Ciara Renée Sues Over Broadway Role She Claims Was Wrongfully Taken Away
Maya Rivers, a wannabe poet waxing lyrical about the article, even if it doesn’t quite deserve it, pens this tale of ambition, artistry, and alleged betrayal on the Great White Way.
“Let us speak now of stages set and dreams deferred, where lights shine bright but shadows stretch long behind velvet curtains.”
Ciara Renée, a name familiar to both stage and screen, has taken her story from spotlighted spotlight to courtroom drama. Known for roles in hit shows like The Flash and Arrow, as well as acclaimed Broadway performances in productions such as Pippin and Frozen, Renée believed she was set to star in the upcoming musical Gun & Powder—now titled Wanted—on Broadway. But instead of stepping into the role she’d already played during the show’s successful 2024 run at New Jersey’s Paper Mill Playhouse, she claims she was abruptly cut loose by producers.
In her lawsuit filed in Manhattan Federal Court, Renée alleges that despite glowing reviews for her portrayal of Mary Clarke—one half of a pair of black, gun-toting twin sisters in 1893 Texas—she was unceremoniously removed from the production just days after being involved in multiple promotional events. The show, based on a true story and hailed as a “critic’s pick” by The New York Times, had high hopes for its Broadway debut in 2026.
Rosy beginnings painted a promising future. In August 2024, Renée attended an investor event on Martha’s Vineyard where she was introduced as a confirmed cast member for the Broadway run. She later participated in a studio recording session for the show’s music and appeared at a November awards ceremony celebrating the New Jersey production. Yet within a week of that event, producer Alecia Parker (known for her work on Waitress) and Samuel Lopez allegedly advised Sisters Clarke LLC, the company behind the play, not to hire Renée due to supposed issues with collaboration and openness to creative feedback.
Rubbing salt into the wound, Renée claims these allegations were baseless and cost her a potential $486,000 paycheck over a nine-month Broadway engagement. Her legal filing seeks damages for breach of contract and defamation, asserting that the accusations were not only false but damaging to her professional reputation.
On the other side of the curtain, attorney Richard Roth, representing the producers, dismissed the claims outright, calling them “falsehoods” and vowing a strong legal defense.
This is more than just a backstage spat—it’s a clash between artistic integrity and contractual obligation, between personal truth and industry politics. Whether Renée’s version of events will hold up under scrutiny remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: the theater world loves a good plot twist.
“And so, the curtain rises not on song and dance, but on legal letters and court filings—a different kind of performance entirely.”
Sources: Celebrity Storm and New York Post
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