Malloy, who is now forty-one, handed over his signature part to everyone’s mother’s favorite tenor, Josh Groban. But, last fall, when the show transferred to Broadway’s Imperial Theatre, the producers needed a big name. The next year, the show moved to a pop-up Russian supper club in the meatpacking district, becoming a downtown sensation, followed by a run at American Repertory Theatre, in Cambridge. The musical originated in 2012, at the tiny Hell’s Kitchen theatre Ars Nova, with Malloy playing Count Pyotr Kirillovich Bezukhov, otherwise known as Pierre. Such was the fate of Dave Malloy, the writer, composer, and original star of “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812,” an “electro-pop opera” based on a seventy-page sliver of “War and Peace,” which, on Tuesday, was nominated for twelve Tony Awards, the most of any Broadway show this season. “What worries me is that if producers known this can happen (public outcry over casting a Caucasian actor in a once African-American role), won’t they be understandably reluctant to cast actors of color in the first place?” asked Firemark.Imagine writing yourself the role of a lifetime, only to be replaced by a photogenic, puppy-eyed celebrity version of yourself.
While a lawsuit that could set new legal precedent might lurk on the horizon, the casting controversy does set a bad precedent for the theatre business. In 2009, he filed a lawsuit against his former employer for $63 million, alleging that it failed to honor the terms of their separation agreement. Yet, Kagan is no stranger to breach of contract cases. He needed to speak with his press people. The lead producer, Howard Kagan, declined to confirm whether or not the show would sue Patinkin for breach of contract. The case would be difficult and complicated, examining the economic assumptions of the projections, and testing the legal limits on what is too speculative. Some courts have listened to expert testimony, and looked at sophisticated projections based upon historical sales data. While a court would still need to make the final call on whether or not the figures are too speculative, mathematical certainty is not required. It might be possible to calculate the amount of lost profits. Most importantly, the show knows the specific number of the tickets that were sold after Patinkin announced his arrival, and then refunded after he withdrew from the show. However, The Great Comet does have a past record of its financial performance, earning almost $35 million over 32 weeks at the box office. One common scenario is where the harmed litigant owns a new business venture without a track record of success. New York courts dismiss similar lawsuits when the alleged amount of lost profits is too speculative, and cannot be proven with at least some reasonable certainty. Gordon Firemark, an entertainment attorney who represents both performers and producers, explained that “to win a case for breach of contract, the producers would have to prove not only that there was a breach, but that it actually caused some measurable damages.” The main legal challenge would be measuring how much his broken promise actually harmed the show.
Even in the event that he had not signed some formal paperwork, oral agreements are legally enforceable, and the producers can sue him for the show's lost profits in court. However, ending the show might not end the controversy.īy backing out of his promise to perform in the musical, Patinkin might have breached his contract with the producers. The musical will close on September 3 after 336 regular performances, returning about 20-percent of its $14 million initial investment. The casting controversy had turned the Tony-nominated show into a toxic property, and the producers decided to pull the plug on it.
Yet, no famous stars wished to be seen in The Great Comet.
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