Veanne Cox.
(Steve Mack/Getty Images)
It’s rare for an actress to leave a big role, especially close to opening night. But Veanne Cox — scheduled to star in Shakespeare Theatre’s production of “Much Ado About Nothing” opening Friday —abruptly dropped out last week.
Why? The vague, all-purpose trope: “Artistic differences.” Which is the theatrical equivalent of that other D.C. fiction: “I want to spend more time with my family.”
The Tony-nominated actress was cast as Beatrice to Derek Smith’s Benedick in a modern version set on a sugar plantation in 1930’s Cuba. She’s a veteran with the company and Washington: training at Washington Ballet, Studio Theatre, and Catholic University before moving on to Broadway and Hollywood. (She has a small part in “Pan Am” this season.)
Arena Stage Director Ethan McSweeny.
(Alexander Berg/Courtesy Arena Stage)
Her return as Beatrice was highly touted until something — it’s unclear what — created bad blood between Cox and director Ethan McSweeny. She’s known for playing high-strung characters, and we know he wanted a hot, sexy version of the play. Cox and her reps did not return calls; the theater had no further comment beyond a press release last week announcing it and Cox “mutually agreed to part ways due to artistic differences.”
But what does that mean?
“Artistic differences” is a euphemism for “there was a big fight and someone lost.” Sometime it’s about money, sometimes about personality, rarely about actual artistic vision. But the outcome of a battle between director and actors almost always ends with the actor leaving the production — and a press release blaming artistic or “creative difference.” As Harry Shearer quipped when he left Saturday Night Live in 1984: “Yeah, I was creative, and they were different.”
Kathryn Meisle, who just played Beatrice in a New Jersey production of “Much Ado”, takes over the role here. But it looks like Cox has not burned her bridges with the company, according to the STC press release: “We do look forward to working with her again in the future as her work on our stages has been tremendous.”
Read also: “ Veanne Cox, time traveler ,” 11/22/2006.
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