This whole thing gave a lot of butt-hurt fans a person to blame for a show that they like closing (or don't like but like hating on actors) when the show was going to close anyway after Mandy Patinkin left. I mean even if Justin Bieber was going to take over the role after Mandy, the show was always going to have a problem of needing a constant stream of stars to keep it afloat. That's an issue that's bigger than this dragged out two-day drama. The only reason why it's still a thing is because this is the most interesting you guys have to talk about here. Now there's a thread created solely to bash Cynthia Erivo as a way to vent out all the anger some feel about her because they've decided she is also culpable in this show's closing...a closing that was always going to be lurking around the corner because of the fact that the show is star dependent.
See, but that's where I find the hypocrisy ridiculous. For a long time, Chicago was a vehicle that many stars went in and out of. It could be argued that after successful runs of Groban, Michaelson, and (almost) Patinkin, Comet was well on its way to becoming a star vehicle as well. We don't know if they did or didn't have stars interested that have now been spooked, like Mandy was.
Chicago didn't start that way and the huge stunt casting started being noted when the shelf life was getting stale and they found a way to revive it. Plus it's a very cheap show to produce with the most memorable score on Broadway and now a movie to make people familiar with it. Now it has a Phantom like name-recognition for tourists. A lot of shows without those factors try putting in stars and it doesn't work. Wasn't it already having money issues with Michaelson? With Patinkin doing a couple of weeks, it wasn't going to help the show much. I'm not saying it couldn't succeed, but blaming this show closing on Oak is just putting the show's inability to sustain itself as a show on Oak because it feels nice to have someone to blame for the show being in danger of closing.
The producers should have found a way to turn this around. Let's be honest and though some potential stars may have been spooked by this temporary controversy, the issue is that they probably would have had a hard time finding a never-ending stream of stars come in for this show and are scraping to find someone no matter what.
And yes, I am allowed to roll my eyes at people like Erivo and DeBose who say things like "ticket sales shouldn't override someone doing their job" and criticize "extreme stuntcasting", when in fact said stunt casting was what was paying the actors' bills.
I am not arguing over whether the show was as successful as Chicago. I'm arguing that if you're a star, and you see 3 big celebrities go into roles in a show and have financial success, that show would probably be appealing to you. And if the allegations against Oak are true, then yes, I maintain that he probably threw away the show's future over his ego.
You can do what you want, but this show had major problems it needed to deal with with or without this controversy, and laying the closing on Erivo and Oak and others who have opinions you don't like is missing the point. This show had a built-in vulnerability that would always haunt it unless they got a Celine Dion-like three year Vegas deal with some star that tourists would come see. Shows like this close all the time, and without a race controversy, and even with "stars". Like I said, it was struggling already and that was with Michaelson and Patinkin signed up. Plus, if that's the best they can do in terms of "star" casting, then it had issues getting people.
Like I said, debating over whether the show could have been sustainable over the long term is an interesting discussion. But Mandy would have definitely gotten them through his ticket window, and another star would've gotten them through his/hers. A lot of actors live paycheck to paycheck- the longer they have a job, the better.
ScottyDoesn'tKnow2 said: "This whole thing gave a lot of butt-hurt fans a person to blame for a show that they like closing (or don't like but like hating on actors) when the show was going to close anyway after Mandy Patinkin left. I mean even if Justin Bieber was going to take over the role after Mandy, the show was always going to have a problem of needing a constant stream of stars to keep it afloat. That's an issue that's bigger than this dragged out two-day drama. The only reason why it's still a thing is because this is the most interesting you guys have to talk about here. Now there's a thread created solely to bash Cynthia Erivo as a way to vent out all the anger some feel about her because they've decided she is also culpable in this show's closing...a closing that was always going to be lurking around the corner because of the fact that the show is star dependent.
"
God you're insufferable. Do you have anything to add other than these boards used to be better, we all suck now, and you're smarter than all of us?
schubox said: "ScottyDoesn'tKnow2 said: "This whole thing gave a lot of butt-hurt fans a person to blame for a show that they like closing (or don't like but like hating on actors) when the show was going to close anyway after Mandy Patinkin left. I mean even if Justin Bieber was going to take over the role after Mandy, the show was always going to have a problem of needing a constant stream of stars to keep it afloat. That's an issue that's bigger than this dragged out two-day drama. The only reason why it's still a thing is because this is the most interesting you guys have to talk about here. Now there's a thread created solely to bash Cynthia Erivo as a way to vent out all the anger some feel about her because they've decided she is also culpable in this show's closing...a closing that was always going to be lurking around the corner because of the fact that the show is star dependent.
"
God you're insufferable. Do you have anything to add other than these boards used to be better, we all suck now, and you're smarter than all of us?
"
My posts are a response to the posts that are happening on this board as of late. So to answer your question, no I don't have anything more to add because there's not much more going on on this forum.
^The producers haven't announced ANYTHING yet. We have no idea if it's closing on the 13th, if they'll get understudies and try to make it to Labor Day, or get a new star to continue the run. Still, the fact that there's no official Pierre past the 13th does not look particularly good
ScottyDoesn'tKnow2 said: "schubox said: "ScottyDoesn'tKnow2 said: "This whole thing gave a lot of butt-hurt fans a person to blame for a show that they like closing (or don't like but like hating on actors) when the show was going to close anyway after Mandy Patinkin left. I mean even if Justin Bieber was going to take over the role after Mandy, the show was always going to have a problem of needing a constant stream of stars to keep it afloat. That's an issue that's bigger than this dragged out two-day drama. The only reason why it's still a thing is because this is the most interesting you guys have to talk about here. Now there's a thread created solely to bash Cynthia Erivo as a way to vent out all the anger some feel about her because they've decided she is also culpable in this show's closing...a closing that was always going to be lurking around the corner because of the fact that the show is star dependent.
"
God you're insufferable. Do you have anything to add other than these boards used to be better, we all suck now, and you're smarter than all of us?
"
My posts are a response to the posts that are happening on this board as of late. So to answer your question, no I don't have anything more to add because there's not much more going on on this forum.
CorkySt.Clair said: "^The producers haven't announced ANYTHING yet. We have no idea if it's closing on the 13th, if they'll get understudies and try to make it to Labor Day, or get a new star to continue the run. Still, the fact that there's no official Pierre past the 13th does not look particularly good"
Scott for a week, Dave for a week, and don't hold your breath for much after that.
PaulWom said: "See, but that's where I find the hypocrisy ridiculous. For a long time, Chicago was a vehicle that many stars went in and out of. It could be argued that after successful runs of Groban, Michaelson, and (almost) Patinkin, Comet was well on its way to becoming a star vehicle as well. We don't know if they did or didn't have stars interested that have now been spooked, like Mandy was.
I think it would be difficult for most shows to model themselves on Chicago's version of star casting. The closest example is maybe something like Wicked (but those are usually theater "stars" and they don't seem to boost the box office at all) and maybe Aida and Beauty & the Beast when they were still running. I know it would never happen, but I briefly considered who Sara Bareilles could play... I think aside from the demands of the score, an issue with Comet is that a lot of the cast ends up running around the audience and that could be unsafe for celebrities of a certain level of fame (or at least with particularly fervent fans).
VintageSnarker said, partially: "an issue with Comet is that a lot of the cast ends up running around the audience and that could be unsafe for celebrities of a certain level of fame."
But Pierre spent most of his performance in his salon, the stage pit housing the piano and drums. The performers ran around the audience and stage, but when Pierre had his solo, all were at a distance. Wonder if that was planned.
The comments to the July 28 Variety story had an interesting take: "A horrible aspect to this story is in the future Producers may be extremely reluctant to hire a non-famous African-American actor for any role hence they be twitter-branded as racists should it ever be needed to replace him. Had Mandy been replacing a white actor this would be a non-story all the way – except how exciting for the show that he would be joining it."
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joined:2/26/12
joined:
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Posted: 8/6/17 at 2:29pm