A Black Glinda?- Page 6

[RetroBoy]

Posted: 1/9/08 at 1:30am

I haven't read THE WIZARD OF OZ in years so I'm curious as to the color of Glinda's hair in the original OZ books. Is she supposed to be blonde or do people just expect her to be blonde because Kristin Chenoweth played the role in 'Wicked'?

Billie Burke played the role in the classic 1939 film and she was a redhead.

THE WIZARD OF OZ and WICKED are fantasies and they are open to interpretation. That's why a little something called THE WIZ came along in the 1970s. I don't see what the problem with a black "Glinda" is. She's a FICTIONAL character in a FANTASY world.

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/9/08 at 9:53am

I'm not sure they ever called out Glinda's hair color in the Oz books. They do reference her "regal robes," and I believe (correct me if I'm wrong, because it's been a LONG time) they say she wears red. And her castle in the Quadling Country is red.

Red is the "national color" of the Quadlings. And Glinda is the Good Witch of the South.

The original illustrator, John R. Neill, always drew her with black hair peeking out from under her headdress and crown. She was long, lean and beautiful too. Perhaps that's where I'm getting her red robes from. The color plates in those Oz books.

EDIT: on the cover of her book (the last by Baum), she's depicted in white, with black hair...



She looks more like a young Sigourney Weaver than Kristin Chenoweth.

Updated On: 1/9/08 at 09:53 AM

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 1/9/08 at 10:08am

I'm also getting really tired of actors using dialects, especially since many of them used aren't quite historically accurate. And if I see one more show that takes place in a non-English speaking country and yet all the actors are magically speaking English ... Well, it's just appalling really, and offensive to white people everywhere.

Updated On: 1/9/08 at 10:08 AM

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/9/08 at 10:11am

I wanna see "Roots: The White Generation."

And I don't want anymore period pieces with cultivated British accents, regardless of the country of origin. They should all have Texas twangs.

And ANY story set in New Orleans should have an all-Asian cast.

[SonofMammaMiaSam]

Posted: 1/9/08 at 10:15am

"And ANY story set in New Orleans should have an all-Asian cast."

Someone's got to put those Pitt kids to work.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 1/9/08 at 10:20am

They should only have a Texas twang if they were born with it. If I know they are putting on a fake voice it's going to take me out of the show.

If it weren't for uppity black folks taking roles that rightfully belong to white people and the white apologists who make it possible, the theatre would be an exact literal representation of all the events it portrays.

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/9/08 at 10:41am

And anyone who appears in Sweeney Todd henceforth should actually die on stage.

The first "snuff musical!"

None of this "fake death" stuff for me.

Updated On: 1/9/08 at 10:41 AM

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 1/9/08 at 10:47am

I agree. I need everything to be literal and concrete!

[Pippin]

Posted: 1/9/08 at 10:50am

I also agree, I wouldn't be able to get past a Mrs. Lovett who pops out of the oven unscorched at the end of the play.

[best12bars]

Posted: 1/9/08 at 10:50am

And if a show spans 50 years, I want the same actor to literally age before my eyes.

None of this "Young Rose, Old Rose" bunk.

Especially if one is fat and the other thin. Or one is 5'1" and the other 5'9".

Or one is black and the other white.

Updated On: 1/9/08 at 10:50 AM

[Pippin]

Posted: 1/9/08 at 11:03am

just like Daniel Radcliffe!!!

[BroadwayBoy2]

Posted: 4/24/09 at 6:48pm

DOES anyone remember the thread that someone posted about two years ago compaining there was never a black BELL in BATB, when in fact there were....then someone posted this picture with the quote "Little town, it's a quiet village" I think it was the funniest thing I have ever read on this board.