Norm Lewis as... "Triton" in Little Mermaid?

[javertjunky]

Posted: 2/7/07 at 6:00pm

I just found out that Norm Lewis is going to be cast as Triton in Little Mermaid. It is said that he will leave Les Miz around Easter to start on L.M. This is both exciting and upsetting!

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 2/7/07 at 6:03pm

PLEASE DON'T LET IT BE TRUE!

[Fenchurch]

Posted: 2/7/07 at 6:03pm

I think that's awesome. I've heard great things about him and what I have heard of him is fantastic.

[javertjunky]

Posted: 2/7/07 at 6:06pm

He is amazing!! It excites me that he will be the first to play the role, but it upsets me more that he will have to leave my favorite show and my favorite character.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 2/7/07 at 6:06pm

Link?

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 2/7/07 at 6:07pm

Please someone explain this to me.

Ariel is white.

I'm all for color-blind casting, but when it's believeable.

This, I don't get.

[Shawk]

Posted: 2/7/07 at 6:10pm

Uh, Ariel is also a mermaid, and I assume there will also be people playing lobsters and fish. I don't think race is going to be a big concern.

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 2/7/07 at 6:12pm

What does that have to do with anything?

I don't care what kind of world the show takes place in. It's still inaccurate.

[Julian2]

Posted: 2/7/07 at 6:14pm

Ah it depends on the production. I could be VERY distracting, I can see it being people comething just have to freaking get over, or no one will notice. I'm inclined to think it would be VERY hard for it to be that much of a problem though. It is a fairy tail. Like in Cinderella.

[musicaltheater1]

Posted: 2/7/07 at 6:22pm

I wonder if the rumor of Neil Patrick Harris playing Javert is true?

[Shawk]

Posted: 2/7/07 at 6:25pm

So... it's documented just how mermaid genetics work?

I was just speaking as to suspension of disbelief. If we can pretend that people are lobsters, I think we can probably handle Norm Lewis as Triton, especially as race isn't really one of the central themes of "The Little Mermaid."

I saw Nikki Renee Daniels as Belle in BATB, and the man playing Maurice was African American (I'm blanking on his name); I thought that was a nice touch, but if Maurice had been a white guy, I don't think it would have destroyed the production for me.

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 2/7/07 at 6:28pm

Is race a central theme in THE LION KING?

No.

Has there been a white Simba?

I don't believe so.

[Joshua488]

Posted: 2/7/07 at 6:29pm

Well, we don't know who Ariel's mother is, so who's to say that the mother isn't white?

And it's a fantasy about mermaids, which don't even exist. So who's to say that this sort of thing is impossible in the mermaid world??

[Fenchurch]

Posted: 2/7/07 at 6:43pm

No, race is not the central theme of The Lion King

Hoever, The Lion King has definite racial connotations, as well as cultural ones, so it would be culturally insensitive to cast that differently.

The Little Mermaid is not a modern fairy tale with multicultural undertones, and therefore your analogy, FOAnatic, is shaky at best.

The Little Mermaid has no racial requirements.
And I'm sorry FOAnatic, if you have a problem with this, then you should take a look at yourself and how you handle racial sensitivity.

[broadwaybound882]

Posted: 2/7/07 at 6:45pm

While I support Norm in this POSSIBLE, endeavour, I will definitely miss the guy as Javert. I don't even think this increases Drew Sarich's chances of being Javert during any period. I think Robert Hunt is Norm's principal understudy. But well wishes to Norm and all the more reason to catch Mermaid.

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 2/7/07 at 6:46pm

Oh give me a break. It's not like a made a big stink about Vanessa Williams as the Witch in INTO THE WOODS. I saw her and enjoyed her performance very much.

As I've stated over and over. I am ALL FOR colorblind casting. But when you're dealing with a mother/daughter father/son relationship it just doesn't make sense unless it's we're dealing with adoption, etc.

So, please. I'm not the one with racial problems. Just problems with incongruencies.

Updated On: 2/7/07 at 06:46 PM

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 2/7/07 at 6:47pm

Now, did you get this information from reading The Little Mermaid casting speculation thread?

'Cause even if it is true, nothing is a done deal until it opens. Updated On: 2/7/07 at 06:47 PM

[Shawk]

Posted: 2/7/07 at 6:49pm

I knew this discussion was going to turn out so well...

[Fenchurch]

Posted: 2/7/07 at 6:49pm

Still, its a fantasy.

And if you have a problem with this, then you don't understand colorblind casting.

And if you really have a problem with incongruities, then you would have a problem with a lot, including Japanese actors and singers in Flower Drum Song, and every white person who has stepped up on stage as a hispanic, or especially Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Do you have a problem with those?

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 2/7/07 at 6:52pm

including Japanese actors and singers in Flower Drum Song, and every white person who has stepped up on stage as a hispanic, or especially Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Please...now you're just splitting hairs.

I was not talking about actual heritage. I was talking about appearance. If a white person appears Hispanic...I have no problem with them playing the part of a Hispanic.

I never said you had to be Japanese to play Japanese. You're mincing words.

Updated On: 2/7/07 at 06:52 PM

[Julian2]

Posted: 2/7/07 at 6:56pm

Updated On: 2/7/07 at 06:56 PM

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 2/7/07 at 6:56pm

I just found out that Norm Lewis is going to be cast as Triton in Little Mermaid.

No way! You read the other threads!!!

[Fenchurch]

Posted: 2/7/07 at 6:58pm

Oh, I see.

So if Norm Lewis looked white it would be ok?

And I dont know about you, but I certainly tell the difference between a Chinese person and a Japanese person.

And I think a lot of latinos would have a problem with a white person no matter how tan playing a role written as latino. (Natalie Wood in WSS anyone?)
You may not have a problem with it, but a lot of people do.

But I think the real issue is whether or not the White Mermaid community is upset about this. Because if not, it's none of your business.

In other news, the Carribbean crustacean community is pushing for more opprtunities for minority lobsters, and are watching the casting process closely.

PS, let me tell you a story about my best friend, who is latino and has a white mother. When he was ten years old, he was coming out of a movie with his latino father and his father was arrested, because his son looked so very white and the father looked very dark and did not speak english. The cop arrested him because he thought he was kidnapping my friend. It took his mother coming out of work to get him out of prison.

Good thing you're not a mer-cop, FOAnatic

PS...if Sebastian is native, then they are in the Carribbean, which has a long history of fluid racial intermixing, so its entirely possible that Ariel's mother was white. Unless you have a problem with that, FOAnatic.

Updated On: 2/7/07 at 06:58 PM

[FOAnatic]

Posted: 2/7/07 at 7:01pm

Oh, wow.

You really showed me.

How will I ever compete with such wit?

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 2/7/07 at 7:01pm

ts Disney, I'm not too worried about a lot of character to have inconsistencies with. Besides, its a fairy tail! It is by definition, not conforming to reality.

Yes...

and have actors of the same ethnicity ever played Scar and Mufasa?