Do you think it's important for Rent to have a multiracial cast?- Page 2

[darquegk]

Posted: 4/19/10 at 10:30pm

The inspiration for Collins, especially his voice and music, was blues-experimental musician and singer Tom Waits. Him becoming the archetypal "big black man" came later.

[hannah_bway]

Posted: 4/19/10 at 10:37pm

Where do you live that they still have a whites-only college?

I'm sure there ARE people who aren't white at the college, but they weren't in this show. I saw it at SUNY Cortland.

I guess my problem wasn't so much with the race of the actors (though this was certainly the gripe my friends had), so much as the costumes when combined with that, made them seem much more like something out of an American Eagle ad than struggling artists.

The only race issue that bothered me slightly was that Mimi Marquez was a blonde girl. But even beyond her race, with the overall feel of the production, she had a pleasant enough voice but looked totally suburban on so many levels that she just couldn't be believable.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 4/19/10 at 10:50pm

The only race issue that bothered me slightly was that Mimi Marquez was a blonde girl.

Cameron Diaz is also a blonde girl.

Updated On: 4/19/10 at 10:50 PM

[hannah_bway]

Posted: 4/19/10 at 11:02pm

^ True. But a vast majority of people whose last name is Marquez aren't going to have blonde hair and blue eyes (and I'm not so convinced that Cameron Diaz has hair even close to as blonde as she kept it for awhile, but that's another story altogether haha).

Like I said, for me, it wasn't so much about the race of the actors as it was that they came across as totally suburban. I'm not going to discount their race as being a factor for that, but it was mostly the overall costuming and feel of the production in general.
Updated On: 4/19/10 at 11:02 PM

[winston89]

Posted: 4/19/10 at 11:15pm

I would think that the only characters to whom race is mentioned to in the script are Mimi and Mark. I mean, you could have Mark be black. But, then again, how many black Jews do you know?

[PalJoey]

Posted: 4/19/10 at 11:17pm

Nell Carter was Jewish.

[winston89]

Posted: 4/19/10 at 11:20pm

I was clearly being sarcastic. The point that I am trying to make is that it would look strange for most people to see a show where they mention that the guy has the last name "Cohen" and see that he is a different background other then white. Hell, my best friend from high school is a black Jew so I do know one. But, for most people it would cause them to do a double take and it might not look quite right to them.

[Craww]

Posted: 4/19/10 at 11:46pm

I do think it's important for Rent to have a multiracial cast. I don't think it's important to cast each character along strict racial lines following the Broadway production.

The reason it's important to me isn't because of the characters specifically (except probably Mimi), but the overall image of inclusion.

[musikman]

Posted: 4/19/10 at 11:57pm

A real Jewish mother uses any excuse to call her children multiple times per day; even Christian holidays will do.

^ SO very true aspiringactress.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 4/19/10 at 11:59pm

Duly noted. :)

I'm Asian, so I clearly don't know the rules. Although I do have a few Jewish step-cousins...

~Steven

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 1:22am

white people is such a rarity in theater... so it's important that we let them play more roles!!!

[chinto1984]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 3:36am

I saw a college production. They had a white Collins. Didn't bother me and not detrimental to the book. Clearly denotes racial or ethnic background, Mimi being latina and Mark being Jewish. There have been plenty of black actresses as Mimi which is not as a stretch as a blonde Mimi because in NY york there are a lot of multi-racial/ethnic individuals, and being latin and black is very common.

More ambiguous conotations would be Joanne. The reference her mother makes is more commonly linked to African Americans. That is not to say a white woman wouldn't or couldn't be a lawyer in a poor, predominately minority populated neighborhoods. Angel playing the drums on buckets is more common in urban culture that usually lacks a certain visibility of white boys.

There is validity in the power of the piece by having diversity. That makes the piece real and still resonate. The couples being multi-racial speaks a lot about the reality of the world and idealism that Jonathan had. We expect certain roles to be certain races in this show not because it says so in the book but its natural to see a white man with a latina, a black woman with a white woman, latino and black. Segregation or lack of diversity takes the voice of the piece away.

Benny is also interesting. I think by having a black man be the one who marries up and gets rich was gutsy on JL's part. Society attributes wealth and entrepreneur as white. In fact, the three successful or educated characters are portrayed by black actors. Those characters are not poor. Benny has married up. Joanne isa lawyer an advocate for the community. Collins is a professor those he is between jobs in the show. I've always perceived Mark and Roger coming from well to do families and being more idealist. They kind of chose to live there. Mimi and Angel, latins, are poor from environment. Now I am not sure how much JL put actual thought into or how much were are analyzing since the piece has resonated with the culture. Did JL and his team honestly colorblind cast and now we see color specific roles. Did they cast for type and didn't write specific notes because the work might lose some effectiveness. This story has a lot do with acceptance. We just accept the roles as is and the diversity not because the book or someone says, but rather we accept it because its in front of us, living.


Updated On: 4/20/10 at 03:36 AM

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 10:23am

Joanna Garcia is also blonde and Latina.

[Jon]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 11:42am

Christina Aguilera.

[Larcen26]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 12:01pm

Important? No.

Better? Definitely.

One of my favorite things along this topic is the rental scripts for Once On This Island say something to the effect of:
"This show is meant to be about racism within a particular race. It has a lot more emotional resonance if the original theme is kept in tact.

But here are some alternate lyrics to use if you can't get enough Black people."

Clearly not a direct quote...but that was clearly the gist and tone. And it always made me laugh.

[slmlbl]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 12:30pm

Larcen- YES! I recall that being quite amusing in the Island scripts.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 12:32pm

Him becoming the archetypal "big black man" came later.

The "archetypal big black man" (whatever the hell that means) is gay?

[chinto1984]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 12:49pm

Good point about Once on This Island.

We have latin, black, and white represented in the leads. But could there ever be an Asian Mark, Angel, Mimi? Technically, when Sharon Leal is part Filipino and black and played Mimi.

Could Roger be black and Collins be white/

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 1:31pm

There HAVE been Asian Angels (Opell Ross, Jose Llana, Telly Leung) and Mimis (Karen Mok, Cristina Ablaza), but many have been understudies.

Those are just the names that came to mind; I know there are more.

[shiva729]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 1:34pm

Aside from the obvious ethnicity of her name (Mimi Marquez), there's also a short piece in Act II where Mimi's mother leaves a phone message for her in which she's actually speaking Spanish. There again, maybe she could be racially mixed and just looked white? It happens...

As far as I know there are no references in the entire show for Angel's ethnicity (though people tend to cast it Hispanic or Asian).

That being said, I generally have no opinion about keeping it "ethnically specific" when factors like talent and availability may come into play for some productions. However, as a "non-Caucasian" performer, it's sometimes frustrating auditioning for shows, not getting the parts, and then seeing the final production being primarily 'white'. Can't really comment on that particular performance and the things that they had to consider.

And I certainly hope I didn't offend anyone!

[shiva729]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 1:36pm

Aside from the obvious ethnicity of her name (Mimi Marquez), there's also a short piece in Act II where Mimi's mother leaves a phone message for her in which she's actually speaking Spanish. There again, maybe she could be racially mixed and just looked white? It happens...

As far as I know there are no references in the entire show for Angel's ethnicity (though people tend to cast it Hispanic or Asian).

That being said, I generally have no opinion about keeping it "ethnically specific" when factors like talent and availability may come into play for some productions. However, as a "non-Caucasian" performer, it's sometimes frustrating auditioning for shows, not getting the parts, and then seeing the final production being primarily 'white'. Can't really comment on that particular performance and the things that they had to consider.

And I certainly hope I didn't offend anyone!

Posted: 4/20/10 at 1:57pm

I saw an all-white production of RENT as well, and hated it because of that.
Time, setting and plot establishment is importnat to any story and the story telling takes place in the lower east village circa 90's. Find me one square block in the east village where you find all whites,..then maybe it's forgivable. But it just doesn;t serve the truth of purpose to the story. Mimi and Angel...clearly latin names. They can LOOK white, yes. But, seriously...if you're living in the lower east village,...you are way too proud of your latin heritage to dye your hair blond and lighten your skin. I don't know...'the huevos rancheros' line sounds better with latin accents. Unless the all white cast really portray ethnics with conviction...maybe passable. But to forget any ethnicities in the story...not cool.
Like,..why would I go watch an all white version of West SIde Story? Makes no sense.

You need the diversity and dynamics of differences.
THAT's WHAT RENT IS ABOUT!!!
Diversity, ethnicity and differences.
It's the Bohemian life.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 4/20/10 at 6:04pm

I could totally be making this up, but I thought at one point, maybe on tour, that the second Mark understudy was Asian. Again, I could be totally making this up, but for some reason I remember seeing that somewhere...

~Steven

[Larcen26]

Posted: 4/21/10 at 10:21am

One thing on Mark having to be jewish...

While clearly there are more indicators that he is Jewish, (Cohen, even your fatehr says Mazel Tov) his mother says in the opening phone call that they will miss him tomorrow...which is Christmas.
So, while it is not the strongest of arguments, there is at least an argument out there that he doesn't HAVE to be Jewish.

And hell...if diversity is the aim, he could be adopted...

[Gobstopper]

Posted: 4/21/10 at 12:48pm

Larcen, there are waaaay too many lines about Mark's Jewish heritage to say he isn't Jewish. The "High Holy Days" line in La Vie Boheme, learning to tango with the rabbi's daughter at the Scarsdale Jewish Community Center, "Mazel Tov," etc. Why would Jonathan Larson include all of that information if not to inform the audience that Mark is Jewish?

That said, I don't really know what issue that presents. It's not like one has to be Caucasian to be Jewish. Mark can be any race, as far as I'm concerned.

At any rate, I think that while it's not a necessity to have a diverse cast (like it is with say, "Hair"), it certainly amplifies the themes of acceptance. It's better to have racial diversity in RENT, but it's not a make-or-break thing.
Updated On: 4/21/10 at 12:48 PM