"Why Hamilton Was Ariana DeBose’s Last Time in the Ensemble" Playbill Article
#25Hmm...
Posted: 1/7/17 at 6:31pm
The Distinctive Baritone said: "She came across as arrogant and ungrateful to me in this article. And she's 25, it's not like she's been pounding the pavement for years and years. Her comments really rubbed me the wrong way."
I admire her ambition but yea DB summed up how it came across to me. I mean it's totally her right to turn down any roles that aren't leading but I feel like that's just not how the industry works.
#26Hmm...
Posted: 1/7/17 at 7:17pm
I respect whatever career decisions she wants to make, but I think a few months into her first featured gig on Broadway is a bit too soon to be presenting herself as such a success story for having made this decision. She may never be heard from again after this, and whether the author of this piece wants to believe it or not, that has just as much to do with luck as hard work and talent.
All in all, I think this was in very poor taste for a 25 year-old. You may "feel in your bones" you can handle something, but that doesn't mean it's owed to you or that the experiences you're having on the way there are worthless. She comes off as ungrateful for the chances she's been given up until this point in time.
#28Hmm...
Posted: 1/8/17 at 12:34am
Mr. Telsey obviously loves her, so her career is set. Even if she never becomes a huge star, she's never going to be out of a paid equity gig. Anyone getting butt hurt over what she said, I advise you to begin meditating.
What is her "backstage track record?" It doesn't seem to be making a dent.
#30Hmm...
Posted: 1/9/17 at 7:00am
I expected to hate her from some of the comments here, but reading her interview I found her kind of charming. Yeah, she's incredibly lucky--however talented--to have landed four Broadway shows by the age of 25 and she doesn't seem to know it. But how many among us did appreciate good fortune at 25?
Obviously she has significant skills if she has been asked to stand by for leads as often as she claims. So she's in the territory of having the basic skill set and wanting to test whether she has whatever that indefinable thing is that makes one a "star". Good for her.
And good for the somebody else who stays in the chorus of PHANTOM for 15 years in order to support her family. What's it to any of us anyway?
Note: I've never heard of this woman or the bad behavior detailed by troynow above. But I promise the "indefinable thing" that makes a star isn't humility.
#32Hmm...
Posted: 1/9/17 at 10:54am
I'm curious as to why Playbill thought this was a good article to run. Yes, I suppose they thought it was about a young actress taking control of her career, but there's no way to escape the fact that she's clearly positioning herself as someone with the luxury of passing on jobs. Who did they think would want to read that?
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