STAGE LEFT CHATS EP 1: MARISSA HECKER

Happy October, readers! 🎃I’m so excited to share a conversation I had last night with Lauren Turner Hines, in partnership with The Network of Ensemble Theaters. We talk about the gap in the theater ecosystem that she is working to fill with ecosystems like the Andre Cailloux Center for Performing Arts and Cultural Justice, generational expectations on Black women in predominantly white arts institutions, revisiting her Xennial changemaking analysis from 2019, and what she’s looking forward to next week at NetWEEK Bay Area. Next Saturday, October 10th, from 2- 5 p.m. at Bam House in Oakland, CA, Lauren is facilitating On Record | Bay Area: Black Women Directors, Makers + Leaders. Joining her for the roundtable:* Dr. ayodele nzinga, Oakland’s Poet Laureate and the only director to stage all ten of August Wilson’s Century Cycle plays in order.* Cat Brooks, playwright, actress, director, and co-founder of the Anti Police-Terror Project and the voice of Law & Disorder on KPFA.* Elizabeth Carter, the Bay Area director who staged Fat Ham at Oregon Shakespeare Festival and whose film won Best Narrative at the London Pan African Film Festival.* Edris Cooper-Anifowoshe, director, actor, and writer, who founded her own experimental company, BACCE, and has performed around the world with the SF Mime Troupe.If you’re in the Bay Area, registration is still open for this event, GROUND FLOOR, Rehearsing for the Real Thing: Theater Tools for Frontline Workers, and the Closing Party. Come gather with the Network of Ensemble Theaters!That’s all for this week. We’ll have another news breakdown next week, covering all the big industry stories in September! 🛠️🎭This Substack is reader-supported. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit stageleftreport.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit stageleftreport.substack.comHappy Libra season, readers!With the return of the season of the scales, I’m excited to share some updates from Kathy Deitch herself on the state of her dispute with Titanique.

Our second guest, Chris Myers, joins us to chat about growing up middle class on the Upper West Side, his time at Harlem School of the Arts and Juilliard, performing in BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB, and the work he does offstage to build class consciousness and cultural resistance in the theater industry.We first connected as members of the same working group for global advocacy, and I was so excited to dig in about how he has found the balance working full-time as an artist and creating systems of change in the industry.I was able to grab him during meal prep before an evening performance at the Schoenfeld Theater. I hope you enjoy our conversation!Thank you all for your patience for our STAGE LEFT CHAT series! Watch this feed for another episode with Ciara Renée coming soon. (If you would like to know why I haven’t been as active on Substack over the past two months or so, you can watch my latest video about my recent nonprofit theater heartbreak.) This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit stageleftreport.substack.com/subscribe

Our first guest, Marissa Hecker, is leaning into her queerness, her Jewishness, and her sense of rebellion as an ensemble member of the SUFFS tour.They first came across my feed in full President Wilson drag (which was a great introduction), and I knew I wanted to chat with them after hearing more about their political worldview and finding pride in their Jewish identity through engaging with fellow leftist and humanitarian Jewish folks.I was able to grab her before a performance at the Pantages this last December. I hope you enjoy our conversation! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit stageleftreport.substack.com/subscribe

Happy Labor Day Weekend, folks!We’re here with a bonus edition this month to break down the recent lawsuit filing against the producers of Gun & Powder, a recent production at Paper Mill Playhouse. ⚖️ Ciara Renée, who starred in Gun & Powder at the Playhouse last spring, has filed suit against several producers and production entities involved, including Alecia Clark (NAMCO) and Samuel Lopez (P3 Productions). 📝 She is suing for breach of contract, breach of the Producer’s obligation to negotiate in good faith, and interference with contract & prospective future economic opportunities. 🎥 You can watch the rest of our breakdown on this case in the video above or on our new TikTok channel. 📖 Or, keep reading for more details on the timeline of the case, and debunking some bad-faith arguments that we found in the comment sections. ⏱️⏱️⏱️ THE TIMELINE, ACCORDING TO THE SUIT FILED:(Editor’s Note: This summary is based on public records, primarily the plaintiff’s complaint in Renee v. Sisters Clarke LLC. These allegations are unproven and reflect only one side of the case. One’s inclusion in the suit does not mean wrongdoing has been legally established.)📍 November 2023: Ciara Renée signed a contract to offer her acting and singing services in the production of a Gun & Powder mounted by Sisters Clarke LLC. The suit notes that the agreement that she signed included the right to continue such services in a production mounted in New York or London, upon completion of good faith negotiations to determine compensation.📍 February - May 2024: Renée states she performed the services required of her in this agreement. The suit states that she was never notified by the producers that she was in breach or in default of any of her obligations as stated in the agreement. The complaint notes that she generally received glowing reviews for her performance.📍 July 2024: Producers requested that Renée sing and record a selection of songs from Gun & Powder with other performers from the production, and she received a flat fee for this work.📍 August 2024: Producers requested in July that Renée come to Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts to meet with potential investors for this show. She was introduced to potential investors as a member of the future Broadway cast. Renée was not paid for her travel time, nor for her time speaking with potential investors. The producers paid for her travel, hotel costs, and meals while in Massachusetts, but there was no additional compensation.📍 September 2024: Producers requested that Renée attend a “Get Out The Vote” event to promote the play as a cast member of the future Broadway company. She was unable to attend due to a scheduling conflict.📍 September 2024: The rights and liabilities of SISTERS CLARKE LLC were assigned to MAKE WAY BROADWAY LLC as a co-producer, with the ability to mount a staged reading of the play. Make Way Broadway LLC is a subsidiary of NAMCO.📍 October 2024: Renée entered a written agreement with Make Way Broadway LLC to perform a staged reading of Gun & Powder with some of the other performers from the Paper Mill Playhouse production. This reading allegedly involved all of the individual producers from the original production.📍 November 18 2024: Producers requested that Renée attend the 52nd Annual Vivian Robinson/AUDELCO Recognition Awards for Excellence in Black Theatre in Harlem on behalf of the production. She went to this awards show with the performer who played her mother in the production and the composer of the play.📍 November 27 2024: Producers Sammy Lopez and Alecia Clarke called Ciara Renée on the phone to inform her that Gun & Powder would be transferring to Broadway, she would not be hired to perform in it, and they had advised the production not to negotiate with Renée at all regarding her future employment with the production.On this phone call, they informed Renée that she had “materially failed to collaborate in the Play performed at the Paper Mill Playhouse, and that she was unwilling to accept feedback from the creative team,” which, according to Renée, was false. They also allegedly sent her an email about this through her agent.When she asked for further elaboration, this is what she says she received via email:📍 May 2025: Producers issued a press release stating that they were changing the name of the production from “Gun & Powder” to “Wanted” for the Broadway transfer in 2026, and a workshop for the production would take place in June 2025. Renée was not asked to participate in this workshop.📍 August 2025, this month: A complaint was filed by Ciara Renée against Sisters Clark LLC, demanding a jury trial and requesting compensatory damages of at least $486,000, plus punitive damages, pre- and post-judgment interest, consequential damages, attorneys’ fees, and other reliefs as deemed appropriate. 💬💬💬 RESPONDING TO THE COMMENT SECTION:(As expected with a big case like this that goes against what we’re “supposed to do” in this industry as creatives and laborers, there were a lot of misinformed questions and comments in response. We’re going over a couple of them below.)🗣️ “You mean I can sue every time I’m not cast in something?”No, only if you have a legally reasonable case, and a binding contract that you are alleging that the producers breached. Ciara isn’t suing because she wasn’t cast; she is seeking legal remediation for these producers breaching a contract that they were legally required to negotiate in good faith.In addition to this, a New Jersey labor lawyer would likely not take a case against a large producing entity that implicates a large arts and culture organization unless there was good evidence supporting these claims.🗣️ “She wants half a million dollars? What planet is she on?”Ciara lives on a planet where they do math and legal reasoning. $3,000 to $5,000 per week is typical on Broadway for lead performers, especially those with Ciara Renée’s profile. There are usually additional stipulations for a percentage of box office and weekly bonuses, which would bring this up to a 5-figure weekly. In the suit, she states that she would have accepted a weekly fee of $13,500 in negotiations; this, multiplied by 36 weeks (the number of weeks from the contract beginning until the Tony Awards), creates the figure of $486,000.🗣️ “Why didn’t she just ask for the AEA buyout amount?”While we can’t know for sure what was discussed in any private negotiations, the number filed in the complaint likely factors in reputational risk, trial costs, etc.It’s also worth noting the additional financial value Ciara contributed to this show before being allegedly cut. According to the complaint, at the very least, she was introduced at investor events as a future member of the Broadway cast and represented the producing entity at an awards show.🗣️ “Aren’t all actors replaceable? Isn’t that just show business?”Professional acting is labor, and labor is something that we still have some protective unions, rights, and laws for in America. Many of these rights revolve around contracts and agreements, which is exactly what this case pertains to.Producers are more than welcome to replace the actors in their production. So long as they follow the rules in the contracts and agreements that they write and agree to.🗣️ “Won’t this brand her as someone difficult to work with on future projects?”Here at Stage Left Report, we don’t want to live in a world where fighting for one’s labor rights years into their celebrated career is seen as a bad thing. See Patti Lupone’s Andrew Lloyd Webber Memorial Pool. It’s also important to note that career ambitions are not the only thing that drives folks in this industry.There have been many “hard to work with” allegations circulating around this case, and the two questions we like to ask when seeing these comments are:* Is this a firsthand experience, or something this person heard from another comment section or a friend?* Could a person anonymously commenting … This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit stageleftreport.substack.com/subscribe