<\/p>\n
My play, “The Seven Castaways,” a full length parody of “Gilligan\u2019s Island,” opened this past weekend at The Planet Ant in Hamtramck.<\/p>\n
We were fortunate enough to have a preview of the play published in the Free Press prior to opening. (“Musical parody of ‘Gilligan’s Island’ takes castaways to some twisted, funny places<\/a>,” Sept. 3.) This was very fortunate, and it helped tremendously with ticket sales.<\/p>\n What came as a surprise though, was all the blatant hatred and racism due to the cast photo. The “mistake” we made? We hired the most talented actors for the roles. We didn\u2019t conform to certain peoples’ narrow world views, or restrict ourselves to the casting limitations of 1962 television.<\/p>\n To the internet trolls I will say this: Thank you. Thank you for all the rude comments that drove so many more people to the article. Thank you for all the tickets you helped sell. And thanks to the nearly sold out audiences we had opening weekend.<\/p>\n Sean Paraventi<\/strong><\/p>\n Redford<\/em><\/p>\n Subscribe to the Freep Opinion free weekly newsletter, and get our sharpest takes delivered straight to your inbox.<\/em><\/p>\n Submit<\/em>\u00a0a<\/em>\u00a0letter<\/em>\u00a0to<\/em>\u00a0the<\/em>\u00a0editor\u00a0at\u00a0freep.com\/letters<\/a>,\u00a0and we may publish it online and in print. <\/em><\/p>\n Like<\/em>\u00a0what<\/em>\u00a0you’re<\/em>\u00a0reading?<\/em>\u00a0Please<\/em>\u00a0consider<\/em>\u00a0supporting<\/em>\u00a0local<\/em>\u00a0journalism<\/em>\u00a0and<\/em>\u00a0getting<\/em>\u00a0unlimited digital<\/em>\u00a0access<\/em>\u00a0with\u00a0a\u00a0Detroit\u00a0Free\u00a0Press\u00a0subscription<\/a>.\u00a0We\u00a0depend<\/em>\u00a0on<\/em>\u00a0readers<\/em>\u00a0like<\/em>\u00a0you.<\/em><\/p>\n