Can there be a White Angel (RENT)??????

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 11/29/05 at 12:57am

I once was told that Johnathan Larson wrote in his will that the parts were racially specific, and I suppose that some of them are. But I was wondering about Angel. Wilson looks somewhat white to me, and Angel's last name isn't a hispanic one. I don't think that it would take ANYTHING away from the role at all. Has this ever been done before? Has there ever been a black Angel......even an Asian Angel? Basically, I was having one of those RENT discussions where you talk about characters that you would want to be and I said Mark and Angel, but could I even be Angel since I'm white?

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 11/29/05 at 1:01am

Mark Setlock played Angel in the 1994 NYTW version and he's white.

Wilson is Hispanic, he's Domincan.

There have been many black and Asian Angels.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 11/29/05 at 1:01am

Off the top of my head:

Black Angel: Shaun Earl, Justin Johnston

White Angel: Mark Setlock, Dan Domenech

Asian Angel: Michael Lee, Jose Llana, Jake Manabat, Evan D'Angeles, Pethon Quirante

Though there are a lot more and I can't think right now.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 11/29/05 at 1:02am

I don't have an answer. However, in the Rent bible, they talk about how as the different characters were cast, the characters had the same ethnicity as the actors who originated them, Collins was white at first until Jesse L. Martin was hired. I think in the auditions they ask for Angel to be played by an ethnic actor, please someone corrects me if I'm wrong.

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 11/29/05 at 1:04am

I always thought Jose Llana was hispanic......just playing several asian roles.

Well, I guess there can be a white angel, and it seems to be very acceptable. That's something I wouldn't really say about some of the other parts like Joanne or Collins, and other the other side Mark and Roger, but Angels seems to be versitle in terms of his race. Updated On: 11/29/05 at 01:04 AM

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 11/29/05 at 1:06am

Angel doesn't seem that versitile to me...(NM mind in gutter)

Jose is Filipino.

[Mimi Imfurst]

Posted: 11/29/05 at 1:08am

can we get an angel that looks like a drag queen?

[MLE]

Posted: 11/29/05 at 1:13am

I believe Kristoffer Cusick, who of course, is currently Fiyero in the Chicago production of Wicked, understudied both Mark and Angel on one of the Rent tours. And he's certainly white.

[jonartdesigns]

Posted: 11/29/05 at 1:31am

i still think there can be a white collins and benny, in fact my goal is to eventually cover 4 out of the 5 male roles (my voice range is wide enough to do a very jesse martin styled collins, an anthony mark, etc.) i think joanne eventually could be other ethnicities too (mainly because i saw a video clip of karmine alers singing her part of take me or leave me and well...damn)

[StephanietheStar]

Posted: 11/29/05 at 1:46am

Kristoffer played Angel on several occasions during the "Angel Tour"...


yeah..he's pretty white..

[singingwendy]

Posted: 11/29/05 at 8:55am

My personal opinion? Aside from Mimi needing to be Latina, there is nothing in the libretto that really screams that any of the other characters need to be of a certain race. I agree with ray that basically they now seem to cast the roles similarly to the person who originated them. I think it has to do with the "mystique" of the show...."That's how Jonathan Larson cast it..so we don't change it"

However, I would say that as soon as the performance rights are released, we will be seeing a whole lot of "different" casting. After all, in educational and community theater you work with what you have!

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 11/29/05 at 8:59am

I certainly think that having an entirely white cast when avoidable would make the message about the universality of love a little less strong; there's something to be said for the fact that the show displays not only heterosexual and homosexual love, but interracial relationships, too.

Updated On: 11/29/05 at 08:59 AM

[ozone20]

Posted: 11/29/05 at 9:24am

Besides Mimi, there isnt anything that specifically speakes race about the roles that are currently cast ethnically. However, those same roles neednt be cast outside of the way they are now. collins, mimi, benny, angel and joanne are cast ethnically for a reason. its speaks to the diversity of Rent. if u start playing around with that, you lose a very special quality that Rent holds unlike far too many broadway musicals. DIVERSITY!
Updated On: 11/29/05 at 09:24 AM

[Patronus]

Posted: 11/29/05 at 10:18am

I have never heard anything that indicates that Jonathan mentioned anything regarding his shows in a will. He died very suddenly and the show wasn't even finished, it just seems like an unlikely concept.

Another white Angel was Owen Johnston III who is the current Dance Captain/Swing on Broadway.

I remember attending two performances of Rent on a Saturday back in 1997 and Owen was on as Angel at the matinee and Roger at the evening show. That was pretty impressive.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 11/29/05 at 10:21am

Owen's white? I thought he was mixed.

Patronus, love the SantaNorbert. All he needs now are the zebra tights

[Patronus]

Posted: 11/29/05 at 10:24am

You actually might be right on Owen. I thought about that just after posting it. If nothing else, he has a dark complexion. If I recall correctly his wife is from Hawaii which I suppose could potentially be an indication of his nationality.

Nevermind.

Thanks for the kind words on SantaNorbertEmcee!

Updated On: 11/29/05 at 10:24 AM

[algy]

Posted: 11/29/05 at 10:25am

MiG Ayesa was Angel in London - he's filipino. I don't know who else played the part in the West End though.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 11/29/05 at 10:26am

I wish I had been clever enough to dress up Emcee Adam when I was using him.

[Billboard Girl]

Posted: 11/29/05 at 10:39am

I think that using a racially mixed cast and making the relationships interracial makes the story more powerful, because it's presenting interracial relationships as something so normal and not something to be endlessly analyzed and treated as out of the ordinary. That being said, with the exception of Mimi and Mark (after all, most Jews are white), each character could be any race.

[MLE]

Posted: 11/29/05 at 10:44am

I heard somewhere that the part of Maureen calls for a Caucasian. I'm not sure, though. That's just what I heard.

[broadwaystar2b]

Posted: 11/29/05 at 10:47am

I believe the current Maureen is actually hispanic
I also know that Danny Calvert (currently in Altar Boyz, and white) was Angel on tour
I think ozone and Emcee have it right, the text may not say that Collins, Benny, Joanne and Angel have to be ethnically cast, but the diversity adds so much to the message of the show

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 11/29/05 at 10:48am

Ava?

[broadwaystar2b]

Posted: 11/29/05 at 10:54am

Either Ava or the Maureen who was on the tour before it went to China

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 11/29/05 at 11:00am

Do you mean Caren Lyn Manuel?

[broadwaystar2b]

Posted: 11/29/05 at 11:01am

Thank you orange! Yes, I mean Caren