Controversies

As many musicals, *Ride the Cyclone* has had a variety of controversies surrounding aspects and changes to the play.

## Costumes

### Karnak's Costumes

In the 2019 Jungle Theater production of Ride The Cyclone, an early costume design for Jim Lichtsheidl's Karnak had him with his skin slightly darkened and with a beard and turban to make him look more Middle Eastern, playing into ethnic stereotypes. Altering the color of a person's skin so that they appear to be of a different race is generally considered racist.

## War footage

For the 2023 Chance Theater production, footage of the Russo-Ukrainian War was used at the end of the number "Talia." This choice, which became more widely known online when the production was bootlegged, has received a mixed response online: while some view it as a reminder of the war and a tribute to the country of Ukraine, others have referred to it as insensitive and virtue signalling.

## Firings

### The firing and treatment of Yannick-Robin Eike Mirko

Yannick-Robin Eike Mirko, the first disabled person to play Ricky Potts, a physically disabled character, was fired after having a medical emergency during a performance. Their able-bodied understudy was given the last three shows of the McCarter Theater run. Before this, he experienced ableism from the cast and crew of the production. Some examples of this ableism include them being referred to as "the chair", the costume department removing parts of his costume that made it more accessible for him, and discussions about how to accommodate their disability being held without them present. The #SaveRickyPotts petition for better treatment of disabled actors currently has 3143 signatures as of this writing.

## Script Changes

### Changes to Ricky Potts' character and backstory

*Ride the Cyclone*'s depiction of disabilities, most prominently through the character of Ricky Potts, was already controversial. When the show was first performed in 2008, none of the characters were disabled: the character of Hank was given a disability in 2010 but the character was later cut, with Ricky Potts ultimately gaining a disability in 2013 according to original cast member Kholby Wardell. However, while Ricky was written as being disabled and using mobility aids, most character descriptions made prior to 2022 state that he no longer needs his mobility aids in the afterlife. Because of this, the needs of production would require Ricky to be played by a non-disabled actor—indeed, this was the case in previous productions of the show prior to the McCarter production.

In an attempt to address this, as well as the conflict that stemmed from Yannick Mirko's time in the show, the writers created a new version of the script wherein Ricky is no longer disabled; instead, he has gone through traumatic mutism after seeing his father killed by a fatal snake bite. A table of the specific line changes can be viewed here. An early version of this script was first used for the Blue Bridge Theatre production in Victoria in June 2022, with the finalized version first seen at Arena Stage in January 2023. The result has received a mixed response. Though the creators justified it as no longer requiring the actor playing Ricky to be disabled either way, fans of the show have made the point that it essentially removes the concrete disability representation that was present in some of the musical's most-seen iterations. Among other issues, it misrepresents traumatic mutism as a conscious choice and de-contextualizes "Space Age Bachelor Man" and Ricky's heightened abilities.

Although Broadway Licensing's perusal copy of the *Ride the Cyclone* libretto uses this new version of the script, the changes to Ricky's character are optional, according to Kholby Wardell. The Chance Theater production, which ran concurrently with the Arena Stage production, used the version of the script wherein Ricky is still disabled.