#mccarter theatre

[spaceage-bachelorette]

Hey guys

Yannick has put out a video statement talking about his Illegal and wrongful firing from the McCater theater and I recommend you watch it

Tw: ableism

#ride the cyclone #ride the cyclone memes #rtc #the amazing karnak #musicals #ricky potts #ocean o'connell rosenberg #constance blackwood #jane doe #misha bachinski #noel gruber #mccarter theatre #abelism #Youtube

[paper-land]

Just a note: this post started as a discussion of and is going to spend a decent amount of time discussing Yannick Mirko’s firing and replacement in Ride the Cyclone, but I realized I wanted to address my experience with ablism in theatre in general. I can’t force anyone to read this, but if you have the time and you care about representation in theatre, I’d to ask you to try and hear what I have to say

TLDR: Yannick Mirko's speaking out is bringing more attention to ableism in theatre, I added some examples I've seen to emphasize that ableism in the theatre world is really common

Literally I take a break from writing my papers for finals for like 10 minutes and I find out that Arena Stage cast Yannick Mirko’s able-bodied understudy to play Ricky in their production of RtC.

For anyone not caught up, Yannick Mirko is the first disabled person to play Ricky Potts, a canonically disabled character, in the musical Ride The Cyclone. He was unjustly fired from the production he was in (the McCarter atheater) because of their disability. They had one medical emergency and was told that his disability was too unpredictable that he would be replaced by his understudy, who is not disabled.

Now, onto the Arena Stage production. Three of the seven cast members played the roles they are in now in the McCarter Theater production (Jane Doe, Mischa Bachinski, and Noel Gruber). Two are playing their original role from a different production (Constance Blackwood, Ocean O’Connell Rosenberg). One appears to be playing their role for the first time, though I could be wrong on this (The Amazing Karnak). The only cast member of the Arena Stage production who, as far as I can tell, was an understudy for their first production is their Ricky Potts. Ricky is being played by the able bodied understudy who took over the role when Yannick Mirko was fired from the McCarter Theater production. He was also reportedly referred to by his disability aids during the rehearsal process, rather than his name.

This is genuinely disgusting. Theatre is already so discriminatory to disabled people and the McCarter Theater and Arena Stage productions have so far only proved that they can get away with it. Admittedly, I have minimal social media presence so there could be conversations I haven’t seen, but I have seen a maximum of 5 people talk about this.

It’s very much worth noting that most productions I have been in or seen we’re willing to bend over backwards to make sure an able bodied actor could stay onstage. I’ve been in five shows where an understudy was sent out. Three because the actors had Covid and two because the actor was in the hospital and would not be discharged until after the show was over. This may sound like a lot of productions with understudies, but I’ve been in theatre for 11 years. I’ve been in 30 shows. Five shows, especially mid-pandemic, is nothing. I have been in shows where directors have done everything in their power to keep an able bodied actor in a lead role (including many cases of severe illnesses and one with a concussion and staples in his head). I’ve seen an actress onstage while she had broken ribs. I’ve seen a friend perform after slicing her leg and spraining her ankle. Ive seen a different friend come to a three hour rehearsal after spending the morning vomiting. Two different people I know have performed with dislocated joints. I’ve been onstage when I was so sick I couldn’t breathe or speak. I’ve been onstage when my glasses broke and I couldn’t see as far as the people around me. Most actors I know who have left productions only left because they could not physically return or because they were fired for actually valid reasons (skipped nearly half of the rehearsals so they could go on vacation without informing the director).

If these were fine, if I’ve been praised and seen actors praised for doing this, why was Yannick Mirko fired for one medical emergency? Easy answer: Ableism.

One less-than shocking part for me was realizing that I’ve worked with one of the people who was involved in the McCarter production for an awards show. I watched her work with disabled performers in one of the other acts. And, mind you, by “work with,” I mean that she told them their spots and expected them to know where to go. She was absolutely lovely to everyone else (especially leads but I don’t want to get into the treatment of ensemble actors right now, that’ll probably be a different post one day).

I also want to discuss my experiences with ablism in theatre, as someone who has witnessed it and, very recently, started experiencing it (to, admittedly, a significantly lesser degree than many).

The first show I was in with a disabled actor, I was 14. My friend was made to climb multiple set pieces despite her leg not being fully functional. She’d been in a wheelchair for several months at school that year. I didn’t fully realize something was wrong until she started complaining about minor pain to me. She never wanted anyone to go to the director and she never went on her own.

My next is when I was 15. I didn’t realize what was really happening for many years. He had missed several rehearsals with no word to our directors and was made to leave the show. This sounds normal enough, I mentioned someone else who was forced to do the same earlier on. This would be normal if the director hadn’t checked in on and allowed able bodied actors who had done the same thing back into the show. I figured at that point in my life that he’d just missed more shows or assumed that he’d come to the mutual agreement to leave. I don’t have answers, but I’ve started to doubt those beliefs in recent years.

My next show with a disabled actor was when I was still 15. We had one disabled actress, a girl in a wheelchair. The show was set in a high school. She was in onstage twice. The first time, she sat on the side during a group number and sang with us (she was never taught any choreography. The second time, a cast member brought her on, she was crowned prom queen, and then she left the stage and was never seen again until curtain call. Honestly, at the time, I thought it was weird that we were treating her as less capable and not allowing her into any more of the show, but it’s hard to bring that up with anyone. Especially when everyone you try to talk to about it defends the choice. Everyone said that she was less capable or that she’d stick out or that her wheelchair would get in the way. I didn’t feel I could address it, so it was left unsaid. She went to school with me for five years and I never saw her in another production.

It took several years to be in another show with a disabled actor. My school was by all accounts really great about our treatment of disabled people until it came to extracurriculars.

My most recent show that I’m talking about was not technically with a disabled actor, but one who was injured for the entire rehearsal and performance process and was treated similarly from what I could see. It was last year. They were cast in the group that was onstage the least. Nobody in that group was invited to any vocal rehearsals and they were all in one choreography rehearsal. They were also made to stand at the bottom of a set piece on their own because they couldn’t climb it like the rest of their group.

I’d also like to discuss my experiences since finding out that I have a wrist problem that will likely impact me on and off for the rest of my life. For context, I have limited mobility in one of my hands due to a problem with my wrist and thumb. I cannot fully bend my wrist in any direction, nor can I comfortably straighten my thumb all the way or make a fist with the thumb on the inside.

I’d also like to note that I am currently in university taking a creative writing minor, so that sucks because my wrist and thumb do affect my ability to type and write, so it flares up a lot. I also really like to draw and sew for fun and I’ve had to greatly limit my ability to do the things I enjoy. I’ve been in two shows since I went to my doctor because of the pains and four shows since the pain started affecting my abilities to do things.

This first show I was in after my wrist got bad was a very dance heavy production that consisted of two group numbers and a solo or duet for every cast member. The worst part for me was dance warmups, where we were instructed to do many things forced us to put large amounts of pressure on our hands. Primarily different forms of lunges and pushups. I would cry after every day’s warmups. I could barely hold my props.

The next show, I actually worked crew on. I was involved in props, costumes, and makeup, as well as moving sets/props between scenes. I made props with box cutters and scissors I could barely hold. My hands shook so hard when I was trying to melt the edge of a ribbon to keep it from fraying that I dropped a match (thank god I was outside and on pavement). I sewed costumes until I couldn’t do anything for the rest of the day. One of the worst parts was when I hand-sculpted multiple special-effect-makeup prosthetics for one of our actresses. I could hardly hold my makeup brushes or my dummy head that I was sculpting on by the end of every one I made (three sets, for context, every set used two pieces). The other worst was moving sets. I was originally set to move a desk for an office scene that was so heavy that I cried after our first rehearsal and requested to be switched to a new job. I was given a bookshelf that was on wheels. Two of the four wheels were broken and I had to pick up the shelves to get it into the correct position anyway. This show was actually the reason I went to the doctor about the wrist pains.

My next show was actually an improv workshop followed by two performances. I spent the day of the workshop painting for a school activity. I ended up in a wrist brace for the full workshop. I have never seen a group of people so cautious around me, nobody was even willing to touch that arm, which made a certain amount of improv very strange because we were doing a lot of physical stuff with each other. Everyone else was grabbing hands and stuff and they were just awkwardly standing next to me. I ended up taking off my brace for the performances so that I could feel like a part of the show. and hurting myself because I should have been wearing it.

The last show was a recent production where off-and-on through the rehearsal process, I was in the brace. There were many comments made asking about why my wrist was still hurting me, which I assume is a certain amount of ignorance because yes, my wrist still hurts, I haven't been able to move it properly for half a year. However, I was not given a single costume I could wear the brace with and another cast member was instructed to pull my by the arm that was hurt. Luckily, between pain meds and excessively taking care of myself, it didn’t hurt during production week, but I’d still call that some bad treatment.

Basically, theatre sucks for disabled actors. Please, help bring awareness to this. If you’ve seen or experienced ableism, I encourage you to speak out. Yannick Mirko is a wonderful performer and an inspiration to me. He’s been through so much. Also, I’m not fond of cursing, but fuck McCarter Theater and fuck Arena Stage. Cast disabled actors as disabled characters and don’t replace them with an able-bodied understudy.

#ride the cyclone #RtC #mccarter theatre #rtc mccarter #arena stage #RtC arena stage #ableism #tw abelism

[goblinlovesmusicals]

Hey just to let you guys know:

McCarter theatre hired Yannick-Robin Eike Mirko to play Ricky Potts, a disabled character. Yannick was the first disabled actor to play the character.

When Yannick's disability was a bit inconvenient for the theatre ONCE, they fired him and used the able bodied understudy for the rest of the show.

Arena Stage has completely deleted Ricky's disability from the show.

FUCKING BOYCOTT THAT SHIT AND SPREAD THE WORD!

#SAVERICKY

#ride the cyclone #tw ableism #arena stage #mccarter theatre #yannick robin eike mirko #ricky potts #save ricky potts #save ricky

[fatherfigurefusion]

Is it just me, or does Station!Ricky (@ciarakraken) kind of take a page out of McCarter!Ricky's (@adandelioninspring) book, in terms of portraying a more confident and charismatic Ricky (much more like the Space Age Bachelor Man they fantasized themselves as), compared to more timid and gentle Rickies portrayed by other actors?

#fusion's thoughts #ride the cyclone #rtc #ricky potts #yannick mirko #yannick robin eike mirko #station theater #mccarter theater #station theatre #mccarter theatre #space age bachelor man

[undescribed1mage]

Actually !! That isn't all. I am not the greatest at explaining things so sincerest apologies if any of this is worded wrong.

The Arena Stage Ride The Cyclone cast was announced. Everyone was main recast(nothing against the actors, ofc) either from Jungle Theatre or McCarter, except for Ricky.

Arena Stage is produced by Sarah Rasmussen, the producer of both the McCarter Theatre & Jungle Theatre productions of Ride The Cyclone(evident in the current casting).

Sarah Rasmussen has fired a disabled actor simply for being disabled. It's explained better here, as well on Yannick themselves account.

#im sorry if i seem like a broken record here #I just needed to explain it somehow #ride the cyclone #rtc #ricky potts #ocean oconnell rosenberg #mischa bachinski #noel gruber #jane doe #yannick mirko #constance blackwood #jungle Theatre #mccarter theatre #arena stage #tw ableism #ableism tw #spacedolls #sugarspace #!!

[myersesque]

finding out that yannick-robin eike was fired from playing ricky in the mccarter cast (and had their role given to their able bodied understudy) due to being "too disabled" and attempting to fix the ableist aspects of the script is... disappointing but not at all surprising, as a disabled performer. there's a very glaringly obvious reason that ricky has primarily been cast as able bodied actors, and that reason is that a large amount of creatives in the performing arts are still horrifically ableist and unwilling to accommodate actual disabled actors playing their disabled characters - which is absolutely ridiculous, because why are you writing disabled characters for able bodied actors? what are you doing?

#i realise my pfp is an able bodied actor playing ricky #but that cast is the easiest to get clear photos of #also i do not use mobility aids rn but i am in fact physically disabled still so <3 #og #rtc #ride the cyclone #ricky potts #mccarter theatre #ableism #ableism tw

[movershakerheadlinemaker]

I just watched the McCarter Theatre production and I HAVE SOME THOUGHTS

Absolutely fantastic

Ocean.

Constance is so talented??? How???

This ending scene made me cry the hardest (they are FRIENDS)

Jane is so different from the original in the best way

The creative liberties they took on this product are so amazing and good i love them

TALIAAAA 😭😭😭

THE MONIQUE OUTFIT OML

Overall very good and I love them all<33

#ride the cyclone #rtc #McCarter theatre

[thursdaybluez]

mischa bachinski...

#ride the cyclone #ride the cyclone musical #rtc #mischa bachinski #mischa rtc #mccarter theatre #eli mayer

[space-jesus-stan]

i may prefer fall fair suite BUT IT CAN NEVER TOP THIS ENDING

#rtc #rtc musical #ride the cyclone #ride the cyclone musical #rtc meme #rtc memes #rtc ricky #rtc mischa #rtc shitposting #rtc jane doe #rtc noel #rtc constance #rtc penny lamb #rtc ocean #ride the cyclone meme #ride the cyclone memes #mccarter theatre #mccarter theatre rtc #mccarter theatre ride the cyclone #rtc mccarter theatre #ride the cyclone mccarter theatre #rtc mccarter #ride the cyclone mccarter #mccarter ride the cyclone #mccarter rtc #uranium suite #fall fair suite

[not-so-unusual]

More nischa guys?

#rtc #ride the cyclone #noel gruber #mccarter theatre #mischa bachinski

[raine-tree]

I actually cannot stop thinking about Ride The Cyclone so I drew Ashlyn Maddox’s version of Jane Doe

#digital art #artist #penny ride the cyclone #jane doe ride the cyclone #mccarter theatre #ashlyn maddox #the ballad of jane doe #jane doe #penny lamb

[s-38-n]

Guys, please see this video

Yannick-Robin Eike, the person who played Ricky in the McCarter production was kicked out due to his disability showing up

The fact that a disabled person who played a disables character was fired for said disability. This is really not my place to talk, I'm not disabled myself but I kinda wanted to spread this video, kinda think it should be watched more

#rtc #rtc mccarter #mccarter theatre #yannick robin eike #ride the cyclone musical #cyclonegate #ig that's what he put on the video #Youtube

[terrytheboxwithlimbs]

I’m sure most of you guys have heard about the horrible discrimination that  Yannick-Robin Eike Mirko - the first disabled actor to play Ricky Potts, a disabled character - faced from the McCarter Theatre, who fired him for his disability after a medical emergency, which is directly against the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) Since Ride the Cyclone is doing a new run of shows I thought I’d link this petition here, which talks more about the situation and includes links to Yannick’s own comments about the ableism they faced. 

#ride the cyclone #rtc #ride the cyclone musical #rtc musical #ricky potts #mccarter theatre #americans with disabilities act #yannick-robin eike mirko #discrimination #abelism #disability #ricky potts rtc

[everythingloureed]

Two ads for Lou’s May 14, 1973 show at Princeton University.  He was backed by The Tots.

#ads #ad #lou reed #princeton #mccarter theatre #the tots #1973 #tots

[fandomfan246]

here’s a Google Drive link to the McCarter Theatre Ride the Cyclone bootleg for anyone who wants it

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CTT_oTwzhMlzq7-hcILYYpDdFHCKG5Rm/view?usp=sharing

#mccarter theatre #ride the cyclone

[papermoonloveslucy]

CURTAIN UP!

Lucy On Stage ~ Act 4

Lucille Ball’s dream was to be on Broadway. She achieved that goal in 1960, but along the way she found herself on various other stages.  Here’s a look at Lucille Ball, stage actress. 

In school, Lucille’s mother Dede encouraged her daughter to be active in the drama club. Lucille performed and directed with the group, staging a production of Charley’s Aunt by Brandon Thomas, which opened on Broadway in 1893.  In the above photo, Lucille Ball is seated in the front row, second from the left. Her teacher was named Lillian Appleby. Lucille later honored her by naming a character on “I Love Lucy” after her. 

The Celoron, New York, grammar school Lucille attended (above) has long since been razed. But a formative moment in Lucille Ball’s life occurred on this site when her stepfather, Ed Peterson, brought her to see a performance by the renowned monologist Julius Tannen in the school auditorium. As Lucy remembered, “I don’t think a stage career ever occurred to me until that night.”  Lucille left school before graduating, going to New York City to attend drama school. The experiment was short-lived and Lucille returned home. 

In 1929, 18-year-old Lucille Ball was cast in a production of Within the Law by Bayard Veillier  – her first stage performance outside of school. Lucille played the supporting role of Agatha at Jamestown’s Shea Theatre. In 1991, the theater was formally renamed The Lucille Ball Little Theatre in a ceremony with Ball’s family in attendance.

Back in Manhattan, Lucille was cast (but quickly fired) from the chorus of two road shows of Broadway productions. Rio Rita was a New York hit produced by Flo Ziegfeld. 

In a 1963 epsiode of “The Lucy Show” Lucy Carmichael says that Thelma Green (Carole Cook) once appeared in the third road company of Rio Rita. The writers used Ball’s real-life history but attributed it to Thelma. 

She was also in the road company of The Stepping Stones, a musical fantasy about Raggedy Ann and Andy starring Fred and Dorothy Stone. Again, Lucille was quickly let go. 

In Hollywood, Lucille Ball was coached by Lela Rogers, Ginger’s mother, on the RKO lot. At the RKO Little Theatre (later the Desilu Workshop Playhouse) Lucille appeared in several plays. In 1936 she was in Fly Away Home, a play that had appeared on Broadway the year before starring Montgomery Clift and Sheldon Leonard. Agents, Managers, and members of the public could attend for twenty five cents.

Also in 1936, she appeared in Breakfast With Vanora by Fred Ballard, which received good notices in the press. Lucille played the leading role and Barbara Pepper was in the ensemble. Above, Lela instructs John Shelton how to hold a gun while Lucy looks on.  

In 1937, Lucille took a break from Hollywood to make (what she hoped) would be her Broadway debut in Hey Diddle Diddle, a play by Bartlett Cormack starring Conway Tearle. The play premiered at McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey, with a destination of the Vanderbilt Theatre on Broadway. In its second out-of-town stop in Washington DC, Tearle become gravely ill. That, combined with the fact that producers felt the script needed revisions, caused the production to be halted.  Lucille returned to Hollywood. In 1953, Tearle’s name was mentioned on “I Love Lucy.” He had died in 1938. 

In mid-1947, now married and a successful film star, Lucille Ball again began to think about her stage aspirations and left Hollywood for the boards. She toured in a tour of Dream Girl, a fantasy play by Elmer Rice that had played Broadway in 1945. 

The play’s fantasy sequences seemed tailor-made for Ball’s style and comic wit. In a way, Georgina was a prelude to the “Lucy” character on TV, who is dreaming her way out of her suburban life - and sometimes succeeding.

The play co-starred Scott McKay as the imaginative writer. McKay played the role of Wilbur in the 1958 pilot for TV’s “Mr. Ed” but was replaced on the series by Alan Young.

"I have seen other productions of this play, but the only actress whose performance really delighted me was Lucille Ball. She lacked… tender wistfulness, but her vivid personality and expert timing kept the play bright and alive." ~ Edgar Rice, Playwright

The tour was produced by Herbert Kenwirth who later directed 14 episodes of “Here’s Lucy.”  It featured Barbara Morrison, Alan Hewitt, and Hayden Rorke, who would all later appear on Lucy sitcoms. 

In January 1948, Lucille got the opportunity to recreate the role in Los Angeles, but fell ill with a virus shortly after it opened and the show closed prematurely. It wasn’t long before Lucille was back in front of a live audience, but this time on radio, as the star of the sitcom “My Favorite Husband,” which led to her meteoric success on “I Love Lucy.”  

After the series came to an end in early 1960, Lucille again revived hopes of acting on Broadway. Wildcat, a new musical about by Richard Nash with songs by Cy Coleman was looking for a star. Nash had envisioned the main character of as a woman in her late 20s, and was forced to rewrite the role when 49 yearl-old Lucille Ball expressed interest not only in playing it but financing the project as well. Lucille personally chose her co-stars Keith Andes as her love interest and Pauls Stewart as her sister. Future sitcom star Valerie Harper was in the chorus (above right). 

Lucille played Wildcat ‘Wildy’ Jackson, who dreams of striking oil in 1912 Centavo City, California. The score included what would become her signature tune: “Hey, Look Me Over”.  

The Philadelphia tryout opened on October 29, 1960 to a glowing review from Variety, but local critics were less enthusiastic. The scheduled Broadway opening had to be postponed when trucks hauling the sets and costumes to New York were stranded on the New Jersey Turnpike by a major blizzard. After two previews, the show opened on December 16 at the Alvin Theatre (now the Neil Simon).

Ball quickly realized audiences had come expecting to see her Lucy Ricardo persona and began ad-libbing to bring her characterization closer to that of the zany housewife she had portrayed on television. But the rigors of singing and dancing in a Broadway musical eight times a week caught up with Ball. She got illl and demands for refunds ran high, the producers planned to close the show for a week to allow her to recover. The closure came sooner than planned when Ball, suffering from a virus and chronic fatigue, departed for Florida. She returned two weeks later, but collapsed on stage. It was decided the show would close for nine weeks at the end of May and reopen once its star had fully recovered but when the musicians' union insisted on members of the orchestra being paid during the shutdowns. Not even Lucille’s deep pockets could afford the cost, and the show closed permanently on June 3, 1961.  

Lucille returned to Hollywood, her dream realized, even if it was short-lived. Thereafter, she would incorporate her love for theatre into her television and film performances, starring in many ‘mini-musicals’ on “The Lucy Show” and “Here’s Lucy” and - in 1974 - tackling the full-scale Broadway musical Mame on film. 

CURTAIN DOWN on ACT 4

#Lucille Ball #Broadway #Stage #Theatre #Musicals #Rio Rita #Wildcat #Paula Stewart #Hey Diddle Diddle #Dream Girl #Stepping Stones #Charley's Aunt #Lela Rogers #RKO #Within The Law #Jamestown #McCarter Theatre