It has been reported that Broadway’s Beauty and the Beast stage director Rob Roth has resigned from the upcoming U.K. and Ireland tour after a message leaked with him praising Scott Rudin after his alleged bullying and workplace harassment.
What’s Happening:
- Deadline has reported that Rob Roth resigned after an email message was leaked by an airline passenger seated next to Roth. He was set to revamp the musical Beauty and the Beast for the upcoming U.K and Ireland tour.
- The message showed Roth congratulating Scott Rudin, who was recently in the center of a bullying and workplace harassment report by The Hollywood Reporter, and denigrating actress Karen Olivo, who quit Moulin Rouge! in protest of the silence from others on Scott Rudin’s abuse.
- Roth had later confirmed that the email was authentic.
- Disney announced soon after that Roth will be replaced with director and choreographer Matt West.
- The news of a Beauty and the Beast musical revival was revealed during the Walt Disney Family Museum’s Happily Ever After Hours event in July when Linda Woolverton said the new production will be reimagined, redesigned, and reconceptualized.