Rise Up Theatre Canceled Avenue Q. Its Community Deserves Answers
by Chris Peterson
Sacramento’s Rise Up Theatre Company was supposed to open Avenue Q on September 11. The show was directed by the company’s founder, Courtney Conklin.
Now the production has been canceled, and the California theatre still hasn’t said enough for the public to understand why.
On August 16, Rise Up posted that it was aware of concerns involving “an experience within one of our productions.” The statement said the board was reviewing what happened.. It also said the company would not discuss individual circumstances publicly.
The next day, Rise Up was still promoting Avenue Q. But on August 20, they posted on social media that the production was canceled, apologizing and promising refunds.
Since then, a board member has resigned. And Josh Laquin, a person of color who was cast as Christmas Eve, posted a video stressing their positive experience as a person of color working on the production.
At this point, the company has made a decision while providing very little information about why.
That’s where I have a problem. No one is asking Rise Up to name the person involved or publish private conversations. But leadership at the theatre should be answering important questions.
For instance, did someone involved with the production violate a policy? What happened that made continuing the production impossible or irresponsible? Also, while Laquin didn’t state details about what happened, them stressing their experiences as a person of color in the show suggests to me there might have been some issues on that show.
Rise Up doesn’t need to provide every detail. But it does need to explain why canceling the entire production became the appropriate response.
Especially when questions about race and inclusion are already part of the conversation. For those not familiar with the Tony-Winning musical, Avenue Q is built around uncomfortable subjects. It uses comedy, puppets and deliberately provocative material to talk about racism, sexuality, relationships, identity and prejudice.
Rise Up’s mission statement reads,”Bringing the community together one production at a time through quality theatre and visual performing arts, with integrity, honesty, and inclusion.”
If the company wants people to believe those words, it has to be clearer about what happened here.
Maybe canceling Avenue Q was absolutely the right decision. We don’t have enough information to know. If Rise Up wants to keep the trust of its community, it needs to say more.