Actor Leaves Stage To Boot Rude Patron

[Frankly Rich]

From boyculture.com:

 

A Santa Clarita, California, production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof was disrupted by a patron who repeatedly shouted “fag” during emotional moments, unnerving cast members. Actor John Lacy (inset), who was playing “Big Daddy,” finally left the stage (the theater's staff had done nothing to halt the intrusion) and helped audience members physically remove the heckler—and, incredibly, producers later fired the actor!

 

 

Even more shockingly, two of the actresses in the play, griped that the actor's response was violent. Tell that to any bouncer anywhere, and tell it to any black man on stage being taunted with the N-word, or any woman being called the C-word.

 

The inset:

http://www.boyculture.com/.a/6a00d8341c2ca253ef01a73dd0d288970d-200wi

 

This actor supported the move by his fellow actor:

http://www.boyculture.com/.a/6a00d8341c2ca253ef01a3fd16142a970b-550wi

 

Read more: http://www.boyculture.com/boy_culture/2014/06/cat-hot-tin-roof-fag-gay-santa-clarita.html

[Bargara Leatherboy]

The actor is to applauded

[+ Funguy]

The actor deserved a Tony. The producers deserved a flogging. The heckler deserved a bit of what Torquemada used a few hundred years ago. Whatever happened to manners?! Who cares if you liked/didn't like the play, the acting, what have you….that's a discussion for later!

[jimboivyo]

if Patti can do it, so can others

 

audience behavior these days is downright atrocious

[actor61]

From boyculture.com:

 

A Santa Clarita, California, production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof was disrupted by a patron who repeatedly shouted “fag” during emotional moments, unnerving cast members. Actor John Lacy (inset), who was playing “Big Daddy,” finally left the stage (the theater's staff had done nothing to halt the intrusion) and helped audience members physically remove the heckler—and, incredibly, producers later fired the actor!

 

 

Even more shockingly, two of the actresses in the play, griped that the actor's response was violent. Tell that to any bouncer anywhere, and tell it to any black man on stage being taunted with the N-word, or any woman being called the C-word.

 

The inset:

http://www.boyculture.com/.a/6a00d8341c2ca253ef01a73dd0d288970d-200wi

 

This actor supported the move by his fellow actor:

http://www.boyculture.com/.a/6a00d8341c2ca253ef01a3fd16142a970b-550wi

 

Read more: http://www.boyculture.com/boy_culture/2014/06/cat-hot-tin-roof-fag-gay-santa-clarita.html

 

I know and have worked with John Lacy. He's a gentleman and a consummate professional. If he got off the stage to boot an audience member out of the auditorium, the heckling must have been unbearable and pushed him to the limit of endurance. The other actors should be sending him flowers and the theatre management should review their policies regarding unruly audiences. Holy shit - NO ONE should be permitted to yell "fag" or any other derogatory word from his seat more than once. And as another poster said, if Patti can stop the show and berate someone for taking photos then John should certainly be allowed to drag somebody out of his seat for an even worse offense.

[bostonman]

To add insult to injury, the theatre's press release (quoted below) mentions nothing of their firing Lacy - only that cast members have left the show. Someone who didn't know what really happened could easily surmise that actors left in direct result of the heckling, instead of the fact that one actor was fired and another resigned in protest of the firing. Double shame on the theatre for not only making the wrong decision, but in publicly misrepresenting the incident, while bending over backwards to insist that heckling of the sort that occurred will not be tolerated in the future. Holy fuck. Speaking as a theatre professional (and therefore I do not make this statement lightly), I hope to god this place goes out of business.

 

 

 

The press release:

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – June 2, 2014

 

 

Tennessee Williams’ Classic Run Closes Due To Casting Loss

 

 

Due to unforseen circumstances, the run of the Tennessee Williams’ drama “Cat On A Hot Tin Roof” at the Repertory East Playhouse in Newhall has been suspended and the show will not be completing its projected performance schedule. The show was originally scheduled to end June 14, however, an incident during the May 31 performance has resulted in cast members leaving the show with no time to adequately re-cast their parts and provide the quality theater experience patrons have come to expect from the REP.

 

 

During that evening’s performance, an unruly patron allegedly made discriminatory comments that distracted audience members and a confrontation occurred between a member of the cast and the disturbing party. The management of the REP regrets that this situation was not brought to their attention sooner and would like to assure future audiences that disruptive behavior, including disparaging remarks from the audience, incidents of bullying or hate speech, and racial, discriminatory or homophobic utterances, will not be tolerated and offending parties will be asked to leave the theater.

 

 

 

“We are committed to provide groundbreaking subject matter and professional performances to our audiences,” said Ovington Michael Owston, Executive Director of the REP. “We are extremely sorry that our patrons experienced this disruption and will do our best to make it up to those holding reservations for cancelled performances.”

 

 

The next show in the REP’s 2014 season, “Return to the Forbidden Planet,” is in pre-production and will open as scheduled July 11. The REP is celebrating its 10th season of professional live theater in Santa Clarita and is an anchor of the Downtown Newhall Arts District. It is our mission to produce plays that excite the imagination and nourish the community’s passion for theater.

[+ quoththeraven]

It's hard for me to believe that no one from management -- not even an usher? -- was in the theater when the heckling began and that it was left up to an actor to eject the disruptive patron. I smell a fear of liability in the theater's firing the actor, but if anything, the theater's the one with the liability, as the actor can point to management's inaction as the reason for his actions and any "injury" to the theatergoer. Also, I wonder how rough he had to be to get the guy out of there? That kind of struggle in itself suggests that the theatergoer was himself violently belligerent. Why is the theater worried about liability, then?

 

I can understand the theater not wanting an actor to leave the stage to remove an unruly patron, but surely a censure or warning, along with a promise on their part to pay more attention, would have sufficed. Halting the performance until the man was removed is probably a better alternative, but one that could only have been pulled off if an actor with enough aplomb, authority, and respect from the others to take it upon himself or herself (and unless it's someone like Katharine Hepburn, the person to whom others will defer or look to for leadership is still likely to be a man) to announce that the play would not continue until the situation was dealt with and then get someone to alert management.

 

But this does make me wonder: what about the other people in the audience? Was there really no one with the guts to get up and get someone to do something about this? I've done this, albeit not in live theater but in movie theaters. Big cojones are not required; I'm 5 '1" tall and female. So why don't people do something rather than sit on their butts? (Not talking here about the smaller more pervasive disruptions like people keeping cell phones on and whispering among themselves that are so frequent that it would be more disruptive to police them than to leave them alone.)

[actor61]

It's hard for me to believe that no one from management -- not even an usher? -- was in the theater when the heckling began and that it was left up to an actor to eject the disruptive patron. I smell a fear of liability in the theater's firing the actor, but if anything, the theater's the one with the liability, as the actor can point to management's inaction as the reason for his actions and any "injury" to the theatergoer. Also, I wonder how rough he had to be to get the guy out of there? That kind of struggle in itself suggests that the theatergoer was himself violently belligerent. Why is the theater worried about liability, then?

 

I can understand the theater not wanting an actor to leave the stage to remove an unruly patron, but surely a censure or warning, along with a promise on their part to pay more attention, would have sufficed. Halting the performance until the man was removed is probably a better alternative, but one that could only have been pulled off if an actor with enough aplomb, authority, and respect from the others to take it upon himself or herself (and unless it's someone like Katharine Hepburn, the person to whom others will defer or look to for leadership is still likely to be a man) to announce that the play would not continue until the situation was dealt with and then get someone to alert management.

 

But this does make me wonder: what about the other people in the audience? Was there really no one with the guts to get up and get someone to do something about this? I've done this, albeit not in live theater but in movie theaters. Big cojones are not required; I'm 5 '1" tall and female. So why don't people do something rather than sit on their butts? (Not talking here about the smaller more pervasive disruptions like people keeping cell phones on and whispering among themselves that are so frequent that it would be more disruptive to police them than to leave them alone.)

 

This is Los Angeles, home of the rudest, most disrespectful, and inattentive audiences in the world. I'm outta here in October - can't wait! What a fucking cesspool of a city.

[MrMiniver]

I'm with the actor. I would boot any and all rude patrons -- cell phone users, hecklers, people eating too loud, people who talk -- why not? The performance should be on stage, not in the audience. It's a shame that the management of the theater did nothing. But what the producers did is SHAMEFUL.

 

Oh, and if you think LA audiences are bad ... just wait until you attend a Wednesday matinee of a show on Broadway. They bus these yokels in from Scarsdale and Long Island ... and most of them should have been euthanized years ago. They're really AWFUL.

[bostonman]

Oh, and if you think LA audiences are bad ... just wait until you attend a Wednesday matinee of a show on Broadway. They bus these yokels in from Scarsdale and Long Island ... and most of them should have been euthanized years ago. They're really AWFUL.

 

Yes, but of course, the bigger the theatre, and the further away the audience is from the stage, the less the impact in some ways. According to what I can see on the Repertory East's website, they have all of 81 seats. Which would make even one disruptive audience member a huge huge problem.

 

I'm with the actor. I would boot any and all rude patrons -- cell phone users, hecklers, people eating too loud, people who talk -- why not? The performance should be on stage, not in the audience. It's a shame that the management of the theater did nothing. But what the producers did is SHAMEFUL.

 

Yup. It still amazes me that they behaved as they did, on all counts. I have also read somewhere that indeed the artistic director of the theatre was indeed there that night, he knew what was going on with the heckling during Act I, and said to Lacy before Act II, "this is the drunkest audience we've ever had." AND STILL HE DID NOTHING.

[MrMiniver]

Yes, but of course, the bigger the theatre, and the further away the audience is from the stage, the less the impact in some ways. According to what I can see on the Repertory East's website, they have all of 81 seats. Which would make even one disruptive audience member a huge huge problem.

 

 

 

Yup. It still amazes me that they behaved as they did, on all counts. I have also read somewhere that indeed the artistic director of the theatre was indeed there that night, he knew what was going on with the heckling during Act I, and said to Lacy before Act II, "this is the drunkest audience we've ever had." AND STILL HE DID NOTHING.

 

81 seats? I had no idea. That makes the behavior of management/producers even worse ... but I'm guessing ... they need every dollar they can get with audiences that small and were reluctant to take action ... but they should have. No actor should have to deal with crap like that.

[actor61]

Yes, but of course, the bigger the theatre, and the further away the audience is from the stage, the less the impact in some ways. According to what I can see on the Repertory East's website, they have all of 81 seats. Which would make even one disruptive audience member a huge huge problem.

 

 

 

Yup. It still amazes me that they behaved as they did, on all counts. I have also read somewhere that indeed the artistic director of the theatre was indeed there that night, he knew what was going on with the heckling during Act I, and said to Lacy before Act II, "this is the drunkest audience we've ever had." AND STILL HE DID NOTHING.

 

It's a perfect example of the idiotic Equity waiver system that exists in Los Angeles. Union actors are allowed to work in 99 or less seat houses for nothing so that they can "showcase". It's just a rip off of the actors. In some of these companies, you have to pay dues, so then the actor ends up paying for the privilege of acting on a postage stamp sized stage while management charges $25 for tix and keeps the cash. I'm not surprised that no one came to the aid of John in "Cat". The ushers are usually friends or family of the actors, or senior citizens who get to see the show for free in exchange for ushering. Half of them can't even tell you where the restroom is because it's their first and last time in the theatre. I could go on and on and on. It's a rotten way to produce theatre and most of the shows are mediocre at best. I have worked in a couple of these places and had to provide my own clothes, shoes and props. After the second time, I vowed never to work for free again. L.A., if I'm not mistaken, is the only city that permits this. To my understanding, NY and Chicago do not have an Equity waiver system. They do have showcases but the actors are compensated even if it's only a buck 25 per performance. If John Lacy got off the stage to boot a heckling audience member I'm 100% sure it's because the asshole running the theatre was either gone or too cowardly to help.

[Frankly Rich]

John Lacy will be at the Tonys on Sunday night to accept a special Tony for Best Actor playing a bouncer in regional theater. A first!

[Frankly Rich]

A rather happy post-script to the incident: http://www.laweekly.com/informer/2014/06/06/the-actors-gang-saves-cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof-resurrects-play-as-noh8-fundraiser

[+ quoththeraven]

A rather happy post-script to the incident: http://www.laweekly.com/informer/2014/06/06/the-actors-gang-saves-cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof-resurrects-play-as-noh8-fundraiser

 

Thanks for providing that link. I see that an audience member was involved in booting the heckler. Good for him.

 

The cast of a play shouldn't have to put up with that kind of disruption, whatever its source -- homophobic or otherwise. I don't know what is wrong with those castmembers who don't understand that. I guess they've never heard of Katharine Hepburn, who would pointedly stop a performance (and, I believe, speak up about it) when the audience was noisy or otherwise rude. No one fired her for doing that, and if they tried, she would have made them wish they hadn't.

[bostonman]

The cast of a play shouldn't have to put up with that kind of disruption, whatever its source -- homophobic or otherwise. I don't know what is wrong with those castmembers who don't understand that. I guess they've never heard of Katharine Hepburn, who would pointedly stop a performance (and, I believe, speak up about it) when the audience was noisy or otherwise rude. No one fired her for doing that, and if they tried, she would have made them wish they hadn't.

 

I agree. But I also assume Hepburn never actually went offstage an into the audience to confront someone directly/physically? I would assume that was the turning point in this case, even if I feel that the theatre's negligence is the bigger issue, and it never should have even escalated to the point where any actor was even tempted to take an action at all.

 

So far, for instance, I don't know of any actor who's been fired because they broke character to comment on a cellphone ring, or pictures being taken, etc. (And there have been a number of those, widely publicized.) Lacey's unfortunate error in this case was taking it to the physical step.

[+ WilliamM]

But I also assume Hepburn never actually went offstage an into the audience to confront someone directly/physically? I would assume that was the turning point in this case, even if I feel that the theatre's negligence is the bigger issue, and it never should have even escalated to the point where any actor was even tempted to take an action at all.

 

 

In her 2002 hit Broadway show, "Elaine Stritch at Liberty," Stritch tells a long story about Ethel Merman walking off the stage, grabbing a drunk in the audience who had been annoying her and the audience. According to Stritch, Merman walked the drunk to the doors of the theater and threw him outside.

 

Many people believe that Stritch's stories were exaggerated or made-up, the Merman story included. I posted this story only because Stritch was Merman's understudy in "Call Me Madam" and took over for her in the lead role when the musical went on the road. As difficult as it is to believed, it is possible that her story is true because Stritch clearly knew Merman.

[+ FreshFluff]

Breaking news: The same heckler was also spotted yelling "Feminazi" during a performance of Ibsen's A Doll's House.

[Gar1eth]

http://www.laweekly.com/informer/2014/06/06/the-actors-gang-saves-cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof-resurrects-play-as-noh8-fundraiser[/url]

 

I'm glad there is maybe a little bit of satisfactory closure. But don't you have to wonder, assuming the article is accurate, what the 'backstory' is on John Lacy's mother never having seen her son perform in his 27 year career? Where was she-trapped behind the Iron Curtain? I wonder if that also includes his almost certain efforts in local theater and/or college in his younger days.

 

Gman

[Gar1eth]

Just For Fun

 

I found this mock praise video ( at least I hope it was done satirically) of Anton Troy the actor playing Brick in the 'Cat On A Hot Tin Roof' production who quit to support John Lacy after Lacy's firing. If you look closely you'll see an appearance or two of Sean Paul Lockhart (aka Brent Corrigan).

 

[video=youtube_share;NDzC9sn_x-Q]

 

Gman

[MrMiniver]

I'm glad there is maybe a little bit of satisfactory closure. But don't you have to wonder, assuming the article is accurate, what the 'backstory' is on John Lacy's mother never having seen her son perform in his 27 year career? Where was she-trapped behind the Iron Curtain? I wonder if that also includes his almost certain efforts in local theater and/or college in his younger days.

 

Gman

 

Not surprising at all. My mother has never come to watch me teach a class either

[Gar1eth]

http://www.laweekly.com/informer/2014/06/06/the-actors-gang-saves-cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof-resurrects-play-as-noh8-fundraiser[/url]

 

Not surprising at all. My mother has never come to watch me teach a class either

 

I'm sure your performance as an educator is superb, but maybe she hasn't visited because you don't serve alcoholic libations during the interval.

 

Gman

[MrMiniver]

I'm sure your performance as an educator is superb, but maybe she hasn't visited because you don't serve alcoholic libations during the interval.

 

Gman

 

I don't think you've been to my class

[bostonman]

I don't think you've been to my class

 

Ah - maybe you should change your screenname to MrMixologer?

[MrMiniver]

Ah - maybe you should change your screenname to MrMixologer?

 

Oh, no, you can bet that Mr. Miniver could make a mean cocktail for Mrs. Miniver and Lady Beldon!