This is the first in a series of seven articles about the Purple Rose and the stories that have come out about it. Click here for Part 2. Click here for Part 3.

The Purple Rose Theatre, an Equity house in Chelsea, Michigan founded and run by actor Jeff Daniels, has been accused of operating a toxic environment that is abusive to women, people of color, and those identifying as LGBTQ+.

A year after officially contacting the Purple Rose, several people have gone public with their “Purple Stories” on an Instagram account.

On Sept. 14, 2020, a 22-page letter outlining abuses dating back 20 years and demands for change was sent to members of the Purple Rose board, Katie Hubbard, Amy Klain, Guy Sanville, and Daniels. There were 60 signatures when it was sent, 10 more signatures were added afterward, and 13 signatures were anonymous.

Hubbard, the Rose’s managing director, said the board ordered an immediate internal investigation and they did not find any evidence of the complaints in their records.

“It’s important to know that there were no records of complaints against any of our management via the Actor’s Equity by any employees,” Hubbard said. “For every performance, there is an actor’s union deputy, a rep to consider all appropriate practices and there have been no reports from those deputies, no grievances filed with the union having to do with anything inappropriate with any rehearsal.”

“It was shocking to not have any reports of any misconduct and then all of a sudden be hit with that,” Hubbard said.

Nonetheless, the Purple Rose made a financial settlement offer that the artists turned down. Hubbard said that sometimes it is more fiscally responsible to offer a settlement than to proceed to arbitration.

Jeremy Kucharek, a former artistic associate who was one of the people who signed the letter, said it wasn’t a financial settlement they wanted.

“We all collectively agreed that none of us were in it for the money,” Kucharek said. “We wanted a public acknowledgment of wrongdoings, an apology, and a real plan moving forward including a designated human resources person.”

A request for comment from Daniels was referred back to the Purple Rose staff.

Actor’s Equity filed grievances on behalf of ten artists. It went to arbitration and the arbiter threw out all but one case in June of 2021 because the cases were not filed within 30 days of when the incidents happened.

The one case that was settled had to do with retaliation against someone who had cooperated with the Equity investigation.

Hubbard said that while the time frame was the official reason the cases were dismissed, it was not the only reason.

“There was no evidence per the arbitrator that there was a consistent pattern of unlawful behavior or retaliation,” Hubbard said.

On Aug. 20, 2020, Attorney Noah S. Hurwitz of NachtLaw informed the Purple Rose that ten former apprentices were lodging a wage and hour violation complaint. The Purple Rose settled this case out of court with the settlement terms confidential.

“We did resolve the wage and hour disagreement with past apprentices,” Hubbard said. “Both sides agreed to the terms and both agreed the terms would remain confidential.”

The Purple Rose and Actor’s Equity are currently in negotiation over the Purple Rose’s contract.

The apprentice program, which is the source of most of the abuse complaints, has since been disbanded and the Purple Rose has hired an outside human resources firm to help with future hiring and handling of complaints. Hubbard said the ending of the apprenticeship program has allowed them to hire several theater professionals, including some diverse hires.

Many former apprentices complained about the false advertising of the program. They were told they would have access to educational classes and the opportunity to learn about all areas of the theater. Instead, several said, they were primarily given menial, non-artistic duties and told that was how they had to break into the business.

One former apprentice, Jowi Estava, said during the ten months she was in the program in 2014-2015, there were only four classes offered and two of them were on how to clean things.

A petition was started at change.org calling on the Purple Rose to alter its course and to hold people accountable for their actions. It has been signed by more than 300 people.

Several former Purple Rose artists have shared their stories of trauma and abuse that took place at the Purple Rose. The most common complaints had to do with Artistic Director Sanville engaging in workplace bullying and making comments that were sexist, racist or homophobic.

Kucharek said that from the signing of the initial complaint until now, it has been a scary process for them and that it was devastating to have a 30-day time limit be used to throw out their complaints, given that many of them hadn’t processed their abuse in that time frame.

“It was mind-boggling considering what we have learned about victims and abuse and the #metoo movement,” Kucharek said. “We’ve learned how power and money can stifle voices and how difficult it is to speak out from others, especially when you have someone like Jeff Daniels who has all the power and connections and the money he holds.”

Kucharek said that while Daniels might not be able to jeopardize other work in Michigan, they all feel the threat with his connections.

“He can go to Melissa Gilbert, to theater companies across the nation and Broadway and the film community and further a bad reputation for us,” Kucharek said.

Sanville did not reply to two Facebook messages sent to him. Requests made to speak with him were sent to the Purple Rose address and the Purple Rose public relations firm was answered by arranging contact with Hubbard. Sanville had taken down his public Facebook account since these incidents started surfacing.

Many artists said they had a mixed experience at the Purple Rose; some of it was good, some were not. Stephanie Buck reflected a sentiment shared by many others.

“I had some really horrific experiences at the Rose,” Buck said. “I also had some beautiful experiences at the Purple Rose. I also made some mistakes while I was at the Purple Rose. I was part of a system that I did not understand in many ways for a long time.”

Incidents that have surfaced include an artist being fired for calling a suicide hotline, inappropriate intimacy exercises and non-choreographed rehearsal scenes, racist comments made to actors of color directly and behind their backs, threats made to those who made complaints about unfair treatment, casting white actors in roles created for actors of color, young actors being screamed at in front of staff for minor incidents, actors not being cast because of their weight (despite the role calling for a heavyset person and the person being cast wearing a fat suit), and stage managers being told they would not be hired again because they were married to an actor and it would be bad for their marriage.

These incidents and others are detailed in the remaining articles in this series:

Workplace bullying
Employment law issues
Race-related incidents
Hostility toward LGBTQ+ artists
Intimacy and gender issues

The final article will address the changes The Purple Rose Theatre has been making since June 2020.

Dan Johnson, who helped draft the letter and file the complaints with Equity, said the thing he keeps getting stuck on is why the Michigan theater community has stayed silent.

“Why haven’t more people in the theater community demanded that this organization do better because I can name people going back literally decades, to the mid-90s who have experienced abuse, unfair treatment, and all sorts of awful things. And I can say from my personal experience over the past few years that it seems like these situations have been getting more and more intense and more and more frequent targeting younger artists, female-identifying artists, BIPOC, and LGBTQI artists.”

He said it is especially hard because of the status that the Purple Rose has in Michigan.

“When you grow up in an environment like Michigan theater and you want to become a theater professional, the Purple Rose is where you want to go. That’s how I grew up,” Johnson said. “Then to encounter radio silence from the larger Michigan theater community…People are bothered and do care, but not enough to risk not working out there.”

Click here for Part 2: Former employees share stories of hostile work environment

If you have more you’d like to share about this and other Purple Rose stories, please contact Bridgette Redman at bredman.lsj@gmail.com

'Problems at The Purple Rose' - Part 1: Michigan theater owned by Jeff Daniels accused of abuse

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