A Broadway star is slamming Patti Lupone for saying the hit show “Hell’s Kitchen” is “too loud” … saying it’s a total microaggression.
Here’s the deal … Kecia Lewis — who plays Miss Liza Jane in the Alicia Keys-inspired jukebox musical and won her first Tony Award for it back in June — took to Instagram Saturday and directed an open letter to Lupone about her comments regarding the show.
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Patti has been filmed publicly saying the show — with a primarily Black cast — is far too loud for her liking … a phrase Kecia says is “racially microaggressive.”
KL speaks directly to Patti in the vid — noting the message comes from herself and not from anyone else involved with “Hell’s Kitchen” — saying Patti reached out to the theatre’s owners about the sound cues ’cause she found them too loud and asked them to turn it down.
Worth noting … Patti’s play “The Roomate” plays in the theater next door to ‘HK’ — with the two sharing a wall. So, their theater seems to be able to clearly hear the other show.
Kecia lays out what a microaggression is in the clip — and, explains that calling a Black show loud in a way that dismisses it classfies as one.
Lewis says comments like these can reinforce harmful stereotypes — and, even sending flowers thanking the show for changing it’s production when it did change the cues is “out of touch” ’cause peformers had to change what they were doing at her behest.
Kecia asks for “The Roommate” team to directly contact the “Hell’s Kitchen” group … instead of Patti going to theatre owners rather than the show’s creatives — otherwise, Lewis says it’s straight-up bullying.
You can listen to the whole six-minute open letter yourself … but, ultimately, Kecia says she’d like Patti to apologize — and work to use her platform to build up diverse shows instead of tearing them down.
“Hell’s Kitchen” debuted on Broadway back in April … garnering 13 Tony nominations and winning two during the ceremony back in June.
We’ve reached out to Patti’s team about Kecia’s comments … so far, no word back.