Finally There's An All White Version Of HAIRSPRAY!- Page 3
Finally There's An All White Version Of HAIRSPRAY!
dexter3
Featured Actor Joined: 9/13/08
#50Finally There's An All White Version Of HAIRSPRAY!
Posted: 2/2/12 at 9:01am
Interesting viewpoint...
http://koomandimond.wordpress.com/2012/02/01/on-colorblindness/#more-1010
#51Finally There's An All White Version Of HAIRSPRAY!
Posted: 2/2/12 at 10:14am
"So if I'm reading some of you right, if a school is all white then they should never do shows about race since they don't have actors to play the roles. Good point. Keep those all white schools from learning or dealing with race issues. Interesting. God forbid an all white school should learn anything about other races."
Now you're making it sound as though unless an all-white school is allowed to do "Raisin in the Sun" there's no way to teach them about other races.
(Just playing devil's advocate . . .)
#52Finally There's An All White Version Of HAIRSPRAY!
Posted: 2/2/12 at 11:19am
Was thinking the same thing, Reg.
You're saying an all-white school's ability to teach about the history of racism in this country is dependent on that school's right to perform Dreamgirls? With those white kids wearing dark make-up?
Are you really thinking this through? Really?
#53Finally There's An All White Version Of HAIRSPRAY!
Posted: 2/2/12 at 2:29pm
Forgive me. I thought it was understood we were talking about theatre here. No? Sure there are many other ways to learn about race issues, but what I meant was that in the case described the all white school should be kept from learning about race issues through theatre. Keep them performing all lily-white shows so they can remain true to their lily-white world. God forbid theatre should be anything in those schools but pure light entertainment.
That last link was quite interesting. We can suspend belief to accept a 16 year old playing Mama Rose. We can suspend it to accept a bunch of kids playing cats. But we can't accept an actor playing another race. Just seems kind of narrow minded to me, and more a problem with the "offended observer" than with the presenter.
Gaveston2
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/28/11
#54Finally There's An All White Version Of HAIRSPRAY!
Posted: 2/2/12 at 5:38pm
The point is not that we can't suspend our disbelief, the point is that we DID suspend it for a hundred-odd years with disastrous results: wildly exaggerated stereotypes based on white concepts of black people became generally accepted as accurate. Many such stereotypes persist today.
Let's don't fuel them any further.
***
Re the assumption that if Plano, TX isn't allowed to do an all-white HAIRSPRAY that white people will never learn about racism:
Another option would be that such groups would have to work harder to get black people to participate in shows the groups dearly want to do. Think of what the popular HAIRSPRAY might accomplish if it actually inspired integration of theater groups!
The "only 8% of Plano is black" figure has been oft repeated; but the national figure is only 12%. So yeah, Plano tends to be white, but it's not as if African-Americans are unknown there.
#55Finally There's An All White Version Of HAIRSPRAY!
Posted: 2/2/12 at 6:32pm
Or you could hold a seminar on why it might be considered inappropriate to perform "Hairspray" with an all-white cast.
A lot could be learned from that.
Gaveston2
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/28/11
#56Finally There's An All White Version Of HAIRSPRAY!
Posted: 2/2/12 at 8:54pm
Sounds good to me, Reg.
Again, we are talking about a musical that is specifically about race and integration. I really can't understand why anyone would WANT to produce it with an all-white cast--EXCEPT that it confirms my suspicion that many community theater groups have no idea what plays or their characters are saying.
Moneyspider
Stand-by Joined: 12/16/10
#57Finally There's An All White Version Of HAIRSPRAY!
Posted: 2/3/12 at 2:51am
This brings me back to the Hairspray doll line. Supposedly, there were production delays with Seaweed that didn't get resolved before the line tanked but it looked bad that these dolls shipped in any all white assortment to begin with. Totally misses the point and, man, when I think of what was being offered in the HSM line around the same time... Disney and Mattel were a lot bolder there.
Anyway, I wonder if racebending knows of this production... Lol
#58Finally There's An All White Version Of HAIRSPRAY!
Posted: 2/3/12 at 10:50am
"Just seems kind of narrow minded to me, and more a problem with the "offended observer" than with the presenter."
Sure...it would be narrow-minded if we lived in that perfect America where slavery, Jim Crow, minstrel shows and segregation never existed. It would be perfectly fine if we lived in that perfect America where the drug war doesn't target minorities (mostly black) faaaaaar more than it does white people. But that America doesn't exist...and will never exist.
Now...if you told me another culture was doing this, I'd have no problem with it. I simply don't know the theatrical traditions and racial histories of other countries. And even here, in the US, there has been provocative use of black face even in the last decade (Patinkin in Wild Party, Kate Valk in Emporer Jones and the entire cast of The Scottsboro Boys). But these were all done to by theatre professionals who not only are experts in their field, but who also understand the politics behind what they're doing. I do not trust a high school in Plano...or ANYWHERE...to be able to address such things. Particularly in a piece as deceptively light as Hairspray.
Pick something else.
#59Finally There's An All White Version Of HAIRSPRAY!
Posted: 2/3/12 at 11:29amFor the person who was wondering if Edna had to be played by a man, contractually, the answer is NO. There have been some regional productions that do cast a female in the part.
