CLYDES - UZO ADUBA - OUT OF SHOW

[VernonGersch]

Posted: 10/30/21 at 10:06am

SUPER excited to see UZO.  Love her in everything she does, especially In Treatment this past Summer on HBOMax.  Was equally excited to see a new work from Lynn Nottage who rightfuly so is the most accliamed playwright of our time.

So imagine my total dissapointment to read (after digging around on Audience Rewards of all places) to read the following

Please note that Uzo Aduba will not perform on the following dates: 11/19 @ 8pm, 11/20 @ 2pm + 8pm, 11/21 @ 2pm

So, not only am I SUPER dissapointed to read she wasnt going to be in the show for the weekend I am in NYC, this information cant be found anywhere on the 2nd Stage website.

Not only that, they already bumped me out of my inital tickets for Tuesday the 22 of November since they decided that is now Opening Night. 

So many questions, how can the above the title star of the show be out of the show for the weekend prior to the show opening?  When are the invited criitc shows?  Why isnt Second Stage making this information public?  Why is it public on Audience Rewards?

Incredibly frustrated and dissapointed in 2nd Stage. was really looking forward to seeing this show

Between this, the bad buzz on The Visitor, the awful reviews for Fairycakes and the less than stellar word of mouth on Morning Son - feeling a bit letdown by theater right now.  

Ive got Company and Caroline to look forward to but I really wanted to see this.  

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 10/30/21 at 10:43am

How did you purchase your tickets?

[veronicamae]

Posted: 10/30/21 at 10:48am

"how can the above the title star of the show be out of the show for the weekend prior to the show opening?"

She clearly had a prior commitment that was deemed important enough to call out.

"When are the invited criitc shows?"

Unless you're a critic, I'm just curious why it's relevant? If her absence was scheduled, one can assume the critics will have seen it with her in the show, but nothing is guaranteed in live theater.

"Why isnt Second Stage making this information public?  Why is it public on Audience Rewards?"

All theater and theater-adjacent industries took massive hits in terms of staffing due to the shutdown. It's probable that 2ST hasn't had the time/personnel to put this on their website yet, while they - it's likel an entirely different person/team communicating it - were able to pass the info along to Audience Rewards. Perhaps the information will show up on 2ST's website in the coming week. It's likely that their staff, or the staff of their agency, has also been reduced and is doing their best to keep up.

As someone who works theater-adjacent, my company of 100 has been slashed to 30 and we are still doing the work of 100 (actually, more, because every show is relaunching with new messaging, new casts, new new new) and we have been working overtime for months to try to ensure everything in the world is up-to-date and completely accurate, but please remember that there are human beings that have to do all of these tasks like updating websites, and that takes time and money, which is scant in this industry right now. And if it sounds like I'm taking it personally, I am; I'm responsible for managing at least a dozen shows' websites' updates and builds at any given time and the deadlines and demands put on me and my [decimated] staff are beyond anything pre-COVID. We are all just people trying to get the job done.

And on that note, Uzo is also just a person who has every right to call out of a show if she needs to. We knew it would be a bumpy road to recovery. I hope you can exercise a bit more patience because the industry is nowhere near recovered yet. But we are on our way.

And I'm sorry you're disappointed - hopefully, you can rebook and still see Uzo. :) 

[Broadway61004]

Posted: 10/30/21 at 10:49am

VernonGersch said: "So many questions, how can the above the title star of the show be out of the show for the weekend prior to the show opening? When are the invited criitc shows? Why isnt Second Stage making this information public? Why is it public on Audience Rewards?"

Sorry that you're going to miss her. Unless the marketing has changed recently, I don't believe she's billed above the title, which is why Second Stage isn't required to make it public or offer refunds (I agree it would be nice if they did, not to mention smart in regards to keeping audiences happy, but they're technically under no obligation to do so). How Audience Rewards got that knowledge and the okay to publish it, I have no idea.

As for the press performances, they're typically around a week before the official opening (and I believe are rarely on weekends anymore) so if they're opening Tuesday the 23rd and Uzo is out the 19th-21st, my guess would be they're doing press performances the 16th-18th. But that's just a guess.

[Falsettolands]

Posted: 10/30/21 at 10:50am

While I completely agree with you in terms of Second Stage not making this very clear on their website and on other materials, it's not impossible for the above the title star to be out of the show if something has come up. I'm sure they're going to give their understudy ample time to prepare and will book press and critics around these dates. There's no rule saying an understudy cannot go on during previews- it's just really really difficult considering lack of preparation time.

[VernonGersch]

Posted: 10/30/21 at 11:05am

Jordan -bough tthem through 2nd Stage.  

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 10/30/21 at 11:07am

2ST is offering exchanges. Have you contacted them?

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 10/30/21 at 11:25am

It's possible this scheduling is something that came up after you bought tickets? If you go to the show's calendar on Second Stages' website now, it has little asterisks: 

∗ Uzo Aduba will not be appearing at this performance.
◊ Ron Cephas Jones will not be appearing at this performance.

[JBroadway]

Posted: 10/30/21 at 3:47pm

VernonGersch said: "Between this, the bad buzz on The Visitor, the awful reviews for Fairycakes and the less than stellar word of mouth on Morning Son - feeling a bit letdown by theater right now."

 

Sorry to hear you're feeling that way. I know it sucks when the actor you really want to see is out of the show, and it can also be discouraging when the things you were most looking forward to are received badly. But I wouldn't feel "let down by theatre." There's lots of good stuff running, or good-looking shows coming up. And you might still really enjoy the shows you planned, even if other people didn't. 

See if you can exchange your tix to Clyde's, and if not, you can either try to get a refund and see something else, or see the show without Uzo and hope Lynn Nottage has delivered another fantastic play. 

 

[VernonGersch]

Posted: 11/3/21 at 9:56am

The folks at 2nd Stage were great and I receive a refund since Uzo is not slated to be in the show for that entire weekend before Thanksgiving (although it appears she"ll be performing in the Sunday evening performance of the weekend before Turkey Day)

[MayAudraBlessYou2]

Posted: 11/3/21 at 2:32pm

Broadway61004 said: 
As for the press performances, they're typically around a week before the official opening (and I believe are rarely on weekends anymore) so if they're opening Tuesday the 23rd and Uzo is out the 19th-21st, my guess would be they're doing press performances the 16th-18th. But that's just a guess."

Press was notified that Uzo was not in the show certain dates, but they were not offered any date for which she would be absent. Instead press days are 16, 17, 18, and 22nd. They didnt give details as to why, just "previously scheduled commitment" (I have to assume its a film or TV commitment). Press performances are on weekdays for this particular show, but you are incorrect above: it is entirely common for press performances to be weekends. Id say the normal range is Thurs-Sun. Weekends allow for a good mix of evening and matinee performance times so you can get good attendance regardless of journalist's schedules.