All the fireworks were happening offstage at a recent production of the Tennessee Williams classic Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, and an f-bomb spewing heckler was enough to end the entire production.
If you’ve ever read or seen Cat (and any good gay should), you know that the homoerotic subtext in regards to Brick and the late Skipper is so obvious we may as well take the “sub” right out of it. LA Weekly has an exclusive interview with audience member Tim Sullivan, a director and friend of Anton Troy, the actor playing Brick.
According to Sullivan, the offending audience member started off with catcalls at the actress playing Maggie, then escalated into full-on homophobia during a scene in which Brick rejects a kiss from Maggie:
The heckling had been building up, Sullivan alleged, with whistling and cat-calling aimed at the character Maggie, as if the heckler and his friend “were at a strip club.” The main heckler crossed the line during the play, Sullivan said, when, at the moment Brick is asked why he rejected a kiss from Maggie. At that point, the heckler called out something like, “Because he’s a fag,” according to the director. At that point the actor playing Big Daddy, John Lacy, went into the audience to confront the man, Sullivan said. Before the heckler’s friend could throw a punch, Sullivan and his pal (Rob Vinton, son of Bobby) jumped in and subdued both men, he said.
Silly us, we thought the only show going on right now with fisticuffs involved was Rocky on Broadway.
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Lacy was then fired, and Troy later quit. The Repertory East Playhouse announced that the show was suspended through its original June 14th end date due to the lack of time to recast the roles. So, you know, drama.
The story gets even messier with allegations of the heckler being the ex-boyfriend of the lead actress, so head over to LA Weekly for the rest of the gossip and join us in trying to figure out who the hell any of these people are.
PRINCE OF SNARKNESS aka DIVKID
Oh well, at least it got the production some free publicity <_<
SpudStudScott
Where was the house manager?!?!?? First catcall and out you go.
barkomatic
Security? Ushers? I can’t believe this heckler got away with disrupting the show without getting kicked out.
mcflyer54
I love live theater but have become increasingly disgusted with the lack of respect and civility of far too many audience members. House managers and ushers rarely get involved out of fear. During intermission at a recent production I complained to the house manager about the person seated in front of me recording the show on their phone. The results? The house manager moved my partner and me to another section where we could not observe this outright violation.
scotshot
In addition to the failure of managements failure to act, why didn’t the cast stop dead after the first or second catcall until the assholes left, and then resumed the performance? No play, no heckling.
FLOGGERDADNYC
it is a shame that stalkers destroy more innocent lives through their sick attitudes!
RayJacksonMs
To hell with them for firing the actor. He just did what they all should have done.
J with da tea
Where is Patti Lupone when you need her lol
Mark Jenkins
As a thespian- I agree with the above comments- the unruly patron should have been immediately removed by the house manager and ushers. They should have stopped the play until this happened and then gone on with the performance. Hopefully Mr Lacy didn’t lay hands on the guy or HE might be sued for assault, (although I can definitely understand his frustration and anger). Too bad they allowed it to ruin a good show. This scene occurred early enough in the play where they could have just started over after the problem had been removed.
gskorich
i have a really strange question, does this guy have a history of hating gays and thats what makes him homophobic or are his comments homophobic or just not politically correct?
stranded
@RayJacksonMs: I agree. Firing the actor who played Big Daddy because he wasn’t gonna take any bullshit from the asshole was a bad move. Shows no respect for actors and that they don’t have their back.