Friday, October 15, 2021
New Musical The Visitor, on Day of Scheduled 1st Preview, Delays Off-Broadway Start
Playbill: The Visitor, a new musical by composer Tom Kitt, librettist Brian Yorkey, and book writer Kwame Kwei-Armah, has pushed back its first preview dates for the second time this month. The Public Theater now intends for the production to start October 16 on the Off-Broadway company's Newman Theater stage, instead of the previously announced October 14. Opening night is still set for November 4.
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4 comments:
I wrote about this musical when it was delayed for the first time, but I’m still curious as to what changes the producers have made and if this week-ish delay is really enough to fix the issues brought up. The main issue of the play stems from the fact that it is a story about refugees written from the perspective of a middle-age white professor, and I don’t know how a week before opening can change that. With this update, I would have expected at least some words or report about the actions taken with this week-long delay, but still the public has heard nothing. Also, the fact that there is such a talented and diverse team of creatives behind this would have lead me to believe that these issues would be addressed way longer before opening than now. How could they let such a big screw-up slide, especially considering how many people had to approve it before the show got produced? It’s opening tonight, and I’ll be waiting to see the reviews.
I am very excited about this production and I am glad that they are taking the necessary steps to make sure the proper attention is given to the very important concepts that the show presents. Ensuring that equity and responsibility are forefront in the rehearsing of the show I think is incredibly important to spend time with and that is totally worth suspending the show for as long as needed to make sure those conversations are happening and all of the members of the team are engaging in them. I think we have seen a lot of issues trying to be presented in shows without any of the real legwork and conversations happening and that has actually made these performances a bit more offensive than rewarding. I am glad to see that the folks at the Public want to actually deal with real issues. I am also really excited to see that Rick Edinger is the Music Director for this show. It is amazing to me that faculty in this school also work out in really high caliber settings in the professional world. Break a leg Rick!
I wonder how such a major issue of the musical The Visitor as centering a play about immigrants and refugees around a white college professor will be solved in a week of discussions with the cast and production staff. It seems a curious choice to be working on this issue right now before the show opens instead of during all of quarantine, when the show was postponed for the first time. I've been to the Public many times and I've really enjoyed their shows, but I don't know if I'd go see this one, at least until after I've seen the reviews. I hope that they do actually resolve the issues that the play seems to have at the moment, although I don't see how so much change could occur in such a short time. I'll check out reviews when it does open, but in the meantime, I think this is just another example of why it's so important to have a dramaturgical team to oversee production early on and catch basic stuff like this.
I’m glad that this production is taking the time to tackle the many possible missteps that a show like this brings up but it makes me wonder a couple of things. I may be wrong but a show about a middle aged white man who interrogates immigrants and discusses their experiences feels, at its core, like a production centered around white saviorism. Is there any way to salvage a show that has white saviorism in its core plot and dna. Of course, that’s easy for me to say as someone who has not put any time, effort, or money into the production of this show. Seeing it fall would hurt all of the artists who put their work into it, BIPOC and white alike. The idea of scrapping it completely is definitely off the table, so I wonder how they will decenter the white gaze in a show literally written around the white gaze. I really hope they do it successfully so we can all learn from it, but it feels like a daunting task.
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