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EXCLUSIVE: Just days after Megan Mullally abruptly withdrew from the Broadway revival of Terrence McNally’s 4-person ensemble comedy Lips Together, Teeth Apart, the production has been cancelled. Roundabout Theatre Company’s Artistic Director Todd Haimes said: “We could not find a way to maintain the production schedule under these circumstances. We are now exploring options to produce a show for our subscribers as soon as possible.”
Mullally gave notice on Monday after some tense rehearsals, and while some sources cited tensions with director Joe Mantello, others yesterday said the exit came after Mullally tried to get Oswalt replaced and left after being told no. Yesterday, McNally and Roundabout Theatre expressed hope the would be able to recast and be ready for an April 29 opening night at the American Airlines Theatre, they knew that would be a tall order and decided instead to close down the show.
Mullally was to star with Patton Oswalt, Lili Taylor and David Wilson Barnes in the drama where two couples meet at a Fire Island beach house to celebrate Fourth of July. There will likely be a different kind of fireworks, as Mullally’s exit moves to the category of when Jeremy Piven ended his run in Speed the Plow, blaming a high mercury count from sushi consumption which prompted angry playwright David Mamet to suggest the actor would seek a second career as a thermometer.
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still laugh every time i hear that thermometer gag.
an egomaniac has-been sitcom star, an egomaniac asshole director, and a funny little hobbit caught in the middle.
now that’s a play I’d pay to see.
Megan is an angry woman (underneath all that make-up and whining) Trust me, folks. It’s a gift to us that we’re not working with her anymore.
Are theses producers and casting directors really that lazy that they can’t find another celebrity replacement? The list of famous talented actresses that are currently not working is never ending. This just screams laziness and a desire for a law suit.
The Roundabout just wants to sue this woman. There are a thousand extremely talented out of work actresses who could step in tomorrow and kill in this part. They could postpone for a week or not at all. Joe Mantello and Todd Haines want their POUND OF FLESH because they made a huge mistake.
Mantello is a bully and known for his cruelty to actors. The NY Times pieces was their press person covering their touchas. Patrick Healy is a shell for these men.
Apparently this is the second time she’s quit a production late in rehearsals. I can’t see her getting hired again anytime soon. Am I wrong?
wow, this is the first negative thing i’ve heard of her — anyone else have any stories about her?
Have you seen her dancing butter commercial?!
Frightening.
shouldn’t have left gersh- they kept her in line
Hey “Your Mom”,
The play opens in 2 weeks. So you’re suggesting the producers can find a replacement, have her commit 80 pages of dialogue to memory, alter the performances of the rest of the cast to adjust to the new dynamic, plus rehearse again and again to establish some sort of flow. In two weeks? This isn’t dinner theater in Wichita, it’s Broadway.
It ain’t lazy on anyone’s part. It’s impossible. Megan will absolutely be sued for breach of contract. She put a lot of good people out of work.
Chip, this play has been around the block and there are loads of actresses who can play it in their sleep. Two weeks is PLENTY of time to learn a part. These people are pro’s. Megan shouldn’t get sued. They should just hire another actress to do the part.
Or could Joe not get a performance out of this new actor and Megan is brilliantly covering his shortcomings? Joe gets to look like a hero when everyone knows he’s mean especially to WOMEN. The stories of how he treated Idina Menzel and Winnie Holzman in rehearsals for Wicked could make your hair stand on end. He was horrible and dismissive to both of them.
Joe needs to talk about his mom in therapy. He’s got all these men to protect him. I have never heard a woman come out in defense of this thug nasty.
Chippy, I completely agree with you. Megan should not get sued, they should just simply cast another actress.
It is possible to replace an actor on that short a notice. I was the ASM on a show called Der Lumdirer Moyd, produced by the Folksbiene Yiddish Theater in NYC. The play was written and performed in Yiddish. One week prior to opening we had to fire an actor who simply would not learn his lines. He was replaced. The actor who replaced him learned and memorized staging and a Yiddish language script in one week.
The show opened on schedule
I have had to learn 37 pages of dialogue with 24 hours before my first rehearsal and two days before opening. Is it fun or an ideal way to work? No, but pro’s know how to get it done.
There are simply some actors who have a special talent of memorizing quickly … and I mean they completely memorize a page of dialogue, are free with it, and at performance level in less than 15 min. Not all actors can do that, but those that do are the ones that can tackle something like this … and there are many in this biz. It doesn’t, however, mean they are the best actor for the role just because they can do this; but, it is a tool that can come in handy and gets many an actor a job.
I think that was the whole problem, YM — She was insisting that Oswalt’s part be recast. And even if they wanted to, it would have been impossible to do so late in the game. So she leaves instead, and guess what? It’s too late in the game to recast the part. They were supposed to go into previews in just a couple weeks.
She has always been nasty and that is why she could not get arrested before will and grace. Tell her to stop already. She has enough money now and her desperation for a tony award is not pretty
Okay first of all you need to redo your first sentence because you just contradicted yourself. And secondly, unless you know Megan personally and have seen her act “nasty” you should not be saying those types of comments.
They can delay the opening and get one of a million great available actresses to play this part. They producers/director are being a bunch of babies wanting to point the finger at Megan rather than at themselves.
Why doesn’t Mantello go make peace with his leading lady? If he was smart that is what he would do. Instead he is laying blame on her when it is his own lack of leadership and desire to alienate her that has caused the problem.
Mantello abuses his power and she challenged him.
He has been saying horrible things about her like “She was worried about her ill mother and it distracted her.” His job is to keep the actors focused and create a team atmosphere. Not punish this woman for not kissing his ring or being human.
^ I completely agree!
So, it turns out that the director was protecting an actor (Paton) he believed in, and he would not be intimidated by the panic of a leading lady still stinging from a prior experience on the boards. That is the very definition of being honorable. The director was protective of the play, which his first responsibility; to the play and the playwright. It is very unfortunate that this stuff gets played out in the buzzy world of chat-rooms, but that’s how it goes now. Here’s the bottom line: McNally has only so many plays in him. Think about that. Ms Mullally chose to jump ship, which she had a documented history of, and now the first Broadway (indeed NY) revival of a very, very good play — has been tanked. And worse, she chose (or her ‘people’ chose) to publicize her exit with a sneak leak that was steeped in falsehoods, rather than to do so honorably and in a joint statement with the theatre. That’s just bad form. So who has behaved badly here? Objectively, the facts speak for themselves.
Dusty are you really Joe Mantello writing? Or Joe’s BF? Joe wouldn’t protect any play he only protects himself. He is a vile and disturbed human being with no soul. A sociopath who can stage a play.
The NY theatre seems to be in his thrall. Megan Mulally doesn’t need to be treated badly. She has said nothing bad about Joe to the press. Joe is just using his friends at the NY Times (who count on ad revenue from The Roundabout) to spread speculation.
Well, she’s still got her “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter” commercials running.
MM is very difficult. She signs onto to do projects and then relentlessly complains about the writing, her costars, etc. But she’s also very talented so she’ll keep getting work.
im really disappointed this happened , i was suppose to see this on my 1st day in nyc on my trip in april and now i have to rearrange my whole schedule, im disappointed on how unprofessional she was in this situation not just by quitting 2 weeks before but by trying to pull the bigger star card and get patton replaced i was extremely looking forward to seeing this show
“The play opens in 2 weeks. So you’re suggesting the producers can find a replacement, have her commit 80 pages of dialogue to memory, alter the performances of the rest of the cast to adjust to the new dynamic, plus rehearse again and again to establish some sort of flow. In two weeks? This isn’t dinner theater in Wichita, it’s Broadway.
It ain’t lazy on anyone’s part. It’s impossible.”
What a giant load of crap. Impossible my eye. When I was in High School, a student dropped out two hours before curtain, and I learned their role and did a better job with only two hours than the student I replaced could muster in two months. “Impossible” to find an actress — in NEW YORK?!? — who couldn’t learn that role in TWO WEEKS and be HAPPY to play with Patton Oswalt?
Give me a break.
See Oswalt’s performance in indie flick Big Fan? Blew a lot of people away. Boy can act. I suspect in this case Oswalt’s just the mercury in Mullally’s sushi.
I heard Meggy got offered “The Delta Burke Story”.
Does Broadway not use understudies anymore for exactly this purpose??? What’s up with that.
As someone who has worked with Joe Mantello in the past, trust me, you’d have to be realllly hard up to keep working with him. I’m not saying he’s not talented – but he’s BEYOND arrogant, even for Broadway. He has a horrid personality in general, also.
Never worked with MM so can’t comment on that part. But, no amount of money or fun is working with Mantello.
If working with Mantello isn’t fun, maybe Ms Mullally should have quit a tad earlier?
And been honest about why she quit?
Didn’t they have an understudy??
Call Lisa Kudrow.
Hey Rambo:
I played a bumble bee in my high school play but had to pull out when I got the measles. My last minute replacement did a bang up job. But I think losing the lead actor in a Broadway play is a much bigger blow.
While MM is poison on tv/film, she has a huge theater following (don’t ask me how) and it’s doubtful an adequate replacement could be found in time. She was the choice nearly 3 years ago when the idea was conceived, and for her to abandon the play weeks before opening has got to be devastating for everyone involved.
Yeah, I’ve heard Mantello is a real prick, but that’s par for the course with theater directors.
The only good thing to come out of this is the stand up bit Patton Oswalt will create out of this catastrophe. Should be epic.
“Hey Rambo: I played a bumble bee in my high school play but had to pull out when I got the measles. My last minute replacement did a bang up job. But I think losing the lead actor in a Broadway play is a much bigger blow.”
Hey Chip – I’ve got an MFA in acting, I teach acting, I’ve worked all over Los Angeles, stage and screen. Take your arrogance and shove it back down ypour piehole. Truth is – stage actresses in New York are a dime a dozen. They’ve got two weeks to recast, they can replace her. Easily. Looks like they just don’t want to.
You’re a douche, by the way.
I really don’t think he was being arrogant there …
I’m sure there was an understudy but this production is for the Roundabout who count on celebrity casting to attract subscribers. Her name was also above the title so customers can ask for their money back – they were going to take a major financial hit either way.
With the photo of Meghan attached to this story, all I can think about is “Lips together, tits apart.”