Color Blind Casting- Page 2

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 10/24/06 at 4:18pm

I have no problem with color blind casting.... Hell I just finished a production of Cinderella where the King was African-American, the Queen was White and the Prince was Asian-American...

But what would you do if it were 1985 and you are running auditions for the kids in Sound Of Music, and you get an African-American who is a pushy stage mother insiting that her child be cast? I had to calmly remind her that none of the VonTrapp kids are A-Am.

[robbiej]

Posted: 10/24/06 at 4:18pm

Like Max von Sydow as Jesus?

Like anyone Anglo as Jesus?

[avab802]

Posted: 10/24/06 at 4:24pm

I do think there's a difference, however, between a fictional story, and one where the actors are portraying real people. (We know that Rose Hovick and her kids were white...)

This is true Walt. I wasn't thinking about the fact that Mama Rose is based on a real person, just that race doesn't matter in the context of the story being told.

[WaltSummersPI]

Posted: 10/24/06 at 4:27pm

I mean, I'd KILL to see LaChanze take on Rose's Turn, though...

[robbiej]

Posted: 10/24/06 at 4:28pm

Well, then. Shouldn't THAT be the litmus test? Instead of her skin color?

[theaterdude87]

Posted: 10/24/06 at 4:34pm

i did a complete color blind cast of inherit the wind,...talk about weird.

[avab802]

Posted: 10/24/06 at 4:34pm

I mean, I'd KILL to see LaChanze take on Rose's Turn, though...

Ooo, she would be fabulous. It could work. The average theatre-goer probably doesn't know who Rose Hovick was anyway...

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 10/24/06 at 4:36pm

Well, I want to see Jennifer Holliday do "Rose's Turn" one of these days. I know her voice is all wrong for it and it's historically inaccurate and maybe a little weird, but I still want to see it. And I bet she'd get a standing ovation for it.

[robbiej]

Posted: 10/24/06 at 4:38pm

I'm partial to Lillias White's Rose. Should I ever get to see it.

[Calvin]

Posted: 10/24/06 at 4:39pm

Race is a loaded word. What we're really talking about is skin color, which is a physical characteristic. So why does this characteristic matter more to audiences than others?



This is Maria von Trapp. Her hair looks nothing like the person most associated with the role. Her build is definitely different. Tyne Daly is heavier set than Bernadette Peters, but they both have played Mama Rose (and I have no idea what the original Rose's build looked like). I understand that race has certain baggage with it that is harder for audiences to overcome and could affect the style of the show. But should we let it be that way?
Updated On: 10/24/06 at 04:39 PM

[DG]

Posted: 10/24/06 at 4:40pm

T-Diva - I saw a multi-racial SoMUSIC. The Mother Superior was Black, and she RIPPED UP "Climb Every Mountain".

But the Black Nazis were a bit of a stretch . . .

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 10/24/06 at 4:44pm

Margo- Miss Holldiay would probably get a standing ovation for standing onstage and burping.

I've said it before, that unless the role is specifically one gender or the other, it doesn't usually matter. For example, I, a small white boy will never play Coalhouse Walker Jr. This saddens me, but I move on. However, I COULD end up playing Jacob in "La Cage Aux Folles" (I hadn't seen an African American Jacob until the revival).
Some of the best color-blind/non-traditional casting I have seen was when Fort Worth's Bass Hall did "Wizard of Oz" and Aunt Em/Glinda and Uncle Henry/Half the major secondary Oz Characters were African American to Jessica-Snow Wilson's Dorothy, and it was incredible. Another really amazing one was in my school's version of "Working" we didn't have an African American girl to play the Cleaning Woman, so we had a Hispanic girl play the role.

Anyhow, that's my 2 Cents

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 10/24/06 at 5:01pm

Obviously Color Purple has everything to do with race. And I doubt Oprah would ever let them even attempt to slip a white girl into the role.

My school just did a production of "The Playboy of the Western World" and our Christy Mahon was black. Nobody really thought it was weird, until we realized the play took place in Ireland in the early 1900s. But none of the audiences seemed to mind, since the story was universally and wasn't specific in it's mention of Ireland.

I think Norm Lewis is going to be glorious in Les Miz. Have you heard the man sing?! It's like heaven is pouring out of his mouth. I really hope they record this cast.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 10/24/06 at 5:07pm

I can recall seeing a production of the play KIT MARLOWE (about the playwright Christopher Marlowe) at the Public a few years ago and the supporting role of Sir Walter Raleigh was played by the fine African-American actor Keith David. Now, yes, we all know that the real Raleigh was white and British, but David was such a charismatic and dominant presence that within 30 seconds you forgot all about the real Raleigh. He was so convincing in fact that two of the friends I went with told me at intermission that, when I mentioned the nontraditional casting of David, they were so taken with his performance that they had completely forgotten that fact that Raleigh was white. It didn't matter. He was just a great actor giving a great performance and the play had nothing to do with race, so our suspension of disbelief was easy and it didn't distract one iota from the drama on the stage. Perhaps such nontraditional casting doesn't work in all instances, but I think audiences can accept it on a great many occasions, especially when really talented actors are involved.

[WaltSummersPI]

Posted: 10/24/06 at 5:23pm

OK, here's a question... does it make any difference to y'all whether it's a white actor playing a non-white role or vice versa?

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 10/24/06 at 5:25pm

It depends on the play and the role and the actor.

Updated On: 10/24/06 at 05:25 PM

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 10/24/06 at 5:27pm

Walt-
It depends on the role. When race is not a factor into it, and the change won't detract from the production, then non-traditional casting should be fine. However, as I also said, a white actor could not play Coalhouse Walker Jr.

[jess20882]

Posted: 10/24/06 at 5:28pm

I know this has been said a million times before, but I am all for colorblind casting, UNLESS the race is one of the focuses of the story, like The Color Purple, parts of Hairspray, Ragtime, Showboat, etc.

Norm Lewis is black, yes, and he's playing Javert. And little Kylie Goldstein, one of the new Young Cosettes/Eponines, is Asian-American. However, for roles like Mary Poppins, Maria Von Trapp, and obviously many ensemble parts, the casting should not center on race. It should center on talent and attitude.

[ashbash1990]

Posted: 10/24/06 at 5:34pm

With shows like les miz, i think the most important thing is to keep races consistant. for example, while both are great, daphne rubin vegais latina, while ali ewoldt is asian... so the mother daughter thing doesn't work... but otherwise, color blind casting is ok, i think...

[ahmelie]

Posted: 10/24/06 at 5:36pm

Okay, what about this, when race isn't a central theme in the story, but it's still indicated in the text.

Example: Audra McDonald playing The Beggar Woman in Sweeney Todd in spite of the text indicating that she is "pale with yellow hair"

Should color blind casting still be used?

[COOOOLkid]

Posted: 10/24/06 at 5:42pm

If it's one little lyric/dialogue that's keeping a person from playing the role, then I think this world is corrupt.

[ahmelie]

Posted: 10/24/06 at 5:44pm

It's not one lyric, it's repeated throughout the show over and over.

[BroadwayBettini]

Posted: 10/24/06 at 7:50pm

At least in my oppinion this is what I feel about the difference in Racial Casting in Les Mis and Color Purple.

The Color Purple is all about race. Some may disagree, but the poverty that the characters endure is simply beacause they are of a certain race at a certain time in American History. If the characters are poor and white(during the same time period) they would still on some level in American society have more rights to achieve their goals and objectives. Not to mention how much of the color purple is about African American culture, Music, Dance, and faith, at a difficult time for all Americans (the depression). The song Africa wouldn't have as much importance let alone signifigance if the cast was mixed or caucasian.

Les Mis...is about the French. It's about the years after the revolution. So some may argue that the cast should be white, in order to depict the French as the french are. But Les Miz has already put it's stamp on the musical theater world. And for some odd reason most people don't even think when there is color blind casting in a show so prevelent and well known throught the world and musical theater community. Roles every actor itches to play, wheather black, white, hispanic, and asian. As far as I'm concerned it's about the actor and not the color when it concerns Les Mis. Because the story is not about "These people are poor because they are white" these people are poor because they live in France during a certain time. With The Color Purple, these people are poor and face trials because they are BLACK and living in America at a certain time.

[StephenSondheimWHOO]

Posted: 10/24/06 at 8:19pm

It really really depends, A white person could not do TCP, she refrences to her being black (how akward would it be to have a white person sing "I MAY BE BLACK...") or you can't really have a white seeweed or porgy or effie. but I am fine with les mis because it is not really mentioned or central to the story. If it is not TO unbelivable (black nazis) I think it is fine

[aspiringactress]

Posted: 10/24/06 at 8:28pm

I just regained concisouness after reading that race is not integral to The Color Purple and banging my head on my desk. Oyoyoyoyoy.

Re: Sweeney. Different versions of the lyrics have been used in the past to refer to different Johannas and different Beggar Women.

The prime example being an entire song of shades of brown hair vs blonde hair. It's really not an issue.