Casting Announced for Broadway-Bound 1776 at A.R.T.- Page 2

[veronicamae]

Posted: 4/9/22 at 3:25pm

The Distinctive Baritone said: "veronicamae said: "I can't help but wonder how many people commenting that this is boring or unnecessary casting are white cis men.”



I’m surprised it took a full 24 hours for someone to play that card. Yes, I am a cis white man. And no, I did not say it was “boring and unnecessary.” Please read what I wrote.

Actually, I was planning on directing a race/gender-conscious 1776 myself at my school but it got cancelled by COVID. As I said, it would’ve been a cool thing to do two years ago. Now it’s cool, just…not as revolutionary as it would have been had their initial production not also been cancelled by COVID. So yeah…I actually had this same idea at the same time Diane Paulus did… And it’s not even an original idea. Google around and you will find plenty of all female or gender and race-conscious 1776 productions. So yes, the gimmick was old even before radically inclusive casting became the new normal."

Thank you for proving my point.

I'm not sure why it needs to be considered revolutionary or even original (congrats on thinking of doing it and then deciding not to give minorities their time in the spotlight in your production because you now think it's unoriginal) to do something. Why does it have to be the first time for it to make a difference in a very white male-driven industry?

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 4/9/22 at 6:15pm

veronicamae - 

Actually, if you want to know the full story, after the show was cancelled due the pandemic, we were going to do it again this year. We held auditions last December, and not enough kids auditioned. It's big cast with no ensemble and no doubling, so we had to choose a different show. Some of the feedback I received was that a lot of the girls didn't want to play boys, and that everyone is tired of politics. I had been planning the production since 2019, and many of my then-students were excited about it. But many of them had graduated by the time we actually are able to do it this year, and the moment for the show had passed and the new kids weren't interested, so we are doing something else. I am actually still waiting for my refund from MTI.

So maybe I'm a little bitter that Diane Paulus gets to do her big fancy Broadway version and I don't even get to do my little high school version? Perhaps I am misguidedly using what happened at my school to predict how this production will be received at A.R.T. and (theoretically) Broadway. I don't know. What I do know is that I have and will continue to be gender and color-conscious in my casting, and that some people need to get over their sense of moral superiority and not villainize every straight cis white guy who doesn't view the world in moral and political binaries.

I wish you and the production the best of luck. I have a feeling you are both going to need it.

[George in DC]

Posted: 4/9/22 at 9:20pm

veronicamae said: "The Distinctive Baritone said: >>>

As a gay white male, I can say your post is truly boring. 

As for the show, maybe if the parts were cast with both men and women of all races then it might interest me. An all women cast bores me to death. This is so over, every show in every region is doing this.

Another choice would be to have the women roles played by men. 

I wish this production well, I just won't see it.

 

 

[John Adams]

Posted: 4/10/22 at 10:09am

veronicamae said: "I can't help but wonder how many people commenting that this is boring or unnecessary casting are white cis men. Intentionally carving out space for what qualifies as "non-traditional" casting by giving the roles of old white men to women/trans/nb and POC is important and necessary, and eventually, such things won't be considered non-traditional and instead be considered normal. Hamilton doing it did cause a stir, and I hope that this causes even more of one. Nothing pisses off the right than perceiving this particular group of people as "taking" something from entitled white men.

I wanted to see this revival when it was announced, and with this announcement, I'm even more excited about it."

veronicamae, I feel like you're tilting at windmills in your post.

You seem to have a bias against cis white males. Exactly who are these "entitled white men" you speak of? ...and what are the "old white men" roles you speak of in "1776"?

There's a handful of characters in the show that might be considered "old", but you're pretty much just recycling an emotionally loaded phrase that doesn't really apply to this show.

Speaking for myself, I'd surely be more supportive (100% on board, actually) of your desire for more inclusion on Broadway stages if you were challenging the artistic community of playwrights, composers, etc. to be more inclusive in their writing/creating. ...but you're not.

This version of "1776", in re: to its casting, is gimmicky at best. It may superficially *appear* to be about inclusion, but it's actually the opposite. It's about the *exclusion* of actors who could/might be perceived as cis males.

[gibsons2]

Posted: 5/12/22 at 2:49pm

Roundabout website started the pre-sale for 1776. Does anyone know the date when tickets go on sale for general public?

Thanks.

[Ke3]

Posted: 5/12/22 at 11:47pm

I have what is possibly a silly question. 1776 is about to start a national tour? I thought tours and regional productions were blocked when Broadway productions are being planned? And this has been planned since before the shutdown, so I'm a little confused.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 5/13/22 at 5:49am

Not for revivals....limitations are then usually put on only near the locations a show will land....and only during a small window of time. Which is why pulling the rights to all production of Mockingbird was not well recd.

And I wouldn't call this a tour, it a few outta town tryouts.

[denali.fire]

Posted: 5/14/22 at 9:30am

The Distinctive Baritone said: "Interesting that when it was in development in 2019/2020 it was "all female." Now it's "all female, non-binary, and trans." Nothing wrong with that, but it does sort of point out how this production is essentially trying to be the "woke" version of a very white and male musical from the 1960's, which feels - to me anyway - a little gimmicky. Three years ago, in the middle of theHamiltoncraze and Trumpism, this production seemed like a cool, radical idea that gave a middle finger to the status quo. Now that this sort of casting isthe status quo to a certain degree, the productionstrikes me as a bit tired and virtue signaling. I sense that the "moment" for this version has passed, but I wish them all the best."

I couldnt agree with you more .

[denali.fire]

Posted: 5/14/22 at 9:30am

The Distinctive Baritone said: "Interesting that when it was in development in 2019/2020 it was "all female." Now it's "all female, non-binary, and trans." Nothing wrong with that, but it does sort of point out how this production is essentially trying to be the "woke" version of a very white and male musical from the 1960's, which feels - to me anyway - a little gimmicky. Three years ago, in the middle of theHamiltoncraze and Trumpism, this production seemed like a cool, radical idea that gave a middle finger to the status quo. Now that this sort of casting isthe status quo to a certain degree, the productionstrikes me as a bit tired and virtue signaling. I sense that the "moment" for this version has passed, but I wish them all the best."

I couldnt agree with you more .

[jkcohen626]

Posted: 5/14/22 at 10:10am

Ke3 said: "I have what is possibly a silly question. 1776 is about to start a national tour? I thought tours and regional productions were blocked when Broadway productions are being planned? And this has been planned since before the shutdown, so I'm a little confused."

If you're talking about the one linked below, notice the start date. It doesn't start until February 2023 and I would bet good money that the Broadway production will be a typical Roundabout run from either October or November until January and then it appears to be the same production that is doing the tour (the logos are the same). I honestly wouldn't be surprised if elements of the physical production will be resued for the tour and/or if they offer the roles in the tour to the Broadway performers. 

https://www.broadway.org/tours/details/1776,1188 

[Valentina3]

Posted: 5/14/22 at 10:27am

The Distinctive Baritone said: "Interesting that when it was in development in 2019/2020 it was "all female." Now it's "all female, non-binary, and trans." Nothing wrong with that, but it does sort of point out how this production is essentially trying to be the "woke" version of a very white and male musical from the 1960's, which feels - to me anyway - a little gimmicky. Three years ago, in the middle of theHamiltoncraze and Trumpism, this production seemed like a cool, radical idea that gave a middle finger to the status quo. Now that this sort of casting isthe status quo to a certain degree, the productionstrikes me as a bit tired and virtue signaling. I sense that the "moment" for this version has passed, but I wish them all the best."

SO many things to unpack here. First of all, the word "woke" really has been weaponized beyond recognition. If a production is trying to stay current with the society we're in, and dragging the industry forward with it to the 21st century, it doesn't automatically make it "woke" in any sense of the word, colloquial or original. You are seemingly using the word as a shorthand to insult anything intersectional and inclusive, which is absolutely how right-wing and right-wing adjacent people use it. 

No one has seen the show yet, so you either don't know what virtue-signalling means, or just want to write-off a show because of a casting decision rooted in where we are in the society. In 2019, the language for non-binary casting wasn't even in the lexicon yet (at least in Broadway circles) with the exception of small flares here and there. Skepticism is very healthy and everyone should retain it, but dismissing a show when (as far as anyone not actually in the production team knows) it's actually doing what activists and performers have been begging big production houses to do. Sure, it would be great if a story rooted in stories of non-binary and trans people were told instead of putting up yet another revival of a classic material, but that doesn't mean there's no place to reinterpret old art with today's lens. That's what a good revival should do.

As for "the moment" has passed. Please do point out what about the moment feels dated to you. Because people aren't out there marching in the streets? Or is it because MSM is not consistently covering those protests? Or because the issues have been fixed? Roe v Wade is about to be overturned, and 25 new state laws have been introduced in the last MONTH alone specifically targetting transgender and non-binary people (source : https://freedomforallamericans.org/legislative-tracker/anti-transgender-legislation/). Moment seems very much here from my perspective, and it will likely be here for a long time if America stays on the trajectory it is in. 

If anything, I'm glad this production is creating a platform for us to have these conversations so we can have a hard look at our own biases. Everyone wants progress, unless they see what progress would do to the things we have long cherished and loved. And then everyone's all "well now you have gone too far, do you own thing, don't take what's mine".

[TaffyDavenport]

Posted: 5/14/22 at 10:30am

Broadway Inbound, the group sales site, has the first performance scheduled for 9/16, with a 10/6 opening night, and selling through 1/8/23.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 5/14/22 at 11:45am

Valentina3, I get where you are coming from and respect your feelings about this. I also think that you are misreading what I wrote. I am not shooting the production down. I think it’s a cool idea that would have been cooler three years ago when the production was originally supposed to happen.

I should also point out that of the entire very large cast of women and GNC individuals, there are only two fully non-binary performers (as in, people who don’t use she/her pronouns at all, rather than women who are “cool with whatever” ) and from what I can tell, zero AMAB women. I could be wrong. There’s a lot to “unpack” about this production and how it is marketing itself as well. 
 

And since language does indeed change over time, I would say that “woke” has indeed changed meaning to refer to very far left liberals who are trying way too hard to show everyone what a good person they are. As a liberal myself, I find people who are “woke” to be pretty irritating, and although I love and respect my LGBTQ colleagues, I remain skeptical about things that appear to me to be “virtue signaling.” This production is - in my eyes - making a half-baked commitment to trans activism and trying to make money from it. Again, maybe I’m wrong.

Updated On: 5/14/22 at 11:45 AM

[ATerrifyingAndImposingFigure]

Posted: 5/14/22 at 11:51am

I gotta agree, this casting just feels like a gimmick essentially.

[ThisGuyLovesTheatre]

Posted: 5/14/22 at 12:52pm

Why is it necessary that we know everyone's sexual preference?  Just cast it as all female and leave it to that. Are we going to start listing the sexual preferences on all shows?

  I feel like Bill Maher. I am very liberal but the left sometimes loses it's mind and goes far too far.  This is an example. This whole Broadway season is an example of this. IMHO.

[trpguyy]

Posted: 5/14/22 at 1:10pm

Literally nobody is discussing sexual preference. 

[trpguyy]

Posted: 5/14/22 at 1:12pm

Ke3 said: "I have what is possibly a silly question. 1776 is about to start a national tour? I thought tours and regional productions were blocked when Broadway productions are being planned? And this has been planned since before the shutdown, so I'm a little confused."

It is all the same production, co-produced by ART, Roundabout, and Networks. It hits the road after the limited Broadway run.