Broadway actress Patti LuPone says she’s stepping away from the stage - The Washington Post

The tweet followed a week of precocious play successful the Broadway satellite that began erstwhile Lillias White, a “Hadestown” formed member, called retired an assemblage subordinate connected Wednesday implicit her usage of a captioning device, which White mistook for a cellphone. White drew aggravated disapproval for the mistake, and the incidental prompted comparisons to LuPone’s past of confronting assemblage members astir their cellphone usage during unrecorded shows.

Yet successful a connection shared with The Washington Post, LuPone, 73, said she had dropped her national rank pursuing her astir caller accumulation this summertime — agelong earlier past week’s “Hadestown” incident.

“When the tally of ‘Company’ ended this past July, I knew I wouldn’t beryllium onstage for a precise agelong time,” the performer said. “And astatine that constituent I made the determination to resign from Equity.”

LuPone besides criticized the national for Broadway performers, telling People that she “didn’t privation to springiness them immoderate much money,” adding that the Actors’ Equity Association doesn’t “support actors astatine all.”

She told People that the national accepted her resignation, and she would person to beryllium approved to rejoin. The Actors’ Equity Association, which represents tens of thousands of actors and signifier managers, did not instantly respond to a petition for remark from The Post.

This is not the archetypal clip LuPone has talked astir leaving Broadway. In 2015, aft making headlines for snatching an assemblage member’s cellphone retired of their hands during a show of “Shows for Days,” LuPone told The Post: “I americium truthful defeated by this contented that I earnestly question whether I privation to enactment connected signifier anymore.”

LuPone had accused that assemblage subordinate of texting during her performance, and was praised for her actions. Similarly, a assemblage applauded her for stopping mid-song during a 2009 “Gypsy” show to outcry astatine idiosyncratic who was taking pictures during the show.

The usage of physics devices during theatre productions has been an progressively communal ailment among performers. But past week, White, who is Black, received a acold antithetic effect erstwhile accusing an assemblage subordinate of utilizing a telephone during her show. And portion the circumstances of White’s engagement with the assemblage subordinate were antithetic from LuPone’s 2015 and 2009 confrontations, observers said the opposition successful attraction represented a treble standard.

While LuPone was applauded for her actions, White faced a question of backlash — immoderate of it truthful vicious that the assemblage subordinate whom White called retired pleaded with radical connected societal media to “stop harassing” the actress.

“Hadestown” apologized to the theatergoer, but condemned the online effect to White, saying successful a connection to the New York Times that the reactions connected societal media had “devolved into racist, ageist and different abhorrently discriminatory language.”

LuPone did not straight remark connected the controversy, speech from referencing her sanction being mentioned implicit the past week.

The histrion has been nominated for 8 Tony Awards, winning her archetypal successful 1980 for her enactment successful “Evita.” She won her 3rd Tony this twelvemonth for her enactment successful “Company.”