BroadwayGirlNYC: Come on, Megan Mullally- Defend Yourself!

 

Dear Megan,

Please release a statement to tell us your side of the story.  Otherwise we're all just going to continue believing the worst…

This is how I'd start an open letter to Megan Mullally, the actress who, according to all published reports, is to blame for the unexpected cancellation of the Roundabout Theatre's Lips Together, Teeth Apart. To date, she hasn't made any comment about her sudden exodus.

In case you haven't heard, the production – which was set to start previews at The American Airlines Theatre on April 9 – has been delayed indefinitely (read: canceled) due to conflicts within the cast.  Specifically (according to Patrick Healy of the New York Times), veteran actress Megan Mullally (Young Frankenstein, How to Succeed…, TV's Will & Grace) wasn't pleased with the performance of her co-star Patton Oswalt – a Broadway newcomer best known as the lead voice in the Pixar film Ratatouille, and as a series regular on TV's King of Queens. Supposedly, Mullally served up a classic "him or me" ultimatum to director Joe Mantello, demanding that Oswalt be replaced.  When Mantello held his ground, Mullally walked; now the Roundabout is faced not only with refunding tickets and finding a new show* to fill the hole in their spring lineup, but also the question of whether or not to sue Mullally for breach of contract.

Not since Jeremy Piven's "sushigate" scandal has a performer's actions seemed so offensive, and averse to the collaborative process that theatre embodies.  Granted, I wasn't there to witness the events leading up to Mullally's departure; but since her camp has not bothered to offer any statement explaining her actions, I can only go by the reports.

On behalf of theatre-goers, I'd like to offer a plea to Megan Mullally to tell us what really happened.  Could it be that she really is as heartless as the media has portrayed her, or is this all just a terrible misunderstanding?  We'll never know unless she speaks.  Her publicist needs to put some positive spin on this, if there is a side to the story that makes her more empathetic.  Give us something, anything, to grasp onto, so we can defend what right now seems like an indefensible act.

On the day Mullally's departure was announced, I expressed my frustration (surprise, disgust, disappointment) in my twitter feed.  Right away, other twitterers rose up against me, citing her "right to avoid a toxic work environment" and her perogative to "stick up for the integrity of the show".  Both of these arguments could be true… IF Mullally was actually subjected to an abusive work relationship.  In that case, leaving may have been her only option.  But if so, wouldn't she have told us about it by now? Without her side of the story, how can we avoid thinking of her as the villain?

Acting on Broadway is serious business, obviously.  The amount of training and discipline that goes into the job is incomprehensible to those of us who don't do it.  And I'm sure that it's an especially daunting proposition for an actor preparing to set foot on the big stage for the first time.

But seriously, how bad could Patton have been if the director, producers and casting team supported his continued involvement?  They're the ones who had money to lose if the show were to get panned.  It's not an actor's job to recast a show – it's her job to put on the best performance she is able, despite any "personnel issues".  (Try acting like you get along with your co-star, Mullally.)

However, we can't know for sure what actually caused her walk-out.  For example, a detail that the press has glossed over is the fact that Megan Mullally's mother is quite ill.  Could the ultimatum be pure gossip, and the family trauma the real reason for the hasty departure? There's no doubt that the media loves a scandal (the story of a jealous diva who stabs her novice costar in the back surely sells more papers than one of a contract broken out of grief).  But without a statement about the truth of the matter, we'll never really know. 

Megan, please speak up!  I don't want to think of you as a villain, but without your defense, I have no other choice.

*According to reports, Sherie Rene Scott's Everyday Rapture will replace Lips Together…, opening at the American Airlines Theatre on April 29.