I apologize in advance if this chapter is too opinionated and real. This will be one of my more ranty and opinionated chapters but I of course don't mean any offense or displeasure or anything along those lines. If anything offends or upsets you I deeply apologize and please let me know of it did so I can fix my mistake! But please keep reading!

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Okay so some of you may be aware of the drama and controversy that is taking place with Natasha, Pierre, and the Comet of 1812. For those you aren't aware, Okieriete Onaodowan (Hercules Mulligan and James Madison in Hamilton) has taken over the role of Pierre in Great Comet, which was previously played by Josh Groban. Apparently, since Oak's arrival in the show's tickets sales have decreased dramatically leaving the show on the brink of closing. To deal with this Dave Malloy as well as the produces decided to cut Oak's run short and replace him with Mandy Patinkin. This caused outrage with fans who claimed that the switch was racist. Due to the outrage both the producers and Mandy Patinkin decided that he shouldn't take over the role and cancelled his run in the show and now Oak will finish his run and the show remains on the brink of closing.

So I am very sad and very disappointed about this entire situation. Firstly, I'm a huge fan of Mandy Patinkin and I was very excited for him to be Pierre and then very disappointed to hear he was no longer doing it.

But most of all I'm disappointed in the fans. I love this show, it's one of my favorites ever. My friend and I have been dying to see the show since we've listened to it and now it doesn't seem as if that will ever happen because fans of the show cared more about one actor then the show overall.

I don't think there was anything in this situation that had to do with race. I think that a lot of people had gone to see the show because of Josh Groban and after he left people stopped caring. I believe Oak was doing very well in the show and those who actually like the show enjoyed him. However, it's unfortunate that the show needs a big name to sell. Which is why they asked Mandy Patinkin. He's a multiple time Tony nominee and -I believe- winner. He's in popular movies like The Princess Bride and people know his name. Also, in my opinion, he'd be phenomenal in the role. I really don't believe they would replace Oak because of his race because if that were the case why did they hire him in the first place. Also Deneé Benton is African American as well and there was never an issue with her! I also don't think his unpopularity had to do with his race as again Deneé Benton was never an issue. His unpopularity most likely was the cause of following Josh Groban who is a mega star. Think about it, the same thing happened after Lin Manuel Miranda left Hamilton, sales went down a lot, not enough to make it close as Hamilton was more popular than Great Comet, but that always happens after original cast members leave. The same thing happened when Sarah Brightman and Michael Crawford left Phantom and when Colm Wilkinson left Les Mis. However, Great Comet took a bigger hit than most but that doesn't have to do with the race of the actors. Broadway has become decreasingly less popular over the years except for shows like Hamilton and Dear Evan Hanson therefore after Josh Groban left nobody cared about it. Also Great Comet didn't do very well at the Tony's which also hurt it a lot. My point is that the show's failing sales were not entirely the result of Oak in the cast and though maybe a lot of it was it wasn't due to his race or Mandy Patinkin's race.

The casting change was only due to keep the show open and I'm sure once sales were in a safe place they would have brought Oak back, it is very unfortunate that his run would have to be cut short, but that's the business and they needed to do what was best for the show.

However, I am not just blaming the fans for this, I think the producers and management and Mandy Patinkin made a poor and unprofessional choice in not taking Oak out of the role... if thats one of the reasons the show was going to close then they shouldn't have listened to the pointless and ignorant comments made by some people and continued to let the show run. Now instead of one person not having a job, dozens don't and that's really sad and unfortunate.

So many people have worked so hard on this show for so many years and it deserved a lot more than what it got. And I know I sound ridiculous and way to passionate, and I understand that shows close that's how Broadway works but most shows don't close over petty drama and I am just so heartbroken that it's come to this because of fans.

Again I apologize for how overly opinionated this chapter is but I needed to throw my two cents into this. Maybe it was not my place and I sincerely apologize and I truly hope I did not offend anyone! Please let me know if I did!

Also sorry I haven't been super active I've been busy with summer homework and band camp! But I'll try to be on more if you'd like!