Broadway Shockers 2022: Patti LuPone Dumps the Actors' Union

As 2022 draws to a close, TheaterMania looks back on some of the most controversial stories of the year.

On the morning of Monday, October 17, when everyone on Broadway was still clucking about Sara Porkalob's revealing interview, about the inner workings of 1776, three-time Tony Award winner Patti LuPone casually dropped a bomb that turned all eyes on her:

"Quite a week on Broadway," she tweeted, "seeing my name being bandied about. Gave up my Equity card; no longer part of that circus. Figure it out."

LuPone was indirectly referring to an incident (also the subject of much chatter) in which Hadestown star Lillias White chastised an audience member for looking into her phone during a performance. The move drew comparisons to LuPone, who has delivered onstage rebukes in the past. It turns out, the patron was partially deaf and using a captioning device. She took to social media to explain how humiliating the experience had been. This led to accusations of ableism against White, and counter-accusations that those contributing to the pile-on against White were racist and ageist. It was enough to make anyone want to doff their jazz shoes and go home.

LuPone later clarified through a spokesperson that her decision to leave Actors' Equity (the union representing professional actors and stage managers) was made long before the White incident: "When the run of Company ended this past July, I knew I wouldn't be on stage for a very long time. And at that point I made the decision to resign from Equity."

In an interview with People later that evening, she further explained her reasons for leaving Equity, which she described as the "worst union": "They accepted my resignation and told me that if I ever wanted to rejoin, I'd have to be approved…and it's the perfect reason I withdrew from Equity. Fifty years to this year…I've been a card-carrying member of Equity, and they don't know who I am basically." She also insisted that, should she return to the Broadway stage, she could do so under a guest contract.

Conservative commentors, who had come to despise LuPone for berating a maskless audience member during a talkback, were suddenly delighted by her stand against organized labor. But I guess that's what makes LuPone a living legend: After half-a-century on the stage, she still finds ways to surprise us.

Since then, LuPone hasn't said much about the incident, and one doubts she'll be tweeting in the foreseeable future: She has deleted her account.