At The Kennedy Center, Twyla Tharp Puts Art Above Politics
Twyla Tharp puts art above politics and keeps faith with her fans and her audience. We need more artists and performers to do the same.Twyla Tharp puts art above politics and keeps faith with her fans and her audience. We need more artists and performers to do the same.'Go back to drama school!' Climate activists interrupt Broadway play but get yelled at by 'Sopranos' Michael Imperioli
Multiple protesters interrupted a Broadway show with messages about rising sea water and fossil fuels, prompting responses from both of the show's stars, Michael Imperioli and Jeremy Strong.
The show called "An Enemy of the People," which sometimes involves audience participation, was halted by the activists causing confusion among ticket holders. Three protesters shouted slogans such as, "No theater on a dead planet!" with T-shirts sporting the same phrase.
One activist even walked onto the stage and started a diatribe.
"I am very, very sorry to interrupt your night and this amazing performance. I am a theater artist," the man began. "The oceans are rising. It will swallow this city and this entire theater whole. I am putting my career on the line because we are not doing anything about this crisis. The water is coming for us!" he added, according to the New York Post.
"Sopranos" star Imperioli would be heard shouting, "Go back to drama school!"
Strong, from the show "Succession," reportedly remained in character and said, "Let them speak."
3/ Activists are facing harsh sentences for nonviolent protest. Joanna Smith and Tim Martin protested at the National Gallery of Art to highlight the climate crisis. They face up to ten years in prison and fines of $500,000.— (@)
In another clip posted to X, Imperioli is seen walking off stage as he tells one of the protesters, "You are disgusting!"
"Liar, liar!" he added as he walked out of frame.
"Governments have failed us! They will do anything to stop you from learning the truth!" another climate alarmist yelled.
Then, Strong interjected and started yelling back, "You've got to go, you've got to go!" which sparked applause from the audience.
more from an enemy of the people tonight! \nvia: \ud83d\udcf8: oseh11— (@)
Activist group Extinction Rebellion took credit for the interruption, citing that "Rebels disrupted #AnEnemyOfThePeople on #Broadway. #Climate activists aren't the enemy; it's fossil fuel criminals like Exxon & Chevron. If we don’t #EndFossilFuels now, there'll be #NoTheatreOnADeadPlanet."
This was followed by a press release justifying their actions, which was written as if the group was promoting a product rather than a public nuisance.
"This action follows a tradition of nonviolent civil disobedience in arts and theater, such as Parisian students’ occupation of the Odéon theatre in 1968 — not to mention theater itself as a powerful medium for provoking social change," the group wrote.
"Just as 'An Enemy of the People' demands people act, Extinction Rebellion too is demanding immediate action ... Extinction Rebellion demands the government tell the truth by declaring a climate and ecological emergency, halt biodiversity loss and reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2025. These demands reflect the urgency of the existential crisis that we’re facing."
— (@)
Strangely, one activist made a point of specifically saying that she was "not protesting theater" and not "protesting the emissions that brought spectators to get here." However, she still claimed the interruption was the group's "last resort to draw public attention to the climate emergency."
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What shines through all the inaccuracies and the anachronisms of 21st-century wokeness is an old-fashioned three cheers for America.Famed Broadway actress Patti LuPone goes on foul-mouthed tirade against woman who wore mask under her nose
Famed Broadway actress Patti LuPone went on a foul-mouthed rant directed at an audience member during a post show Q&A session because she was not properly wearing a mask.
LuPone, who was answering questions with the rest of the cast after a performance of her musical, "Company," was filmed berating a female theatergoer who had not covered her nose with her mask.
“Put your mask over your nose. That’s why you’re in the theater. That is the rule. If you don’t want to follow the rule, get the f*** out!” LuPone screamed at this person.
without further ado\u2026 ms. patti luponepic.twitter.com/rEBB7nfXQ2— hen (@hen) 1652272870
The audience cheered and applauded as she ranted and raved at the mask offender.
“I'm serious! Who do you think you are that you do not respect the people sitting around you?” LuPone demanded.
The ticket-purchasing audience member shot back, "I pay your salary!"
"You pay my salary? Bulls**t. Chris Harper pays my salary," LuPone retorted, name-dropping the show's producer.
"Who do you think you are?!" LuPone shrieked.
"I'm a patron. A person!" the audience member said.
"Just put your mask over your nose!" LuPone commanded before the discussion's moderator changed the subject.
The Tony and Grammy award-winning Broadway actress has a well-earned reputation for a bad temper and confrontational personality. The New York Post recounts how in 2009, she stopped a production of "Gypsy" mid-show to yell at a photographer. And once in 2015, she interrupted a performance of "Shows for Days" to snatch the cellphone out of the hands of a texting audience member.
Speaking about the incident, she told Playbill, "We work hard on stage to create a world that is being totally destroyed by a few rude, self-absorbed and inconsiderate audience members who are controlled by their phones.”
LuPone is also an outspoken leftist. She made controversial remarks about Republican Senator Lindsey Graham in 2019, suggesting that the South Carolina lawmaker was a closeted gay man.
"Lindsey Graham you are a disgrace. On a personal note, why don't you just bite the bullet and come out. You might just come to your senses," she tweeted.
In another controversial tweet, she mocked Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, calling him a "national disgrace" and approvingly referred to how Paul's neighbor viciously assaulted him in November 2017, breaking several bones and putting him in the hospital.
"Rand Paul, do us all a big favor. Don't set foot in NYC. You too are a National disgrace. Maybe your neighbor had a point?" she tweeted.
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