Casting by Race- Page 4

[TonyaFanatic]

Posted: 8/3/06 at 1:53am

RightAmerica you are an offense to my nature . plain and simple. why are you even on this board? personally i think it is to cause trouble from your name to your posts. "those people"? what the hell does that mean? most of the DIGNIFIED posts on here have stated that sometimes colorblind casting works and sometimes it does not. it depends on the situation and the show. I bet if it were up to you, minorities wouldnt perform in anything in this country. and people tell me how much of a "chip" i have on my shoulder. puh-leeze, it's because of assholes like RightAmerica who i have to deal with everyday of my life.

[JemimaPearl]

Posted: 8/3/06 at 9:14am

I do not agree with you by any means, RightAmerica. I simply feel there are some shows that cannot be colorblind casted. If a show can be colorblind casted, it should be.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 8/3/06 at 10:24am

Somehow, I don't think RightAmerica is kidding. I pray to God he is. But you should check out his profile. Yikes!

[aspiringactress]

Posted: 8/3/06 at 1:22pm

I wold love to hear more experiences with/ opinions on gener blind casting.

[Funny Face]

Posted: 8/3/06 at 1:28pm

Isn't gender blind casting illegal in a lot of cases?

[luvliza89]

Posted: 8/3/06 at 1:49pm

I know that in some cases, when you license a show, one of the rules is you cannot change the sex of the character. Is that what you mean? But I'm pretty sure that you can still have a different sex other then the sex of the character play the part, you just can't actually change the sex of the character. Did that make sense?

[aspiringactress]

Posted: 8/3/06 at 2:04pm

That's what I thought as well, luvliza.

[shortydudette]

Posted: 8/3/06 at 2:13pm

RightAmerica's board name and profile are ridiculous enough for him to either be joking or crazy. Either way we should disregard him.
I feel very strongly about this, I'll try to make it as concise as possible. Let me preface by saying that, although I feel very strongly, I don't have a black-and-white opinion on the raceblind casting issue. And that was seriously no pun intended. Really, I promise.

I think it's important to realize that changing the race of a character does have an impact on the character and the show as a whole. There is no way around that. And that is always true. On the other hand, color-blind casting doesn't necessarily change a character's race. Before you object, let me explain what I mean; I'll break it down into two categories: shows that mention a character's race and those that don't.

On historical accuracy and shows that mention the race of a character: If you're going for accuracy, the characters in a show like Pacific Overtures HAVE to be Asian. The actors don't, as long as they can be made up to look Asian. However, I have seen Once on this Island performed with an all-white cast. The race issue was cut entirely, and it became a class issue. Which worked, except that they had to cut a song. My point is that many people have argued that color-blind casting is okay, as long as race isn't an issue in the story. I'm proposing that color-blind casting is okay, as long as you don't mind it changing the plot. I also argue that it's okay to cast color-blindly, maintaining the plot, as long as it works for the character (Maria in WSS is Puerto Rican and can realistically be played by a White or Black person, as well as some people of Asian or mixed descent).

On shows where the character's race isn't mentioned: Changing the race of the character CHANGES the character. A white Joanne in Rent presents different implications for Joanne and her friends than a black one. That isn't to say I necessarily have a problem with the change, as long as the difference is taken into account. I present, for example the Lippa and LaChiusa versions of The Wild Party. In the former, Mr. Black was played by Taye Diggs, a black actor, while the latter employed a white actor. (At least he looked white - he had the weirdest frickin name in the world, who knows what his background is). Anyway, it made a difference. Queenie and Kate's interest in a black Black (ha) implies an open-mindedness, curiosity, or indiscriminatoriness on their part, while Black's presence with a white woman implies a courage, a lack of regard for what others may think. I say this in large part because of the underlying factor of segregation during the Prohibition era in which The Wild Party takes place.

Such casting in a contemporary show, however, is not much different. I think as theatre people, we forget that most, for example, right-wing southern couples are not interracial. So to have an interracial couple on stage implies something about those people (they are likely liberal, open-minded, experimental). RENT's Joanne consistently being played by a black actress, then, is not for nil. Maureen is projecting her acceptingness, liberal attitude, and rebelliousness into the world by being an openly gay woman in an interracial relationship. Don't tell me that doesn't mean anything, even in today's society. That doesn't mean Joanne can't be played by a white woman, it just means that, as much as you'd like to think everyone's the same, changing Joanne's race would change a dynamic in the show.

I probably forgot something I wanted to say, but that's my piece for now.

Updated On: 8/3/06 at 02:13 PM

[shortydudette]

Posted: 8/3/06 at 2:14pm

Oh god, that was so long. Sorry!

[Funny Face]

Posted: 8/3/06 at 2:36pm

luvliza-

Yes, that is what I meant

shorty-

>>to have an interracial couple on stage implies something about those people (they are likely liberal, open-minded, experimental)

VERY good point.

[WordedGrace]

Posted: 8/3/06 at 2:45pm

My parents are black...I'm black or African American to be PC...but daughter is half white and black..Mixed or Oreo as she calls it and my son is half black from me and his mother is white/asian/spanish.. or as I call it confusing. My daughter was cast in a lead role for her school musical and the parents were up in arms.. She wanted to not do the show but I told her the theatre is a place of dreams and the stage is one of the few places in the world where nothing else matters versus a great performance. Great performances always can outlive negativity... And you know it did! So, if colorblind casting is about casting who is best for the part regardless of race not meeting qouta

[shortydudette]

Posted: 8/3/06 at 2:51pm

wordedgrace - Actually, I believe "black" is more PC than African-American now, as not all "African-Americans" actually identify themselves as at all African.

[Link Larkin Wanabe]

Posted: 8/3/06 at 2:53pm

Shortydudette,

That was very eloquently put..thank you. I don't necessarily agree with you, but nonetheless, well put.

I think you said it yourself when you said "If you're going for accuracy, the characters in a show like Pacific Overtures HAVE to be Asian. The actors don't.." (I intentionally cut of the end of that sentence to make a point )

It is exactly this distinction between Actor and Character that I think we need to define to get to the core of this debate. I think that Once Upon This Island can be sucsessfully performed with a mutli-racial cast because it is framed by a group of people telling a story..and acting it out. So if actors aren't the race they are said to be in the script, I would think very little of it, because I realize that just because the actor isn't black, that doesn't mean his character isn't. I think it really has to do with the tone with which the peice is directed, and how realistic it is, and how much the director embraces the theatricality of any peice.

There is one part of your comment I take slight issue with though. Are you saying that if Maureen wasn't dating a woman of another race, she would be seen as closed-minded and conservative? I think the fact that she is openly dating a woman already says a lot about her and her views. I don't Joanne's race enters into the picture in that sense that much. If the character is written strongly enough...i don't think it much matters. ESPECIALLY in a show as theatrical as Rent, where the mics are visible, there is no effort made to hide actors playing multiple parts, etc..

Akiva

[shortydudette]

Posted: 8/3/06 at 3:07pm

Akiva,

Thanks!
That's a good point about Once on this Island, although I think the story is probably more powerful if told by those directly affected.

When I said that the Joanne-Maureen couple brings with it an implication of Maureen's open-mindedness, I didn't mean that a lesbian, same-race couple is therefore closed-minded and conservative. Or a heterosexaul same-race couple. But it doesn't project the liberal rebelliousness that an interracial couple inevitably does.

[wiggum2]

Posted: 8/3/06 at 8:19pm

I think Joanne does need to be black like others have said to go with her neing a rebel but is there any reason Benny has to be black?(besides Taye was)

[BigFatBlonde]

Posted: 10/16/08 at 8:55am

bump

[LotteTBS138]

Posted: 10/16/08 at 2:15pm

I agree with a lot of the points made by the educated individuals!
WordedGrace, I hope our daughter performed and enjoyed it! My nieces are cafe con leche.

When I saw Wicked in LA the first run they had Fiyero's u/s who is African-American. I never once thought, ooooh, Elphaba can only be with "colored" people (even though white is a color) or that straw=white so bad casting! It didn't even dawn on me! Plus, that guy was better than the one playing the lead!

I saw FIRST BREEZE OF SUMMER last night and yes, this show HAD to be casted with colors. But many others do not.

[CurtisTaylorJr2]

Posted: 10/16/08 at 2:31pm

It depends on how a show is written and some shows actually do require a certain race for a particular role. For example, a show like Caroline or Change would definitely have to be cast based on race.

Updated On: 10/16/08 at 02:31 PM

[Jon]

Posted: 10/16/08 at 2:39pm

Yancy Arias played Black in the laChiusa Wild Party. I beleive he is of Hispanic heritage. In that production, Kate was black, as well as the boxer (with a white girlfriend), the gay pair of "brothers", and of course, Eartha Kitt's character.

[WishingOnlyWounds2]

Posted: 10/16/08 at 4:02pm

Colorblind casting is working great in The Little Mermaid (not being sarcastic)... Sherie Rene Scott plays Norm Lewis's sister. Now I'm not racist but I will admit the first time I saw the show (I've seen it twice) Cicily Daniels was on as Ursula and I felt the story just to be more believable, and pictured Ariel's mother as white.

[jake6970]

Posted: 10/16/08 at 4:21pm

Do you guys think Light in the Piazza could be color blind cast? I'm wondering what it would be like to have a black Clara and Margaret.

[Elphaba43]

Posted: 9/25/09 at 1:05pm

When my school did a production of "A Christmas Carol", I played Mrs. Fezziwig, and I'm white and my Mr. Fezziwig was a black guy. My two daughters in the show were whiter than me! We got a pretty interesting reaction from that.....lol

[Jon]

Posted: 9/25/09 at 3:17pm

Going back to the post above about the Little Mermaid...

THEY ARE SEA CREATURES! THEY ARE NOT HUMANS!

Does it bother you when your white cat gives birth to a litter with some white, some black, some spotted and some striped kittens?