Where is BLACK BROADWAY these days?
Where is BLACK BROADWAY these days?
whateverman
Featured Actor Joined: 11/2/05
#1Where is BLACK BROADWAY these days?
Posted: 12/19/06 at 4:03pm
it seems that broadway has really takin a step backwards as far as black shows are concerned. the 70's and early 80's spawned so many. THE WIZ, YOUR ARMS ARE TOO SHORT TO BOX WITH GOD, AINT MISBEHAVIN, DREAMGIRLS, EUBIE, SOPHISTICATED LADIES, TAP DANCE KID..(to name a few) they dont make them any more. now its the color purple as the token show. i guess in producers minds black is a gamble and financially risky? sad.
Updated On: 12/19/06 at 04:03 PM
#2re: Where is BLACK BROADWAY these days?
Posted: 12/19/06 at 4:04pm
A RAISIN IN THE SUN
THE COLOR PURPLE
Have I ever shown you my Shattered Dreams box? It's in my Disappointment Closet. - Marge Simpson
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#3re: Where is BLACK BROADWAY these days?
Posted: 12/19/06 at 4:06pmNo, it's a dearth of good material (case in point: COLOR PURPLE). But unless you want an entire show with trick casting, like an all-black DOLLY or GUYS AND DOLLS (and I suppose some people would dearly love things like an all-black WICKED or even ACL), then once more,it comes down to a quality script and a quality score, just as it would for any other proposed production.
http://docandraider.com
whateverman
Featured Actor Joined: 11/2/05
#5re: Where is BLACK BROADWAY these days?
Posted: 12/19/06 at 4:11pm
im talkin about what seemed to be and ongoin trend at a cetain time. black shows were popping up all over the place. thats not the case today. simply isnt. and i dont care who it makes feel uncomfortable to hear(HOLY GRAIL).
Updated On: 12/19/06 at 04:11 PM
#6re: Where is BLACK BROADWAY these days?
Posted: 12/19/06 at 4:14pmSo produce something. Don't bitch about it, DO something.
Have I ever shown you my Shattered Dreams box? It's in my Disappointment Closet. - Marge Simpson
whateverman
Featured Actor Joined: 11/2/05
#7re: Where is BLACK BROADWAY these days?
Posted: 12/19/06 at 4:18pm
yea thats an easy cop answer out seein as how i am NOT a producer nor do i have the funds to produce/ but that type of answer is expected when not wanting to face the harsh realities of racism in america. even on broadway!
Updated On: 12/19/06 at 04:18 PM
whateverman
Featured Actor Joined: 11/2/05
#8re: Where is BLACK BROADWAY these days?
Posted: 12/19/06 at 4:18pmyea thats an easy cop out answer seein as how i am NOT a producer nor do i have the funds to produce/ but that type of answer is expected when not wanting to face the harsh realities of racism in america. even on broadway!
Gothampc
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/20/03
#9re: Where is BLACK BROADWAY these days?
Posted: 12/19/06 at 4:18pmProducers are afraid Jennifer Holliday will try to audition and then trash the show when she doesn't get cast.
If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.
#10re: Where is BLACK BROADWAY these days?
Posted: 12/19/06 at 4:19pm
If you don't have the money to fund it, then you'll have to settle for seeing what the people who DO have the money to fund it find fit and marketable.
Why don't you start a campaign of some sort? Whining on a message board isn't going to get shows mounted.
Have I ever shown you my Shattered Dreams box? It's in my Disappointment Closet. - Marge Simpson
whateverman
Featured Actor Joined: 11/2/05
#11re: Where is BLACK BROADWAY these days?
Posted: 12/19/06 at 4:24pmintersting that u see this as a whine. actually typical. not surprised. makes u feel uncomfortable i see.
#12re: Where is BLACK BROADWAY these days?
Posted: 12/19/06 at 4:27pmNot uncomfortable. Just used to your baiting by now.
Have I ever shown you my Shattered Dreams box? It's in my Disappointment Closet. - Marge Simpson
broadwayguy2
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/18/03
#13re: Where is BLACK BROADWAY these days?
Posted: 12/19/06 at 4:28pm
i didn't know al sharpton posted here.
whateverman
Featured Actor Joined: 11/2/05
#14re: Where is BLACK BROADWAY these days?
Posted: 12/19/06 at 4:29pm
nope .. not baiting. its a LEGIT discussion because its factual. but u want to toss it off instead of look at the facts. why? because it make u feel uncomfortable.
question is. WHERE IS BLACK BROADWAY? have an answer??? I didnt think so.
throw a rock at a group of dogs. the only one that barks is the one that gets hit.
Updated On: 12/19/06 at 04:29 PM
rflpfl2
Stand-by Joined: 10/31/05
#15re: Where is BLACK BROADWAY these days?
Posted: 12/19/06 at 4:30pm
It's hard to say why there are no real black plays on broadway to the extent that there were before. Part of me says that producers wouldn't think there is an audience- but if you look at Color Purple- people are coming in bus loads and really loving the show.
What would need to happen is another big show like color purple that proves to producers that there is an audience for it.
Perhaps in the 70s and 80s there was an influx (if you could say that) of black plays because they were coming out of the civil rights movement and black plays were a natural outcome of the decade to follow. Today- we don't really care if a cop shoots an unarmed kid 50 times because we have ipods, and cable, and why dwell on something so ugly.
#16re: Where is BLACK BROADWAY these days?
Posted: 12/19/06 at 4:30pm
*throws rock at whateverman*
That felt good.
Have I ever shown you my Shattered Dreams box? It's in my Disappointment Closet. - Marge Simpson
broadwayguy2
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/18/03
#17re: Where is BLACK BROADWAY these days?
Posted: 12/19/06 at 4:31pmoh rath.. i love you sometimes.:-P
#18re: Where is BLACK BROADWAY these days?
Posted: 12/19/06 at 4:32pmDid the James Earl Jones/Leslie Uggams "On Golden Pond" recoup? I'm thinking it didn't, although Jones' illness shut it down early, if I recall.
broadwayguy2
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/18/03
#19re: Where is BLACK BROADWAY these days?
Posted: 12/19/06 at 4:33pmCalvin, that wasn't black.. that was James Earl Jones. Kind of like Tiger Woods.
#20re: Where is BLACK BROADWAY these days?
Posted: 12/19/06 at 4:33pm
ooh ooh, can I play martyr next?
Where is GAY BROADWAY these days?
tourboi
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/15/05
#21re: Where is BLACK BROADWAY these days?
Posted: 12/19/06 at 4:34pm
Doesn't make me uncomfortable at all.
So let's see....Hot Feet was a largely black show, as someone else mentioned. Lion King, for all of its multi-cultural content, has a lot of african influences within the material, and a lot of african americans in its cast. The Color Purple is going strong, and about to open a tour. The Wiz just had a major revival at La Jolla, with rumors of a transfer (though at this point who knows).
In recent years we've seen many an August Wilson play on the boards, as well. Not to mention the not too long ago productions of Five Guys Named Mo', and One Mo' Time (which still remains the worst thing I've ever seen on stage anywhere...although thats a close tie with Ring Of Fire). And who can forget Bring in Da Noise?
The problem is not that producers are racist.
The problem is no one is writing musicals for the audience you'd like that producers think would be successful.
Write a show if you cant produce. Or find people you know to write a show.
There. I'm done. :)
Happy Holidays.
broadwayguy2
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/18/03
#22re: Where is BLACK BROADWAY these days?
Posted: 12/19/06 at 4:34pm
Where is GAY BROADWAY These days?
In EVERY theatre.
whateverman
Featured Actor Joined: 11/2/05
#23re: Where is BLACK BROADWAY these days?
Posted: 12/19/06 at 4:34pmrfl thank you for the serious dicussion that this deserves and not the dismissal that other posters would like to offer reagrding race and broadway. This is really happening. and it is factual. times have changed. and if u are white or any other for that matter and unwilling to look at this issue then u may be a part of the problem yourself. and u know who u are.
#24re: Where is BLACK BROADWAY these days?
Posted: 12/19/06 at 4:36pm
But -- there are wonderful works by numerous black playwrights and artists going on right now off -Broadway. These are much more vital, personal works than could be produced in the big commercial world of Broadway -- no matter what color the artist happens to be.
Mind is Mantra.
Updated On: 12/19/06 at 04:36 PM
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