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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
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.”
"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.
"The Family Sex Show" — a sex-education stage production aimed at children as young as 5 years old that features "non-sexual nudity" — has been canceled in the United Kingdom after "unprecedented threats" launched at the company putting on the show.
The show "features non-sexual nudity and explores topics such as consent, pleasure, queerness, and gender," BBC News said, adding that it targeted "children as young as five."
In response, more than 38,000 people signed a petition calling for the cancellation of the show, which was set for May performances at Bristol's Tobacco Factory, BBC News reported in a follow-up story. The petition called "The Family Sex Show" "profoundly irresponsible" and "wholly inappropriate."
With that, the theater said on its website that "performances of The Family Sex Show by ThisEgg at Tobacco Factory Theatres have been cancelled ... due to the unprecedented threats and abuse directed at our building and team."
Sex education theatre show aimed at children cancelled after threats and abuse at staffhttps://bbc.in/3rCBqZK— BBC News (UK) (@BBC News (UK)) 1650387303
The show's creators — ThisEgg — tweeted that it's "regrettable that violent and illegal threats and abuse directed at the company and venues by a small group of people with extremist views has prevented families from opting to attend something that was transparent, consensual and legal."
ThisEgg added that "these public performances would have offered safe and positive learning to children, young people, and guardians about rights, bodies, sex and relationships, advised by safeguarding and educational specialists."
In addition, ThisEgg said it created a website outlining what "The Family Sex Show" is all about. The topics include Bodies & Touch, What Is Sexuality? What Are My Pronouns? and Loving Ourselves.
BBC News reported that some parents anonymously said they were OK with the show and would be happy for their kids to see it, including one Bristol mom who said it was a "great idea" and that her children "would laugh the whole time and put their hands over their eyes and then say to me, 'Why on earth did you bring me here?'"
Bristol therapist and sex education specialist Stephanie Healy told the network she understands why the show would seem "scary" for some parents but urged them to "be brave."
A theater in Minnesota says they have canceled their production of Cinderella that had been slated for later this year, letting the staff go because "it was 98% white."
Chanhassen Dinner Theatres issued an announcement Monday declaring that they "made the decision to cancel our upcoming production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's 'Cinderella'," with the hope of "beginning the production process again with a new title will allow us to put into practice an intentional process based on the work we have been doing towards equity and inclusivity."
A follow-up from the next day clarified:
Just to be clear, we believe unapologetically in the changes we are making, and we believe that all of our kind-hearted guests will follow us on this journey.
We did not cancel Cinderella because of content. We are looking forward to bringing it to our stage in the future. But we as a company decided our original casting didn't go far enough in our commitment, and instead of waiting another full year to implement these important changes, we chose now.
Artistic director Michael Brindisi told the Pioneer Press this week the decision was made after he took a look at the cast and realized, "It was 98% white."
"That doesn't work with what we're saying we're going to do," Brindisi added, noting that the theater had hired diversity consultant Kelli Foster Warder to help "foster these moves."
The Pioneer Press reported:
Brindisi considered recasting, but ultimately decided to "scrap this and start fresh with a clean slate." Some of the actors were disappointed, he said, "but every one to a person said they got it and that they respected the very hard decision we had to make."
According to The Daily Mail, finding a diverse cast might be difficult if the theater is pulling actors from the town of Chanhassen, which is southwest of Minneapolis.
The outlet reported that the population of Chanhassen "is overwhelmingly white, and the racial demographics of the cast were not strikingly different from the city as a whole."
The Mail went on to note that "according to the most recent census, 92.5 percent of people in Chanhassen are white. Less than 3 percent of residents are Hispanic, while 1.1 percent are black."