Is the new RENT being discriminatory?

[billyboyA]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 10:41am

I'm not weighing an opinion here, as much as just curious what others think:

The casting notices for the new off-Broadway production of Rent are out and they are specifically calling for actors to be of the race of the Broadway originals. Obviously both Mimi and Angel NEED to be Latino. But I'm curious, other than preserving the original "look" of the show with two white guys as Mark and Roger, a white girl as Maureen, and African Americans as Joanne, Collins and Benny - is it discriminatory that the producers WOULDN'T consider white/Asian actors for the roles of Joanne, Collins and Benny... and African American/Asian actors for the roles of Mark, Roger and Maureen?

I do realize that producers want to recreate the original because it's SO identified by audiences, and ticket sales ARE the key component to having a successful show.

But I was just curious if anyone else finds it to be discriminatory that actors can't be considered across all races when a character isn't specifically WRITTEN to be Black, Latino, Asian or White.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 11:07am

Not only that but there's SEXISM involved as well.

[luvtheEmcee]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 11:16am

Are they not written to be as they were originally (and subsequently) cast? I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure they are. In which case, i'm sure you could find that discriminatory as well, but it's in the text and not just being done to match up to some haphazard circumstance of the original production.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 11:42am

A) Angel does not need to be Latin, and in fact Telly Leung did officially replace in the role for a limited time.
B) Mimi hasn't always been Latin either, unless I'm greatly confused about Tamara Gray, Renee Elise Goldsberry and Melanie B.
C) Collins wasn't originally intended to be black (none of the races were) but they couldn't find a white actor that worked for them, so they looked into other ethnicities.

[SondheimFan5]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 11:44am

I've seen it done with a white Collins and Benny, not having known the show, I didn't know they HAD to be black.

[rmusic11322]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 11:49am

"B) Mimi hasn't always been Latin either, unless I'm greatly confused about Tamara Gray, Renee Elise Goldsberry and Melanie B."

All types of people come in all types of shapes, sizes, and skin color. Mimi is Latina. In Voice Mail #5, her mom is talking to her in Spanish. And doesn't "when the Spanish babies cry..." not mean anything to you? Mimi is Latina.

[husk_charmer]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 11:50am

Correction, Mimi hasn't always been played by a Latin actress.

[rmusic11322]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 12:01pm

That doesn't mean the character itself isn't Latin.

[TimesSquared]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 12:04pm

I'm sure if an Asian or mixed-race Asian of the proper gender and age with talent and the vocal chops for a given role showed up, they would be given consideration by Telsey Casting.
By the way, the casting notice seeks a "Latino, Asian, or Caucasian male" for the role of Angel.

[tourboi]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 12:14pm

One of the tour's also had an African American Angel.

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 1:07pm

The 1994 NYTW workshop, as I am frequently fond of pointing out, had a white performance artist, Pat Briggs, in the role of Collins, and indeed the role was initially envisioned as a white Tom Waits type. They only started auditioning black performers when none of the white guys who came in worked. I'm reasonably sure that they can at least try to find a white guy again, so while I do think they're trying to replicate a proven formula, I'd like to see the casting for Collins opened up a bit.

Similarly, it has been reported that when originally seeking a Roger, a bunch of KISS wannabes, among others, came into the room, flashy vocalists who were better off with face paint than greasepaint, but in all honesty, I'd kind of like to see a different Roger than the Kurt Cobain/Eddie Vedder type this time around. AIDS doesn't discriminate, so why not cast an asshole with a glam rock sound who resembles Paul Stanley? Change is good. Or at least memorable.

[steven22]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 1:40pm

Ava Gaudet who played Maureen on broadway for a while also understudied Mimi. She is Caucasian. She did in fact perform the role of Mimi. Same thing with Caren Tackett (formerly known as Caren Lyn Manuel in her Rent days). She understudied Maureen and Mimi and performed both roles a lot.

[My Oh My]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 1:43pm

Unless Jonathan Larson intended Mimi to hail from Spain, he shouldn't have alluded to her type as "Spanish."

I have a feeling he was as uninformed as many are regarding the crazy labeling system enacted by the U.S. government, lumping all of us "Latin" people into "Hispanics," which a lot of people confuse with the name of our common language, "Spanish."

When you call someone or a group of people "Spanish," you are saying that person/those people are from Spain. People of Spain are Caucasian and are classified as European.

If you're talking about someone who is from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Argentina, the Dominican Republic, Cuba, or Central America, then they are "Latin/a." Although the whole thing is so convoluted nowadays, even people within the Hispanic community all hold varying ideals as to who's considered "Latino." It's pretty much used interchangeably with "Hispanic."

If you're talking about U.S. born peeps with Latin parentage like Mimi and I, then we'd expect you to call us "Hispanic Americans."

Stupid labeling system.

But, ya. Mimi isn't "Spanish." She's "Hispanic," which includes people of ANY race, so they were in no way wrong or being colorblind when casting Mimi with black actresses. In fact, Daphne Rubin Vega is clearly multi-racial with a little bit of everything in her.

"Feels too damn much like home
Where the Hispanic babies cry."

Much better.

In summary: "Hispanic" isn't a race!! There are black, white and in between/mixed Hispanics.

A lot of ya'll refer to Brazilians as "Hispanic" or "Latino."

Stop it.

There's no such thing!!

LOL.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 2:49pm

Actually, the only three correct terms for race are Caucasoid, Negroid, and Mongoloid. The terms to which you are referring are more related to ethnic background or identity.

Updated On: 3/13/11 at 02:49 PM

[B3TA07]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 3:16pm

"That doesn't mean the character itself isn't Latin."

No crap. That's why he reworded his statement.

[rmusic11322]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 3:30pm

^ I thought he was trying to correct ME.

[mina3]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 4:09pm

There may also be clauses in the script-licensing agreement about the racial breakdown of the casting. It's not uncommon for authors (read: those who hold the copyright to the script) to condition the license on certain casting elements.

I actually wrote a thesis on this issue - specifying the desired race in a casting notice, or even choosing one actor over another because of race, seems like it should be illegal employment discrimination, and yet it's common practice and there have been no significant legal challenges.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 5:44pm

No they are not being discriminatory.

Casting is one place where race CAN be a factor. They have the artistic right to do so.

If they said people of color need not apply...that's a different story.

[jpbran]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 6:29pm

Seems like "where the Spanish babies cry" is referring more to her old neighborhood or town than anything else. I lived in Chicago's Humbolt Park where I heard a LOT more Spanish than English; doesn't automatically make me a Latina.

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 6:47pm

Diverging from what's being discussed right now, the OP suggested Mark being cast as a different race. This wouldn't work because Mark is specifically referenced as being Jewish.

I guess that the specific roles might not require specific races, but because the script specifies a few characters' races, in order to create the diverse ensemble that the show needs, it's easiest to just say which race is wanted for each role.

[everythingtaboo]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 9:47pm

I think it's less discrimination as it is lazy thinking.

[Neverandy]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 10:20pm

Hmmm....Mimi Marquez...sounds Irish to me. Or maybe dutch?

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 3/13/11 at 10:25pm

What everythingtaboo said.

Also, glad no one has used the "Mark might be an Ethiopian Jew!" argument yet.

[viola13]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 2:21am

@Neverandy I've seen an Irish Mimi. And Mimi was from the UK. 'twas special.

TV Carpio was a Mimi u/s on Broadway, although she never got the chance to go on. I think there were a couple of tour Mimis that were Asian also, including Karen Mok. Antonique Smith, who's part African American, was a Maureen u/s also, and went on at least once on Broadway.

Damn you LizzieCurry, I was just about to say that...

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 3:11am

You can't determine a person's ethnicity just by their last name. If anything, it only accounts for her father's last name -- if you assume a traditional paternalistic handing-down of it.