Issues at Mean Girls last night

[GlenCoco]

Posted: 11/13/19 at 10:08am

I heard there was performance issue last night (11/12) that Barrett Wilbert Weed that she seemed very out of it and robotic, and she would break character several times to say things such as "i can't hear anything" definitely like her mind was somewhere else.  the intermission was exceptionally long, and there was an announcement made they she would not be finishing the show 30 minutes before the show ended  Was anybody at the show last night?

[VotePeron]

Posted: 11/13/19 at 10:15am

According to Twitter, the conductor was also replaced at the same time?

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 11/13/19 at 10:24am

https://twitter.com/grammar_girl/status/1194450397462761474

[ThePlastics]

Posted: 11/13/19 at 10:26am

I was there last night as well.  Her performance was off from the moment she had her mic/sound issue at the top of act 1.  She seemed a little upset with the conductor that it was happening.  the remainder of her performance was extremely saracstic in her delivery with no emotion at all!  All seemed normal going into Act 2 (except for the 30 minute intermission) until after "who's house is this?" when they announced Olivia Kaufman would be taking over the role of Janis.  She was flawless and recieved lots of applause for what she did.  It was definitely a weird night at the theater.

Updated On: 11/13/19 at 10:26 AM

[ljay889]

Posted: 11/13/19 at 10:38am

Yikes....

[Mike Barrett]

Posted: 11/13/19 at 10:42am

Having only read whats on here, sounds unprofessional on her part. Unless its due to safety reasons, my motto has always been "Show must go on!" as cliche as it is. Interested in hearing more about this, what was the conductor supposed to do? 

[IAMREADING]

Posted: 11/13/19 at 10:47am

oh no! hate to read this. do they have an earpiece in there ear to hear the music or something? what does she mean by can’t hear anything?

[mailhandler777]

Posted: 11/13/19 at 10:59am

Meanwhile on the tour Mariah had to call out right before World Burns because she was gonna puke.

[Kad]

Posted: 11/13/19 at 11:30am

Weed had been out of the show for quite a while, hadn't she?

[mailhandler777]

Posted: 11/13/19 at 11:36am

Kad said: "Weed had been out of the show for quite a while, hadn't she?"

She was out from mid August with a neck injury and came back the Monday before Halloween. I saw her last Sunday and thought she sounded great. She was very chatty and ablibbed a lot in scenes. 

[ThePlastics]

Posted: 11/13/19 at 11:37am

The last few times I have seen the show BWW was out.  TBH I was shocked she was actually in last night.  

[trpguyy]

Posted: 11/13/19 at 12:32pm

Rather than an argument of some sort, I suspect it's more likely that if she was having an "off" show for one reason or another, the music director stepped aside to be of assistance in any way possible.

[UncleCharlie]

Posted: 11/13/19 at 4:29pm

trpguyy said: "Rather than an argument of some sort, I suspect it's more likely that if she was having an "off" show for one reason or another, the music director stepped aside to be of assistance in any way possible."

That doesn't make any sense. If an actor is having issues, isn't it more the job of the stage manager to deal with it? And why would a conductor in the middle of a performance be allowed to abandon his post to see if he can "be of assistance" for an actor who has already exited the performance. I would think he would be of more value making sure her replacement on stage has every bit of assistance she needed to make the transition of actors as seemless as possible.

[ThePlastics]

Posted: 11/13/19 at 4:43pm

If you follow Renee (Regina George) on Instagram she just posted a story speaking of "what happened last night".  She says that a girl in the front of the mezz was filming and the entire cast could see it happening - maybe this has something to do with it?

The odd part is...I was third row center mezz and would have seen this happening, but I do not remember a girl filming.

The mystery continues!

[LuPita2]

Posted: 11/13/19 at 4:43pm

I agree, I don't think it's the conductor's job to make sure an actor is okay. There have been rumors she's been difficult to work with, but perhaps she was in pain or having an off night. Unfortunate for everyone who was there. 

[Tag]

Posted: 11/13/19 at 4:54pm

You can't just replace a conductor and lead on the fly, so most likely this was planned (would account for the longer intermission).  I can imagine it was decided at the intermission, that at the point in Act II, the switch for both would occur.

Although why the switch didn't happen for all of Act II is perplexing.

Updated On: 11/13/19 at 04:54 PM

[mailhandler777]

Posted: 11/13/19 at 5:09pm

ThePlastics said: "If you follow Renee (Regina George) on Instagram she just posted a story speaking of "what happened last night". She says that a girl in the front of the mezz was filming and the entire cast could see it happening - maybe this has something to do with it?

The odd part is...I was third row center mezz and would have seen this happening, but I do not remember a girl filming.

The mystery continues!"

If the girl is holding it to her body like Renee said you wouldn't see it. They would definitely see my phone. The back of it is literally a mirror.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 11/13/19 at 5:10pm

Putting aside this particular incident, can we please stop excusing bad and unprofessional behavior by (mainly younger) actors by saying they were having an “off night”? I see this way too often now and it’s ridiculous and honestly just offensive to other actors and to the audience who paid their money and doesn’t particularly care if you’re having a bad day. If you can’t step on that stage and give the performance you were hired to give then you need to stay away and let your understudy go on.

[VotePeron]

Posted: 11/13/19 at 5:16pm

Tag said: "You can't just replace a conductor and lead on the fly, so most likely this was planned (would account for the longer intermission). I can imagine it was decided at the intermission, that at the point in Act II, the switch for both would occur.

Although why the switch didn't happen for all of Act II is perplexing."

There is no way they planned this at intermission. Yes, you can replace a lead and conductor mid show. There are people who are paid for that exact reason. 

I imagine the problems surmounted are intermission, and then they attempted to get through Act 2 before things went haywire backstage. 

[Zion24]

Posted: 11/13/19 at 5:26pm

ThePlastics said: "If you follow Renee (Regina George) on Instagram she just posted a story speaking of "what happened last night". She says that a girl in the front of the mezz was filming and the entire cast could see it happening - maybe this has something to do with it?

The odd part is...I was third row center mezz and would have seen this happening, but I do not remember a girl filming.

The mystery continues!"

Even if there was a full camera crew filming from the mezzanine, that does not explain why the actress and conductor both called out mid show.

 

[trpguyy]

Posted: 11/13/19 at 5:56pm

JDonaghy4 said: "Even if there was a full camera crew filming from the mezzanine, that does not explain why the actress and conductor both called out mid show."

I proposed a reasonable theory above. Other possible reasons -- all of which I have personally witnessed -- include but are certainly not limited to:

- The associate had been conducting, and when the actress called out the MD decided it was best to take the podium.

- It was the first performance for a new sub conductor, and it wasn't going well.

-  Food poisoning

- Family emergency

 

It's not unusual for a performer to call out mid-show, and it's not entirely uncommon for a conductor change to occur during a show either. If it happens during the second act, the audience would never know. In this particular instance, the show had to pause and an announcement was being made as per AEA requirements, so the conductor was also announced, as per AFM requirements.

They two things may have been related, they may not have been, but nobody is owed an explanation.

Posted: 11/13/19 at 6:31pm

Jordan Catalano said: "Putting aside this particular incident, can we please stop excusing bad and unprofessional behavior by (mainly younger) actors by saying they were having an “off night”? I see this way too often now and it’s ridiculous and honestly just offensive to other actors and to the audience who paid their money and doesn’t particularly care if you’re having a bad day. If you can’t step on that stage and give the performance you were hired to give then you need to stay away and let your understudy go on. "

 

THANK YOU. Agreed 100%

[magictodo123]

Posted: 11/13/19 at 7:31pm

sparksatmidnight said: "She's a goner"

Olivia is also on tonight. I hope Barrett is okay! But I do think she could be leaving the show soon. 

[Dollypop]

Posted: 11/13/19 at 7:41pm

AlexxGee said: "Jordan Catalano said: "Putting aside this particular incident, can we please stop excusing bad and unprofessional behavior by (mainly younger) actors by saying they were having an “off night”? I see this way too often now and it’s ridiculous and honestly just offensive to other actors and to the audience who paid their money and doesn’t particularly care if you’re having a bad day. If you can’t step on that stage and give the performance you were hired to give then you need to stay away and let your understudy go on. "



THANK YOU. Agreed 100%"

 

I absolutely agree with Jordan. Carol Channing gave over 5,000 performances as Dolly and never had an "off night".

 

Thank you very much.

 

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 11/13/19 at 7:47pm

Agreed Jordan. I did a 5 month run of a show where it became a joke as to if we’d ever do the show with the entire cast again. It’s remarkable. I would come off stage and literally feel so sick, but I never called out.

It doesn’t even sound like she was having an off night. She clearly is just over it.