THE GREAT COMET Announces September Broadway Closing; Final Performers for Role of 'Pierre' — Page 9

evic said: "Ervio should be blacklisted for provoking unwarranted racist drama and I hope the producers grow a set of balls and blitz the media stating the truth and their side of the story.



"

Wow. I hope you can find someone who tells the "truth" and his or her side of story simultaneously.

Casal can be blamed for being a provoking racist rat.

Oak can be blamed for a complete lack of character, not making a sane statement when he had the chance. Seems like for him the race theme looked better on his bio than being fired for other reasons, so he played along.

The producers can be blamed for hiring Oak. They must have had too much trust in and passion for diversity and how that would translate to ticketsales. I don't blame them though, when you are involved in a show with passion it's easy to lose neutral sight of the facts. They might have misjudged the reason for ticketsales being based on Groban too much.

Patinkin can be blamed for being a **** without balls. The last thing one needs to do is agree with racism when it's not there.

Cynthia Erivo can't be held accountable for anything because she is mad. I mean Kanye West type of lunacy. I wish her strength. And a straitjacket. Especially after her latest tweet, making it about her and saying nothing to the cast of the closing show, showing no sympathy whatsoever, while in the Hercules dreamcasting crap she demanded all sympathy of fans about the dreamcast role they should see her, as a black woman in. Double agenda. And lunacy in and of itself.

Updated On: 8/9/17 at 07:36 AM

Molloy must be feeling lower than low - I imagine that he believed that he had a massive hit, and now his work will be remembered by the common man (if remembered by him at all) as a racism scandal and a flop. It'll take a lot to bounce back from such disappointment.

Dave said, "The producers can be blamed for hiring Oak. They must have had too much trust in and passion for diversity and how that would translate to ticket sales."

Hagan, et al bragged they got a Ham star with Oak.. Tried to extrapolate Ham success to them. Once they announced him last winter, I, as an objective viewer. couldn't see the fit. Very upset he wouldn't try to make it work for cast. So no star wanted to touch it. Oak, you had a chance to be a hero. Instead you chose to be remembered as a loser in a loser show. What future show will want him remains to be seen. I see show today w/o any good feeling towards him. I can only imagine how hard it was on cast on Tuesday.

Caye2 said: "Was anyone at the performance last night? I'm curious to know what the atmosphere was like at the show. Most of the audience probably hadn't heard about the closing notice yet (what time was this announced exactly?), but per reports, the cast was notified right before the show? And I'm sure the audience had heard about all the drama surrounding the show these past few weeks.



"

I texted my gf the moment I saw the article go up, which was 6:45 EDT. So I imagine the announcement went up a little before that

This show was commercially doomed from the outset. Howard mismanaged the off Broadway company so grandly that the thought of it being able to recoup on Broadway were very slim due to the huge debt the show carried when it arrived-- not to mention the ill will he created at almost every turn; no one likes working for someone who thinks it's all about themselves (remember he didn't even want to give Ars Nova credit for the production). When Groban's box office didn't blow the roof off, it was done. I really liked the show, but it wasn't produced well, and all the casting drama is simply further evidence of a producer who thinks he can do whatever he wants getting a reality check. In the end, does it really matter that investors lost money? Not really, despite what they might say. If they were rich enough to invest, they were rich enough to lose, so I don't feel badly for them. But I do feel for the artists, who maybe had no better choice than to let Howard shepherd their creation-- perhaps no one else (with money) would have stepped up to produce it and it would have died unceremoniously at Ars Nova; so I understand why they went along with it (most would likely have done the same). But better producers could have taken this gem of a show to real success. A real shame. It had such potential. And Howard squandered it. There's no one else to blame but him.

There was a big thing about the cast recording too right? Like didn't they originally schedule to record it the same night the cast was supposed to be at some function, just to be spiteful? I thought that had something to do with the Ars Nova thing as well. I like be remembering wrong though

Rainah said: "newintown said: "Molloy must be feeling lower than low - I imagine that he believed that he had a massive hit, and now his work will be remembered by the common man (if remembered by him at all) as a racism scandal and a flop. It'll take a lot to bounce back from such disappointment."

I am absolutely heartbroken for Malloy. He really does not deserve any of this. At least he gets to close out his show"



He, as a human being and artist, may not deserve it but he knew who he was getting in bed with: the Kagans. Two of the most corrupt, conniving, and frankly miserable producers in the biz today. Shame on him for entrusting two of the industry's biggest fools with his piece.

I really don't think it's quite fair to lump Janet Kagan in with Howard. They aren't the Weisslers. It's Howard, and Janet's name is included.

I was at the show last night, funnily enough, and read the closing announcement just before the cast burst into the theater for preshow. The opening felt a little bit off, timing-wise, but the reception Oak and the rest of the cast received from the start and throughout the performance was breathtaking and I think that energy propelled the cast through whatever emotions they were feeling.

I immediately went home after the show and bought a ticket for closing night because this has truly been a once-in-a-lifetime theatrical experience and I feel compelled to support something that has affected me so deeply. I don't care anymore about who said or did what that caused X, Y, or Z to happen. I just want to appreciate the fact that this gorgeous thing exists at all one more time before it disappears.

+1 for PatrickDennis92, with a dose of Newintown on top. (among others on both points.)

-1 for those who have taken this thread as an opportunity to spew racist bile, ironically providing support to the very notions and people they are criticizing by telling people of color to hush and be grateful for what they are given in the theatre. This in 2017, and on this board of all places. Very disappointing.

All the best to everyone involved. This is sad, but I think this show is going to have a huge post-Broadway life touring and regionally (especially in environmental/in the round/dinner theater settings) due to small orchestra and flexible cast and scenic requirements. This is so perfect for University stagings as well since it merges classical/literary/contemporary genres. I know many of my college theater professors who would be first in line to get a crack at producing this show.

Updated On: 8/9/17 at 10:27 AM

PatrickDennis92 said: "I really don't think it's quite fair to lump Janet Kagan in with Howard. They aren't the Weisslers. It's Howard, and Janet's name is included."

Even the Weisslers won't work with them after the mess they made of Pippin.