This isn’t what they meant by a “showstopper.”
A disruption, starring an unidentified Black woman, stopped Tuesday’s showing of Death of a Salesman on Broadway. According to Deadline, the disruption came at the beginning of act two.
When the cast was directed off stage, the star of the show, Wendell Pierce, who plays Willy Loman, remained on stage and tried to calm the woman down. The show is Pierce’s first Broadway performance in over 30 years. Pierce, an Olivier Award nominee, made that known. He addressed the woman and audience, “Hold on. I’ve waited too long for this.”
While no security was in sight, the woman walked to the front of the theatre and told Pierce, “They told us we had to leave. I didn’t do s**t.” Pierce reasoned with the woman and a Black man who followed her to the front of the theatre. “If you would like your money back,” he said, “I will guarantee your money back.”
Some audience members shouted, “Go home.” Audience member Robert Stein captured the moment on camera and shared it on Twitter.
Eventually, the woman was escorted
out by police. Instagram user, @rubinbooty praised Pierce for addressing the woman: “When the house lights came up, he patiently & heroically pleaded with her to leave peacefully despite her insistence that she should be carried out forcefully (she was eventually escorted out by police).”
Broadway World retrieved a comment from the play’s producers: “We’re grateful to the entire team at the Hudson Theatre for working together to resolve the situation and resume the performance as quickly as possible.”
As they say in show business, “The show must go on.”
The latest revival of Death of a Salesman will show at the Hudson Theatre through January 15.