Somehow, this group always starts hurling insults when talk turns to race. In my opinion, at least here in the United States, which has a shameful history regarding race, we need to discuss it, and continue discussing it until it stops being such a hot potato.
People (such as certain members of the U.S. Supreme Court) who pretend that everything is solved now that discrimination is illegal, or who yell about reverse racism are either bigots or naive. As recently as the 50's and 60's, the U.S. government mortgage guarantee agencies didn't approve loans in mixed-race neighborhoods, instead steering black people to less desirable neighborhoods. Many people in the post-war generation accumulated a great deal of wealth from appreciation of their houses. Those who did were largely white because of the government's redlining practices. Do we really think that a generation later, all is equal?
People of color still appear to have difficulty finding jobs in musical theatre. I'm amazed by the number of musical productions that still have largely white choruses, with one or two token black faces. Some roles in a production must be played by people who appear to be white for purposes of realism (such as the second twin in "Side Show," once a white performer is cast as one twin, or a show that differs from "Hamilton" in that it tries to make characters look similar to actual historical figures). In others, it just doesn't matter in terms of ethnicity who plays the role. Yet in many such cases, white performers have been the default. Until a production with characters who can be any ethnicity gives people of color equal shots at those roles, there HAS to be extra effort to ensure minority performers get a fair chance. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, "Side Show" is based on a particular set of conjoined twins who were African-American. If so, changing the story to make them white is a missed opportunity to open up roles for people of color.
Yet, no matter how much people protest that this new HP story is NOT a movie sequel, most people will see it as such. That's why I favor the middle ground between casting older actors who look just like Radcliffe, Grint, and Watson and just putting the new crew out there without some sort of notice that this is not a sequel to the Warner Brothers movies. (Even the Yeston & Kopit "Phantom" often provides notice in advertising or programs that this is NOT you-know-who's show.) A statement that this is an independent work, unrelated to the movies, takes away casting expectations without being disrespectful to the new performers.
Audrey
Audrey, the Phantom Phanatic, who nonetheless would rather be Jean Valjean, who knew how to make lemonade out of lemons.
