The world of theater brings about such meaningful and beautiful work, but boy, does it attract some sickening disgusting dishonest power-mad abusive unlawful people - though somehow, even those sickening disgusting power-mad abusive scofflaw people are able to being about such beautiful work
Freddie New York NY Dec. 1 2018
"They should sue" sounds good - but the fact is that at least in commercial NY theater circles, where it does turn out everybody knows evertbody and talks to everybody about who is a "troublemaker" - even bringing a State government Human Rights action can get you "blacklisted" and being considered "a handful." In so many normal businesses, standards are relatively objective, and someone can bring a pretty clear argument that they were "overlooked" only due to having fought for Human Rights in the past.
But in arts, ALL evaluations are subjective, not who's the best, but who's right for the role or job and (indeed quite logically) who will fit in look-wise for the stage pictures the director wants or whose voice will blend well with the others in the impulse and discretion of the music director and often the composer. Truly, questions of who's more qualified for that part or position are impossible to show, and might even be irrelevant to who's cast - absent a person actually saying in a smoking-gun email "I don't want to deal with them because they've brought a Human Rights issue in the past."
Freddie New York NY Dec. 3 2018
What's going on in arts is that everybody really does talk to everybody, and in arts where the standard is never objective, every arts bias incident can be argued effectively as an artistic choice. Not so in insurance, accounting, law firm jobs, etc.
I swear, as a child of a Holocaust camp survivor and of a Holocaust refugee, where I chose 12 years of Yeshivah over public school, I have not an iota of self-loathing as a Jew.
But in an area that I know the economics about rather well, commercial New York theater, every regular active lead producer who just doesn't care how uncaring they appear or how penny-pinching and scofflaw they can come across - even when they have a smash- seems to be Jewish. And I cringe as a proud Jew that it's so blatant and unapologetic.
Violence is never ever OK, NOT EVER OK, but why does this industry allow the stereotype behavior? Even film and TV do not!
They all create high-quality work, even inclusive thematically most of the time, but just look - (Note that the huge companies like Disney and Universal seem to pay attention to not ruining their corporate images, so don't openly act this way, and seem to deal with offenses when they happen. And looking at the current list, the shows where non-Jewish individuals are the lead producers have no indication of this kind of behavior.
Scott Rudin, who does GREAT inclusive work takes a perverse pride, though I gather a nice guy in his life, on how awful and miserably he treats underlings, and seems not to mind it going public.
Frankel, Baruch Viertel, & newest addition Jennifer Tepper, act like Human Rights disability laws & Human Rights retaliation laws don't apply to them at all. It’s a "sue us if you don't like it, but know you won't work while you pursue this”
approach whenever they are challenged; pretty much knee-jerk setting an example to others. I must assume it's because it's not criminal just civil, and their victims can either never afford to fight them on a level playing field, or somehow never work on Broadway after they take action. (Think actor Joel Vig from "Hairspray," who had the nerve to want to come back to his job after surgery from an onstage accident. The case law read like Shylock and the merchant, just instead of killing the merchant, they killed the actor's NYC career, with the legal costs spent more than a decent settlement would have cost, and using the "Hairspray" investors' money.). [Jack Viertel, who seems respectful these days at Jujamcyn, who is one of the greats at dramaturging fictional characters’ Human Rights in the Wilson plays, Hairspray, parts that apply of Dear Evan Hansen, now The Prom, has even carried this “sue me and be disposable” approach to Encores, which is at a NON-PROFIT, City Center],
The Weisslers very notoriously behaved cruelly towards an actor who'd been with "Chicago" over 20 years - rather than just pay the measly $35,000 required to buy him out under the Equity contract. They care in public only about liability, not the death they inadvertently caused.
It's horrible. It sounds awful that I'm saying this, but far more awful that it's unmistakably true. That the stats are there and irrefutable But it sure didn't start in 2016 with Trump. Again, violence is NEVER OK, but how is this happening in the open?
Broadway Producers So Rich and White and Male (Women producers OK if really really rich)
No one will listen to this in the theater community because if they speak up, it’s the “blacklist” or being called a “handful” for them is sure.
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