Black Glinda?- Page 5

[me101]

Posted: 2/1/05 at 11:36pm

>>It's really hard to make poins like this when you can't tell when I am being "sarcastic" etc...

Well, seeing as I don't know you, and sarcasm doesn't translate as well in print, it isn't that easy for me to detect your sarcasm. Anyway, I am sorry that I misunderstood.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 2/1/05 at 11:36pm

Fuschia Walekr - VERY good...and no offense, but she added some "black flair" - and you all know what I mean, and if you don't....I give up...

[Jwei123]

Posted: 2/1/05 at 11:36pm

kissmycookie~ Fuscia Walker was the black Mdme. Thenardier. She was fantastic! :)

EDIT~ beat me to it, Bsobw!

Updated On: 2/1/05 at 11:36 PM

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 2/1/05 at 11:37pm

heh, we joined BWW the same day...well, I signed up as bso on that day.... Updated On: 2/1/05 at 11:37 PM

[Joshua488]

Posted: 2/1/05 at 11:38pm

Yes, kudos to Audra McDonald. But she's only one person. It's a little disconcerting that there aren't MORE people of color (which includes races other than black, mind you) that haven't been able to do the same.

[Jwei123]

Posted: 2/1/05 at 11:39pm

hehe i actually joined this past summer (my name was "jwei12") hehe, but something got messed up with my account and i couldnt sign in, and rob couldn't salvage it.., but at least my fan photos from jwei12 are still up! haha

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 2/1/05 at 11:40pm

haha, I had an account in -03 - asked one question...forgot the u/n and password...and even e-mail....how sad...

NEW CONVO!

Josh - is it because black actors think they won't get the part a "white" person typically playED?

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 2/1/05 at 11:42pm

bso: I understood your point about reverse discrimination, I didn't need clarification.

kissmycookie: Although Audra is an amazing talent (obviously,) her roles in CAROUSEL and (potentially) MY FAIR LADY are not race-specific and they could work as either, so that's not the point this thread is trying to make. There are certain roles that can be played by any race, and there are those that absolutely cannot. Mdmd. T in LES MIS is not race-specific, that's why there was no "ruckus" raised about that.

However, a side note on Audra actually playing Dot in SUNDAY: an African American woman playing Dot in a production of SUNDAY is implausible. Didn't she do it in a concert setting? If they brought back SUNDAY to Broadway, the role of Dot really could not be successfully played by a black woman, as the role of Dot is based on a woman from a very famous painting, and the woman in the painting is white. It wouldn't make sense. Plus at that time in France, a famous artist such as Seurat wouldn't have been seem with a black woman as his companion, and he certainly wouldn't have become as famous if he painted african-american woman in a public setting - it would have been frowned upon. It's exactly like a movie or stage adaptation of Da Vinci's MONA LISA, and a black woman playing mona lisa. It wouldn't work because it's not historically accurate.

[Joshua488]

Posted: 2/1/05 at 11:44pm

I think there are MANY black actors that are willing to take on these roles, but the producers, directors, and all of the money-makers in the business are just too afraid to cross the "race lines". It's probably a subconscious thing, although I don't doubt that some producers have probably vetoed casting someone purely because of their race, but I think if they weren't trying so hard to avoid the race issue, things would be a lot more equal.

[Chote887]

Posted: 2/1/05 at 11:45pm

An interesting note about the wiz is that legally white people could not play parts in the show until the company that owns the rights to it changed that policy only a few years ago. It had to be an all black cast.

And I am also fairly certain that the character sheet given to auditioning actors that describes the roles and critera for the parts in "Wicked" specifies that glinda must be caucasion.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 2/1/05 at 11:47pm

Chote...I was gonna say that about "Wicked"...but I wasn't completely sure....(that's the producers that decided Glinda has to be white)

Also, see...now, why did they "legally" change it...bet I could guess....

[Joshua488]

Posted: 2/1/05 at 11:49pm

See, that's a problem. If the sheets say that Glinda must be white, I would love to know why. Sure, it would seem more "normal" for her to be white, but would it really change the whole meaning of the show if she was portrayed by an actress who was black? or Asian? or Native American?

Just a thought.

In regards to the cast of THE WIZ having to be all-black LEGALLY, I doubt it was done maliciously, like, "Ha ha! We hate whites! No whites in MY show!" I highly doubt that. It was probably meant to be a POSITIVE thing; a show in which people of color were guaranteed roles. If it could be cast with white actors, a lot more places would put it on, but the roles would probably be filled with white people. So it was most likely a way to add black roles to the already slim number of roles for black actors. Updated On: 2/1/05 at 11:49 PM

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 2/1/05 at 11:50pm

No, it wouldn't, obviously. But just because that may be the case doesn't make them racist.

[Joshua488]

Posted: 2/1/05 at 11:53pm

Who said anyone was racist?

If that was a response to my post, please don't jump to conclusions.

[kissmycookie]

Posted: 2/1/05 at 11:54pm

munk: It's called suspension of disbelief. Are we really to believe that hefty sopranos in the opera world are really nubile teenagers who can seduce the gods either?

It all boils down to talent.

Yes, Audra's just one person... Let's add more to the list. Brian Stokes Mitchell, Norm Lewis, Robert Guillame, Lea Salonga, BD Wong....

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 2/1/05 at 11:54pm

Josh didn't say anyone was racist - I think it's just like what we were talking about!

Damn, I was so hoping to see Star on the bubble...as it is dragged across the stage by Oxen

[Raggy Q poo]

Posted: 2/1/05 at 11:56pm

First of all..."Everyone's a little bit Racist!"

I wouldn't call racism bad, per se, its a part of our natural instinct that what we see is what we get. If we learned to accept each other for our differences and look beyond the surface, I'm sure we 'could live in harmoney'

But seriously, look at Avenue Q. Gary Coleman is a female in the musical and she isn't 'short' like the real 'male Gary Coleman.' Does she do a good job? Yes! And thats what counts!

Look at Christmas Eve- She is Asian but don't you think that anybody could play her role? It's called GOOD ACTING.

Do you think the chracter Rod could only be played by a gay guy? Must we play the character as we normally are? No! Thats what 'becoming the character means' A straight guy could play the role of Rod just as good as Johnny did and Barrett does.

Unfortunely, people are blinded from the 'real person' because they are too shallow. A good director would hire a person who fits the character's attitude and general personality, not what they look like.

[Chote887]

Posted: 2/1/05 at 11:58pm

Personally I don't think it would change the meaning of the show nor do I think that race should be an inssue in many casting situations, however in this specific musical I think that something would be lost in translation.

The musical is a rehatching of the wizard of oz. While I doubt the L.F. Baulms books specifically described the race of Glinda, the film that we all know and love portrays her as being white. That is not to say that she couldn't be, but she wasn't.

In order to sufficiently carry the plot of the wizard of oz into the musical, I believe that glindas race must remain constant with the movie in order to make the transition not only clear, but believeable.

Yes, wicked is essentially revamping the entire story of the wizard of oz so the arguement that a change in race won't make a difference can be used. However, the fact that wicked is also attempting to be a realistic prequal must not be ignored.

Do I think a black woman could play glinda? I think there are countless black acresses who could both do the job fine and countless audience members who would have no trouble accepting them as glinda. However, in order to make the wicked a true backstory to the wizard of oz, I think that elphaba must be green, and glinda must be white.

[Joshua488]

Posted: 2/1/05 at 11:58pm

BSoBW2: HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! She'd only need FOUR oxen instead of six, since she's had her gastric bypass and all.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 2/1/05 at 11:59pm

I THOUGHT YOU LEFT!

LEAVE!

Don't you talk about anything OTHER than Avenue Q?

You are worse than Munk (ooo, i complimented munk - see, "the best way to bring people together is to give them a common enemy...."

[Jwei123]

Posted: 2/2/05 at 12:00am

chote, i could *understand* what you said, although i wouldn't necessarily agree, IF wicked was a sequel to the movie, and yes, most people HAVE seen the movie over reading LFB's book, but wicked is a sequel to the book, where they don't say if glinda is white or not...

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 2/2/05 at 12:02am

I think he does refer to her light skin...or something....

[Joshua488]

Posted: 2/2/05 at 12:02am

But if you're trying to make a true backstory to THE WIZARD OF OZ, why doesn't Glinda wear a pink dress and pink crown? Why doesn't Elphaba have a big nose with a wart and talk in that nasal voice? There are so many things that are purposely different from the film. It has been stated that they are purposely trying to distance themselves from the film images. I don't think it would be so unbelievable to have Glinda not be white.

BSoBW2: Then Glinda can be a light-skinned black woman. No problem there. Updated On: 2/2/05 at 12:02 AM

[kissmycookie]

Posted: 2/2/05 at 12:02am

Chote887: How does your opinion on maintaining the believablity in terms of the transition between the movie and the book hold given that Glinda, as played by Billie Burke has RED hair but is portrayed as BLONDE in "Wicked?"

[munkustrap178]

Posted: 2/2/05 at 12:02am

Joshua: I didn't say that you called anyone racist, you misunderstood what I was saying. But I didn't see your edit about THE WIZ, which adds to what BSO mentioned. And I'm not calling you out so don't worry. And I'm not jumping to any conclusions. So here is my logic, which adds to BSO's valid point of the reverse discrimination.

You say that, in your opinion, THE WIZ was probably "black cast only" to encourage more african american roles in the theatre, which is certainly a valid, possibly likely point of view. And that could be why it actually was "black only." However, if a show came out now with all white people and it was a law that absolutely NO African-Americans could be a member of the cast, would you go on to say that it's racist and that some people are just trying to keep African-Americans from having jobs? It does go both ways, and many people do not understand that. I'm not calling you out, I just want to know what you think.