Audra McDonald as ELiza ?- Page 2

[darkmist115]

Posted: 5/31/06 at 10:26pm

wow. i never even though of MacKellan as Higgins.

opposite audra, hmm.. that might be fun. i adore them both.

[singingsweetee82]

Posted: 5/31/06 at 11:28pm

Jon, you're saying that you can accept the fact that Merlin and Morganna have magical powers, but the fact that Guinivere has dark skin would be too much of a leap for you? If Guinivere's race had anything to do with the plot or meaning of the story, I would be totally with you. It would be completely ridiculous for Mother in Ragtime, for example, to be black. However that is not the case here. Theatre requires a certain suspension of reality. So what if there were no black people in England in that period? There weren't any sorcerors either.

And fflag, although I could discuss at length the many things wrong with your post, I'm going to assume it was meant as a joke and move on.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 5/31/06 at 11:58pm

it was funny. lighten up.

[Jazzysuite82]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 2:03am

actually it wasn't even that funny.

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 2:26am

I love that people can accept the fact that people burst out into song... and beggars on the street know choreographed dance numbers... but the fact that the actor portraying the character is black... well that's plain unrealistic.

"It is within the realm of possibility that Eliza could be black" Totally! And in that same realm... I win the lotto and the pulitzer prize on the same day. Slavery was officially declared illegal in Britain in 1772... but it wasn't until the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 that it was entirely wiped out of the British Empire. Rudyard Kipling's poem "White Man's Burden" appeared in McClures magazine in 1899... So you are telling me... that in 1912 (which is when Pygmalion was written)... 13 or so years after Mr. Kipling's poem... which at the time by the way... the British were still busy being imperialists exploiting the "half child, half devil" people who were so unlucky as to not be born white... that during THAT time period in history... it is with in the realm of possibility that Eliza Doolittle (Doolittle, by the way, is an Irish name... she must come from black Irish) would be black? And no one ever mentions it through out the whole play? Even when she is mingling with royalty? Really? Well, if you say so.

"Jon, you're saying that you can accept the fact that Merlin and Morganna have magical powers, but the fact that Guinivere has dark skin would be too much of a leap for you" <- Good call

Color blind casting does not need to be justified... if a performer can play the part... they should be able to play the part. If the text is color blind, then the casting should be as well. You can't really demand realism from a musical.


kmc

Updated On: 6/1/06 at 02:26 AM

[Jazzysuite82]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 2:33am

Actually I know black people named McCarroll and McDonald. I know SMiths and Browns and tuckers. These people are Irish OR English. I don't get what the name has anything to do with anything.



you seem to be contradicting yourself a bit here.

[KJisgroovy]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 2:43am

Actually, that bit was a throwaway joke. But if you want to nit pick a fourteen word sentence in a three hundred word post... whatever. Names like McCarrol and McDonald come often from slave derivation... you should look into the history of names(that is not meant to be condescending or bitchy... I'm serious), you would better understand the importance of names. And a last name in 1912 meant a great deal more to people than to the Smiths and Browns and tuckers you know.


kmc

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 4:31am

If Carole Channing got the chance to play Eliza at 70-something years old, then Audra MORE than deserves her chance! I think it would be easy to accept Audra in the role, even if she were the only black person in the cast! But I like the idea of having another black actor play Alfred Doolittle!
I have the Sweeney Todd in Concert CD and her accent is believeble. I'm not why we're questioning her anyway! Is there a chance that this would come to broadway?

[nobodyhome]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 5:01am

Carol Channing played Eliza and I missed it?

I'm not the greatest fan of Audra McDonald, but I see no reason why she shouldn't play the role.

If she does, I hope they hire somebody for Higgins who's a bit closer to the right age than John Lithgow or (especially) Ian McKellen.

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 6/1/06 at 7:20am

I completely agree about being able to accept people bursting into song and flying and having magical capabilities, but not being dark skinned. That simply makes no sense - Color Blind casting is fine with me in the right circumstances.