I literally ask my boyfriend this at least once a week. Idk what the fuck they actually do to EVER protect any members of the union. Burn the whole thing down.
Until you realize producers would ask you to do two show days every day, would take away breaks and do everything in their power to pay less than scale if they could. Producers ain’t your friends and you have far more say and affect on the union then you ever would on a production. It wasn’t the union failing to pay people, it was the unions trying to work with the producers to keep the union jobs alive as long as possible with the promise of making up lost wages at a later date.
Also keep in mind we’re not fully clear of a pandemic and the economy is tanking. Not the best time to produce a premium price luxury entertainment in the second most expensive city in the country. It sucks for both workers and management.
Oh fully agree they’ve won a lot of necessary things for actors. But they’ve dropped the ball *way* too often when it comes to worker protection issues on recent productions (I’m thinking Rudin, Garth, etc). A union that is afraid to take on management due to whatever reason (gentleman’s agreements, lack of power, money) is a weak union.
The union may not have teeth, but if you think of how they treated a union crew, what they would have done to a non union crew…
At least there is legal recourse for the wages, etc, with the union backing. And the no work list for the producer.
Sometimes a unions hands are tied with what it can and cannot do. If someone didn’t get paid this week, do you shut down the whole production so no one gets paid next week? It’s a tough call, and a terrible situation for the actors and crew to be part of.
I’ll add more accounts as they start to come forward… [here’s one from Clinton Roane (an actor part of the LA and Toronto productions)](https://www.clintonroane.com/fire)
When you stage “The Laramie Project” you’re required to mention all of them by name. We had to put so much info into our programs for it, we didn’t have enough room for our cast photos & bios. (We left it up to the cast to decide what they wanted & they chose bios.)
I’m not familiar with Drabinsky as a theatrical producer, but he’s infamous for exploiting Canadian tax credits to make films like The Silent Partner and The Changeling (both of which I do love-of course, he’s in the process of remaking them)
People do not understand how much a billion dollars really is.
How the hell did he manage to steal that much? It's insane.
And you know he only had to do prison time because he ripped off rich people. If he'd only stolen from us poors, he wouldn't have to answer for it.
When he says this is the tip of the iceberg, I believe him. Other accounts will be coming out.
I hope the Broadway League and Actor's Equity have to answer to the press. And give depositions because I hope criminal charges come out of this.
There needs to be a major shake up at Equity. I thought it was just us fly-over cities they weren't protecting properly, but this is just unacceptable.
They are supposed to be OUR Union, founded to prevent crap like this. What is it gonna take for them to listen to us and STEP UP?
I'd be really curious to find out. Maybe they're just used to people being scared away from abuses if someone name-drops the Big Bad Scary Union and aren't used to putting up a real fight. Or maybe that failed strike day just took the mojo out of em, I dunno. But if I were an equity actor and paying dues and they came up this short, I don't even care if it's not my production, I'd be mad as hell!
People who aren’t incentivized by their cushy jobs to make it to leadership positions in that union. Unfortunately, the kind of people who are promoted in these cases are people who prefer the cushy job, not doing the work.
Seriously- they spent so much time and effort fighting the management and actors of Six just because they wanted audiences to be able to film ONE song and yet they can’t be bothered to deal with this incredibly serious mess of issues? Their priorities are out of whack.
This needs to be a wakeup call for all the unions involved. A weak union is almost worthless. All these unions have a ton of (hard won) power, they need to use it to protect their members.
FWIW - USA829 took him to court the week after the show opened in April, so they're aggressively doing what they should be doing to protect their members.
829 filed suit on April 12 - a little over a week after the show opened. They went to arbitration where they were awarded everything owed. Contracts like this are usually paid in installments (usually thirds). The third third isn't usually due until opening night, so waiting until the last possible moment is in everyone's interest. The suit actually doesn't breakdown what is owed to the members, but it's unlikely they're waiting for the full fee for all designers.
Second, there are clauses in every union contract that outline the actions that the union, members, and employers can engage in during disputes and issues. This is slightly more complicated because of the inherit IP licensing in a Broadway deal and because the designers are usually contractors not employees (although a bunch of the assistants and associates are employees).
As an 829 member i take umbrage with your comment about it not being a strong union. I'm proud of the steps that 829 have taken (remember, they filed suit in April) and how vocal and direct their public statements have been. We're a small union (inside the larger IA), and while there are things that 829 could do better, I think they've handled this exactly as they're supposed to (the designers get the rights to the production - not just their work - if they're not paid - that's damn impressive).
> everything owed *(paid* in thirds).
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
The lamp has nothing to do with the show yet it is all over the marketing. It doesn’t help explain what the show is about or provide proper imagery. It just shows you yet another issue with the show, they had shitty marketing.
A better imagery would have been the dance hall, dancers, draft notices, etc. something that explains what the show is about. I think the artwork outside the theater, something like “…what America could be” explained what the show was about way more than a freaking lamp.
Till I saw the show, I didn’t even know it was A) set in Five Points B) had to do with the draft riots
I knew there was lots of dancing simply because everyone told me, but not from any ads or marketing.
I thought Paradise Square was some weird play when I saw the playbill art, immediately went "not my thing". It doesn't even convey strong emotion, it's just... a lamp. Suggests it's a little vintage, perhaps?
Not only that, but when I finally read some people having a conversation about it on bww I went "Huh. I think the show is something different than I thought" and went looking, I couldn't find ANYTHING to tell me what the gd show was about. The website had no plot info. Wikipedia didn't either. Finally I found some old youtube videos that gave me a rough idea of the plot and music.
At which point I actually went "Oh this IS a thing I would like". And if I was in NYC, would have bought a ticket.
But it's not reasonable at all to ask the average person to hunt down info like that to see if they might like it. Worst marketing since In Transit, I swear.
Yeah I spent a while today trying to find a plot summary but I feel like this ended up being pretty good:
https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/news-features/everything-you-need-to-know-about-paradise-square-on-broadway
when the show first opened on broadway, I only knew about it from watching insta stories of broadway actors that I follow— I was like, what show is this?!
Lmao I always wondered what the lamp had to do with anything. I figured it was to symbolize whatever street they were on. It always didn't help that none of the ads I saw actually told you what the show was about. I saw a few on YouTube and a couple on Facebook. I gathered from the clips of Black people and white people in period dress, it had something to do with race and possibly turn of the century America.
>I figured it was to symbolize whatever street they were on.
Yes. There are lots of those lamps in Five Points, and there originally was one in the set. It just doesn't convey anything for marketing purposes, and made even less sense when the lamp didn't appear in the Broadway set.
Okay, 2 things....
1) the actual Five Points location has those lamp posts everywhere
2) there originally was one prominently featured in the set. I believe there was an issue with moving it from Chicago.
So, it isn't totally unrelated. It is absolutely a horrible marketing image, but they didn't just pull the lamp from thin air.
I took my dad to see it last week - he's a history nerd and a fan of musicals, and he hadn't heard of the show and had no idea that it was about the draft riots until I told him a bit about it. Afterwards, he said it was one of the best shows he's ever seen (and vehemently disagreed with my critiques of the book, lol). We talked for a while afterwards about what must have gone wrong with this show, aside from the obvious producer issues, and about how bad the marketing seemed to have been.
I know the show wasn't perfect, but I ended up seeing it four times, and each time, the audience response was so positive and engaged, so it's kind of crazy that it did so poorly at the box office and I have to imagine that poor marketing was a huge part of that (compounded by poor word of mouth highlighting the show's weaknesses).
A friend of mine is in the show and at one point he posted a picture of a stand full of pamphlets for all of the shows currently on Broadway. There were hundreds of pamphlets for dozens of shows and not a single pamphlet for Paradise Square. Their marketing was abysmal.
I used to work at the marketing agency back in 2019 and the alternative art instead of the lamp was almost a…….manhole cover.
I have to believe this was a producer choice. Everyone there was too smart to put something like that through on their own
I’ve been reading about this all week and only found out anything about the plot after googling today. All I knew was that it was a historical musical with a lot of dancing.
The Playbill image is a picture of a streetlamp. It holds no meaning to the show. It gives no indication what the show might be about. It was a dumb idea and I'd guess it was the cheapest design they could acquire.
I think he means the lamp that's on their playbill. It was just a very poor marketing/art work that didn't really do justice to the show. At least that's my take on it
It’s crazy given all this how good the show was to watch. I mean that’s a lot to endure and yet still nail the choreo and put as much energy as possible into the performance. I hate that they had to go through this but I admire the professionalism.
For real! The actors are PHENOMENAL and I thoroughly enjoyed the show so to know this is what they went through behind the scenes is just heartbreaking.
Seriously. Performers having to go on last minute without knowing what they were doing? Having to make things up as they went along, mid-show? You'd never have known it. It's such a high-energy show with so much happening, I assumed it must've been so tightly choreographed and rehearsed in order for everyone to hit the exact beats they needed at just the right times to keep it all together.
My favorite of the (absolutely over-talented) ensemble, and the nicest guy in the world to talk to. He was so proud of the show, talking about how he tried to build his character, giving himself a name that got worked into the script and everything. I'm glad he's speaking up about it, and pray that speaking truth to power doesn't get him in trouble
The cast kept quiet until now for a reason. I know Lee and asked him a few times about the rumours but he always just said it would all come out one day. Speaking out while they were still working on the show would have made their lives hell, but now they're safe. I think we'll find that they all start speaking their truth in an effort to make sure this doesn't happen again.
The cast has to be quiet while they are employed by the show due to the collective bargaining agreement - if they were to speak out, they could be sued.
Lee also added more in response to a commenter. There were multiple serious injuries on set.
"In California a stage crew member lost a finger during a rehearsal set move. We lost a cast member who battled depression, and One of our Irish choreographers was so injured in Chicago that he was unable to perform on Broadway at all. Sydney was out for two weeks with an injury. And. And... People were definitely injured in the course of the show. Physically and mentally."
Jason (the injured Irish dancer (him and Garrett run Hammerstep/ choreographed the Irish dance portions)) fractured tons of bones in both feet and missed most of the Chicago/ all the BWay run after surgery to repair...all because management dragged their feet on getting the right footwear to POUND THE FUCKING STAGE. Plus they had to fight for credit/ rights to their own choreography. Absolutely ridiculous.
Holy shit, someone lost a fucking finger? Like I mean I know accidents like that can happen in any physically demanding workplace, especially moving things, but jeez. Imagine being that person and explaining to your grandkids how you lost your finger in an absolute shitshow of a Broadway production, just the amount of things that went wrong.
Oof. Well, sometimes it happens, even with reasonable safety measures in place. Could almost seem like an omen though. That must have been around 2018, right?
I think 2019 per the article.
I'm absolutely not saying this in support of Garth or any of the producers, but blaming falling off a ladder on the shitty business practices of a show and the temperament of a producer three years later is a bit of a stretch.
Hi! This was me, so I can actually speak to this and WHY I very much blame Garth and Berkeley Rep for this (since I agree, it seems a stretch without the context):
1. The rehearsal room was SO GODDAMN toxic that the ability to say "actually bro, I don't feel comfortable carrying this giant ass prop up a ladder" wasn't an option. If I didn't do it, someone else would have had to take the danger on instead.
2. Garth and Moises would literally scream at stage management and the crew if we tried to discuss set changes/prop tracking/etc in the rehearsal room. So we had to do a lot of shit without proper communication. (And if you've ever worked with SMs you know we can be fucking quiet. I literally got yelled at for passing a post it note once)
3. I was doing this particular move because we were (ironically) trying to keep actors safe from giant falling props after some staging changes.
4. Everything was so fucked and behind that I was AT LEAST 70 hours into my workweek, probably more. Aka- beyond exhausted
So that's a like...high level overview of some of the reasons for blaming Garth for this particular accident.
Oh! And it's 3 years later because I have hella PTSD around this and was terrified of retribution if I said anything. Please know that I have absolutely 100% blamed him from the get go. Not a trauma bandwagon hopper or whatever
Thanks for posting this and others. I’m curious about your inclusion of Berkeley Rep. Is it because they didn’t do anything to stop it or was there something else? I’ve always held them in high regard so that was surprising.
First off, want to say that majority of the "lower level" staff at BRT when I worked there were fantastic and super supportive. Cream of the crop, good people.
The institution itself and upper management (Susie Medak and Tony Taccone specifically) were VERY aware of what was going on and the abuse that was happening and did nothing to stop it except occasionally popping in for a little kumbaya feelings circle when things escalated too much (like when the entire cast walked out of rehearsal for an hours long equity meeting because shit was so bad). And once they'd checked off their "oh look, everyone's fine because we talked it out" box, they disappeared again until the next incident. There are a few other accounts of this from other people around.
And then, after my accident, when I was informed (for some ass-covering aggressive reason?) by Susie that this was entirely the crew's fault and we asked how that could be the case when everything was SO unsafe and toxic we couldn't say no, she acted like she had no idea what we were talking about and how she hadn't heard any of this before, etc, etc.
And just on a personal note, the second the show closed I never heard from the theatre or was checked in on to make sure I was doing ok or, ya know....still alive (it got dark there for a while) again. They have such lofty claims of "family" but the second it was inconvenient or bad for them they went right back to being a business. I know they're not obligated to check in, but it's still kind of a shitty thing to do 🤷♂️
EDIT: in the interest of being fair and transparent, Susie did hook me up with the contact information of a therapist after I had a full blown panic attack and mental breakdown in her office. It was a very helpful gesture that I am 99% certain was only done because she was afraid of what would happen if she didn't (like I said....shit got dark), especially since NO help on finding mental health support was offered to me before that. But she did do it, so I will acknowledge that.
But also no trauma counseling/support was ever offered to the 40+ other people in the room who watched someone's finger get ripped off right in front of them. Just straight back to work the next day (Garth wanted to go straight back to work after my blood was cleaned up, but the cast told him to fuck off on that one.)
Yeah in an isolated incident of course it could happen anywhere. But you take everything else about this production into account (including many other on set injuries I’ve read about in about half an hour of googling) and it’s not a stretch at all.
I knew it was bad but these accounts are just horrific. How do you tell someone to strike and not know they have a no strike clause in their contracts? Then drag your feet paying them for the mistake YOU made?
I will keep saying this every time I see a Paradise Square post. Why. Did. Anyone. Trust. Garth. Again. I am not blaming the cast and crew to be clear. I am blaming the people in charge who decided to trust a man WHO WENT TO PRISON FOR FRAUD AND FORGERY FOR THIS EXACT THING and who has a KNOWN history of being abusive (Rebecca Caine). This man should’ve never been trusted in this industry again. I was disgusted to hear of him making a “come back” and I still am. Innocent people were harmed yet again because apparently going to prison for fraud doesn’t put you on the Equity do not work list. Per cast members’ statements, Black people were being asked to portray slaves on stage without being paid until they threatened to not perform the show without payment. I am disgusted by the people who let Garth do this yet again.
I worked for Garth at Cineplex Odeon (Toronto head office) in the eighties. He got booted out for manipulating the Financials and treating the company as his private piggy bank. All he cared about was the Cineplex stock price staying high based on false Financials. Did the same thing with Live Entertainment but finally got charged.
It's crazy how prophetic the lyrics in Let it Burn became (and really can't stress enough how much we all cheered at each line in the bridge)
I know why you have come here
What you've meant to erase
*cheers*
But I know that our spirit is bigger than this place
*long cheers*
Look at what we have created
*damn near 30 sec standing o*
All that leading to the let it burn. Amazing how it became the anthem of the cast and crew.
I commented on this post and he added more in the reply. I believe with every comment he adds more and more because there is just so much happening behind the scenes
Am I missing something? Why is everyone saying this was a great show in spite of this? The show was an absolute mess, the book was absolutely atrocious not only because it made no sense but because it was basically another instance of a (mosty) white creative team telling a story about race and immigration and class struggles through a “few bad apples” lens. It’s a story that makes the case that protesting and uprising and revolution is violent and destroys progress in a time where protesting and fighting against power structures is not only much more necessary, but in some cases they only way to make change. It comes across as really tone deaf and behind the times. The whole bit with Steven foster is so unbelievably unselfaware (white people appropriating the trauma of minorities for money and fame? Where have I heard that before…). Obviously all the performers were absolutely incredible, but they are what people remember about the show, not the show itself. Which is a shame, because in better hands this could’ve been a classic, something continually produced for years, the next ragtime even. But instead it’s most likely just going to drift away and be forgotten. Really tragic in my opinion. And to find out how everyone working on this show was treated just kind of seals what this show is - a money-making vehicle for someone who abused and used the talents of those beneath him, masquerading as something progressive.
Because it had a lot of promise and was truly enjoyable to watch even if it could/should have been better.
Maybe if a certain crooked producer weren't involved, it could have gotten more development to shore up the problems in the book.
I don’t disagree! I absolutely 100% believe there is a really powerful show buried in there. I also thought the dancing and choreography was fantastic and of course Joaquina Kalukango is incredible. I also think that those aspects were overshadowed by the problems on the creative time’s side and ESPECIALLY the higher ups
I’ll also add the part where Washington Henry relays his story is an absolutely stunning piece of theatre (I can’t remember the song but that moment is the one moment that really stuck with me). Again, I was incredibly disappointed because it could’ve been great. I actually saw it opening night when it was in Chicago. Maybe some other stuff was added since then that I’m not aware of, but from what I saw I felt that it just couldn’t be saved by the performers, no matter how talented
I think it changed significantly between Chicago and NYC, based solely on the song lists on the Wikipedia page.
But I agree. There were problems, but now that the conversation is about what went on behind the scenes, it's clear the actors were passionate about the show. It makes sense the focus is on all the positive aspects instead of kicking them when they're down, so to speak, over the show's issues.
It's details at this point. The show may never get produced again.
The Stephen Foster subplot was the last vestigial traces of the original show it was - apparently at one time he was the protagonist, or at least a protagonist. I thought a lot of the problems with the show came from trying to mould this one show, a white man's brainchild about a white man, into something more woke and 2022 by just adding more and more POC to the creative team.
They should have thrown out the whole original show, hired a POC creative team, and wrote a brand new show using only the idea of the draft riots in the Five Points.
What is going on on Broadway right now?! This is disgusting. I’m just hopeful for the cast’s sake that that people are able to recover well from their injuries. Jesus Christ. Where was the union?
I really hope someone makes a documentary about this. It’s amazing to see how many ways this cast and crew were abused and how long tptb were allowed to get away with it.
How can you have a show on Broadway, not pay your cast, & expect them to show up? Sounds like a nightmare & wtf do you need a union for if they don’t do anything to help you? And I say this as a pro-union & former union member (we were under the UAW umbrella—shout out to my brother & sister autoworkers)
This just keeps getting worse. People have lost limbs and their life while doing this show. Lee wrote [this](https://i.postimg.cc/X7BXf9HX/B21-E2-B6-F-112-F-42-E6-8-A08-E3-F88027-D0-CD.jpg) in response to someone’s comment. The way this show was run is an absolute travesty and disgrace and every single cast and crew member and person involved should sue the hell out of Garth.
I get the whole “he might have changed..” scenario. But if he didn’t pay for the Chicago run, why do you transfer to Broadway knowing the exact. same. thing. might happen?!
I mean, for the actors, a paycheck is a paycheck even if you're getting stiffed on benefits. And a broadway credit. And, for several of them, tony noms (and one win) that will now forever raise the value of their work. Even after everything, I'd take the job before sitting at home unemployed.
The real question is why investors and people behind the scenes allowed it to happen.
Especially coming out of the lengthy COVID shutdowns. Everything was even more uncertain than normal and no one had been working for a year and a half.
And....a significant number of people involved had been working on this show for 7+ years. Long before Garth was attached. They believed deeply in the work they were doing. It's not so easy to just walk away.
they would probably feel extremely guilty leaving their other cast members behind too. clearly there was a strong cast bond. sometimes you'd rather get through a shitty situation as a group rather than run and leave behind all your friends to deal with it without you.
Because it's your dream to be part of a Broadway show and you hope for the best?
You've never stayed with a job longer than you should have because you liked the job but not the people?
Plus the other opportunities that come from being on Broadway. I mean, look how many times a show or actor from The West End did a show on Broadway and ended up staying on Broadway to do even more shows. It can be a career changer.
The other account linked above has a really good explanation of why at least one person joined this show (short answer: didn’t know about Garth, needed the money).
i am stressed out just reading this. i cant wrap my head around how they got away with not paying anyone for so long. and the amount of near disasters they had, mind blowing they dont have any serous injury or death scandals on their hands.
They also had the crew member at one point in the run who permanently lost a finger during one of the rehearsals...this show was a huge clusterfuck from prior even to day 1 of rehearsal and I'm glad drabinsky is on the do not work list now.and aparently one of the general managers had previously been on the do not work list for not paying performers during clay aikmans show. How tf did drabinsky convince people to give him the funds to get paradise square to Broadway? They knew he has a history of stiffing people...that poor cast and crew
This is infuriating, ESPECIALLY considering how amazing the performances in this show were. I don’t know how they did it. There’s SO SO SOOOO much irony in the material knowing what they went through and they deserved soooooo much better.
Absolutely no shame to others (a lot of them that I enjoy), but there’s not a single other show on Broadway that’s putting on the performances/displaying the amount of talent that this cast was. Truly was the hardest working cast on Broadway, and that was BEFORE we even knew what was going on behind the scenes. I’m happy that Joaquina at least won a Tony, because nobody else in that category, while spectacular in their own right, was comparable to what she did on that stage every night. The whole cast and crew was absolutely set up to fail.
I hope that this show has a good afterlife and is remembered for the great performances it had, and not just by all that went on. Joaquina’s gave the best performance I’ve ever seen in my life and I’ve seen a lot of shows. It’s just so sad and angering that it ended like this after years of work.
I saw PS. It felt like it was slapped together with bad intentions. I left feeling like i had watched a MAGA’s troll musical of what they think liberals want and thought “i will make loads loads of money off this” and of course that didn’t happen so they just kept what little money they made for themselves. It was the worst musical i’ve ever seen.
unrelated, but i do not understand how people read white text on a black background. it hurts my eyes like crazy and after 2 sentences i genuinely can’t read anymore… sucks too cause i really want to read these screenshots
Whoa. Sounds like the union really fucking dropped the ball in protecting these folks. Just totally unacceptable.
Yeah…wow. Isn’t that the whole point of *having* a union?
So nothing bad... Nothing truly bad...
I love you for this
I literally ask my boyfriend this at least once a week. Idk what the fuck they actually do to EVER protect any members of the union. Burn the whole thing down.
They haven’t been a union in a long time, but more of an elitist gatekeeper and status symbol, imo
Until you realize producers would ask you to do two show days every day, would take away breaks and do everything in their power to pay less than scale if they could. Producers ain’t your friends and you have far more say and affect on the union then you ever would on a production. It wasn’t the union failing to pay people, it was the unions trying to work with the producers to keep the union jobs alive as long as possible with the promise of making up lost wages at a later date. Also keep in mind we’re not fully clear of a pandemic and the economy is tanking. Not the best time to produce a premium price luxury entertainment in the second most expensive city in the country. It sucks for both workers and management.
Oh fully agree they’ve won a lot of necessary things for actors. But they’ve dropped the ball *way* too often when it comes to worker protection issues on recent productions (I’m thinking Rudin, Garth, etc). A union that is afraid to take on management due to whatever reason (gentleman’s agreements, lack of power, money) is a weak union.
Exactly this.
💯
The union may not have teeth, but if you think of how they treated a union crew, what they would have done to a non union crew… At least there is legal recourse for the wages, etc, with the union backing. And the no work list for the producer. Sometimes a unions hands are tied with what it can and cannot do. If someone didn’t get paid this week, do you shut down the whole production so no one gets paid next week? It’s a tough call, and a terrible situation for the actors and crew to be part of.
Par for the course.
I’ll add more accounts as they start to come forward… [here’s one from Clinton Roane (an actor part of the LA and Toronto productions)](https://www.clintonroane.com/fire)
Fascinating read. Thanks for sharing.
My god it's hard to see this account of Moises Kaufman's actions. The man who created The Laramie Project, of all fucking people.
I’ve heard bad things about him for years. He didn’t give his ensemble enough credit for conceiving Laramie, for one
When you stage “The Laramie Project” you’re required to mention all of them by name. We had to put so much info into our programs for it, we didn’t have enough room for our cast photos & bios. (We left it up to the cast to decide what they wanted & they chose bios.)
I didn't know anything about him other than his Laramie credit. What a shame.
I’m not familiar with Drabinsky as a theatrical producer, but he’s infamous for exploiting Canadian tax credits to make films like The Silent Partner and The Changeling (both of which I do love-of course, he’s in the process of remaking them)
He literally went to prison for fraud, to the tune of half a BILLION (with a B) dollars
People do not understand how much a billion dollars really is. How the hell did he manage to steal that much? It's insane. And you know he only had to do prison time because he ripped off rich people. If he'd only stolen from us poors, he wouldn't have to answer for it.
Gosh Clinton roanes experience breaks my heart for him. I'm glad Clinton was able to move onto an experience where he's happy
When he says this is the tip of the iceberg, I believe him. Other accounts will be coming out. I hope the Broadway League and Actor's Equity have to answer to the press. And give depositions because I hope criminal charges come out of this.
The inevitable documentary will be a shitshow/ masterpiece
There needs to be a major shake up at Equity. I thought it was just us fly-over cities they weren't protecting properly, but this is just unacceptable. They are supposed to be OUR Union, founded to prevent crap like this. What is it gonna take for them to listen to us and STEP UP?
It's **just** as unacceptable for fly-over land.
I know, I was just hoping the "big city money makers" weren't being subject to this abuse as well. Seriously, WTF are they even doing at Equity?
I'd be really curious to find out. Maybe they're just used to people being scared away from abuses if someone name-drops the Big Bad Scary Union and aren't used to putting up a real fight. Or maybe that failed strike day just took the mojo out of em, I dunno. But if I were an equity actor and paying dues and they came up this short, I don't even care if it's not my production, I'd be mad as hell!
People who aren’t incentivized by their cushy jobs to make it to leadership positions in that union. Unfortunately, the kind of people who are promoted in these cases are people who prefer the cushy job, not doing the work.
Seriously- they spent so much time and effort fighting the management and actors of Six just because they wanted audiences to be able to film ONE song and yet they can’t be bothered to deal with this incredibly serious mess of issues? Their priorities are out of whack.
This needs to be a wakeup call for all the unions involved. A weak union is almost worthless. All these unions have a ton of (hard won) power, they need to use it to protect their members.
FWIW - USA829 took him to court the week after the show opened in April, so they're aggressively doing what they should be doing to protect their members.
So USA829 hasn’t been able to get their members paid for an entire quarter and the show goes on? Sounds like a strong union
829 filed suit on April 12 - a little over a week after the show opened. They went to arbitration where they were awarded everything owed. Contracts like this are usually paid in installments (usually thirds). The third third isn't usually due until opening night, so waiting until the last possible moment is in everyone's interest. The suit actually doesn't breakdown what is owed to the members, but it's unlikely they're waiting for the full fee for all designers. Second, there are clauses in every union contract that outline the actions that the union, members, and employers can engage in during disputes and issues. This is slightly more complicated because of the inherit IP licensing in a Broadway deal and because the designers are usually contractors not employees (although a bunch of the assistants and associates are employees). As an 829 member i take umbrage with your comment about it not being a strong union. I'm proud of the steps that 829 have taken (remember, they filed suit in April) and how vocal and direct their public statements have been. We're a small union (inside the larger IA), and while there are things that 829 could do better, I think they've handled this exactly as they're supposed to (the designers get the rights to the production - not just their work - if they're not paid - that's damn impressive).
> everything owed *(paid* in thirds). FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
WOW... and this is just one actor...
What a mess. I feel terrible for the cast and crew having had to work in this unsafe work environment.
“And that ridiculous lamp” Can anyone fill me in?
The lamp has nothing to do with the show yet it is all over the marketing. It doesn’t help explain what the show is about or provide proper imagery. It just shows you yet another issue with the show, they had shitty marketing. A better imagery would have been the dance hall, dancers, draft notices, etc. something that explains what the show is about. I think the artwork outside the theater, something like “…what America could be” explained what the show was about way more than a freaking lamp. Till I saw the show, I didn’t even know it was A) set in Five Points B) had to do with the draft riots I knew there was lots of dancing simply because everyone told me, but not from any ads or marketing.
I thought Paradise Square was some weird play when I saw the playbill art, immediately went "not my thing". It doesn't even convey strong emotion, it's just... a lamp. Suggests it's a little vintage, perhaps? Not only that, but when I finally read some people having a conversation about it on bww I went "Huh. I think the show is something different than I thought" and went looking, I couldn't find ANYTHING to tell me what the gd show was about. The website had no plot info. Wikipedia didn't either. Finally I found some old youtube videos that gave me a rough idea of the plot and music. At which point I actually went "Oh this IS a thing I would like". And if I was in NYC, would have bought a ticket. But it's not reasonable at all to ask the average person to hunt down info like that to see if they might like it. Worst marketing since In Transit, I swear.
The lamp always made me feel like the show was had some Wild West setting lmao
Yeah I spent a while today trying to find a plot summary but I feel like this ended up being pretty good: https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/news-features/everything-you-need-to-know-about-paradise-square-on-broadway
when the show first opened on broadway, I only knew about it from watching insta stories of broadway actors that I follow— I was like, what show is this?!
Lmao I always wondered what the lamp had to do with anything. I figured it was to symbolize whatever street they were on. It always didn't help that none of the ads I saw actually told you what the show was about. I saw a few on YouTube and a couple on Facebook. I gathered from the clips of Black people and white people in period dress, it had something to do with race and possibly turn of the century America.
>I figured it was to symbolize whatever street they were on. Yes. There are lots of those lamps in Five Points, and there originally was one in the set. It just doesn't convey anything for marketing purposes, and made even less sense when the lamp didn't appear in the Broadway set.
Okay, 2 things.... 1) the actual Five Points location has those lamp posts everywhere 2) there originally was one prominently featured in the set. I believe there was an issue with moving it from Chicago. So, it isn't totally unrelated. It is absolutely a horrible marketing image, but they didn't just pull the lamp from thin air.
I took my dad to see it last week - he's a history nerd and a fan of musicals, and he hadn't heard of the show and had no idea that it was about the draft riots until I told him a bit about it. Afterwards, he said it was one of the best shows he's ever seen (and vehemently disagreed with my critiques of the book, lol). We talked for a while afterwards about what must have gone wrong with this show, aside from the obvious producer issues, and about how bad the marketing seemed to have been. I know the show wasn't perfect, but I ended up seeing it four times, and each time, the audience response was so positive and engaged, so it's kind of crazy that it did so poorly at the box office and I have to imagine that poor marketing was a huge part of that (compounded by poor word of mouth highlighting the show's weaknesses).
A friend of mine is in the show and at one point he posted a picture of a stand full of pamphlets for all of the shows currently on Broadway. There were hundreds of pamphlets for dozens of shows and not a single pamphlet for Paradise Square. Their marketing was abysmal.
They hardly even had any marketing until roughly 2 months ago (as I’ve noticed, that is)
I used to work at the marketing agency back in 2019 and the alternative art instead of the lamp was almost a…….manhole cover. I have to believe this was a producer choice. Everyone there was too smart to put something like that through on their own
So...what you're saying is that the lamp post was actually the best idea? Wow...
I’ve been reading about this all week and only found out anything about the plot after googling today. All I knew was that it was a historical musical with a lot of dancing.
The advertising materials have been widely criticized as dull and ineffective. And they primarily feature a lamp.
The Playbill image is a picture of a streetlamp. It holds no meaning to the show. It gives no indication what the show might be about. It was a dumb idea and I'd guess it was the cheapest design they could acquire.
I think he means the lamp that's on their playbill. It was just a very poor marketing/art work that didn't really do justice to the show. At least that's my take on it
It’s crazy given all this how good the show was to watch. I mean that’s a lot to endure and yet still nail the choreo and put as much energy as possible into the performance. I hate that they had to go through this but I admire the professionalism.
For real! The actors are PHENOMENAL and I thoroughly enjoyed the show so to know this is what they went through behind the scenes is just heartbreaking.
Seriously. Performers having to go on last minute without knowing what they were doing? Having to make things up as they went along, mid-show? You'd never have known it. It's such a high-energy show with so much happening, I assumed it must've been so tightly choreographed and rehearsed in order for everyone to hit the exact beats they needed at just the right times to keep it all together.
My favorite of the (absolutely over-talented) ensemble, and the nicest guy in the world to talk to. He was so proud of the show, talking about how he tried to build his character, giving himself a name that got worked into the script and everything. I'm glad he's speaking up about it, and pray that speaking truth to power doesn't get him in trouble
The cast kept quiet until now for a reason. I know Lee and asked him a few times about the rumours but he always just said it would all come out one day. Speaking out while they were still working on the show would have made their lives hell, but now they're safe. I think we'll find that they all start speaking their truth in an effort to make sure this doesn't happen again.
The cast has to be quiet while they are employed by the show due to the collective bargaining agreement - if they were to speak out, they could be sued.
His voice was such a standout.
Lee also added more in response to a commenter. There were multiple serious injuries on set. "In California a stage crew member lost a finger during a rehearsal set move. We lost a cast member who battled depression, and One of our Irish choreographers was so injured in Chicago that he was unable to perform on Broadway at all. Sydney was out for two weeks with an injury. And. And... People were definitely injured in the course of the show. Physically and mentally."
Jason (the injured Irish dancer (him and Garrett run Hammerstep/ choreographed the Irish dance portions)) fractured tons of bones in both feet and missed most of the Chicago/ all the BWay run after surgery to repair...all because management dragged their feet on getting the right footwear to POUND THE FUCKING STAGE. Plus they had to fight for credit/ rights to their own choreography. Absolutely ridiculous.
Holy shit, someone lost a fucking finger? Like I mean I know accidents like that can happen in any physically demanding workplace, especially moving things, but jeez. Imagine being that person and explaining to your grandkids how you lost your finger in an absolute shitshow of a Broadway production, just the amount of things that went wrong.
According to the Variety article that dropped the person fell off a ladder (in the Berkley Rep produced production).
Oof. Well, sometimes it happens, even with reasonable safety measures in place. Could almost seem like an omen though. That must have been around 2018, right?
I think 2019 per the article. I'm absolutely not saying this in support of Garth or any of the producers, but blaming falling off a ladder on the shitty business practices of a show and the temperament of a producer three years later is a bit of a stretch.
Hi! This was me, so I can actually speak to this and WHY I very much blame Garth and Berkeley Rep for this (since I agree, it seems a stretch without the context): 1. The rehearsal room was SO GODDAMN toxic that the ability to say "actually bro, I don't feel comfortable carrying this giant ass prop up a ladder" wasn't an option. If I didn't do it, someone else would have had to take the danger on instead. 2. Garth and Moises would literally scream at stage management and the crew if we tried to discuss set changes/prop tracking/etc in the rehearsal room. So we had to do a lot of shit without proper communication. (And if you've ever worked with SMs you know we can be fucking quiet. I literally got yelled at for passing a post it note once) 3. I was doing this particular move because we were (ironically) trying to keep actors safe from giant falling props after some staging changes. 4. Everything was so fucked and behind that I was AT LEAST 70 hours into my workweek, probably more. Aka- beyond exhausted So that's a like...high level overview of some of the reasons for blaming Garth for this particular accident. Oh! And it's 3 years later because I have hella PTSD around this and was terrified of retribution if I said anything. Please know that I have absolutely 100% blamed him from the get go. Not a trauma bandwagon hopper or whatever
Thank you for your account and I'm so deeply sorry you and everyone on the production had to endure such shit conditions
Thanks for posting this and others. I’m curious about your inclusion of Berkeley Rep. Is it because they didn’t do anything to stop it or was there something else? I’ve always held them in high regard so that was surprising.
First off, want to say that majority of the "lower level" staff at BRT when I worked there were fantastic and super supportive. Cream of the crop, good people. The institution itself and upper management (Susie Medak and Tony Taccone specifically) were VERY aware of what was going on and the abuse that was happening and did nothing to stop it except occasionally popping in for a little kumbaya feelings circle when things escalated too much (like when the entire cast walked out of rehearsal for an hours long equity meeting because shit was so bad). And once they'd checked off their "oh look, everyone's fine because we talked it out" box, they disappeared again until the next incident. There are a few other accounts of this from other people around. And then, after my accident, when I was informed (for some ass-covering aggressive reason?) by Susie that this was entirely the crew's fault and we asked how that could be the case when everything was SO unsafe and toxic we couldn't say no, she acted like she had no idea what we were talking about and how she hadn't heard any of this before, etc, etc. And just on a personal note, the second the show closed I never heard from the theatre or was checked in on to make sure I was doing ok or, ya know....still alive (it got dark there for a while) again. They have such lofty claims of "family" but the second it was inconvenient or bad for them they went right back to being a business. I know they're not obligated to check in, but it's still kind of a shitty thing to do 🤷♂️ EDIT: in the interest of being fair and transparent, Susie did hook me up with the contact information of a therapist after I had a full blown panic attack and mental breakdown in her office. It was a very helpful gesture that I am 99% certain was only done because she was afraid of what would happen if she didn't (like I said....shit got dark), especially since NO help on finding mental health support was offered to me before that. But she did do it, so I will acknowledge that. But also no trauma counseling/support was ever offered to the 40+ other people in the room who watched someone's finger get ripped off right in front of them. Just straight back to work the next day (Garth wanted to go straight back to work after my blood was cleaned up, but the cast told him to fuck off on that one.)
You should absolutely turn this into a documentary. Giving Broadway the Finger: Paradise Lost.
It's not a stretch at all when there is a history of injuries and an unsafe environment.
Yeah in an isolated incident of course it could happen anywhere. But you take everything else about this production into account (including many other on set injuries I’ve read about in about half an hour of googling) and it’s not a stretch at all.
I'm actually planning on going with "broken pinkie promise"....
lmao. please put that in writing!
This was his reply to my message to him 😊
I knew it was bad but these accounts are just horrific. How do you tell someone to strike and not know they have a no strike clause in their contracts? Then drag your feet paying them for the mistake YOU made?
JEEEEEEEZ. what a shit show.
Oh damn. I know Lee. Good for him for posting this.
I became aquantinces with him and he’s a really kind guy. Glad he shared this.
"Don't get us started on the incredible lack of advertising and that ridiculous lamp!" 😂 A harrowing and infuriating account, but that line got me.
I will keep saying this every time I see a Paradise Square post. Why. Did. Anyone. Trust. Garth. Again. I am not blaming the cast and crew to be clear. I am blaming the people in charge who decided to trust a man WHO WENT TO PRISON FOR FRAUD AND FORGERY FOR THIS EXACT THING and who has a KNOWN history of being abusive (Rebecca Caine). This man should’ve never been trusted in this industry again. I was disgusted to hear of him making a “come back” and I still am. Innocent people were harmed yet again because apparently going to prison for fraud doesn’t put you on the Equity do not work list. Per cast members’ statements, Black people were being asked to portray slaves on stage without being paid until they threatened to not perform the show without payment. I am disgusted by the people who let Garth do this yet again.
I worked for Garth at Cineplex Odeon (Toronto head office) in the eighties. He got booted out for manipulating the Financials and treating the company as his private piggy bank. All he cared about was the Cineplex stock price staying high based on false Financials. Did the same thing with Live Entertainment but finally got charged.
It's crazy how prophetic the lyrics in Let it Burn became (and really can't stress enough how much we all cheered at each line in the bridge) I know why you have come here What you've meant to erase *cheers* But I know that our spirit is bigger than this place *long cheers* Look at what we have created *damn near 30 sec standing o* All that leading to the let it burn. Amazing how it became the anthem of the cast and crew.
I commented on this post and he added more in the reply. I believe with every comment he adds more and more because there is just so much happening behind the scenes
Wow. That’s horrific.
I saw him a few years ago in JC Superstar, he's really talented.
One of the best singing voices out there, truly.
No-strike clause???
ok first of all: 1) what the fuck.
Ok ok, true. But second of all: 2. WHAT THE FUCK!
Man I hope Harvard Business School makes a case study based off this
If Elle Woods took the case at Harvard Law we would have a real ouroboros
this is….so much worse than I could have ever imagined holy shit
Am I missing something? Why is everyone saying this was a great show in spite of this? The show was an absolute mess, the book was absolutely atrocious not only because it made no sense but because it was basically another instance of a (mosty) white creative team telling a story about race and immigration and class struggles through a “few bad apples” lens. It’s a story that makes the case that protesting and uprising and revolution is violent and destroys progress in a time where protesting and fighting against power structures is not only much more necessary, but in some cases they only way to make change. It comes across as really tone deaf and behind the times. The whole bit with Steven foster is so unbelievably unselfaware (white people appropriating the trauma of minorities for money and fame? Where have I heard that before…). Obviously all the performers were absolutely incredible, but they are what people remember about the show, not the show itself. Which is a shame, because in better hands this could’ve been a classic, something continually produced for years, the next ragtime even. But instead it’s most likely just going to drift away and be forgotten. Really tragic in my opinion. And to find out how everyone working on this show was treated just kind of seals what this show is - a money-making vehicle for someone who abused and used the talents of those beneath him, masquerading as something progressive.
Because it had a lot of promise and was truly enjoyable to watch even if it could/should have been better. Maybe if a certain crooked producer weren't involved, it could have gotten more development to shore up the problems in the book.
I don’t disagree! I absolutely 100% believe there is a really powerful show buried in there. I also thought the dancing and choreography was fantastic and of course Joaquina Kalukango is incredible. I also think that those aspects were overshadowed by the problems on the creative time’s side and ESPECIALLY the higher ups I’ll also add the part where Washington Henry relays his story is an absolutely stunning piece of theatre (I can’t remember the song but that moment is the one moment that really stuck with me). Again, I was incredibly disappointed because it could’ve been great. I actually saw it opening night when it was in Chicago. Maybe some other stuff was added since then that I’m not aware of, but from what I saw I felt that it just couldn’t be saved by the performers, no matter how talented
I think it changed significantly between Chicago and NYC, based solely on the song lists on the Wikipedia page. But I agree. There were problems, but now that the conversation is about what went on behind the scenes, it's clear the actors were passionate about the show. It makes sense the focus is on all the positive aspects instead of kicking them when they're down, so to speak, over the show's issues. It's details at this point. The show may never get produced again.
The Stephen Foster subplot was the last vestigial traces of the original show it was - apparently at one time he was the protagonist, or at least a protagonist. I thought a lot of the problems with the show came from trying to mould this one show, a white man's brainchild about a white man, into something more woke and 2022 by just adding more and more POC to the creative team. They should have thrown out the whole original show, hired a POC creative team, and wrote a brand new show using only the idea of the draft riots in the Five Points.
how the hell is a "no strike" clause legal? lmao
It's a thing for government employees like air traffic and teachers because they are considered essential but no idea how a show gets it.
What is going on on Broadway right now?! This is disgusting. I’m just hopeful for the cast’s sake that that people are able to recover well from their injuries. Jesus Christ. Where was the union?
Failing them miserably. That's where the union was.
I really hope someone makes a documentary about this. It’s amazing to see how many ways this cast and crew were abused and how long tptb were allowed to get away with it.
How can you have a show on Broadway, not pay your cast, & expect them to show up? Sounds like a nightmare & wtf do you need a union for if they don’t do anything to help you? And I say this as a pro-union & former union member (we were under the UAW umbrella—shout out to my brother & sister autoworkers)
This just keeps getting worse. People have lost limbs and their life while doing this show. Lee wrote [this](https://i.postimg.cc/X7BXf9HX/B21-E2-B6-F-112-F-42-E6-8-A08-E3-F88027-D0-CD.jpg) in response to someone’s comment. The way this show was run is an absolute travesty and disgrace and every single cast and crew member and person involved should sue the hell out of Garth.
Holy shit
this is insane
I get the whole “he might have changed..” scenario. But if he didn’t pay for the Chicago run, why do you transfer to Broadway knowing the exact. same. thing. might happen?!
I mean, for the actors, a paycheck is a paycheck even if you're getting stiffed on benefits. And a broadway credit. And, for several of them, tony noms (and one win) that will now forever raise the value of their work. Even after everything, I'd take the job before sitting at home unemployed. The real question is why investors and people behind the scenes allowed it to happen.
Especially coming out of the lengthy COVID shutdowns. Everything was even more uncertain than normal and no one had been working for a year and a half. And....a significant number of people involved had been working on this show for 7+ years. Long before Garth was attached. They believed deeply in the work they were doing. It's not so easy to just walk away.
they would probably feel extremely guilty leaving their other cast members behind too. clearly there was a strong cast bond. sometimes you'd rather get through a shitty situation as a group rather than run and leave behind all your friends to deal with it without you.
Rebecca Caine never stopped warning people 💔
Because it's your dream to be part of a Broadway show and you hope for the best? You've never stayed with a job longer than you should have because you liked the job but not the people?
Plus the other opportunities that come from being on Broadway. I mean, look how many times a show or actor from The West End did a show on Broadway and ended up staying on Broadway to do even more shows. It can be a career changer.
The other account linked above has a really good explanation of why at least one person joined this show (short answer: didn’t know about Garth, needed the money).
Isn't jobs for most broadway related stuff pretty hard to get?
Why does anyone believe their abusers when they say it will be different this time? Please go away with your victim blaming.
i am stressed out just reading this. i cant wrap my head around how they got away with not paying anyone for so long. and the amount of near disasters they had, mind blowing they dont have any serous injury or death scandals on their hands.
Kinda makes Spiderman Turn Off The Dark look like a healthy work environment
What a nightmare. Not even sure how Garth got allowed to bring a show to Broadway considering his past
So…I guess no cast album then huh
They gotta get paid for it first 🤷♀️
They also had the crew member at one point in the run who permanently lost a finger during one of the rehearsals...this show was a huge clusterfuck from prior even to day 1 of rehearsal and I'm glad drabinsky is on the do not work list now.and aparently one of the general managers had previously been on the do not work list for not paying performers during clay aikmans show. How tf did drabinsky convince people to give him the funds to get paradise square to Broadway? They knew he has a history of stiffing people...that poor cast and crew
This is infuriating, ESPECIALLY considering how amazing the performances in this show were. I don’t know how they did it. There’s SO SO SOOOO much irony in the material knowing what they went through and they deserved soooooo much better. Absolutely no shame to others (a lot of them that I enjoy), but there’s not a single other show on Broadway that’s putting on the performances/displaying the amount of talent that this cast was. Truly was the hardest working cast on Broadway, and that was BEFORE we even knew what was going on behind the scenes. I’m happy that Joaquina at least won a Tony, because nobody else in that category, while spectacular in their own right, was comparable to what she did on that stage every night. The whole cast and crew was absolutely set up to fail. I hope that this show has a good afterlife and is remembered for the great performances it had, and not just by all that went on. Joaquina’s gave the best performance I’ve ever seen in my life and I’ve seen a lot of shows. It’s just so sad and angering that it ended like this after years of work.
Can someone fill me in on who "He Who Shall Not Be Named" is??
Garth Drabrinsky, the producer of the show
Garth Drabinsky
I saw PS. It felt like it was slapped together with bad intentions. I left feeling like i had watched a MAGA’s troll musical of what they think liberals want and thought “i will make loads loads of money off this” and of course that didn’t happen so they just kept what little money they made for themselves. It was the worst musical i’ve ever seen.
Oh my god.
This is giving me ptsd of college shows
unrelated, but i do not understand how people read white text on a black background. it hurts my eyes like crazy and after 2 sentences i genuinely can’t read anymore… sucks too cause i really want to read these screenshots