Well, there’s another controversy brewing in the theater world about…
Racism.
I know.
From my thankgodI’msortaretired perch, I absorb the almost daily barrage of accusatory skirmishes in the entertainment industry with the same degree of dismal intensity that I watch political pundits discussing a presidential candidate eating cats.
There’s something terribly not normal about the normal that’s being oozed out in our discourse of late.
I do believe that the current crazy normal relies heavily on silence. Or being nice. Or being afraid.
My older sister recently said she thinks I have a smart mouth, which evidently goes back to my childhood. In our Midwestern sensibilities it’s meant as a slur.
I’ve always thought that having a smart mouth wasn’t such a bad thing really. Anyway….
I’m in an enviable position, which I realize… from writing my little blogs and mercifully being out of the hustle of getting the next gig.
I just ordered a few of these on Amazon for gifts and I’ll be keeping one for myself…
The latest in a long string of theatrical insurrections is playing out in the perfect place for nuanced, complex discussions:
Social media.
On one side of the barricade is James Morgan, who has helmed the York Theater in NYC for decades.
Perched atop the junk on the other side is Gerry McIntyre, a fairly well known actor/ director.
It’s all so “Les Mis” … I can’t help it… but instead of a sniper using a gun, Gerry’s using his phone.
I think Jim Morgan has been around at the York since I moved to New York City in the early 80’s. He’s an affable, extremely dedicated artistic director who has kept the Little Theater That Could.. The York..which is housed in the basement of a church on the East side… going for as long as I can remember.
Pretty much every actor who has risen through the ranks has either worked there in a production or a workshop. Jim was very interested in a show that I created .. “Southern Comfort”.. a trans love story…to premier at the York. He’s a smart businessman who wanted more moolah to produce it than I could afford.
But good for him for trying… the Public was the right fit as it turned out.
I’m met Gerry in the late 80’s when I started working on Broadway.. he was also affable and sassy and part of the newbies on Broadway crowd.
There’s more:
The obvious:
Jim abruptly resigns.
And issues a statement:
I know, it’s a lot.
Please take one…
They’re teeny fucks…
With his friend Patti LuPone in tow, Gerry decided to get the old white dude fired… not only because he’s mean evidently, and a bully!, but a racist. But he’s gonna leave that up to the hundreds of people who read his private letter to the Board that he published on Facebook and God knows where else.
What Gerry also knows is Jim had a stroke recently and suffers from aphasia.. which leads to uncontrolled outbursts at times.
He knows that.
Gerry Goody Proctored the fuck out of Jim by trying to whip up a mob and put him in his place. And ruin a 50 year legacy. And get his old white ass fired.
Because there weren’t enough people of color in a show. Or in the audience? I’m unclear …
Here’s the truth: for the time being, anyone can put on a show with anyone they please. White , black , gay, straight, trans, female, male, old, young… any combo you can create. If audiences don’t buy it they won’t buy it.
Art is free.
Ok, sorta free right now.
I wish.
I wish the many organizations that have popped up recently that are “united”, were united for something, not against people they perceive as white.
Of course, I’ve perused the sosh since the ambush, and the saddest thing to me is Jim wanting to repair his relationship with Gerry. You know, to be friends again.
Jim… Gerry is not your friend. That’s not what friends do. He never was your friend.
Targeting people, with nothing but revenge in mind isn’t friendly, no matter what was said on a Zoom call.
Gerry knows what friends are for … and rallied many in the theater industry to help him stay in this country after a drug arrest and a looming deportation.
I do believe one of the biggest friends that Gerry had rallying the community was:
James Morgan
That’s what friends are for.
I do love theater. And I love this country.
But the current climate is fucking crazy.
Please give a fuck.
Or take one…..
Robert DuSold 
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