Friday, March 27, 2009

Waldman Gone Wild!



- Ryan Flanigan, actor


Which brings us to The Life.



Rehearsals continued.

A bold move in a troubled economy! But there's more:
The article ends with a quote from Waldman:





And then Gary himself appended a comment to the article:














Tell your friends.


  1. I gave up with those crooks. The contract for I Write The Songs was between the cast and Waldman/Troutman, with no out clause for unseen circumstances. Whatever beef with the casino they have was irrelevant. Lawyers advised me that even if I sued the corporation they set up for the show, it would be fruitless because it was bankrupt. Some justice system right? They set up a corporation for every show they fail. Waldman tries to play the whole holier than thou bit about what a hard luck guy he is trying to produce theatre that he loves, but it's all bullshit. They are a bunch of scumbags who abuse the law. One day they will get their just desserts, and I hope it is soon. Feel free to employ my help in efforts against them. I warn them not to come to NYC again. Us dumb actors won't be caught off guard again.

    1. hello!!! how do we contact you? please

  2. Why is it these guys aren't buying their safety on cell block C with smokes while they pay off their debt to society for the very real fraud they continue to perpetuate? Seriously, someone must know a guy who knows a guy that will guarantee this NEVER HAPPENS AGAIN! This is Miami for crying out loud.

  3. My name is Ron Hutchins. These guys offered me a contract as choreographer for The Life and wanted me to recreate the previous choreographers work. He is a wonderful choreographer and I refused to copy his work and informed these producers that I was a member of Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers. They never contacted me after that.

    As a Carbonell Award recipient for my work in Five Guys Named Moe, I have been fortunate enough to Direct and Choreograph several shows at 26th Street Theatre. The theatre itself is a wonderful venue. The location is perfect and it is an ideal space for producers who will respect it's exsistance.

    I am saddened that these talented actors came from New York and had to endure what is NOT representative of South Florida Theatre. We are a rich community with wonderful producers, actors and theatre's: Actors Playhouse, Florida Stage, Caldwell Theatre, Mosaic Theatre New Vista and Gable Stage to name a few . Obviously the producers under the microscope are unscrupulous and don't deserve to produce theatre or to have the space.

    I stand by my fellow actors . We must all have a clear understanding that performers are guided by passion and most live from paycheck to paycheck. It is unfair for any producer to treat an artist with anything less than integrity and respect. It is imperative for artists and producers to have a healthy relationship.

    As artists we must communicate with each other and give fair warning about unsubstantial producers. With technology as present as it is today, we now have the tools to provide this information. We should not slander a persons name and reputation, on the contrary, we should be very clear about what to expect.It is our responsibility to each other our arts communities and ourselves.

    I hope this situation does not tarnish the reputation of South Florida Theatre for these actors. It is my hope that we as a community work together and acknowledge our common thread as artists.

    Best Regards,
    Ron Hutchins

  4. To call these assmonkeys a couple of fuctards would be an insult to fuctards all over the world.

  5. Ron,
    it's funny that you say that because the choreographer that ended up doing it said that Gary asked him to do the same thing to copy the old choreography and he refused because he actually knew the guy. He called him up and told him what Gary was trying to do. He ended up creating all new choreography, which sadly will never be seen by an audience it was soo great too he took the show to an all new level the dance numbers were amazing!..BTW the choreographer offered to take over and director if Gary couldn't handle wearing soo many Hats and Gary refused...when he would try to block even a scene..Gary would panic and say "help help help" and the choreographer would have to step in and do his job..Gary is a joke. We as a Cast had decided together as a group that if we were going to pull this off it would have to be all on our own accord because it was Clear that Gary was completely useless. The Musical Director would roll his eyes when Gary would even open his mouth. The MD on many many occasions told us to ignore Gary. It's quite bizarre how unaware of their surroundings they both are.

  6. Excusem e, to the writer with the name vagina (missed you on the contact sht). Do you not realize that there were about 20 people in the buildingbeside you. YOU ANDTHREE OR FOUR OTHER SO-CALLED ACTORS COST US OUR JOBS! NOT GARY! NOT JAMISON! YOU, youbastards! Gary's only mistakewas to not spenmd more time in ny and put this cast through the ringer. Powerfulvoices do not alone make muwsicaltheater performers. not one of the leadscould walk & talk at the same time. REMEMBER, very fewpeople read these stupid 1-sided blogs, but a lot of people were there. We sawwhat happened. YOU made the job impossible because YOU couldn't remember blocking well enough to run a singkle scene twice! I saw Gary give up and leave early!I would have too. I must have missed the conversation about the caST "pulling this off on there own" BECAUSE MY HEAD WAS UNDER MY SEAT andIwas scared shit because I knew I wasn't going to have a job soon! I agree the choreographer was great, but it didn't matter because only a handful could dance! Half the rehearsal time wasspent with him screaming at the cast and rightfully so. MAYBE 25% of thiscast wasoffbook the day before what was going to be our first preview and YOU THINK YOU DID YOUR JOB andwant to get paid for it!I want your salary to make up for the job you cost me you disgusting creeps. Gary, retire already. You don't need this!

  7. my name is not jason! Who runs this shitty site?

  8. "Not-Jason", you had to enter a name, the blog doesn't generate one for you. Perhaps someone else using your computer has a Google account. Whatever, you could have changed it before posting.

    Whatever your name is, "Not-Jason," the fact is that no matter how you examine it, the blame comes back to Gary - or whoever the director of the play is. That's how it works.

    I can tell you've been talking to Gary and Jamison by the way you mindlessly parrot them with phrases like "1-sided blog." Aren't you here adding your 2 cents? Guess what? That's your side of the story!

    But you make a telling comment:
    "Half the rehearsal time wasspent with him screaming at the cast"

    Maybe he should have been using that time to, you know, direct the show. And you are also right that Gary should have spent more time working with them in NY.

    But even if they really did the job as badly as you and Gary and Jamison would have us believe, they still have to be paid for their time.

    Consider: all of the area's theatre producers are fully aware of this story. Not one has stood up to say that Gary might have a valid point. Not here, not on the Herald, not in email. In fact, a number of them sent me notes suggesting I blog about this.

    Sorry about your job; really, I am. This seems to happen a lot to people who work for the boys, as you'll find out as you work with people in the area's professional theaters.

  9. I am on someone elses computer, who give two?

    Have I been in contact with "the boys" (jerK), of course! Do you think you need a passworrd? Biut I also didn't invent the term 1-sided blog... is that the best you can can come up with!

    Learn to read! I neversaid that gary was yelling at the cast. He never did! The choreograhper was! He had to!

    As far as pay... they can do as they please, but I wouldn't give those creeps a dime. They didn't do their freakin jobs & then they stole or destoyed thousands of dollars worth of shit! And don't assk producers whgo live off grants and dontions their opinionm, ask business people! I had to get an advance last week (that was given to me in a 2nd from these "fuctards")so they dont owe me anything.

    I did speak w/jamisonm yesterday &he laughed about you asking for paperwork! Not one person has even given their name let alone proof that they are owed anythng, but they should give paperwork/1=

    lets keep crying about how little work there is while we trash the few companies who have any

    Big businesses cant make it without tax money.what do you expect from a theater!


    Well, that's why we have labor laws.


    And I advise only pursuing work at companies that have a history of paying everyone they hire everytime. Otherwise, there's not much point to it, is there?

  11. 1. and stolen tvs are why they have cops!
    + Labor laws, i would think only cover people who have names &are actually covered by them,not people woh make things up on websites;ever hear of innocent until proven guilty?
    3. Go pursue work anywhere right now/good luck! funny i didn't see the hwole auto industry quit when they were forced to renegotiate their cocntracts

    this keybaord sucks

    u accuse them of twisting the truth--------you are on another planet---

    PS---theres more news in teh Herald (who just laid off a ton of people + rasied their rates so thty could pay them w/money they borrowed in the interim). Try the businesssection or the front page!

    Don't answer me, pls. I'm outta here!

  12. and stolen tvs are why they have cops!

    I'm interested to hear how these actors could have stolen the TVs when they were without transportation. Or perhaps the story is that they stuck them in their suitcases and flew home with them?

    I wonder if these TVs were insured? Hm. Probably not. Insurance costs money.


    Is it your contention that The Life had no cast? So who was it that the Herald interviewed?

    Or maybe you're insinuating that I made up the story about the cast of I Write The Songs not getting paid.

    Several people have come forward, and used their actual names: it's a very easy thing to confirm.


    Are you telling us that Gary and Jamison tried to force a new set of contract terms on these actors? Gotta tell you, it doesn't help their case.

    this keybaord sucks

    Sure, blame the keyboard. Why not?

  13. Jason =Jamison...


  14. and P.s Gary had no problem firing people from nyc and local actors that weren't working out.
    2nd..part of our audition process wasn't even to dance at all..why would you hire a bunch of actors never see them dance and then bring them down and expect them to be 100 amazing dancers sorry..and 3rd of no one besides Jamison or Gary were at rehearsals unless you are the stage manager and if that is the case I'm sorry that you lost your money they got you man..

    the actors were never given a deadline to learn their lines
    3rd..blocking in the theatre world u have your script in hand with a pencil and you write it down
    and the "director" never scheduled working on the actual acting..soo yea..

    bottom line black and white..doesn't matter if we sucked he still owes us money and it was his responsibility to fly them home. In any job if the person is fired from their job their money is paid that they are owed because its against the law not to.

    what about the cast in Mississippi? they didn't suck and they've gotten paid!????

    "jason" aka Gary aka Jamison..get a life and good luck trying to put on another production there are tons of people who are going to make sure tou never victimize anyone ever again!

  15. Join Florida Theater (spelled with er ) on face book so we can keep all informed......

  16. @WhisperingEye

    I wish I had come upon this article earlier.... much earlier.

    I was in the Mississippi production. We got a total of two paychecks, and we only got them because of another cast members sacrifice.... we were not paid for the run of the show. We only had one performance. They promised us they would pay out our contracts, even have written documentation. I am so sorry that the actors in this production were stranded..... we were lucky enough to be flown home.

    I spoke with representatives at the IP when all this shit went down. The person in charge of entertainment there was appalled at the situation. Gary and Jamison never told the Casino we weren't going on. People paid to see the show that night, and there was an audience ready to see a show. They come to our rooms telling us the show is canceled because the Casino isn't paying...... which makes no sense at all, since our contracts were not through the Casino, but through Gary and Jamison and the 'Arthur and Irvin Corporation'. The Casino had no idea what was going on with them, and was not expecting what happened. I went to a lawyer, he said nothing could be done because they didn't have any money. I called the local ABC news station, but never heard back from them. They fired our stage manager the night before opening so that they wouldn't have to pay her. I don't think she got paid a dime.

    Just thinking about the whole ordeal makes me cringe. Gary Waldman and Jamison Troutman should be locked up. They are no good, they are liars, they are cheats, they are CROOKS.