Can Maria (Sound of Music) be black? — Page 4

Anybody who uses the term racist is a bigot.

You really like to throw that word around a lot, don't you Fen?


I agree with others that if she is the best actress for the part, cast her.

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When I go to see a show, I really don't care about the actor's color, ethnicity, sexuality etc. All I care about is TALENT ! If the actor is talented and has a great voice, I forget about everything and dive into the magic !!!
That girl sounds like she will give the audience a wonderful time, so CAST HER !!!!

umm

so was she cast

or

not??

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I haven't cast the role yet..I have a couple of additional audition appointments set up (they were scheduled before I saw the girl in discussion) so we'll see how those go. I am loving all of your feedback and it's really helping. That's why I love this board-different viewpoints from all over the place!

Michael Bennett-there are no other non-white ethnicities present in the show. I just don't live in a city with a lot of different ethnicities in the theatre community.

I must disagree Julian...I think history is very important to The Sound of Music. The dealing with the Nazis is a lot of what makes it so different from other romantic musicals of the era, where the thing would probably have ended with Maria and Von Trapp getting married and living happily ever after. I don't know necessarily if a black Maria would make or break the historical accuracy of the show but its important to me that the threat of the Nazis be accurate and educational. The show has a reputation for being incredibly saccharine (which it very well can be at times) but I think the Nazi plot line is a very interesting twist. True to form, Rodgers and Hammerstein defied the standard.

In rereading the script last night I found a part that I had simply overlooked before but that with having a black Maria might be really pivotal-at the party towards the end of the first act, Captain Von Trapp tells Max that he is inviting Maria to have dinner with the guests, and Max says something to the effect of "You can't invite Maria" and the Captain says "Why Not?" and Max says something about the guests not wanting to associate with someone like her...puts the whole thing in an interesting new light.

Bottom line is, if these other two girls are sub par then I will definitely cast the African American girl because talent is the number one priority here.

I agree PerforMeg. (I actually meant that previous statement in a little different way than it came across.)

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this post reminded me of seeing the white girl play effie in CAMP. ok, she was probably the most powerful singer in the camp so, vocally, the best suited but, oy, did it seem wrong.

Here's an easy answer. In high school, yeah go ahead. Hell small/limited college program go ahead. But the real Maria VonTrapp was White so there is your answer. It would be like casting a black Mama Rose. Oh god get an umbrella, here comes the sh!tstorm.

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But that's your answer. Everyone knows that Maria wasn't black, and everyone knows that mama Rose wasn't black. So casting a black actress isn't a problem, because everyone already knows. It's only confusing if you're an idiot and only upsetting if youre a bigot.

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"Ok cool. Then since we all know that Langston Hughes was black, I guess no one would have an issue with Kevin Spacey playing him onstage?"

To play devil's advocate, that's an entirely different story. Langston Hughes' work largely dealt with race and he was a huge art of a black arts movement. The same can't be said for Maria Von Trapp and Mama Rose. Von Trapp's issue had less to do with race and more to do with her husband's refusal to accept a position in the Third Reich.

"The Sound of Music is a true story (with some poetic license taken) about real people. Maria Von Trapp was a real person, not a fictional one. She was white. To portray her as black changes the story to fiction, and reconfigures the context of the play."


Exactly, agree 100% with your entire post. I too often sound like I'm against color blind casting, which I'm not. But your post sums up my thoughts fully. Thank you.

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Maria Von Trapp was a real person, not a fictional one. She was white. To portray her as black changes the story to fiction, and reconfigures the context of the play.

So by your logic, casting an overweight woman as Maria would also ruin the story or make it fictional, because Maria wasn't overweight. Your logic would even imply that SOM movie was entirely fictional and was well ruined because Julie Andrews is blond. When I saw the Sound Of Music, the woman playing Maria vocalized up to the F6, did that also ruin the story and make it fictional because Maria Von Trapp didn't have an F6?

I understand you point of history, I really do. If you guys, as casting directors feel a need to cast that way then fine. It's your show. But, if a director feels someone has the talent worth color blind casting for. Then how will the story be ruined? (In this case anyway.)

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Updated On: 4/28/07 at 02:44 PM