The saga has ended (or so we think) following an unnecessary public relations and media communications blunder by the producers of Broadway’s Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 (shorthand, Comet).
Let’s backtrack. On July 26th, the producers abruptly announced that Broadway veteran Mandy Patinkin will to replace Hamilton’s original Hercules Mulligan, Oak Onaodowan as Pierre. This all seemed odd, first because of its timing, given that Oak has only joined on the 11th, a week after his scheduled due date (delayed for no apparent reason). Oak was contracted for nine weeks, but to accommodate to Patinkin’s Homeland schedule, he is set to end his run three weeks earlier.
Oak is African-American, and Mandy Patinkin is of course, white. While dissolving contractual obligations might not be racially motivated, the optics and semantics don’t work in the producer’s favor. “Oak […] graciously agreed to make room for Mandy,” said one producer. Make room, he said. The producers added that Oak might come back in the Winter.
This is when things started getting messy. Oak proceeds to post his final performance dates on Instagram, and says he will not be coming back. Oak’s colleagues and Broadway actors (of color, mostly) took to social media to express their outrage. Their reaction created further fanfare, as fans of the show protested that “this isn’t about race.”
Semantics played a huge role, and an overall lack of sensitivity and coordination spiraled out of control. It became evident that the producers have been replacing other cast members with more well known stars. The composers tweeted that original cast member Brittain Ashford was temporarily replaced by indie singer-songwriter Ingrid Michaelson. Ashford was on “temporary leave” and scheduled to return in August. While matters were handled delicately for Ashford, they were not in the recent replacement announcement two days ago. Producers then apologize for how things came across, and absolved themselves by saying they weren’t aware of Oak’s feelings (which remained quite neutral and professional, if not passive during this saga). Then finally, Mandy Patinkin decides to withdraw, stating that he wasn’t aware of the casting arrangements, and did not want to make another actor out of commission on his behalf.
Indeed, Comet has a diverse cast. Its leading lady, Tony-nominee Denee Benton is unknown and black. Her understudy is of Indian origins, and the producers made sure this was known in featured stories as the first Indian soprano leading lady when its black leading lady is indisposed. Many of the cast members are also POC. But diverse bodies are also part of the show’s hipster “look” and aesthetic. Yes, diversity is visible, but clearly it isn’t priority.
The producers’ motivations were clear: save a struggling show under any circumstances and recruit the stars. I understand this, and can appreciate how they needed to make tough decisions to save their show. The entire saga was a case study in message alignment between your spokespeople (mainly running amok on social media) with no coordination, and being so out of touch with public sentiment. A producer’s job is to manage all their internal and external stakeholders. For a business that is dependent on having an audience to float, they were incapable of communicating with their audience and managing their own team.
Dust and ashes.
The Seat Snob 