Can a white person be cast as Hamilton or Angelica?- Page 2

[dry2olives]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 9:53am

Lin-Manuel Miranda has stated in at least one interview that such matters should always follow the author's intention.  The script that will be sent to regional and amateur companies doing Hamilton will contain a casting guide.  Also, he said that he's fine with high schools with not a lot of Latino students casting white actors in In The Heights, as long as they don't use stereotype makeup and accents.  He says that high school is the only place he would allow that kind of casting.

[bfreak]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 9:59am

I understand as such. Again, I love Hamilton but I was just saying that it really shouldn't neccessarily matter either way as to who is playing these parts based off of race. I know that isn't the case and it doesn't neccessarily matter. If Lin's intention is to continue casting in the same manner they are now, I fully respect it and support his decision. They really do have such an amazing group of actors in the show right now and I am very happy because of that.

[Broadwaystar2]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 10:30am

Considering most Musicals are written for WHITE actors. I'm ok with this show out of the thousands written specifically for white leads, to have minority actors only in these roles. 

[haterobics]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 10:32am

HamfourHam said: "My tiff with Hogan's Hero is only because he seems to attack anyone that is critical of Hamilton. Would you agree? Maybe I'm crazy. "

 

I doubt that is true, but even if it were, he didn't do that here, so I'm not sure how that would apply to him giving you the proper answer to your question.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 10:47am

And LMM has already stated that he expects in the (distant) future, when this is finally available to high schools, there will be many productions with white casts....and he's ok with that, too.

[gypsy101]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 11:06am

I think the score of this show would sound ridiculous coming from the mouths of most white people and it wouldn't be very believable.

[lite2shine]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 11:17am

bfreak said: " I was just saying that it really shouldn't neccessarily matter either way as to who is playing these parts based off of race. I know that isn't the case and it doesn't neccessarily matter. 

 

"

Comment noted. But Lin didn't ask your input, and he said it DOES matter how each role is cast. The end of discussion.

[Jane2]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 11:24am

"The end of discussion."

 

LOL, sure it is!

[VotePeron]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 11:25am

The current understudy (NOT the Standby) for Angelica is Betsy Struxness. So it is possible.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 11:29am

I understand the rationale for the casting, but it definitely cannot be called “inclusive”.  I also think it’s telling that King George is the only character that has to be white. Why can’t he be a minority also? The only reason I can see, and correct me I’m wrong, is some sort of underlying message about white people oppressing minorities, which while true in the past, just seems an unnecessary message in today’s climate and not “inclusive”.  

I know that the obvious response is white people do oppress minorities to this day and Broadway (and many other things) have such an ingrained racism that specifying certain roles for minorities is necessary and positive. I personally disagree with both sentiments though I realize I might be in the minority with those opinions. I personally would love for roles to be colorblind and was very pleased that Jean Valjean and Cinderella were both recently performed by non-white performers.

By the way, for what it’s worth (and it should be worth nothing), I am not white (though I’m not Hispanic or black either).

[Broadwaystar2]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 11:30am

And she's never been on. So there's that!

[Broadwaystar2]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 11:37am

spidernight said: "I understand the rationale for the casting, but it definitely cannot be called “inclusive”.  I also think it’s telling that King George is the only character that has to be white. Why can’t he be a minority also? The only reason I can see, and correct me I’m wrong, is some sort of underlying message about white people oppressing minorities, which while true in the past, just seems an unnecessary message in today’s climate and not “inclusive”.  

 

I know that the obvious response is white people do oppress minorities to this day and Broadway (and many other things) have such an ingrained racism that specifying certain roles for minorities is necessary and positive. I personally disagree with both sentiments though I realize I might be in the minority with those opinions. I personally would love for roles to be colorblind and was very pleased that Jean Valjean and Cinderella were both recently performed by non-white performers.

 

By the way, for what it’s worth (and it should be worth nothing), I am not white (though I’m not Hispanic or black either).

 

 

"You think white oppression is in the past?????

 

[mpd4165]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 11:38am

spidernight said: "I understand the rationale for the casting, but it definitely cannot be called “inclusive”.  I also think it’s telling that King George is the only character that has to be white. Why can’t he be a minority also? The only reason I can see, and correct me I’m wrong, is some sort of underlying message about white people oppressing minorities, which while true in the past, just seems an unnecessary message in today’s climate and not “inclusive”.  

 

I know that the obvious response is white people do oppress minorities to this day and Broadway (and many other things) have such an ingrained racism that specifying certain roles for minorities is necessary and positive. I personally disagree with both sentiments though I realize I might be in the minority with those opinions. I personally would love for roles to be colorblind and was very pleased that Jean Valjean and Cinderella were both recently performed by non-white performers.

 

By the way, for what it’s worth (and it should be worth nothing), I am not white (though I’m not Hispanic or black either).

 

 

"

The message is really even MORE necessary in today's climate. 

And white people are in this cast. And it speaks to the authorial intent to cast the show as he says. 

[Broadwaystar2]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 11:59am

mpd4165 said: "spidernight said: "I understand the rationale for the casting, but it definitely cannot be called “inclusive”.  I also think it’s telling that King George is the only character that has to be white. Why can’t he be a minority also? The only reason I can see, and correct me I’m wrong, is some sort of underlying message about white people oppressing minorities, which while true in the past, just seems an unnecessary message in today’s climate and not “inclusive”.  

 

 

 

I know that the obvious response is white people do oppress minorities to this day and Broadway (and many other things) have such an ingrained racism that specifying certain roles for minorities is necessary and positive. I personally disagree with both sentiments though I realize I might be in the minority with those opinions. I personally would love for roles to be colorblind and was very pleased that Jean Valjean and Cinderella were both recently performed by non-white performers.

 

 

 

By the way, for what it’s worth (and it should be worth nothing), I am not white (though I’m not Hispanic or black either).

 

 

 

 

 

 

"

 

The message is really even MORE necessary in today's climate. 

 

And white people are in this cast. And it speaks to the authorial intent to cast the show as he says. 

 

"

I agree with your statement 100 percent!!

[Charley Kringas Inc]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 12:11pm

lmao jesus christ

[mamaleh]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 12:16pm

Here's an intriguing thought:  In the admittedly not very plausible happenstance that if the grosses should fall, and if an acclaimed non-minority star rapper such as Eminem displayed interest in playing a key role, would LMM's rules be tempered?  The race of the king could also be flipped, for contrast--maybe Asian?   Just musing.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 12:34pm

Given that Asian people are not white, I don't think the race of the King is going to be flipped any time soon. I don't see why it's so difficult to just accept the way the show is clearly meant to be cast- it's not changing any time soon, and nor should it be.

[IslandBoy27]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 1:08pm

In all the readings I saw of this before the Public, George was NOT white. Brian was the first white George if I remember correctly. Nicholas Christopher was actually George right before BDJ. 

I don't think Lin REALLY cares that much. Breakdowns are breakdows. He just wants whoever is the best I would assume. 

 

[haterobics]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 1:20pm

IslandBoy27 said: "I don't think Lin REALLY cares that much. Breakdowns are breakdows. He just wants whoever is the best I would assume."

 

Not quite, since he did speak out about this to some degree when it came up during the white MLK in The Mountaintop. He said: 

 

"In every case, the intent of the author always wins. If the author has specified the ethnicity of the part, that wins."

 

As for the racial makeup of future Hamilton casts:

 

"I'm going to know the answer a little better once we set up these tours and once we set up the London run. I think the London cast is also going to look like our cast looks now, it's going to be as diverse as our cast is now, but there are going to be even more opportunities for southeast Asian and Asian and communities of color within Europe that should be represented on stage in that level of production."

[thedrybandit]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 2:02pm

I seem to remember Lin saying something in an interview along the lines of "As long as the founding fathers in the show don't look like the actual founding fathers, it's ok." I can't remember if this was solely applying to school/regional productions, or if he meant it to cover the major professional productions as well, but I thought it would be worth mentioning here.

[Sondheimite]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 2:11pm

Jfc.  White people have enough roles that are exclusively for them (99% of the musical theatre cannon).  As always, there are a certain breed of white people who feel the need to take more because they feel entitled to it.  

[notalwaysontime]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 4:14pm

To cast any way but the way Lin intended it is to miss the point entirely. I don't know why Peggy/Maria can be white, but honestly, if someone asked him, he'd probably answer, and I don't know why there are white understudies, maybe they impressed so much in their auditons he thought they'd still be able to fit, but either way, there are plenty of roles available to white people, roles written specifically for them and all nondescript roles that people just assume are white by default. This show is one of very few that is not that way, it was not written for us, so swallow your pride and get over it. Your time would be better spent educating yourself. 

Updated On: 1/4/16 at 04:14 PM

[lite2shine]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 4:14pm

IslandBoy27 said: "In all the readings I saw of this before the Public, George was NOT white. Brian was the first white George if I remember correctly. Nicholas Christopher was actually George right before BDJ. 

 

"

Gavin Creel was George in American Songbook event. 

[broadwayboy223]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 5:00pm

I think it's kind of rude how all the annoying white girls wanna play Eliza and Angelica and are complaining about it (I personally know many). There are literally tons of shows with parts specifically for white people. 

[HogansHero]

Posted: 1/4/16 at 5:42pm

@IslandBoy27-what happened in readings and workshops is beside the point. The purpose of them is to flesh out what you want to do, and the resulting judgments are what is called the script.