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Michael Paulson (NYT) made this bonkers claim: one reason B'way theaters are slow to reopen is "Some performers have gained weight." He's been rightfully called out for fatshaming, & has reworded it twice ( it's still not great). But there's another problem with this paragraph 
It's a list of ways in which actors are at least in part to blame for theaters not reopening until Sep or later. He lists body & career changes, calls out one by name for getting pregnant, & misrepresents Karen Olivo's stated reason for leaving Moulin Rouge (also since reworded).
To be clear: It is not because performers are unprepared that Broadway theaters are not rushing to reopen. Period. And Paulson knows that, because the article goes into detail about things like uncertain ticket sales, covid safety procedures, etc.
So why a whole paragraph about re-casting, pregnant actors, and needing to "recondition"? While these are inevitabilities after the long break, anyone who works in theater knows that it does not take 3+ months to find & rehearse a replacement (or - gasp - alter costumes).
The theatergoing/fan community already has an often exaggerated impression of how much control performers have over shows. Excepting some stars, most of us who get into one B'way show have nothing to do with that show's creation. We have almost no power, and we are replaceable.
This doesn't give performers a free pass to take roles from more marginalized people, or do shows that are culturally dangerous. We still have personal responsibility.
But actors get harassed and dogpiled on social media when shows close, when books get rewritten, when songs get cut, when tours don't stop in the right town. For all manner of things that are actually determined by producers and theaterowners we might never even meet.
As the theater reporter for the NY Times, Michael Paulson is part of the theater community. The least that he owes his fellow members of that community is to not perpetuate misconceptions that can get performers maligned & bullied - and that protect the actual people in power.
(AND: if any of our butts come back to the stage a little bigger than when they left it YOU ARE FUCKING WELCOME.)
Check out @TheLizWasser 's thread for more of a response to the fatphobia in the original article: https://twitter.com/TheLizWasser/status/1390697247768289280?s=20
Playwrights always say it best: https://twitter.com/Csvich/status/1391107313960898565
