Patti LuPone Reprimanded By 500+ Broadway Artists In An Open Letter

[RadioIsOurs 13,866]

I don't think Patti Lupone is being racist. Nobody would really know if she's only picking on Audra and Kecia because they are black, but I have a gut feeling that she would be equally aggressive towards actresses of any other race.

But is she being incredibly tone-deaf and just a big bully? Absolutely. What a shame, I've always liked her.

[Robo Ga 15,289]

she is a messy messy MESSY girl!!

[NCgaga 4,320]

This is rediculous. She has literally dragged white artists and politicians for years. This is beyond overreacting 

[HelloHangoverz 17,284]

11 hours ago, Roughhouse Dandy said:

Patti did Evita. Madonna did Evita. Patti has said multiple times that Madonna "can't act her way out of a paper bag", "she's a movie killer" and she's "dead behind the eyes". She's doubled and tripled down and everytime she's asked about it she'll repeat it.

Madonna raised me, literally, but Patti was right  

[Borisapillar 9,033]

14 hours ago, Roughhouse Dandy said:

You just touched on the main point of this situation and why the open letter happened. When she trash talks Kim K or Madonna, their jobs and their future careers aren't hurt. When she talks about Audra having to "know better", the one big new musical on Broadway that's giving Black people employment being "too loud" instead of handling it professionally, and minimizing the career of Kecia, it can hurt their careers. Hell's Kitchen on someone's resume becomes "that obnoxiously loud show that damaged THE Patti Lupone's production" to casting directors and producers instead of "the physically demanding new musical". Producers can use Patti's comments as an excuse to overlook Audra for another big name because she's "controversial and brings drama with her" and consider Kecia just another face in the lineup instead of the Broadway veteran title she has earned. And those casting directors and producers are grasping for any scrap of an excuse to keep theatre in NYC white/cis/male centered, I promise you. 

Her "diva" antics aren't going to be weaponized against white people the way it assuredly will here. So yeah. When Patti's words are damaging the community, the community is doing the right thing by being vocal about it. And its a bunch of theatre people who live, breathe, and eat drama as their profession; its gonna be extra. That's just how it works lol

The ONE show on Broadway giving black people employment??? Girl you can’t just make things up lolllll

[Ladle Ghoulash 21,619]

16 hours ago, Roughhouse Dandy said:

You just touched on the main point of this situation and why the open letter happened. When she trash talks Kim K or Madonna, their jobs and their future careers aren't hurt. When she talks about Audra having to "know better", the one big new musical on Broadway that's giving Black people employment being "too loud" instead of handling it professionally, and minimizing the career of Kecia, it can hurt their careers. Hell's Kitchen on someone's resume becomes "that obnoxiously loud show that damaged THE Patti Lupone's production" to casting directors and producers instead of "the physically demanding new musical". Producers can use Patti's comments as an excuse to overlook Audra for another big name because she's "controversial and brings drama with her" and consider Kecia just another face in the lineup instead of the Broadway veteran title she has earned. And those casting directors and producers are grasping for any scrap of an excuse to keep theatre in NYC white/cis/male centered, I promise you. 

Her "diva" antics aren't going to be weaponized against white people the way it assuredly will here. So yeah. When Patti's words are damaging the community, the community is doing the right thing by being vocal about it. And its a bunch of theatre people who live, breathe, and eat drama as their profession; its gonna be extra. That's just how it works lol

Circling back to this to clarify that Patti did handle this professionally: she privately took up the noise issue with the theatre owner, the sound team recognized and corrected the issue so there wouldn’t be spillover between the theatres, Patti sent a thank you note to the production team with a bouquet of flowers, then Keycia Lewis, who wasn’t even involved in the original discussion, took to IG to post an “open letter” to Patti accusing her of being racist.

Not saying how Patti responded in the New Yorker interview was appropriate, but it’s also wildly out of pocket for Lewis to take a private discussion that she wasn’t involved in, make it public, and then spin it into a race-based call-out when there’s no evidence that suggests that those were Patti’s intentions; not to mention that, based on what we know about Patti’s discussion with the theatre owner, she seemed to handle the initial issue professionally.

Edited May 31 by Ladle Ghoulash

[Roughhouse Dandy 10,843]

2 hours ago, Borisapillar said:

The ONE show on Broadway giving black people employment??? Girl you can’t just make things up lolllll

I'm not making things up. Real Women Have Curves just opened recently. Give me another dance-heavy new musical on Broadway centering Black performers that was open at the same time. Please lmk if I'm wrong because if there was one I can't think of it. 

[Roughhouse Dandy 10,843]

2 hours ago, Ladle Ghoulash said:

Circling back to this to clarify that Patti did handle this professionally

Correct me if I'm getting the timeline wrong- but we found out about Patti's complaints because she told a fan trying to get an autograph that she wouldn't sign the show's playbill since the show is too loud. That's what prompted Kecia to speak out. 

Also: you can say she felt pressured to because of the growing controversy- but Patti just publicly apologized and agreed with everything in the open letter. So officially stubborn Patti Lupone can admit her mess ups quicker than some of y'all can. 

[Borisapillar 9,033]

6 minutes ago, Roughhouse Dandy said:

I'm not making things up. Real Women Have Curves just opened recently. Give me another dance-heavy new musical on Broadway centering Black performers that was open at the same time. Please lmk if I'm wrong because if there was one I can't think of it. 

Uhhh, a little show called Hamilton? It’s been running for ten years.

 

 Do you mean now? When the interview was given? When Patti was last on Broadway a few months ago? Audra herself has been leading a black Gypsy since November. Purpose just won the Pulitzer.

 

What does dance heavy have to do with anything?

And Real Women Have Curves isn’t a black magical, it’s a Latin/hispanic one.

[Ladle Ghoulash 21,619]

11 minutes ago, Roughhouse Dandy said:

Correct me if I'm getting the timeline wrong- but we found out about Patti's complaints because she told a fan trying to get an autograph that she wouldn't sign the show's playbill since the show is too loud. That's what prompted Kecia to speak out. 

Also: you can say she felt pressured to because of the growing controversy- but Patti just publicly apologized and agreed with everything in the open letter. So officially stubborn Patti Lupone can admit her mess ups quicker than some of y'all can. 

Hadn’t seen that video and honestly can’t find it, but if that case, yeah, she shouldn’t have said that and shouldn’t have doubled down. Still sounds like the issue was largely overblown, given that the sound bleed was so bad audiences were complaining about it and nothing in Patti’s remarks strike me as racially motivated and/or would warrant that assignation. But I’m glad she apologized for the New Yorker comments because those were unnecessary. 

Edited May 31 by Ladle Ghoulash

[Roughhouse Dandy 10,843]

8 minutes ago, Borisapillar said:

Uhhh, a little show called Hamilton? It’s been running for ten years.

 Do you mean now? When the interview was given? When Patti was last on Broadway a few months ago? Audra herself has been leading a black Gypsy since November. Purpose just won the Pulitzer.

What does dance heavy have to do with anything?
And Real Women Have Curves isn’t a black magical, it’s a Latin/hispanic one.

So Real Women Have Curves is out. Hamilton has been running for years so that's out. Gypsy is a revival so that's out. Purpose isn't a musical so that's out. 

So I couldn't think of one and you couldn't come up with one. Looks like I might not just be making things up 

It being dance heavy matters because that helps you get booked when its on a resume. It being new and not a revival matters because a premiere company credit holds much more weight in the casting process than being in a retooling of a new show. 

[Roughhouse Dandy 10,843]

In case y'all were wondering what Patti thinks about the situation. 

[Borisapillar 9,033]

3 minutes ago, Roughhouse Dandy said:

So Real Women Have Curves is out. Hamilton has been running for years so that's out. Gypsy is a revival so that's out. Purpose isn't a musical so that's out. 

So I couldn't think of one and you couldn't come up with one. Looks like I might not just be making things up 

It being dance heavy matters because that helps you get booked when its on a resume. It being new and not a revival matters because a premiere company credit holds much more weight in the casting process than being in a retooling of a new show. 

Not sure why the show has to be new or a musical? Your implication was that Patti’s words somehow affect black people getting cast in shows on Broadway. Anyway, Hell’s Kitchen opened LAST season and is a big hit before and after Patti’s comments.

 

Your second paragraph was total nonsense and further proof you know very little about the industry. Patti herself (and Audra) made a career out of doing revivals. They are not lesser or frowned upon.

 

Dance has exactly zero to do with anything.

[Roughhouse Dandy 10,843]

1 hour ago, Borisapillar said:

Not sure why the show has to be new or a musical? Your implication was that Patti’s words somehow affect black people getting cast in shows on Broadway. Anyway, Hell’s Kitchen opened LAST season and is a big hit before and after Patti’s comments.

Your second paragraph was total nonsense and further proof you know very little about the industry. Patti herself (and Audra) made a career out of doing revivals. They are not lesser or frowned upon.

Dance has exactly zero to do with anything.

I've explained literally everything you're trying to challenge me on. 

My second paragraph makes complete sense if you're informed. I've been in the industry for almost a decade now, but act a fool Girl. 

Patti made her career *originating* iconic characters and then went on to lead revivals. Audra won her first Tony in a revival but built her name up starting that same year by *originating* iconic characters. 

You tried to correct me and failed, but somehow I'm the one who doesn't know what they're talking about  We're not continuing this conversion since you don't want to keep it respectful. 💜 u tho

Edited June 1 by Roughhouse Dandy

[weed 73,296]

**** is getting real...