NYT: The Grody-Patinkin Family Is a Mess. People Love It.

[MezzA101]

Posted: 7/12/25 at 9:22pm

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/12/magazine/mandy-patinkin-kathryn-grody-gideon-interview.html?unlocked_article_code=1.WE8.et60.ZP0iiQ2k8e-G&smid=nytcore-android-share

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/12/25 at 9:35pm

 

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 7/12/25 at 9:40pm

I’m scared.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 7/12/25 at 10:34pm

I always wonder how his Pierre would’ve been. What a lovely and passionate family.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/13/25 at 10:05am

I will never get over being denied his Pierre.  (Had tickets.)  EVER.

 

Messy, like life and the rest of us.    Love all the yiddish words they used!

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 7/13/25 at 10:13am

His Pierre would have been the performance you’d regret ever missing. Shame on the people who took his casting personally and closed a great show early.

Updated On: 7/13/25 at 10:13 AM

[CapnHook]

Posted: 7/13/25 at 10:21am

Shame on Cynthia Erivo, specifically!

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 7/13/25 at 10:37am

CapnHook said: "Shame on Cynthia Erivo, specifically!"

Yes indeed. The witch who led the witch hunt. 

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/13/25 at 11:55am

BorisTomashevsky said: "CapnHook said: "Shame on Cynthia Erivo, specifically!"

Yes indeed. The witch who led the witch hunt."

Thankfully, after her ridiculous comments about the altered fan made WICKED movie artwork, she’s since learned to stay off social media with any of her venting. As she admitted shortly afterwards, she realized these opinions and thoughts should be shared to friends and not post about them on social media. 

[ljay889]

Posted: 7/13/25 at 12:00pm

The article says he won a Tony for SITPWG, which is incorrect. 

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 7/13/25 at 12:25pm

ljay889 said: "The article says he won a Tony for SITPWG, which is incorrect."

Indeed. Patinkin was nominated in 1984 but the Tony Award went to George Hearn for LA CAGE AUX FOLLES. 

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 7/13/25 at 12:41pm

BrodyFosse123 said: "ljay889 said: "The article says he won a Tony for SITPWG, which is incorrect."

Indeed. Patinkin was nominated in 1984 but the Tony Award went to George Hearn for LA CAGE AUX FOLLES."


The Mandy Effect at work. 

[rosscoe(au)]

Posted: 7/13/25 at 10:09pm

CapnHook said: "Shame on Cynthia Erivo, specifically!"


That whole personae that she puts on. 

[Jonathan Cohen]

Posted: 7/13/25 at 10:32pm

BorisTomashevsky said: "His Pierre would have been the performance you’d regret ever missing. Shame on the people who took his casting personally and closed a great show early."

Comet of 1812, ultimately, closed for one reason - Mandy Patinkin himself wasn't comfortable with his casting costing another actor his job. Yes, other people brought the issue to his attention, but the main reason that closed and a similar controversy didn't derail Sunset Boulevard isn't even the racial optics. It's that Glenn Close didn't care Patti LuPone had been under contract to star in Sunset Boulevard on Broadway, and she didn't quit. 

I don't think he did anything wrong, but Patinkin is the reason you didn't get to see his version of Pierre. 

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 7/13/25 at 10:39pm

People gotta get over the Great Comet **** at some point. Its been almost a decade. 

[Alex Kulak2]

Posted: 7/13/25 at 11:06pm

TheatreFan4 said: "People gotta get over the Great Comet **** at some point. Its been almost a decade."

As much as I would have loved to see Patinkin in the role, there's this weird belief that his casting would have saved the show, when the box office numbers make it clear that without Groban, the show was running on a furnace of burning investor money. All Patinkin's casting would have accomplished was a December closing notice instead of the one they got in September.

[bear88]

Posted: 7/13/25 at 11:31pm

As I recall, Patinkin was only scheduled for a three-week run in Great Comet (not sure if he would have extended, but he was starring in Homeland at the time, so that might not have been possible). Those three weeks would have sold very well, but the production would have been back in the same dilemma after Patinkin left.

Please correct me if my understanding of the situation is incorrect. 

[Jonathan Cohen]

Posted: 7/13/25 at 11:49pm

That was exactly the situation. Great Comet was toast on Broadway no matter what, casting Patinkin was just a short-term fix. I think the reason some people are still fixated on it 8 years later is because getting to see Patinkin in the role during those 3 weeks would have been really cool. There's no version of events where the show was going to survive long-term.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 7/14/25 at 12:25am

Jonathan Cohen said: "That was exactly the situation.Great Comet was toast on Broadway no matter what, casting Patinkin was just a short-term fix. I think the reason some people are still fixated on it 8 years later is because getting to see Patinkin in the role during those 3 weekswould have been really cool. There's no version of events where the show was going to survive long-term."

They're also obsessed with burning Cynthia at the stake because she's weird. 

[SmokeyLady]

Posted: 7/14/25 at 2:30pm

TheatreFan4 said: "Jonathan Cohen said: "That was exactly the situation.Great Comet was toast on Broadway no matter what, casting Patinkin was just a short-term fix. I think the reason some people are still fixated on it 8 years later is because getting to see Patinkin in the role during those 3 weekswould have been really cool. There's no version of events where the show was going to survive long-term."

They're also obsessed with burning Cynthia at the stake because she's weird."

I don't think anyone is obsessed.  She is a great singer and performer.  But obviously she is not very bright.  I thought all her comments re Comet and the Wicked poster art were so stupid. 

[DurantPlummer41]

Posted: 7/14/25 at 4:24pm

I believe the rumors at the time were that Mandy would lead in September, then a familiar but unexpected TV star was set to take over as Pierre. Rainn Wilson was heavily rumored but also pulled out after the payout of Oak's remaining contract.

[uncageg]

Posted: 7/14/25 at 4:37pm

ljay889 said: "The article says he won a Tony for SITPWG, which is incorrect."

 

I contacted the writer. He fixed it.

 

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 7/14/25 at 6:03pm

SmokeyLady said: "TheatreFan4 said: "Jonathan Cohen said: "That was exactly the situation.Great Comet was toast on Broadway no matter what, casting Patinkin was just a short-term fix. I think the reason some people are still fixated on it 8 years later is because getting to see Patinkin in the role during those 3 weekswould have been really cool. There's no version of events where the show was going to survive long-term."

They're also obsessed with burning Cynthia at the stake because she's weird."

I don't think anyone is obsessed. She is a great singer and performer. But obviously she is not very bright. I thought all her comments re Comet and the Wicked poster art were so stupid."

Oh plenty of people are obsessed and insist she's the reason Great Comet closed and people were out of work because they refuse to go outside and touch grass.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 7/14/25 at 6:34pm

I keep coming back to his speech regarding the Israel-Palestinian conflict and it’s just heartbreaking. The current leadership of Israeli government has done far more damage to the Jewish people than any Muslim country can. Bibi Netanyahu must be impeached and removed from office and stand trial in The Hague.

[lastmidnights]

Posted: 7/14/25 at 8:25pm

Alex Kulak2 said: "As much as I would have loved to see Patinkin in the role, there's this weird belief that his casting would have saved the show, when the box office numbers make it clear that without Groban, the show was running on a furnace of burning investor money. All Patinkin's casting would have accomplished was a December closing notice instead of the one they got in September."

The only things I think you're missing here are that they had several other people in talks to join the show in the future, of which I have first-hand knowledge. I believe one was Rainn Wilson, but I might be mixing up who was approached and who was in talks. This controversy ended all discussions on that front. Nobody was interested in even considering joining the company anymore.

That and the fact that Oak AGREED to the deal to bring in Mandy, and was still going to be compensated during the weeks he didn't have to work. He let the "racism" rumors run rampant while he stayed silent, knowing he had agreed to the deal to have Patinkin come in for 3 weeks, while he got to have a paid vacation.

So, yes, I don't think it's fair to say he's the reason the show closed. But he certainly did nothing to help them get on better footing going forward. You would think he would have appreciated being paid to do nothing, considering he came in completely unprepared to play the role, never played the instrument parts correctly, would forget lines, and was openly unpleasant with the cast/staff backstage. Even after Mandy backed out and they "made room for Oak" (what all his friends were asking for!), he declined to continue in the role and cut his run short. 

He also blamed the producers for not "cultivating diversity" when TGC was among the most diverse shows on Broadway at the time, and launched the careers of wonderful actors of color, like Denee Benton and Amber Gray. I've been thinking of all this recently, since his casting announcement in that MTC production. I was convinced he was never going to work in NY theater again (beyond Hamilton), after this, but of course, that didn't happen. Every producer I know involved with this show will never work with him again.

Updated On: 7/14/25 at 08:25 PM