"A New Deal For Broadway" abolishes all-white creative teams; includes commitments from Shubert, Nederlander, Jujamcyn to each rename theatres after a Black Artist- Page 6

[JasonC3]

Posted: 8/27/21 at 6:01pm

What follows is all a quotation from Dr. D L Stewart, https://twitter.com/drdlstewart

“Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Justice asks …

Diversity asks, ‘Who is in the room?’ Equity responds: ‘Who is trying to get in the room but can’t? Whose presence in the room is under constant threat of erasure?’

Inclusion asks, ‘Have everyone’s ideas been heard?’ Justice responds, ‘Whose ideas won’t be taken as seriously because they aren’t in the majority?’

Diversity asks, ‘How many more of [pick any marginalized identity group] do we have this year than last?’ Equity responds, ‘What conditions have we created that maintain certain groups as the perpetual majority here?’

Inclusion asks, ‘Is this environment safe for everyone to feel like they belong?’ Justice challenges, ‘Whose safety is being sacrificed and minimized to allow others to be comfortable dehumanizing views?’”

[joevitus]

Posted: 8/27/21 at 6:09pm

BroadwayPatriot said: "Hogan's hero contributes nothing to the topic, but calling anyone with an opinion that does not mirror his naive views is a racist!! Too bad I' cant be a racist, I'm Puerto Rican Jew, I'm a double minority pal"

Love this comment.

Posted: 8/27/21 at 7:55pm

This is perhaps a dumb question, but is Broadway harder to break into for people of color than it is for white people?

To clarify, I'm not asking about underrepresentation, which is much easier to verify with simple statistics. Rather something more like: for every 10 white people who want to work on Broadway, and every 10 people of color who want to work on Broadway, do a larger share of those 10 white people successfully make it to Broadway?

To illustrate the question more fully using another industry, in software engineering, women only represent 18% of the computer science degrees. If a company's engineers are 25% female, on its surface that sounds like females are wildly unrepresented, but in reality they are overrepresented from the pool of people who want to be software engineers.

I'm curious if there's any such data on people who want to break into Broadway.

[Alexander Lamar]

Posted: 8/27/21 at 8:06pm

Yes.

[Kad]

Posted: 8/27/21 at 8:12pm

BroadwayPatriot said: "Hogan's hero contributes nothing to the topic, but calling anyone with an opinion that does not mirror his naive views is a racist!! Too bad I' cant be a racist, I'm Puerto Rican Jew, I'm a double minority pal"

You contribute nothing to the topic and ignore anything that you can’t twist into your stupid little culture war BS. 
 

and yes, you can still be racist. 

 

[joevitus]

Posted: 8/27/21 at 8:43pm

ctorres23 said: "This is perhaps a dumb question, but is Broadway harder to break into for people of color than it is for white people?

To clarify, I'm not asking about underrepresentation, which is much easier to verify with simple statistics. Rather something more like: for every 10 white people who want to work on Broadway, and every 10 people of color who want to work on Broadway, do a larger share of those 10 white people successfully make it to Broadway?

To illustrate the question more fully using another industry, in software engineering, women only represent 18% of the computer science degrees. If a company's engineers are 25% female, on its surface that sounds like females are wildly unrepresented, but in reality they are overrepresented from the pool of people who want to be software engineers.

I'm curious if there's any such data on people who want to break into Broadway."

I don't work in the industry, so you may want to disregard this post, but my assumption, sadly, is yes.

Why? Well first of all, statistics. Although more productions now practice color-conscious casting, not everyone does (I myself don't think it's always appropriate), and there are many, many more roles written for white people, intentionally or unintentionally, than are written for members of any race or written for people of a certain ethnicity. 

Then there's history and how it can affect the individual's psyche: because minorities so often experience rejection, there are probably any number of Black people who audition for a role but just innately think they don't have the chance and thus blow the audition.

Third, I do believe there are a few flat out racists in the theater community, and, more often, people who aren't consciously racist but still harbor some outdated thoughts about when a member of another ethnic group is right for a given role. And that's going to impact a Black person's chances at some auditions, as well. 

I definitely think the situation is unfair to, not only Blacks, but people of all racial minorities. I just don't see a simple solution to a situation which has come about because of the effects of centuries of prejudice. 

[A Director]

Posted: 8/27/21 at 8:49pm

JasonC3 said: "What follows is all a quotation from Dr. D L Stewart, https://twitter.com/drdlstewart

“Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Justice asks …

Diversity asks, ‘Who is in the room?’ Equity responds: ‘Who is trying to get in the room but can’t? Whose presence in the room is under constant threat of erasure?’

Inclusion asks, ‘Have everyone’s ideas been heard?’ Justice responds, ‘Whose ideas won’t be taken as seriously because they aren’t in the majority?’

Diversity asks, ‘How many more of [pick any marginalized identity group] do we have this year than last?’ Equity responds, ‘What conditions have we created that maintain certain groups as the perpetual majority here?’

Inclusion asks, ‘Is this environment safe for everyone to feel like they belong?’ Justice challenges, ‘Whose safety is being sacrificed and minimized to allow others to be comfortable dehumanizing views?’”"

"DIVERSITY IS BEING INVITED TO THE PARTY: INCLUSION IS BEING ASKED TO DANCE" Verna Myers

 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 8/27/21 at 8:59pm

Some posts are confounding the subject of this thread, creatives, with another subject (no less important but different), performers. 

One thing worth remembering is that most people who loudly insist they are not racists are. 

[SouthernCakes]

Posted: 8/27/21 at 11:01pm

ctorres23 said: "This is perhaps a dumb question, but is Broadway harder to break into for people of color than it is for white people?

To clarify, I'm not asking about underrepresentation, which is much easier to verify with simple statistics. Rather something more like: for every 10 white people who want to work on Broadway, and every 10 people of color who want to work on Broadway, do a larger share of those 10 white people successfully make it to Broadway?

To illustrate the question more fully using another industry, in software engineering, women only represent 18% of the computer science degrees. If a company's engineers are 25% female, on its surface that sounds like females are wildly unrepresented, but in reality they are overrepresented from the pool of people who want to be software engineers.

I'm curious if there's any such data on people who want to break into Broadway."

I’m sure this will get me all kind of hate. But, if you look at the breakdowns and what is being cast, casting directors are relentlessly looking for POC. For a big Broadway show like the upcoming Paradise Sq to trickle down to the “unrepresented” casting networks shows that there is a huge need for POC performers. That said there are plenty of performers white and not that are just fine. That wouid never make it to Broadway because they just aren’t that good. I don’t think you should push anyone through based on their race if they aren’t up to the task. I’ve seen them struggle to cast Hamilton. Etc 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 8/27/21 at 11:12pm

SouthernCakes said: "I’m sure this will get me all kind of hate. But, if you look at the breakdowns and what is being cast, casting directors are relentlessly looking for POC. For a big Broadway show like the upcoming Paradise Sq to trickle down to the “unrepresented” casting networks shows that there is a huge need for POC performers. That said there are plenty of performers white and not that are just fine. That wouid never make it to Broadway because they just aren’t that good. I don’t think you should push anyone through based on their race if they aren’t up to the task. I’ve seen them struggle to cast Hamilton. Etc"

As I point out in the post immediately above yours, the question in this thread is NOT about actors and, logically, it makes no sense to discuss actors when you are talking about hiring creatives.

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 8/27/21 at 11:46pm

me, the thread-creator, peeking in for the first time in days:



 

Good job dealing with the nitwits, Hogan.

Updated On: 8/27/21 at 11:46 PM

[joevitus]

Posted: 8/28/21 at 3:34am

Hogan's the nitwit, thinking people who defend themselves when unfairly slandered are, by defending themselves, proving they are what they are falsely accused of. It's puritanism writ large to take that perspective. It is literally "If she says she's not a witch--she's a witch!"

[HogansHero]

Posted: 8/28/21 at 10:47am

joevitus said: "Hogan's the nitwit, thinking people who defend themselves when unfairly slanderedare, by defending themselves,provingthey are what they are falsely accused of. It's puritanism writ large to take that perspective. It is literally "If she says she's not a witch--she's a witch!""

except that when people here (it's not just me) have called out those people it is because they have spoken racist tropes and ideas. So when they say they are not a racist, it is no different than a Trump Lie. And of course he also says he is not a racist. lol

[Kad]

Posted: 8/28/21 at 1:18pm

Calm down, Mary.

[BWAY Baby2]

Posted: 8/28/21 at 1:52pm

I don't think all-black, all-white, all-trans creative teams should ever be abolished. Ridiculous.

[forgetmenotnyc]

Posted: 8/28/21 at 2:01pm

My contribution to the suggestions of Black Theater Artists to grace a few Bwy's marquees is a somewhat radical suggestion of naming a theatre after a famous 'character': Theatre Othello? Zora Neale Hurston could also be a contender? In 1930, she collaborated with Langston Hughes on Mule Bone: A Comedy of Negro Life, a play - & she adapted her anthropological work for the performing arts. Her folk revue, The Great Day, featured authentic African song & dance played the John Golden Theatre in Jan. 1932 & went on to be a two-part production at Rollins College in Central FL, where she was from.  IMHO, I like "The Lena Horne" & "The Geoffrey Holder." Though still active, Chita Rivera is a super suggestion, as well. 

Updated On: 8/30/21 at 02:01 PM

[joevitus]

Posted: 8/28/21 at 7:26pm

Kad said: "Calm down, Mary."

Try it yourself when you're attacked and falsely accused of something.

"If you accuse someone of something and they deny the accusation, they are definitely guilty." That's the mentality you want me to "calm down" about.

[JasonC3]

Posted: 9/2/21 at 7:56am

This excellent NYT article explores Black representation at the top ranks of magazines, another creative industry, and what efforts have been required for change to occur.

A few representative paragraphs:

The magazine’s most recent print cover featured Beyoncé, photographed by a Black photographer, Campbell Addy, and styled in part by Samira Nasr, who in 2020 became the first person of color to lead the publication in its 154-year history. (This was also Beyoncé’s first Harper’s Bazaar cover in a decade; she was last photographed and styled for the magazine by two white men known for selling images that resemble soft-core pornography.)

None of this is lost on Nikki Ogunnaike, who was named digital director at Harper’s Bazaar in November. Nearly 15 years ago, when she began interning at fashion magazines, she grew accustomed to being one of two Black people on staff, she said.

Now she moderates panels during such initiatives as Hearst Magazines’s recent three-day series highlighting Black talent in fashion. (Did she have access to similar programming early in her career? “Absolutely not.&rdquo Now, when looking to fill entry-level positions, she scouts graduates of historically Black colleges and universities far from New York City. (“I don’t think 10 years ago that people were running to H.B.C.U.s,” she said. “They weren’t running to U. Va., where I went.&rdquo emphasis added