An open letter traveling on social networks and sent to various press organizations, including deadlines, calls on the Broadway LeagueTHE American theatrical wing and “The Greater Theater Community” to demand “responsibility, justice and respect” in the light of recent remarks made by Patti Lupone About other Broadway actors Kecia Lewis And Audra McDonald.
The letter, organized by a group called Theater for Change, has received more than 500 signatures from what the group says that they are members of the Broadway theater and community industry, including the artists and winners of the Tony Wendell Pierce, Maleah Joi Moon and James Monroe Iglehart.
Read the letter here.
“Recently, Patti Lupone made deeply inappropriate and unacceptable public comments on two of the most respected and appreciated artists in Broadway: Kecia Lewis and Audra McDonald,” said the letter. “In an interview published with The New Yorker, she referred to Kecia Lewis – a black woman and a 40 -year -old veteran from the American scene – like a” B *** “. This language is not only degrading and misogynist – it is a blatant act of racialized lack of respect.
“Individuals”, continues the letter, “including Patti Lupone, which uses their platform to lower, harass or publicly disparage other artists – in particular with racial, sexospecific or otherwise violent languages - should not be welcomed during industry events, including Tony Awards, fundraising and public programs.”
The deadline has contacted the Broadway League, the American Theater Wing and a Lupone representative to comment and update this post accordingly.
Contacted by Deadline to the email address which sent the open letter, an answer by e-mail refused to appoint the organizers of the letter, adding that the group does not have a single spokesperson or a point of contact, “as this effort was intentionally collaborative and decentralized.” The signatories, wrote the person: “Include a wide range of professionals in the theater industry – artists, stage managers, directors, writers, casting agents and artistic administrators.”
Lupone’s comments to The New Yorker arising from an incident last fall when she and Mia Farrow played in The roommate At the Broadway’s Booth Theater. The stand leads the Shubert Theater, where the musical of Alicia Keys Hell’s Kitchen plays. Lupone complained to the Shubert organization about the Fort Hell’s Kitchen Music that could be heard through a shared wall during his room.
When the problem was corrected, Lupone sent flowers to the theater.
Shortly after, Lewis, a Tony star Hell’s Kitchen, Caught on Instagram to characterize Lupone complaints as “intimidation”.
“They are offensive, they are racly microggressive, they are rude, they are rooted in the privilege,” said Lewis, adding that referring to “a black predominance show of Broadway so strong can involuntarily strengthen harmful stereotypes”.
McDonald, the current renewal star of Gypsy And a Tony Award winner, responded to Lewis’ IG video with Emojis Heart and Handclap.
In the New York Profile, Lupone was questioned about the incident and, with its characteristic deductible and frankness, said: “It is typical of Audra. She is not a friend.” Lupone did not provide details on a supposed break in his unique friendship with McDonald, who later expressed his surprise in the face of the remarks.
Regarding Lewis, who had referred to Lupone in his Instagram video as a veteran colleague of the theater, said Lupone The New Yorker: “She made seven (Broadway shows). I did thirty -one. Don’t call you a veterinarian, slut.” (The New Yorker said Lupone really made 28 shows at Lewis ’10.)
After asking Lupone if she had seen the current renewal of Gypsy,, The New Yorker The writer Michael Schulman reports: “She looked at me, in silence, for fifteen seconds. Then she turned to the window and sighed: “What a beautiful day”. ” Lupone won a 2008 Tony Award for his performance as a pink; McDonald is currently nominated for a Tony in the same role.
In her New York Interview, Lupone also made severe comments on Donald Trump, Kevin Kline, Ron Duguay and Sarah Palin, and Glenn Close, who was hired by Andrew Lloyd Webber to replace Lupone Sunset boulevard Before his arrival in Broadway in 1993. Years later, in 2011, Lupone and Close were seated by everyone at the Kennedy Center. “She said:” I had nothing to do with that “, said Lupone The New Yorker. “I wanted to go,” Bulls – T, slut! ” »»
