Scott Rudin is returning to Broadway — Page 4

I had the same reaction to that statement. Even if Nobile/Seaview obviously aren't the only ones doing it, they've certainly made it the central pillar of their production model... not unlike Rudin in the 2010s. While I agree with his assessment about it not being sustainable, he also is the one who proved it works very well.

Updated On: 3/28/25 at 10:55 AM

Hopefully he’s changed. It’s happened before with another very very well known Broadway producer who was known as a terrible human being but from all accounts, completely turned the behavior around and has been wonderful for a long time, now.

If we’ve learned anything over the past few years, it’s that “cancel culture” is completely arbitrarily and basically means nothing. And I’d venture to say that most folks who say they’ll never see a show Rudin’s name is attached to are either nowhere near NYC or not regular theater goers. Like it or not, he (mostly) gets the quality along with the names.

He's maybe the smartest Broadway producer since Hal Prince. It'll be good to have him back.

Owen22 said: "Where's A Little Night Music????? After seeing Cate in The Seagull I NEED her Desiree!!!!!!"

Wasn’t that rumored for The National in London?

Jordan Catalano said: "Owen22 said: "Where's A Little Night Music????? After seeing Cate in The Seagull I NEED her Desiree!!!!!!"

Wasn’t that rumored for The National in London?"

I don't remember that, but I do know Rudin held (holds?) the rights, I guess I had just assumed it was going to be Broadway.

Donmar = small production. We need a big lush revival.

Jordan Catalano said: If we’ve learned anything over the past few years, it’s that “cancel culture” is completely arbitrarily and basically means nothing. And I’d venture to say that most folkswho say they’ll never see a show Rudin’s name is attached to are either nowhere near NYC or not regular theater goers. Like it or not, he (mostly) gets thequality along with the names."

The thing about cancel culture or getting canceled is people act like it's permanent, but the term is a reference to TV shows getting canceled, which is also not inherently permanent. TV shows get un-canceled, spun-off, and rebooted all the time.

My guess is Scott Rudin does return to Broadway but he doesn't seem so sure. The point of that New York Times article appeared to be giving Rudin a platform to pitch why people should let him come back - look at the all the cool projects I'll bring you if people stop complaining about me.

Even if the average theatergoer doesn't care if Rudin is attached to a project, his comeback would be derailed if celebrities are shamed out of working with him.

For example, in a vacuum casting Mandy Patinkin would have been enough to keep Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 open but because he wasn't comfortable with how producers treated Okieriete Onaodowan, he pulled out and the show closed. It didn't matter that the people still wanting to see Patinkin likely greatly outnumbered the people upset about Onaodowan getting fired.

The discussion of the Rudin - Montello - Metcalf connection gives me hope that the revival of "...Virginia Woolf?" will resurface some point very soon.

JSquared2 said: "Wick3 said: "Rudin was kindto the A-list stars but abusive to his staff.

Hopefully the people he hire have other options since given the public knowledge nowadays of his work ethics, I don’t understand why anyone would opt to work for him."

Apart from people who frequent these chat rooms, none of "the public" knows (or cares) about his work ethics. If he produces shows that people want to see, they're going to buy tickets. And they'll walk right past the 2 or 3 protestors standing around with signs."

Joan: I wouldn't be having to hear about his abuse if I wasn't in this chat room.

Bette: But cha are, Blanche!

I don't even understand the point of the original comment. No one has predicted his future work will flop based on his abusive behavior, just that they (we) are sickened by it and hate the idea of more people having to suffer that abuse becuase he wants to make more money or feel like he's doing something with his life.

Updated On: 3/28/25 at 03:55 PM

The other thing to remember is that Rudin is not alone in his behavior on Broadway.

That doesn't mean it's right, of course. But he sort of became the poster boy.

But there are plenty of other prolific Broadway power-players (men and women) who have behaved just as badly -- or nearly as badly -- as Scott, and for whatever reason haven't been exposed or were better at hiding it behind closed doors.

Updated On: 3/28/25 at 04:12 PM