. Musto probably has no idea, either. All he says is that a source told him the guy said he wouldn't kiss another dude on stage a week before opening. If it really took that long to get to the staging of that scene and the kiss was in the script all along, then I'd blame both the actor and the director for being unprofessional. But for some ridiculous reason, I think there might be more to the story than a few tabloid sentences strung together.

[AEA AGMA SM]

Posted: 1/29/13 at 8:52pm

"He could sing the words 'n* love' but not 'if you know what you need then you go and you find it and you take it'?????

I...I just don't understand."

Neither did the girl who played Julie on Growing Pains who came back to film her second season and found out she was being fired because of Kirk Cameron's religious awakening, or the writers who had to scramble and write the character of Mike Seaver in a complete 180 degree turn from where he had been the season before.

It doesn't always take long to be "born again."

[michaelcfoster]

Posted: 1/29/13 at 11:07pm

Well..keep in mind that this IS Texas...and Rick Perry is our Governor : (

Anyway, my two cents. I think Lyric Stage did an amazing job at retrieving and recreating the music from the 1965 production. We didn't get the kiss, but since the script has been hidden for 43 years, no one really noticed, or cared. Even without the kiss, I think they did a good job pulling it off. The music was absolutely astounding!

This production was concert style with minimal costumes and sets. Acting was great, but this was all about the music and Jay Dias did what he does best...recreating original Broadway scores.

I took production photos during the last dress. You can check them out here:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.554313624579193.131021.100000016821562&type=1&l=4a5c02d919

I met Jo Loesser since she was there during dress which was a blast.






Michael C Foster Photography Updated On: 1/29/13 at 11:07 PM

[jimmycurry01]

Posted: 1/29/13 at 11:59pm

Is it possible that the kiss was in the blocking and not written into the script? I am not familiar with this play, but cutting a kiss is not necessarily the same as changing the script.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 1/30/13 at 12:12am

The Big Irony: PLEASURES AND PALACES is maybe the single gayest title for a musical ever. This bitchy little Ganymede knew what he was signing up for.




Seriously, though. Why is Musto covering this? Did dlisted steal that much of his thunder?

[welcometothetheater]

Posted: 1/30/13 at 2:12am

His credits are amusing. Particularly because I saw The High Cost of Living and he was not, in fact, the lead. Zach Braff was.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/30/13 at 9:14pm

Well..keep in mind that this IS Texas...and Rick Perry is our Governor

And when Little Bush was Governor, I played Judas in McNally's Corpus Christi...in Texas! The Full Monty on Broadway passed on the gay kiss as well. Was that a New York thing? Good grief!

[chanel]

Posted: 1/31/13 at 11:32am

Update: No response and/or evasions.


http://blogs.villagevoice.com/dailymusto/2013/01/update_on_actor.php

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 1/31/13 at 6:07pm

Is it possible that the kiss was in the blocking and not written into the script? I am not familiar with this play, but cutting a kiss is not necessarily the same as changing the script.

The author's stage directions are just as much a part of the script as his or her dialogue.

(These are not to be confused with every little movement -- "Crosses to couch, sits and crosses legs." -- inserted by Samuel French Publications, presumably for the use of amateur directors. (No offense to DramaMama who needs no such cues, I'm sure.))

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 1/31/13 at 6:20pm

The author's stage directions are just as much a part of the script as his or her dialogue.

That is something of an age-old debate. I do think some stage directions are important to the script, but there are indeed those that were simply a directorial choice in the original production. In this particular case, we just don't know.

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 1/31/13 at 6:36pm

Matt, do you really think a same-sex kiss was incidental in a 1960s musical? I don't.

And while I appreciate ghostlight2's sense of fairness, hasn't Texas earned our scorn by now? I'm sure there are millions of decent Texans, but if their neighbors are going to threaten to secede from the Union every time we elect a black president, I think the entire state should be mocked as a matter of course.

[Jungle Red]

Posted: 1/31/13 at 7:27pm

I love the Round Up!

Anyway, from what I've been taught in playwrighting classes, the playwright only needs to write "He enters", "He exits", and "He aims and fires".

The dialogue, too, of course, but that's a given.

[Plum]

Posted: 1/31/13 at 7:32pm

Gaveston, didn't people from 20-something states threaten to secede? Including NJ? I guess I just like to be more specific than geography in my mockery.

[Jungle Red]

Posted: 1/31/13 at 7:42pm

I believe petitions for succession came from every state, with varying degrees if signatures.