Karen Olivo, a Tony nominated star of “Moulin Rouge! The Musical, ”she said on Wednesday, saying she would not be joining the cast again when Broadway shows resumed.
She made the announcement in a five-minute Instagram video. ‘I could easily go back to the show and make a lot of money,’ she said, ‘but I still would not really be able to control what I spend in the world and what I see in this space. At the moment, it is in our industry that everyone is scared, and no one is really doing much of the things that need to be done. ”
She specifically referred to the powerful producer Scott Rudin, who has long been described as insulting to staff, recently in a detailed article on April 7 in The Hollywood Reporter. Rudin is not a producer of ‘Moulin Rouge!’ No, and Olivo did not cooperate with him, but she did comment on overall operating practices.
“The silence about Scott Rudin: unacceptable,” she said in the video. “It should not matter.”
She challenges colleagues to speak. “Those of you who say you’re afraid – what are you afraid of?” she said. “Shouldn’t you be afraid of not saying something anymore and hurting more people?”
In a phone call later Wednesday, Olivo said the lack of broader response to the Hollywood Reporter’s story broke me open and contributed to her feeling that ‘Broadway is not the place I want to be.’
A Rudin spokesman said he would not comment.
Olivo, 44, began her Broadway career as an understudy in ‘Rent’. She breaks out in the original cast of the Lin-Manuel Miranda musical “In the Heights” and in 2009 won a Tony Award playing Anita in a revival of “West Side Story”.
She had previously resigned from the industry. In 2013, she moved to Madison, Wis., Where she and her husband have a home and grow older with two children. She has lived there since Broadway closed last year.
Olivo taught at her alma mater, the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music, and said she’s committed to helping develop aspiring artists. During the pandemic, she and another actor, Eden Espinosa, also founded a advocacy organization, Afect, which seeks to achieve greater financial transparency in the theater industry.
In an interview conducted in December, Olivo expressed concern about whether Broadway would develop after the strike, and whether she would return thereafter. “I hope everyone is changing the industry and not just trying to come back so we can refill our suitcases,” she said.
“Social justice is actually more important than being the sparkling diamond,” she said in Wednesday’s video, referring to her ‘Moulin Rouge!’ character, Satine, referred to in the musical. “It’s more important to build a better industry for my students than to put money in my pocket.”
In the telephone interview, Olivo added: “I’m going to make art with the people who I think match my integrity, who want to do it right, and if the people do not come, I will make it myself.”
The “Moulin Rouge!” producers said in a statement that the show “forever owes its thanks to the artistry, passion and skill of Karen Olivo to create the role of Satine on stage. We applaud and support Karen’s advocacy for a safe, diverse and create a fair theater industry for all. ”
Earlier this week, three unions in the entertainment industry issued a statement calling for a ‘harassment-free workplace’, cited by the Hollywood Reporter, but not referring to it.
“No employee may be subjected to bullying or harassment, whether or not he or she is a union member,” said the statement from the presidents of SAG-AFTRA, the Actors’ Equity Association and the American Federation of Local Musicians 802.