Content Warning: This article contains mentions of suicide.
The Broadway industry has always been slightly problematic. Most people know Broadway as an industry that largely appeals to upper middle class, rich, white, and Democratic audiences. This is also largely reflective of the people who make the shows, the creators, a group which includes the producers, writers, lyricists, and more. Since Broadway first opened in the late 1800s, theater has been largely an exclusively white, cis space, and it hasn’t strayed too far from its origins. Some would say only the softcore liberal message and recent increases in cast diversity have carried the industry through to the 21st century because in the end, from the people who are presented in the shows to those who make them, Broadway hasn’t really changed. This problematic side has slowly been leaking into the main stream, and in the past months, more scandals have been hitting the infamous theater industry than ever before, some exposing deeper systemic problems Broadway has never addressed. From the last couple of weeks, here are the scandals that have had Broadway talking.
Earlier this year, in April, The Hollywood Reporter wrote a scathing report on Scott Rubin—an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony-winning producer—interviewing former assistants of his who detailed violent abuse that occurred under his supervision, leading to lasting psychological and physical harm. The famous producer of shows like To Kill a Mockingbird and the upcoming The Music Man has allegedly sent assistants to the hospital from violent outlashes and caused trauma that resulted in post-trau matic stress disorder (PTSD) from the hostile environment he cultivated. Assistants characterized his alleged behavior as an open secret, saying, “Everyone just knows he’s an absolute mon ster.” One assistant died by suicide, and family members believe that PTSD from working under Rubin was the primary cause.
However, much to the dismay of many Broadway advocates, the article from The Hollywood Reporter and a followup from Variety failed to inspire any significant action by industry lead ers after Rubin denied all allegations without apologizing.
On April 14, 2021, Karen Olivo, a Tony-winning Best Actress from their role in the revival of West Side Story and widely known for originating the role of Vanessa in In The Heights in 2009, made Broadway headlines by stepping down from a huge role: Satine in Moulin Rouge. They publicly resigned in protest of silence surrounding Rubin and the industry’s standards. Olivo stated in an Instagram video, “The silence about Scott Rubin is unacceptable… that should be a no-brainer.” Olivo also com mented that “building a better industry is more important than putting money in my pockets.”
On April 22, performers and fans alike marched down Broad way in support of broader equality and transparency in the in dustry. Not only did they want Rubin removed from his position on the Broadway League, but they also presented six demands, including a full report of how the 2020 equity dues were spent, greater diversity and visibility from the national council, knowl edge of what organizations the Actor’s Equity Association was supporting, and greater inclusion for transgender and non-bi nary actors and actors with disabilites. Though most of their demands haven’t been addressed, two days after the March on Broadway, Rubin officially stepped down from his position in the Broadway League and committed to stepping back from his current projects.
Jagged Little Pill: The Musical (JLP)—the Alanis Moris sette jukebox musical exploring themes of transracial adoption, opioid addiction, sexuality, assault, and more—has also been marred in scandal. The production advertises itself as an activist musical, and many fans are drawn to it because of its exploration of complicated topics with the iconic Jagged Little Pill album as its musical backdrop.
The issue fans have found with Jagged Little Pill: The Musical lies not with the musical’s script, nor with Boston’s A.R.T. theater (where the musical first debuted), but rather in the show’s transition to Broadway. In the original production of JLP at the A.R.T. theater, the show features a non-binary character, Jo, who goes by they/them pronouns. The show at the time was clear about Jo’s gender identity. The cisgender actress, Lauren Patten, who filled the role tweeted, “Thank you for seeing what I deeply hoped to do with Jo and ‘You Oughta Know’” in response to a thread criticizing the press for not referring to Jo with they/them pronouns. At the time, the show was promoting the non-binary storyline and the importance of representation, so, when the production moved to Broadway, it was a huge deal for LGBTQIA+ communities.
Broadway has only had one other non-binary character, so Jo was set to make history. However, this all came to a halt when JLP was nearing its transition to Broadway. Fans of the show became weary of the portrayal of a non-binary character by a self-identifying cisgender actress, and many expected Patten to be replaced by her non-binary understudy, Ezra Menas, or another non-binary actor. JLP recognized the criticism, and sud denly all of the tweets and promotion of this historic character were taken down, and Jo continued to be played by Patten.
The musical debuted on Broadway on December 9, 2019, receiving glowing reviews and gathering a huge fan base. The non-binary erasure was recognized, but largly swept under the rug by fans and critiques alike. Only a year later, the show published a webisode featuring a panel of the people involved in creating Jo’s character in which they denied Jo ever being non-binary, inspiring the Broadway community to once again call on JLP to recognize the issue and make changes. On April 13, 2021, a year and a half since the show’s Broadway debut, the show released an official statement that mentioned, “Though Jo wasn’t written as non-binary…” and continued to express their regret that the character was perceived as such. This came as a disappointment to many who had hoped the show would fix their mistakes and recast Jo with a non-binary actor during the long period of leave due to the pandemic. Fans commented statements such as, “This apology is not an attempt to right a wrong. This is an attempt to remove yourselves from any wrong doing,” “no, what y’all did was non-binary ERASURE,” and, “I love JLP, but this was a punch to the gut.” Fans also called for donations to be made to transgender and non-binary-supporting organizations.
Menas, Patten’s understudy, has been outspoken on the subject, and took to Instagram after JLP ’s social media state ment, stating, “Do not let cis people (especially those in power) dupe you into thinking THEY are the ones who can tell gender expansive stories with cis actors.” Menas later tweeted, “True growth is admitting harm with action, not gaslighting entire communities and slapping a fake apology on top.” Preston Allen, a member of the Dr. Drama panel “Trans Representation On Broadway: A Response To Trans Erasure In JLP,” tweeted, “A Broadway stage is not the place for a creative team’s misin formed learning experience to play out. If a show can’t handle the actual gravity of the topics it thought it would be exciting to take on, then the team was not prepared to tell this story in the first place.”
Today, JLP has not made any changes to their original stance. With the real issues of homophobia and transphobia existing at large in the theater industry, the show that initially centered itself around social justice playing a part in erasing an under represented community felt like a huge loss for the performance community and yet another step back in the fight for representation.
Amid the upheaval felt on Broadway in the last year, Broad way and the wider theater industry must come to terms with the deeply systemic issues inside the industry, many of which are far from a clean break. Broadway recently announced its intended return in May 2021, with shows predicted to reopen throughout September and October of this year. This news has only led to more actors speaking out on what they need from the Broadway community. Only time will tell if Broadway is ready for change.