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| re: Sadly, Scott Rudin is hardly alone in the category of "deplorable theatre producers to work for".... | |
| Posted by: bway1430 04:38 am EDT 04/08/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Is Scott Rudin about to be Cancelled? - JereNYC 02:04 pm EDT 04/07/21 | |
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| I worked at a junior level for two London-based producer's offices (one of them a major player) and was horrified at the treatment/hostile work environment in both circumstances. The pay is generally awful, the hours very long and an air of "treat people as cruelly as you care to....if they don't like it, they know where the door is" made getting up to go to work every day something to dread. It made "The Devil Wears Prada" look like a cakewalk. I segued into that career from having been a professional actor (with West End credits) and having worked state-side with a top regional theatre (which was a dream). It was emotionally draining and put me off ever working in the industry again in any way, shape or form (and I have had opportunities). I'll stick to being a patron and leave the rest to those who have the skin of a rhino. I hope Rudin and his like get what they deserve. Nobody should get away with that level of nastiness. |
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| Everything you say is pretty much true, BUT..... | |
| Posted by: Jax 11:51 am EDT 04/08/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Sadly, Scott Rudin is hardly alone in the category of "deplorable theatre producers to work for".... - bway1430 04:38 am EDT 04/08/21 | |
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| I think your post illustrates why the Rudins, Weinsteins, and (better mannered) Wintours rule the roost. You said you had a dream experience at a regional theatre. Sure, low stakes, non-profit, out of town. But where does "everyone" want to go? Broadway. So the competition on Broadway is brutal. Same thing in Hollywood or publishing. Everybody wants those jobs, so it's not a surprise that only the strong (nasty) survive. It's always been a bit of a truism that the boss, in a commercial marketplace, is a bit of a beast. That's how he/she got there. You see it in old movies and books: All About Eve, The Bad and the Beautiful and even The Carpetbaggers all tell us how a villainous person rose to the top. I'm in no way defending Rudin. Just saying this is the way things are...and have been for a long time. Can it change? Only if everyone decides to work in regional theatre. Ambition is a human trait. |
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| re: Everything you say is pretty much true, BUT..... | |
| Last Edit: bway1430 01:10 pm EDT 04/08/21 | |
| Posted by: bway1430 01:08 pm EDT 04/08/21 | |
| In reply to: Everything you say is pretty much true, BUT..... - Jax 11:51 am EDT 04/08/21 | |
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| It is as prevelant onstage as it is offstage. I could tell you horror stories of verbal abuse, sexual harrassment and body-shaming during my years as a performer. But you learn from a very young age to take it in stride because you know there are thousands of others who would trade places with you in a second. I think we can all agree that it is a pretty f'd up state of affairs and a horrible thing to go along with but sadly, it was just the way the biz is/was in my experience. However, I didn't expect as much of a poisonous atmosphere in the creative offices. That did surprise me and saddened me because it was just so not necessary. As bad as the bosses could be, the co-workers/fellow underlings were even worse. I knew that to be successful I would have to become as ruthless and nasty as one of them and that is the last thing I would ever allow so I got the hell out. Never again. I hope, if the allegations are true, that Rudin gets his just desserts and that others in the field take the hint. |
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| re: Everything you say is pretty much true, BUT..... | |
| Posted by: ryhog 12:41 pm EDT 04/08/21 | |
| In reply to: Everything you say is pretty much true, BUT..... - Jax 11:51 am EDT 04/08/21 | |
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| It can change if the culture changes and leads to changes in our laws. Not everyone's ambition is chilled by an ogre, because not every boss or work environment is toxic, On Broadway or anywhere else. But what I think we know about Rudin (unless someone knows something I don't) is that his is learned behavior and he can control it (because he does when he knows he needs to). He does not throw things at Bob Wankel, or Hugh Jackman, or Aaron Sorkin, etc etc etc. His behavior needs mega doses of therapy, but it also needs regulation. There needs to be a price, and a mechanism for exacting that price, because that's what he (and I am using him only as a placeholder) understands. Who is going to make this happen? Ironically, one person who could is seemingly even worse himself. | |
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| re: Everything you say is pretty much true, BUT..... | |
| Posted by: pecansforall 08:50 pm EDT 04/08/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Everything you say is pretty much true, BUT..... - ryhog 12:41 pm EDT 04/08/21 | |
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| He does not throw things at Bob Wankel, or Hugh Jackman, or Aaron Sorkin, etc etc etc. He's probably not gonna throw things at those who have some type of "value" to him. He probably considers anyone else as superfluous, dispensable, and not worthy of his respect or attention. I actually knew someone who behaved a lot like Rudin who passed away in his mid-forties. Heart attack. The body can't sustain production of this type of behavior for too long. It's not healthy. |
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| re: Everything you say is pretty much true, BUT..... | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 02:25 pm EDT 04/08/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Everything you say is pretty much true, BUT..... - ryhog 12:41 pm EDT 04/08/21 | |
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| This references another post you made about our industry, but one of the problems is that there isn't really an HR department at most theaters and production companies. I've seen people in charge do and say things that would get them fired, or at least written up, if there was a functional HR department, but we don't have those. It also doesn't help that in many of these cases, the person doing the abuse is also the person who writes the checks. At the end of the day, they have the power and no one to tell them not to use it. | |
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