Latest news with #TheaterCommunity
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Jonathan Groff Thanks His Parents for His Love of Theater and Broadway
Jonathan Groff chats with THR on the Tony Awards red carpet talks about how his parents encouraged him to follow his passion for theater and helped him get here today. Plus, he reveals how he prepares for eight shows a week.
CTV News
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Patti LuPone's drama is dividing the Broadway community ahead of the Tony Awards
Patti LuPone arrives at an FYC screening for "Agatha All Along" on April 19, 2025, at the DGA Theater Complex in Los Angeles. (Andrew Park/Invision/AP via CNN Newsource) Patti LuPone may have apologized for some recent controversial remarks, but that doesn't mean the curtain has dropped on the drama. The actress sparked a major backlash after disparaging comments she made about fellow Broadway stars Kecia Lewis and Audra McDonald in a recent interview with the New Yorker. LuPone referred to Lewis as a 'b**ch' and said McDonald was 'not a friend.' Hundreds of performers from Broadway and other theater communities then wrote a letter in which they characterized LuPone's comments as 'degrading and misogynistic—it is a blatant act of racialized disrespect.' 'It constitutes bullying. It constitutes harassment,' they wrote. 'It is emblematic of the microaggressions and abuse that people in this industry have endured for far too long, too often without consequence.' The group called for LuPone to be disinvited from industry events, including Sunday's Tony Awards. LuPone apologized last weekend on social media, posting a statement in which she said she hoped to be able to speak with the pair to make 'sincere apologies.' 'I am deeply sorry for the words I used during The New Yorker interview, particularly about Kecia Lewis, which were demeaning and disrespectful,' Lupone wrote. 'I regret my flippant and emotional responses during this interview, which were inappropriate, and I am devastated that my behavior has offended others and has run counter to what we hold dear in this community.' The controversy ahead of the Tony Awards has raised interest in the event, sparking conversation about whether LuPone, who has long reigned as Broadway star, will make an appearance. But not everyone feels harshly towards her. Actress Mia Farrow has garned a Tony nomination for the Broadway play 'The Roommate' in which she costars with LuPone. In a recently published interview with Deadline, Farrow talked about her 30-year friendship with the woman she dubbed the 'goddess of Broadway.' 'We live near each other. Always have. Two of our kids were in the same class at school, at the same school, her son and my son, and I met her on New Year's Eve, actually,' Farrow told the publication. 'She and her husband gave a New Year's Eve party, and Steve Sondheim, who was one of my oldest friends, 50 years, he invited me to come to the party at Patti's 30 years ago, and that's how I met Patti.' Farrow, who mentioned the New Yorker interview in her conversation with Deadline without addressing the controversy, said working with her neighbor and friend was a positive experience. 'Patti and I never had a negative moment, by the way,' Farrow said. 'Working together didn't change our friendship. I think our friendship is deeper now.' 'Abbott Elementary' star Sheryl Lee Ralph, who is also a decorated Broadway performer, most notably playing the role of Deena Jones in the original 1981 production of 'Dreamgirls,' weighed in as well. 'Why not be nice?' Ralph said of LuPone. And while Ralph said she was 'not going to judge' LuPone, she did have some words of wisdom for the 'Evita' star. 'It was a moment where maybe you want to zip it,' she said. 'Inner thoughts don't always have to be outer thoughts, that might have been one of those moments.' British weekly conservative magazine writer Ella Whelan penned a piece with the headline, 'Patti LuPone is a diva – not a racist.' 'LuPone is notorious for putting the broad in Broadway – her loud mouth is infamous,' Whelan wrote, noting some of her other outspoken comments. 'Forget white privilege, this is diva privilege – when you're that good an entertainer, you can pretty much say what you want,' Whelan added. Lisa Respers France, CNN
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Patti Lupone apologizes for ‘disrespectful' comments made about fellow Broadway actors during New Yorker interview
Patti Lupone has issued an apology after making what she now describes as 'demeaning and disrespectful' comments about two fellow Broadway stars in an interview with the New Yorker last week. The 'Evita' star's apology comes after hundreds of performers from the Broadway and theater communities issued an open letter first published by Playbill and called for accountability in light of Lupone's 'deeply inappropriate and unacceptable public comments' about Broadway stars Kecia Lewis and Audra McDonald. In the interview, Lupone referred to Lewis as a 'b*tch' and said McDonald was 'not a friend,' prompting a wave of backlash against the notoriously thorny legend. Lupone had previously had public spats with both performers. 'I am deeply sorry for the words I used during The New Yorker interview, particularly about Kecia Lewis, which were demeaning and disrespectful,' Lupone wrote in a statement posted to her Instagram page Saturday. 'I regret my flippant and emotional responses during this interview, which were inappropriate, and I am devastated that my behavior has offended others and has run counter to what we hold dear in this community.' Lupone added that she hopes 'to have the chance to speak to' McDonald and Lewis personally to offer her 'sincere apologies.' The letter, which was issued to the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League, also called upon the institutions to take action by not welcoming Lupone at 'industry events,' including the Tony Awards, which are presented by the two institutions. 'This language is not only degrading and misogynistic—it is a blatant act of racialized disrespect. It constitutes bullying. It constitutes harassment,' the letter stated. 'It is emblematic of the microaggressions and abuse that people in this industry have endured for far too long, too often without consequence.' The Tony Awards are set to take place June 8. In her apology on Saturday, Lupone wrote that she 'wholeheartedly' agreed with 'everything that was written' in the open letter. 'From middle school drama clubs to professional stages, theatre has always been about lifting each other up and welcoming those who feel they don't belong anywhere else,' Lupone wrote. 'I made a mistake, I take full responsibility for it, and I am committed to making this right. Our entire theatre community deserves better.' CNN has reached out to representatives for Lupone, Lewis and McDonald for comment. In the New Yorker interview, Lupone was asked about an incident that happened last year when Lewis posted a video to her Instagram page asking for an apology from Lupone after she had called 'Hell's Kitchen,' the stage production in which Lewis stars, 'too loud.' She said Lupone, who was at the time starring in 'The Roommate' in the theater next to 'Hell's Kitchen,' had requested that the latter's sound department make adjustments. In Lewis' video, she called herself and Lupone veterans in the industry and said Lupone's actions were 'offensive' and 'racially microaggressive.' When asked about the incident by the New Yorker, Lupone responded: 'Don't call yourself a vet, b*tch.' 'This is not unusual on Broadway. This happens all the time when walls are shared,' she added. Lupone also reacted to McDonald showing support for Lewis in the comments section of the video, telling the New Yorker she thought 'that's typical of Audra.' 'She's not a friend,' she said. McDonald was asked about Lupone's comments on 'CBS This Morning' on Thursday, but seemingly took the high road. 'If there's a rift between us, I don't know what it is,' she said. 'That's something that you'd have to ask Patti about.'
