Am I thinking too much about this? Probably. But it speaks to a bigger issue and it's my blog, so here we go:
I have absolutely loved Great Comet ever since my best and I traveled to the Meatpacking District to see this little show that was making a big buzz (that's right, I'm pulling a theatre hipster move, I flaunt my bangs of pretension at you), then when I dragged my boyfriend to see it when it moved to off-Broadway (and created a monster; his alarm song has been "Pierre" for THREE. FUCKING. YEARS. my God why choose the saddest song in the show to wake up to), then when I had the luck of happening to work on the bar when the show came to the ART. Being a Hamilton/Oak fan, I was really looking forward to seeing him in Comet later in the summer as an end-of-summer treat. I'm still going to try to get up there in the next two weeks. But now there's a sour taste in my mouth, and it's not his fault, Mandy's fault, Dave Malloy's fault...I'm not going to publicly point fingers at anyone but the language and manner of this turnover should have been handled way better and those at the helm of such decisions have some stuff to work on.
I know how diverse the show has always been and it was exciting to see that diversity grow with the addition of Oak. I, being white, can't speak to the racial politics that may or may not have been at play in this decision. I can only listen to artists of color who spoke out and take their words to heart, and know that regardless of what happened in this situation, there is still a fuckton of work to be done in regards to representation and equal treatment, even in the theatre world, which holds itself up as the most accepting. To disregard the outcry is to disregard a bunch of shit that artists of color have dealt with for...Well, ever. I will not disregard their feelings, whether or not race played into the decision here.
In any case it's horrible to see a capable performer spend months preparing for a role and then open to great reviews only to be told that their name is not enough and producers are bringing in a name with mass appeal to boost sales. That they couldn't do the job, even while they were (by all reports) killing it artistically. I know it's show business, but let's remember that those of us who spend our life making theatre largely didn't get into it because of money or fame. It's passion. When you're told that doing the thing you love with all of your passion still isn't enough for the monetary side...Can you imagine?
But with their ticket purchases (or lack thereof), Broadway patrons are telling producers that a young, new, exciting, fairly well-known (everyone and their grandma knows about Hamilton at this point, come on) performer is not enough to put butts in seats, that a name with flyover appeal has to be brought in order to keep a cast/crew employed, that someone has to be hurt and/or humiliated in order for the show to go on, and that. is. not. okay. And the onus lies on us, the audience and theatre community, to change the dialogue.
Everyone who has seen Oak perform, be it in Hamilton or Comet, has told me how amazing he is. In the past week alone, one of my most trusted theatre nerd friends and my boyfriend the Comet Monster have both seen him and raved about his performance as Pierre. I'm making it a goal to get to see him before he leaves.
And in the future, I'm buying my ticket in advance.
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