Show canceled after racist comment by audience member

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ASPartOfMe
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12 Oct 2021, 6:26 am

Long Island Theater Cancels Show Over Alleged Racists Comments Lobbed at Cast Member

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A Long Island theater canceled Sunday night's performance of "Smokey Joe's Cafe" following claims that racist comments were made toward one of its cast members.

The Engeman Theater in Northport reported that someone made racist comments outside of the theater following the matinee show Sunday.

Police say the victim did not want to file a report, but the department is still conducting its own investigation.

The theater decided to cancel the evening performance in response.

The police department confirmed the report and urged anyone with information to come forward.

Are you kidding me?

Getting heckled is part of what of what you sign up for as a public performer. Of course its worse when its racist heckling, but still. Jackie Robinson must be turning around in his grave.

This is the completely wrong approach to racist heckling. You can not send a message to racist bullies that they can shut down performances whenever they damn please. If I was a performer and they shut down the show because someone called me a k*e I would be humiliated. I might be the one in prison because I would wring the person who cancelled the show’s neck.

Besides this occurred outside of the theater not during the show.
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Mr Reynholm
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12 Oct 2021, 8:32 am

Western Civilization is DOOMED!

naturalplastic
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12 Oct 2021, 2:49 pm

Strange story.

Apparently it wasnt actually a heckler. A person yelling at the stage from the audience. It was someone talking to a cast member outside the theater after the show was over.

Still...i dont see the need to cancel the show. In fact...canceling the show just amplifies the effect of the transgression.

Dox47
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12 Oct 2021, 2:54 pm

Why are the police involved? If there was a crime committed, I must have missed it.

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kraftiekortie
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12 Oct 2021, 3:50 pm

It's ridiculous that they would think of canceling the show because of some idiot.

ASPartOfMe
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12 Oct 2021, 6:07 pm

Racist comments lead Engeman to cancel 'Smokey Joe's Cafe' performance, officials say
Behind a paywall

Quote:

Engeman's owner and managing director Kevin O'Neill said the incident occurred after Sunday's matinee.

"One of our cast members was walking up the block from the theater and someone hurled a racial slur at them. It was very hurtful to this person," O'Neill said.

The person who said the N-word was a white male and a complete stranger to the actor, according to O'Neill.

The actor returned to the theater and informed management and the other members of the predominantly Black cast.

"The decision was made for the show not to take place [Sunday] night," O'Neill said. "They were all pretty distraught about it, and understandably so, and we support our cast a million percent."

Performances are scheduled to resume Wednesday night and continue through Oct. 31. Proceeds from tickets sold for Wednesday's performance in the wake of Sunday's incident will go to a cause chosen by the cast, officials said.

Ok, not a heckler, but some random racist.

I am still not sure if the cast suggested canceling the show, or went along with the decision to cancel. Either way, I would never agree to canceling a show if a similar incident involved me. Every holiday it seemed our synagogue was "decorated" with swasticas. The janitors washed it off and that was that. The "decorations" were never reported to police because there was no concept of hate crime and we knew it was a bunch of teenagers trying to get a rise out of us. Imagine if I took the rest of the day off every time I was called a k*e or a fa***t, actually, I can't imagine it.

Dox47
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12 Oct 2021, 10:30 pm

Reading it again, I'm getting a distinct "things that never happened for $500, Alex" vibe, like late night MAGA enthusiasts in Chicago style.

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ASPartOfMe
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12 Oct 2021, 11:27 pm

Dox47 wrote:

Reading it again, I'm getting a distinct "things that never happened for $500, Alex" vibe, like late night MAGA enthusiasts in Chicago style.

The Jussie Smollett story strained credulity from the get-go. How would the attackers know where Smollett would be in the wee hours of the morning and why would they choose a morning when the temperature was below zero?

Dox47
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13 Oct 2021, 12:01 am

ASPartOfMe wrote:

The detail that completely broke that story was the idea that those people supposedly recognized him from his work on Empire, instead of it being a random hate crime.

This is kinda similar in that this person is alleging that a stranger just randomly decided to hurl a racial slur at them in public, which is not inconceivable, but still triggering my BS detector.

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cyberdad
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13 Oct 2021, 12:19 am

Most of the cast are African American so its probably a safety issue to protect the cast from getting attacked. Sounds like the 1950s.

Dox47
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13 Oct 2021, 12:55 am

cyberdad wrote:

Most of the cast are African American so its probably a safety issue to protect the cast from getting attacked. Sounds like the 1950s.

What safety issue? The person declined to even file a police report, even though the police got involved, suggesting whatever transpired wasn't particularly serious.

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13 Oct 2021, 1:04 am

Mr Reynholm wrote:

Western Civilization is DOOMED!

cyberdad
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13 Oct 2021, 1:26 am

Dox47 wrote:

cyberdad wrote:

Most of the cast are African American so its probably a safety issue to protect the cast from getting attacked. Sounds like the 1950s.

What safety issue? The person declined to even file a police report, even though the police got involved, suggesting whatever transpired wasn't particularly serious.

It might infact be an occupational health and safety (OHSE) issue for the cast. Again the decision might well have been agreed upon by the entire cast rather than management acting "on a whim". I wouldn't be able to my job as an actor if I was anxious about members of the klan in the audience or waiting for me outside with slicks or clubs.

naturalplastic
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13 Oct 2021, 4:09 am

cyberdad wrote:

Dox47 wrote:

cyberdad wrote:

Most of the cast are African American so its probably a safety issue to protect the cast from getting attacked. Sounds like the 1950s.

What safety issue? The person declined to even file a police report, even though the police got involved, suggesting whatever transpired wasn't particularly serious.

But what specifically would OSHA be afraid of?

That the local surrounding community in Long Island is going to form a lynch mob to attack the theater?

cyberdad
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13 Oct 2021, 5:46 am

naturalplastic wrote:

That the local surrounding community in Long Island is going to form a lynch mob to attack the theater?

In order for an entire show to be cancelled there must be some risk to the cast members. It may be also possible the cast showed solidarity with the cast member experiencing a racist incident.

kraftiekortie
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13 Oct 2021, 5:52 am

Imagine if this happened on Broadway?

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