Controversial high school prod. of "Big River" in Glenelg, Maryland

A black Huck Finn and a white Jim might be OK for a high school production of Mark Twain's classic tale -- but those performances had to be edited out of a C-Span talent show after the copyright holder objected to the cross-casting.

Jay Frisby, a black student who played Huck, and Nick Lehan, a white student who played Jim, taped their performance of the song "Muddy Water" for "Close Up," a weekly show that highlights high school excellence.

Hmmmm.
The rest (Associated Press)

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Presumably, "Close Up" was doing their show on this high school precisely because of their controversial perspective of the play. So the fact that R&H Theatricals didn't want this aired is probably because they didn't want the controversy attached to their play. I think R&H Theatricals' real problem was that by the school intentionally reversing the races of the actors portraying the characters, it caused debate by looking at racial issues in a new light. R&H Theatricals doesn't want to have to give a definitive answer on colorblind casting to the whole nation, so they blocked it in an attempt to cut down on the audience.

The one student's father's comment really got to me. Is the real controversy that a black student played a white boy, or that a white student played a black slave? If two white students had portrayed the characters of Huck Finn and Jim, they probably wouldn't have been prevented from airing the segment. Same thing if it were two black students. Usually these are unintentional conditions based on the actors available in the school, but to intentionally cast the opposite race in actor/character portrayals is what made this controversial.

Colorblind casting is an issue that everyone dances around but rarely answers directly, because they don't want to sound racist by saying no. Even in shows that are comprised of black characters, to say that only black actors can play those roles is racist. So, like R&H Theatricals, they claim that this play is "special". You can have an all-white Miss Saigon, Annie Oakley can be black, but a white actor starring in Raisin in the Sun is inconceivable. Colorblind casting has to go both ways, or else the whole argument behind it is hypocritical.

I personally think this type of casting would bring an interesting perspective to the play, because it does make you think about your own assumptions about race in our society.

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Updated On: 3/28/08 at 04:50 AM

R&H has a special thing that you can apply for and be able to tape. I don't know if Big River is available in that program, though.

The R&H video licensing program applies only to shows actually written by Rodgers & Hammerstein - to which they own all the rights. Their contract with William Hauptman (BIG RIVER book)and the estate of Roger Miller (music & lyrics)would not include videotape rights.

if one thinks R&H is out of line, they should go directly to Hauptman and the Miller estate and see what they think. Unfortuneately, Mark Twain is dead, so there's no way of knowing how he would feel!

I think a talent show type set up that anything should be fair game. Give the kids a break. Given the context of the story, I don't think a full blown production should have a black Huck and a white Jim. (This kind of reminds me of the white Amneris thread of a few weeks back.)

Kind of makes me wonder if when I sing (badly) my girlfriend's kid to bed with "Wheels of a Dream" if the copyright holder is going to knock on my door because I'm white. :) Either that or because I'm a lousy singer.

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"I think that this will take a very long time to be resolved. I would expect to see these kids on Oprah."

I agree.

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"This was the issue at hand. Last night Jay and Chris performed an AMAZING parady of the song, calling R and H on their hipocracy and pointing out that we are in 2005. As a nation we'd like to think we are beyond stereo-types."

As a nation "we like to think we are beyond stereotypes?" We DO? What nation do you live in? I think this sort of hip, post-racism pose is so incredibly disingenous. This isn't color-blind casting, this is color-conscious casting done in order to make what probably seemed like a really profound point. At least to the high school imagination.

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Updated On: 5/23/05 at 06:12 PM

Nick and Jay were better for the parts they got. And even IF the school is private, and there are less choices for casting, what do you do? Just get a black kid to play the slave? This is repulsive. I am UTTERLY disgusted.

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Wow, biting skepticism and great big grown up oppinions. Looks like I'm put in my place now....

It is repulsive, Jwei123, I agree.

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I don't want to get involved in a huge argument, and as I said, this whole controversy can be argued both ways. I do not think, however, that the director cast the show in such a manner to prove any sort of point. That's at least what I got out of it. In all honesty, the production would not have worked the same if the roles had been switched. Other than race, the white student fit the role of Jim better than the black student, and vice versa.

And again, I don't think any of this would have surfaced if they hadn't filmed for television. Would it have still been wrong? Do you think licensing companies should ask who is playing which roles to every production to which they give the rights?

I believe that high schools shouldn't do certain musicals that are race specific, even with colorblind casting, if it distracts from what the story is trying to do. For example, a high school near me did an all-white production of "Aida" last year. It was insulting. The message of the musical was totally lost, and it looked and felt awkward.

Any director that's casting someone else's show with the sole intent of making a statement with the race of his/her actors and the characters they play isn't someone I'd want to associate with.

Pippin---Very well said, and I agree!

By the way, I HATE the term "color blind." We shouldn't be "blind" to any person's color. We should try to understand better, celebrate and appreciate our differences when it comes to race, culture and history. Color is a part of each of us. Acceptance is the key. Ignoring it isn't the answer.

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I worked at the Weathervane Theatre in New Hampshire a few summers ago as the resident costume designer. It is an equity summerstock theatre. We did a production of Big River where Huck was african american and so was Jim. The girl who played Sarahs daughter was Asian. The show did very well. Weathervane is very big on non traditional casting. I designed a production of The Wiz that summer where Evilene was played by a skinny white guy in drag. As far as copywrite holders or any other legal issues, this is the first I have heard of. I believe sometimes non traditional casting works and sometimes it doesnt. I do think it is a good thing when people talk about live theatre. I am sure this schools production will reap from the free publicity.

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