Like Sands Through the Hourglass, Scott Rudin will Produce Shows with White Writers, Directors and Stars
If Scott Rudin has been living under a rock for the past three months, it must be one helluva rock.
Because despite an industry-wide call for producers and Broadway power-players to increase the production, representation, and employment of black artists, Scott Rudin is producing another show written by a white playwright, directed by a white man and starring a white man - a MeToo problematic white man at that.
While not official, it was reported by Deadline that Scott Rudin is planning to revive ‘Our Town’ in 2021 with Dustin Hoffman to star as the Stage Manager.
From my social media feeds, the reaction was mixed. Some reacted to the news with rolled-eyes emojis and other negative comments, while others lauded the news relishing the opportunity to see an actor who hasn’t been on Broadway in 30 years(The Merchant of Venice - 1989).
Personally, I was hoping that Rudin would surprise me but instead, this is Scott Rudin at his most Scott Rudin-iest.
Should this shock any of us? Has he ever been a beacon for BIPOC opportunities on Broadway? The stats say no.
According to ibdb.com, Scott Rudin is credited as producer for 77 shows. Of those 77 shows:
7 of those were written by BIPOC (9%)
7 of those were directed by BIPOC (9%) and 6 of them were directed by the same two directors(George C. Wolfe and Kenny Leon)
9 of those had BIPOC lead performers (11%) and 3 of them were with the same lead(Denzel Washington)
So why should we be shocked by this reported news?
But another factor to consider is his choice to cast Dustin Hoffman as the Stage Manager. After all. it was just three years ago that Hoffman faced several accusations of sexual misconduct and harassment. In response to one allegation, Hoffman said:
“I have the utmost respect for women and feel terrible that anything I might have done could have put her in an uncomfortable situation. I am sorry. It is not reflective of who I am.”
He has denied or refused to comment on the other allegations.
But this is, yet again, another questionable move by Rudin to cast someone with a problematic MeToo past, especially given the recent issues over the casting of Amar Ramasar in West Side Story.
That move ignited widespread outrage and a weekly protest in front of the Broadway Theatre.
Why would Rudin do this? Does he love negative social media attention? Maybe he does.
Despite calls for change, Rudin is banking on theatre ticket buyers to forget all of that by clamoring for the chance to see a white Hollywood star up close. That’s been a strategy of his for the past decade. And it’s tough to argue that it works. The casual white upper-class theatergoers seem to have no problem ignoring the calls for change and fork over $500 a ticket to see his productions. BIPOC could protest and boycott his shows but he’s not going to worry about that because he wasn’t relying on their ticket revenue anyway.
So the strategy continues. Instead of new works by BIPOC writers getting substantial financial investment for Broadway productions, we get old works by white playwrights who have been dead for decades. If anyone saw the vocal demands for a Broadway revival of Thornton Wilder, please show me where.
The real tragedy in all of this is despite whatever industry-wide call to action there will be in the future, there will always be people in power who will ignore those calls. And Scott Rudin is at the top of that list.