Posted: 7/26/15 at 2:05am
"I don't remember much press back when Robin Givens was the first black Roxie Hart on Broadway, there was some but not in the way of press Keke got for "Cinderella" or Taye is getting for "Hedwig". "
Or Norm Lewis for "Phantom."
Posted: 7/26/15 at 2:42am
"With casting, there often seems to be an assumption of whiteness, if you will. That is, even if there is nothing in the script, nor no historical context for the character to be white the default will be to assume the character must be white."
Not in the casting notices I'm seeing. Yes, there are those that call for a specific ethnicity, but there are so many now that have "Any Ethnicity" next to the character...even for Toulouse Lautrec in "My Paris."
Posted: 7/26/15 at 3:25am
Ranger Tom, I don't think you understood what I was saying. I'm not talking about casting breakdowns which, of course, will follow any Equity guidelines required of them, but about the actual casting.
Posted: 7/26/15 at 10:44am
HorseTears,
I think what you said sweeps with too broad a brush. There are people who make casting decisions that way, people who are blind to ethnicity and people who aggressively cast multi-culturally.
It is also a fact that a lot of people have seen casting persons of color in American plays as either a political act or at least an intended comment.
