Color Blind casting

I take it you missed the spirited debate that already occurred on this topic, Joe.

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There is always going to be a difference between this and something like Oklahoma. Caucasians are not a marginalized group in America. No, color blind casting is not a concept that is evenly applied across the board, but complaining about white actors not getting roles is missing the point.

H.C Andersen's NIGHTINGALE story, while set in China, is not ABOUT what it's like being Chinese.

RAGTIME is another story. The colorblind and'or gender blind casting of historical figures is a terrible idea.

I once saw a college production of ASSASSINS, where Squeaky Fromme and DEmma Goldman were black. WTF! To make matters weirder, the Balladeer role was devided between two white girls. Why not use the two black girls for the Balladeer stuff, and use the white girls as Squeaky and Emma?

^Deidre Goodwin was Sheila in the revival.

If all your press materials say it takes place in ancient China, if your sets, costumes and puppets reflect China, if your characters have Chinese names, then you can't say that it's not about being Chinese. It is a direct cooptation of another culture.

It is a representation of China through a Western (read: White) lens and is tantamount to exotification.

What we need to know is if they even went out of their way to audition Asian actors. Only then is it true colorblind casting. . I have friends who are talented Asian actors, many of them with Broadway credits, who say they didn't even audition for this.

You can't look at the Nightingale as a one off instance. There is a history of exclusion and misrepresentation of Asians which has denied Asian actors the equal opportunity they deserve.

Colorblind and multi-racial casting would be fine if it happened on a more regular basis, if we saw Asians as Hedda and Hamlet and Jesus etc, but we never see that.

You would never "re-interpret" Porgy and Bess so that only two African Americans were left in the cast. There would be a riot.

This topic soooo makes me want to 'go there'. But I've been there, and hated it.

I think color blind casting can only be used in shows where race is not a major part of the show. Clearly in something like ragtime, the grandfather should be white because a main element of the musical is racism and race relations.

I'm all out of outrage.

I think Colorblind casting is a beautiful concept, as long as the plot and it's characters have no historical value to our world's history where race is a given subject or fact.

I for one am pissed, sincerely pissed, that no green perosn has had the chance to play Elphaba or puppet Timon. Instead, we have to paint people green every night! Shame on all of you for allowing this to happen!

Also, there are no real green people. You what kind of people are real? Asian ones.

affirmative action exists in reaction to white entitlement. hence color blind casting seeks to achieve the same ends. american stories tend to be white stories unless otherwise specified. color blind casting exists in reaction to this. it's a little insulting to argue that minority actors take jobs from white actors.

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