Sondheimite said: "Let me first say that I don’t offer any conclusions in this nor am I sharing what I think on these matters. I’m just posing the questions.
There’s a weird thing that has to be considered and talked about. It kinda came up in the Carousel revival. And it has to do with the weird dichotomy of the best person for a role being a person of color but casting a person of color might be considered tonally tone deaf and incentive. The example being a big angry black man physically abusing a small meek white woman. The question being: does that casting perpetuate dangerous racial insensitivity? And, if it does, what does it mean if the best person for Billy is a person of color? It’s a tight rope walk of a conversation.
Luckily for the production, the concept/direction was so bad that these questions got buried.
I think the producers of My Fair Lady are aware that it might come off as racially insensitive to have a “proper” upper class white male trying to change the “improper” linguistics of a poor female person of color. I’m not saying if I agree or if THEY agree, per se. I think they’re aware of what of what a damnable offense if they’re labeled as a “racist” on the internet even if the creative team was just trying to cast the best possible person in the role.
Look what happed at Great Comet:
It was wildly reported that Oak didn’t show up to his music rehearsals. He was so under prepared that the creator of the show had to go on for him for a while because Oak needed more and more time. It was reported by some that Oak’s laziness contributed to this. So Oak isn’t lighting up the box office and he’s (maybe) kinda being not so much fun to work with. The show is sinking. They bring in Mandy Patinkin to boost the box office and buy Oak out. Cynthia Erivo claimed it was racist because a white man was replacing a black man. This seemed to not be the case. The drummer of the show posted a picture on twitter of a plant with a sign that said “poisoned oak” in front of it. Oak knew these claims were not true (maybe) and he refused to say anything even though the cast (reportedly) begged him to dispel that is was racism. The (uneducated) twitter massesand Erico buckled down and shot down any discussion. Mandy Patinkin pulled out because the backlash was so bad. The show closed. Because of “racism.”
Producers are scared of being the next to have that happen to them and it sadly might be having the opposite effects intended by decreasing the number of people of color getting cast in leading roles (which is terrible).
Again, I offer few opinions I'm just sharing some factors that might be coming into play when it come to Phillipa."
This is very well said, and I’m sure is on the minds of many casting directors, possibly more so than ever in the current politically sensitive and happily gender-conscious moment we're living in. After the debacle of "The Great Comet" and the questions raised about "Carousel", I personally think that (rightly or wrongly) we're more likely to see quote-unquote non-traditional casting in shows where the ethnicity doesn't really matter (Audra in "Frankie and Johnny", playing a role previously played by Kathy Bates, Edie Falco and Rosie Perez), or in productions where the production is conceived with such a thing in mind (the all-African-American productions of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" and "Streetcar" over the last decade come to mind). But, at least for the foreseeable future and until the world simmers down a bit, and whether one agrees this is fair or not, I woudln't be expecting to see a Lilli Vanessi of color replacing Kelli O'Hara any more than I'd be expecting to see, say, a Latina-cast Effie in Dreamgirls.
Updated On: 11/26/18 at 04:34 PM