all-white Hair cast...appropriate?

[rjjn]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 12:08am

I saw the thread about Rent and remembered my experience watching Hair a few weeks ago. It was an all-white cast, with one half-black actor playing Hud (he took more traits from his white parent than his black appearance-wise).

Usually, I don't think color-blind casting is a problem. But in a show where race is one of the main themes, especially in the songs "I'm Black" and "Black Boys/White Boys", it seemed weird for there to be no truly black cast members.

Maybe I'm just looking too closely into it?

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 12:20am

Hair is a show where race definitely is a requirement.

[Kad]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 12:44am

You're not looking too closely into it. You HAVE to have African-Americans in Hair. It's in the text, it's in the themes, you just have to.

[chinto1984]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 1:31am

Totally agree. Hairspray is the same way.

[MUSiiCxiiSxL0VE]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 8:44am

I do agree that you must have black castmembers for Hair, but Hairspray is a little different. My friend did a showcase of some Hairspray songs with her theater group and they changed white and black to rich and poor. of course the show is not the same, but it has the same message.

[best12bars]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 9:11am

So they had Poor Day on the Corny Collins Show?

LOL

[James885]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 10:16am

There is (was?) a video somewhere on Youtube of some lily white high school show choir performing "Run and Tell That". They illegally altered the lyrics so that all mentions of skin color and race were eliminated. It was ghastly, yet pretty funny. I think there was a thread about it on this board.

Updated On: 4/20/10 at 10:16 AM

[best12bars]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 10:56am

Speaking of all-white productions of "Hair" ...

My parents saw it on Broadway, during the original run of the show. They attended a Sunday matinee performance and were greeted with an unusual announcement from the stage.

All of the black members of the "tribe" were attending the memorial service for the actor who originated Hud. He had died rather suddenly and tragically, just days earlier.

Although, I'm not exactly sure why only the black members took the day off ... or why they didn't just cancel the performance entirely, considering the death of a principle actor ... but my parents DID attend an all-white production of "Hair" ... on Broadway.

Diane Keaton played Sheila that day (she would later take over the role), and everyone else shifted around and covered for the missing actors.

They said it was a strange but highly memorable performance.

Updated On: 4/20/10 at 10:56 AM

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 2:40pm

My friend did a showcase of some Hairspray songs with her theater group and they changed white and black to rich and poor. of course the show is not the same, but it has the same message.

Because white always equals rich and black always equals poor?

[newintown]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 3:05pm

I saw an all-white community theatre Showboat once, with altered text.

It is an impossible task, explaining how this sort of thing is inappropriate, in poor taste, and just plain idiotic to the people who would do it (including the Hairspray concert mentioned above).

But, to paraphrase Miss Mona, many people let their enthusiasm overload their capabilities.

[BroadwayGuy12]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 3:21pm

I saw a high school production of HAIR last month with only one black actor. Almost everything dealing with race was cut from the show, including "Colored Spade" (and Hud's speech before the song), "Black Boys," "White Boys," "Yes I's Finished On Y'alls Farmlands," and any mention of race during "Abie Baby." It was a very poor production on all levels, and there were other edits and changes that altered the show's message.

[Mike3]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 3:28pm

Honestly, the first thing that came to mind when I glanced at the title of this thread was, "Sure, how about EXIT STRATEGY."
EXIT STRATEGY