Profile for MR11

_(•_&bull_/ said: "MR11 said: "There is a production of In The Heights happening in Pittsburgh that just started rehearsals. They've cast nonPOC as lead roles. What do you all think, in your opinion is the best course of action?

Do we as a theatre community....boycott the production? Alert the media? Speak to the nonPOC actors? Members of the latinxcommunity have already reached out to the company to express their concerns but no response.

 

Again, twisting my words. I was asking a question...as you can see from the "?" I wasn't suggesting it.

TROLL BABY TROLL!!



https://www.broadwayworld.com/pittsburgh/article/Lin-Manuel-Mirandas-IN-THE-HEIGHTS-Takes-The-Stage-In-Pittsburghs-West-End-20190104"



You very well know what boycotting will lead too. My point stands."

 

_(•_&bull_/ said: "You want to shut down a community performance because theres two cast members who are white. Even though white latinos exist, you still felt the need to think that only darker skinned lations can be in in the heights.

You failed to get outraged when african- americans took on the lead roles on broadway, even though they have no mexican descent. By accepting one race but having a public boycott over another pushes us a LARGE step backwards.

The fact is in the heights can have white people, and it doesnt make it racist. By saying white people (who can portray Lation decent) isnt allowed makes you wonder what else the next outrage is.

You cant eliminate ones culture.

With you being white, you are essentialy telling another race what they can and cant be. By telling another race (latinos) that white people cant be in a latino production, thus eliminating (white latinos) paints you as the racist type.

"

Everything you said above...is totally putting words in my mouth. I never ever said I wanted to "shut down" the performance. I acknowledged the fact that POC can and HAVE and SHOULD be in ITH.... and I acknowledged that the two actors in question are indeed NOT "White Latino." If you could refrain from putting words in my mouth or twisting my words that woud be awesome. Again, I came here for POSTIVE solutions and you spun it to the negative.

_(•_&bull_/ said: "This whole thread is just wow.


You are WHITE.

Again, this is NOT your battle.

 

Thank YOU for letting me know. I really appreciate you trolling me all afternoon when you could have been constructive. Help me understand that as a white person I'm not allowed to advocate for others in the theatre community? Why are you so against that? Why do you choose to be negative?

"

 

bk said: "MR11 said: "_(•_&bull_/ said: "You should also be VERY careful, some of us latinos pass as white.

Calm down, take a breather, and find a new audition. Youre acting like its the end of the world. Its not.

Dont support it, why are you going to ruin a fun time for actors, dressers, stage managers, musicians, lights, props, ushers, box office staff all because two actors are white.

Grow up."



I didn't audition because I'm WHITE, and it wouldn't be appropriate for me to tell this story.

I'm sad to see that you don't care about representation in the arts. Why does the length of the run matter? It could be a one night only concert reading and it would still be wrong.

I guess you also don't care about the authors and how they want their work to be done?

Remind me to never work with you.

"

Earlier you said you hadn't auditioned because you weren't an actor. Now you're saying you didn't audition because you're white. While you weren't explicit about it, I believe your initial posts were designed to make people think you were not white. You want to know why people think this is fishy? Let me put on my thinking cap."

I apologize for not disclosing my age, name, gender, ethnicity, address, marital status. etc in my first post. I didn't realize those were requirements to post here. 

_(•_&bull_/ said: "Everytime this topic comes up, its the white person who is more offended then the actual latinos.

The truth is you dont know if they are white. They could be white passing.

If they are white passing, I feel absolutely terrible for them. They want to perform their culture and here you are a (white person) trying to take that away from them.

This isnt your battle."

 

I literally know both actors and know that they are not Latinx at all. So I'm not assuming they are "white passing" which in itself isn't a great term at all, actually it's pretty horrible and I'm shocked you would even use it. 

So in this instance, you are incorrect. The two actors in question are not "white passing." 

 

_(•_&bull_/ said: "Again, white people can be latino. Just because they have softer skin doesnt make them any less of a latino then someone with darker skin.

"

Again, one of the actors used the hashtag #italiangirl in their Instagram announcing their role. Pretty sure that means she isn't latinx.

_(•_&bull_/ said: "Why is it that white people are always telling us minorities what is and what isn't racist. If it was SUCH a problem with that theatre group, all the other latinos in the cast would have made it an issue.


You are white. You dont get to say what is againt cultural representation and what isnt.

Jordan sparks, corbin blu were both African americans and joined the broadway cast.

Guess what, white people were in the broadway cast.

Guess what, WHITE PEOPLE CAN BE MEXICAN!!!

This isnt your issue. Dont support it then."

 So am I not allowed to show support for issues that aren't specifically white? Am I not allowed to March for Gay rights if I'm not gay? Am I not allowed to March for Women's rights if I'm not a woman? It's called SUPPORT and ADVOCACY.

It is MY issue as an artist in the theatre community to challenge and want our theatres to grow and understand....  At the very least they are going against what the authors have intended so that should be reason enough.......

 

What about what the author said? Do you know agree with this?

 

American Theatre Magazine called it a “whitewashing” and included an email interview with the show’s book writer, Hudes, who stated that “I’m happy for schools and communities who do not have [Latino] actors on hand to use In the Heights as an educational experience for participants of all stripes.” For professional productions, she added, “Casting the roles appropriately is of fundamental importance… You cannot just put out a casting call and hope people come and then shrug if they don’t show up. You may need to add extra casting calls (I do this all the time), go do outreach in communities you haven’t worked with before. You may need to reach out to the Latino theatres and artists and build partnerships to share resources and information. You may need to fly in actors from out of town if you’ve exhausted local avenues, and house them during the run…. When faced with these expensive obstacles, an organization’s status quo sometimes wins because it’s cheaper and less trouble. The Latino community has the right to be disappointed and depressed that an opportunity like this was lost.”

http://www.playbill.com/article/porchlist-artistic-director-responds-to-in-the-heights-casting

_(•_&bull_/ said: "If youre white this shouldnt affect you.

Go get your woke points somewhere else."

I'm just confused as to why you are so triggered by people caring about representation? That makes no sense to me.....

_(•_&bull_/ said: "You should also be VERY careful, some of us latinos pass as white.

Calm down, take a breather, and find a new audition. Youre acting like its the end of the world. Its not.

Dont support it, why are you going to ruin a fun time for actors, dressers, stage managers, musicians, lights, props, ushers, box office staff all because two actors are white.

Grow up."

 

 I didn't audition because I'm WHITE, and it wouldn't be appropriate for me to tell this story. 

I'm sad to see that you don't care about representation in the arts. Why does the length of the run matter? It could be a one night only concert reading and it would still be wrong. 

I guess you also don't care about the authors and how they want their work to be done? 

Remind me to never work with you.

 

fashionguru_23 said: "Is it bad that I looked at the Twitter photo earlier up in the thread, and saw no one who I had an issue with. Its not like Andrew Keenan Bolger is playing Benny"

This mindset is dangerous and part of the problem. Just because someone "looks" a certain way doesn't hold up anymore in the arts and in shows that are specifically about a culture of people. In addition, the authors expressed that they want the roles cast appropriately. 

 

American Theatre Magazine called it a “whitewashing” and included an email interview with the show’s book writer, Hudes, who stated that “I’m happy for schools and communities who do not have [Latino] actors on hand to use In the Heights as an educational experience for participants of all stripes.” For professional productions, she added, “Casting the roles appropriately is of fundamental importance… You cannot just put out a casting call and hope people come and then shrug if they don’t show up. You may need to add extra casting calls (I do this all the time), go do outreach in communities you haven’t worked with before. You may need to reach out to the Latino theatres and artists and build partnerships to share resources and information. You may need to fly in actors from out of town if you’ve exhausted local avenues, and house them during the run…. When faced with these expensive obstacles, an organization’s status quo sometimes wins because it’s cheaper and less trouble. The Latino community has the right to be disappointed and depressed that an opportunity like this was lost.”

http://www.playbill.com/article/porchlist-artistic-director-responds-to-in-the-heights-casting

 

jpbran said: "I'm still confused by the marketing images... makes it looks like audiences will see LMM in the lead role."

Hamilton is playing in Pittsburgh at the moment so I think its safe to assume they are riding on the coattails of that with the show and marketing? 

henrikegerman said: "haterobics said: "Isn't this just community theater? Only doing like 7 shows, and based on their instagram, it isn't easy to tell who is playing who, but not just a bunch of white people:https://www.instagram.com/p/BsWcRH_BUIV/"

I'm taking the question seriously.
But haterobics is right about the picture of the cast not being all white people.

I never said it was "all white people." But there are several lead roles being played by white people including Kevin and Camilla. In face the actress playing that role even used the hashtag #italiangirl in her insta post announcing her involvement. 

 

And the picture was posted yesterday on the first day of rehearsals. A cast list/announcement still hasn't been given to press because they are trying to avoid the backlash as long as possible I suppose?

As you can see they did try to cast the show with Latinx but even having any roles played by white people is very problematic. Think about how awful Kevin's storyline will play with a WHITE actor in the role......

 

I'm guessing it's not "very serious" to you because you aren't a POC fighting for representation and roles and instead they are being given to white actors? 

Very sad.

This is an Equity, professional company with a two-week run.  Also, does it really matter? I came to this board for advice and it's too bad that everyone is just going to make a joke out of it. I'm not an actor and I didn't audition. I'm a theatre artist trying to fight for what is right and just and it seems that no one wants to take seriously on this message board. We all can do better. 

I agree, but how do we take action? Our community is pretty small and no one seems to want to ruffle any feathers because they want to work for them in the future. Shouldn't this issue be more important than the possibility of you performing on their stage in the future? Why would you even want to after this blatant disregard?