'Hadestown' Producers Apologize to Hearing Impaired Audience Member After Star Lillias White Mistakenly Called Her Out for Recording the Show

The producers of the Tony-winning Broadway musical Hadestown are speaking out in response to an incident that occurred during a performance on Wednesday (October 13).

Audience member Samantha Coleman claims that actress Lillias White called her out from stage during the performance on two separate occasions and accused her of recording the performance.

Samantha, who suffers from hearing loss, was sitting in the front row and used a captioning device to allow her to read the dialogue throughout the performance.

“Today I was [called] out by a Broadway actor from the stage, not once, but twice, for recording the performance when I wasn’t actually recording,” Samantha said in an Instagram video. “I was sitting in the front row of Hadestown tonight and Lillias White not once, but twice, at least, reprimanded me from the stage because she thought my captioning device was a recording device. I’m sure she wasn’t the only person on stage who might have thought that. She was the only person however to call me out… I don’t think this is inherently her malice. I think it’s a misunderstanding but we still need to talk about it.”

Click inside to read what the producers said in response…

The producers of the show have released a statement in response to the incident.

“Hadestown and Jujamcyn have a commitment to accessibility in all forms. The incident yesterday is a reminder that this is an ongoing process needing constant revisiting and renewal,” the statement read (via Playbill). “Providing access is also about educating everyone in the theater about how we can be more supportive. We are reviewing our policies and internal protocols to ensure this doesn’t happen again. We extend our deepest apologies to Samantha and extend our gratitude to her for sharing her experience so that it can be addressed.”

Watch Samantha‘s video below.