Is Broadway and the Tonys more diverse than Hollywood and the academy awards? — Page 2

Still, 3 Asians (or 4, if you count Brynner) throughout the 70-year history of the Tonys, isn't stellar. But they can't win a Tony if the roles, the casting and the opportunities aren't there.

Updated On: 1/27/16 at 12:54 PM

The answer is an unqualified yes.
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"And those parts are relegated AS black roles, which is not really the same as being diverse."

As TheOtherOne mentioned, Tyson and Jones just finished appearing in The Gin Game in roles usually played by white actors. The great Sophie Okonedo is about to return to Broadway as Elizabeth Proctor in a star-studded revival of The Crucible, Elizabeth is certainly not a role relegated as black. The great (and btw Academy Award winning) Forest Whitaker is about to appear on Broadway as Erie in Hughie, also not a role relegated as black.

Sure, we still have a long way to go. But Broadway has long been more diverse than Hollywood and certainly is now.

Updated On: 2/3/16 at 01:29 PM

Patash said: "Just an opinion. . . I've never really thought that taking a classic play generally considered to be about white people/white experience and doing a version where the entire cast is black instead is really much progress on the racial front. Now if some cast members were black and some were white without the effort to make sure they were all one race -- I'd consider that a bigger move forward.

But to the original question -- yes, I think Broadway is light years ahead of Hollywood in its diversity.

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As to your first argument, I have no problem with mixed-race casting per se, but in realistic period pieces it threatens to upend the play. Re STREETCAR, if Stella is white and Stanley is black, you'll get a very different play when Blanche calls Stanley "an ape". If the sisters are black and Stanley is white, then you get yet another very different play when Blanche so clearly looks down on her white brother-in-law. Etc. and so forth.

Now those other STREETCARs might be interesting evenings, but they won't have much to do with Williams' play. And the same may be said for other classic American plays. I'm not sure those who weren't alive in the 1950s can fully comprehend how segregated the country was. It's still largely segregated, in many areas, but not to the same, violent degree.

"This is the fault of producers- because women and people of color are certainly doing the work. The premiere playwrights of the generation, people like Annie Baker, Lynn Nottage, Brandon Jacobs-Jenkins, are winning accolades and having works produced at non-profit, off-Broadway theatres. They have yet to appear on Broadway. "

So in your opinion why are the people you mentioned not getting a chance. Is it totally racism? If they are having success Off-Broadway, why haven't any of these shows made a transfer to Broadway like quite a few shows. (Hamilton, Next To Normal etc). Just curious.

To be fair, plays by Annie Baker, Lynn Nottage, Katori Hall, Suzan Lori-Parks, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, etc. take a certain amount of savvy and work from audiences, something in very rare supply on Broadway. Those audiences tend to like shows that take their hand and walk them through a clear and more easily understood experience.

I'm not sure why, though, it's taken as almost an insult for a play to be done regionally and Off Broadway, but not On Broadway. Except, of course, for the financial consideration that a play has the potential to make much more money on Broadway. If we're just talking about quality, many plays are produced much better regionally and in more intimate Off Broadway houses.

"The new generation of playwrights- Baker, et al- are writing things that deviate from what is typically box-office safety, and so are mostly resigned to non-profit houses off-Broadway. It's why MTC's Broadway mainstage does new plays by writers like Richard Greenberg and John Patrick Shanley. "

OK, that makes sense to me but doesn't success on Off-Broadway sometimes lead to show going to Broadway. For example, the subject matter in "Next To Normal" was not exactly box office safety but it did make it to Broadway. I would think if these playwrights were successful Off-Broadway somebody would take a chance on their show and move it to Broadway.

I found this whole clip to be a very interesting discussion but Leslie's comments especially so. He starts talking now at about 3:40.

http://shadowandact.com/2016/06/01/watch-leslie-odom-jr-succinctly-break-down-the-working-black-actors-dilemma-broadways-rare-moment/

I'm shocked (and disheartened) he's not getting offer upon offer for new shows. I know people had said he's planning to focus on his music career, but it sounds like that's partly a result of a lack of theater options.