King Kong Casting- Page 2

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 4/24/18 at 6:05pm

massofmen said: "Here yeee here yeee!!!! a new decree!!!

From now on every leading couple on stage can never ever be the same color. otherwise someone will be offended. All leads need to be multi racial or if they look white at least have some other ethnicity in their geneology closer than 2 generations past.

From now on at all aea auditions, all people will need to bring their 23andme write up to make sure they represent all the countries on the earth!!!!

gimme a break.

Thank God they also recast the nicole kidman"sparking diamond" in moulin rouge to be a person of color. Those non white, colorful diamonds are everywhere. Its vitally important that the nicole kidman part not be played by a white girl. but we are def color blind casting..which means not white people. Lets be honest here.

My friend who is an agent said to me "my entire agency doesn't see the point in signing white girls anymore"
The snowflakes are in full blizzard.

this industry is going to destroy itself making sure no one is ever offended again. I mean thats what art is about right? Thats what all the great artists do. They make sure everyone is represented and everyone is happy so as not to stir the pot.
so stupid."

This is just straight up racism.  Nothing else.  To those who are the majority, equality looks like inequality.  You ever think that maybe people were just great for the part and the race of the character is of no importance?  No, you didn't think that.  Instead to decide to spew some vile, racist, Republican rhetoric.  You have no place here with your brainwashed bullsh*t.

 

[Fetus]

Posted: 4/24/18 at 6:13pm

I wish I could just laugh massofmen's post off as the racist drivel it is, but instead I'm just sad that there are people who genuinely think that casting minorities in unspecified race roles is a bad thing.

[NievesG]

Posted: 4/24/18 at 6:23pm

devonian.t said: "It's hardly nonsensical. You may not agree, but massofmen puts forward a clear point of view.

I am worried about current casting trends, too. I think quite a few people are. But most are afraid of the backlash if such thoughts are spoken aloud.

I am curious how Billy will be cast after Joshua Henry leaves 'Carousel'. There's an outrage just waiting to erupt..."

It's nonsense drivel that is bordering on racist. We can agree to disagree all day.

[Bwayfan292]

Posted: 4/24/18 at 6:36pm

I rarley speak my mind on these type of things to avoid arguments. However, I just find it kinda funny. Theres huge outrages when an actress or actor who is white is cast in a POC role. But then when a actor or actress of Color is cast in a white persons role it isnt that big of a deal. You cant have it both ways. Im not saying That in this case Christina shouldnt be cast, (which im extatic about, loved her in a bronx tale) but then dont get upset when it happens. I know people will call me “racist” and stuff but thats my viewpoint. And I also know that people will be like well this is an orgniating role on broadway. Well ceclie in the color purple movie was black, and the character in KONG was white and blonde. I believe that it truly doesnt matter what color you are, its theatre. The point is your supposed to be playing someone who isnt or is real and just having a fun time. Anyway thats the end of my little tangent. I think this show is still gonna flop, but Im looking forward to this alot.

[Fetus]

Posted: 4/24/18 at 7:00pm

Bwayfan292 said: "I rarley speak my mind on these type of things to avoid arguments. However, I just find it kinda funny. Theres huge outrages when an actress or actor who is white is cast in a POC role. But then when a actor or actress of Color is cast in a white persons role it isnt that big of a deal. You cant have it both ways. Im not saying That in this case Christina shouldnt be cast, (which im extatic about, loved her in a bronx tale) but then dont get upset when it happens. I know people will call me “racist” and stuff but thats my viewpoint. And I also know that people will be like well this is an orgniating role on broadway. Well ceclie in the color purple movie was black, and the character in KONG was white and blonde. I believe that it truly doesnt matter what color you are, its theatre. The point is your supposed to be playing someone who isnt or is real and just having a fun time. Anyway thats the end of my little tangent. I think this show is still gonna flop, but Im looking forward to this alot."

The Color Purple’s source material specifies each character’s race as it plays to an important theme of the story. This is not the case with King Kong.

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 4/24/18 at 7:05pm

Bwayfan292, your comments are racist. They're not malicious, but they are racist. I don't think you mean for them to be so I suggest that you reflect a bit. I can explain why this is the case below if you care to read it.

The lead in Kong is not white. There is nothing in the script saying she's white. She's white because our society has deemed white as nuetral. Celie is black because the role is black. Maria is Latin because the role is latin. Tracy Turnblad is white because the role is white. Kim is Asian because the role is Asian. This is color conscious casting. It is casting with the race of the actor in mind because it is important to the story or themes. Roles like Billy Bigelow, for example, are raceless. There's nothing in the show declaring the character's race. Evan Hansen is another one. That role could be played by an actor of any race. We have just decided for some reason that those characters are white. It shows the racism that is woven into our society.

Also, no. Color blind casting does not go both ways. Frankly, there's no such thing as color blind casting. No one is color blind. Us people of color, don't want you to be color blind. We don't want you to have to look past our race to see us as people, which is what that term suggests. We're proud of our heritage. Anyways, there are hundreds of roles that have been deemed as "white roles" to every one role written for someone of color. By allowing actors of color to take on those "white roles," it opens up a lot more opportunities for such great performers as Audra Mcdonald. Like I said, equality may seem like inequality at first when you've been the majority for so long.

[Bwayfan292]

Posted: 4/24/18 at 7:09pm

GeorgeandDot said: "Bwayfan292, your comments are racist. They're not malicious, but they are racist. I don't think you mean for them to be so I suggest that you reflect a bit. I can explain why this is the case below if you care to read it.

The lead in Kong is not white. There is nothing in the script saying she's white. She's white because our society has deemed white as nuetral. Celie is black because the role is black. Maria is Latin because the role is latin. Tracy Turnblad is white because the role is white. Kim is Asian because the role is Asian. This is color conscious casting. It is casting with the race of the actor in mind because it is important to the story or themes. Roles like Billy Bigelow, for example, are raceless. There's nothing in the show declaring the character's race. Evan Hansen is another one. That role could be played by an actor of any race. We have just decided for some reason that those characters are white. It shows the racism that is woven into our society.

Also, no. Color blind casting does not go both ways. Frankly, there's no such thing as color blind casting. No one is color blind. Us people of color, don't want you to be color blind. We don't want you to have to look past our race to see us as people, which is what that term suggests. We're proud of our heritage. Anyways, there are hundreds of roles that have been deemed as "white roles" to every one role written for someone of color. By allowing actors of color to take on those "white roles," it opens up a lot more opportunities for such great performers as Audra Mcdonald. Like I said, equality may seem like inequality at first when you've been the majority for so long."

I by no means meant for them to come out as racist, I apolgize. I can see that i am in the wrong. So again I apolgize.

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 4/24/18 at 7:14pm

I absolutely understand. It's a tough, nuanced subject. I'm happy that you see where I'm coming from.

[ditsylife09]

Posted: 4/24/18 at 7:51pm

"we are def color blind casting..which means not white people." After the whole Sierra Boggess thing, I whole heartedly agree.

Since when is King Kong not about race? Read some on film analysis, its always been about race. A white woman and an "other."

Karen Grigsby Bates talking about King Kong and race, "a big, black ape who falls in love with a willowy white woman. The unspoken fear about black-white sexual relations has been remarked on by film historians and cultural critics ever since. The 1933 original stoked anxieties about black male hypersexuality. Kong snatches Ann Darrow up and makes off with her as she screams in horror."

I could go into more detail but that's really all you need. Read this NPR interview. Race and 'King Kong' heard on Day to Day. Also watch Lindsay Ellis's Loose Cannon video on King Kong. It goes into the subject of race briefly.

Not to say I'm not excited for this show. I've wanted to see it ever since it premiered in Australia. The mechanics of that puppet is amazing! Am I excited for this casting? I guess so. I'm more interested in the score. Especially since that was the main downfall of the original production. Like the original London version of Finding Neverland, never to be heard of again, rip. So many hands have been on this thing, I wish them the best.

Updated On: 4/24/18 at 07:51 PM

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 4/24/18 at 8:02pm

^You're reaching, hun.

[ditsylife09]

Posted: 4/24/18 at 8:25pm

That may be, but its not to say that aspect isn't there. Its always been there. Books like To Kill A Mockingbird wouldn't be a thing otherwise.

In regards to this particular show, I don't mind. Cast whoever you want, the puppet will outshine them anyway.

[Elegance101]

Posted: 4/24/18 at 8:33pm

Maybe they want to remove the racist undertones of a big black ape being obsessed with this pale blonde lilting beauty? Just a guess.

[bwayrose7]

Posted: 4/24/18 at 9:26pm

Slightly off topic from the casting itself but I'm still not entirely certain what the point of making this a musical is? Maybe it'll surprise us all, but it doesn't seem to lend itself to the stage, regardless of who's in it.

[thealtoslament]

Posted: 4/24/18 at 10:26pm

bwayrose7 said: "Slightly off topic from the casting itself but I'm still not entirely certain what the point of making this a musical is? Maybe it'll surprise us all, but it doesn't seem to lend itself to the stage, regardless of who's in it."

[Elegance101]

Posted: 4/24/18 at 10:33pm

GeorgeandDot, I really want to thank you. I'm a white woman, so I feel just terrible speaking for POC in situations like this. However, I like to believe I'm an ally and want to be able to express my beliefs about these issues when they arise. However, I really lack the words so much of the time and you've beautifully articulated them here. I'm really grateful for your posts in this thread, as I think they've helped to educate myself and others.

[Bwayfan292]

Posted: 4/24/18 at 10:50pm

Elegance101 said: "GeorgeandDot, I really want to thank you. I'm a white woman, so I feel just terrible speaking for POC in situations like this. However, I like to believe I'm an ally and want to be able to express my beliefs about these issues when they arise. However, I really lack the words so much of the time and you've beautifully articulated them here. I'm really grateful for your posts in this thread, as I think they'vehelped to educate myself and others."

I agree with this 100%. Im definitly more educated now. I understand exactly where they were coming from and how my view point was not okay, and I learned from it.

[theatregoer3]

Posted: 4/25/18 at 7:52am

Agree with others - GeorgeandDot really knocked it out of the park. Thanks so much for beautifully illustrating your point of view on this topic. Well said!

[AlfredDrakeII]

Posted: 4/25/18 at 8:17am

Bwayfan do not cave to these people, nothing you wrote was racist in the slightest. The fact that you've been beaten into saying that your views are "not ok" is concerning to me, and to be frank it's getting tiresome to see people use the phrase "that is not ok" in order to police behavior and ideas that they simply don't like, regardless of their validity or worthiness for debate and discussion.

It's a simple question about colorblind casting. I'll actually answer the question, instead of dismissing it and spuriously labeling you a racist:

Although I think the terms "colorblind" casting and "nontraditional" casting are a bit different, they are usually used interchangeably, so for simplicity's sake I will do the same here as well.

Work produced by dramatists who aren't white or male typically involve some aspect of identity or demographic as an integral piece of the given circumstances of the story.

As an example, "A Raisin in the Sun" wouldn't work with nontraditional casting because given the circumstances of the play (a Black family in Segregationist America wants to move to a white neighborhood) the story and plot would cease to make sense. By contrast, there are rare instances in Shakespeare's work where a character's ethnicity is a key plot element, so colorblind and nontraditional casting is far more plausible within that context.

You've asked a fair and reasonable question, here is a fair and reasonable answer. From a Black person, no less.

[Tom5]

Posted: 4/25/18 at 9:08am

To happily veer away from this I very much liked the '76 film version. It got a lot of thing right that the before and after versions didn't One being Charles Grodin's Carl Denham, portraying  a ruthless oil company executive responsible for countless deaths on Kong Island and New York being happily squished to death by Kong. I sure hope the Carl Denham cast in this show is white!

[AlfredDrakeII]

Posted: 4/25/18 at 9:21am

From Tom5:

"To happily veer away from this I very much liked the '76 film version. It got a lot of thing right that the before and after versions didn't One being Charles Grodin's Carl Denham, portraying a ruthless oil company executive responsible for countless deaths on Kong Island and New York being happily squished to death by Kong. I sure hope the Carl Denham cast in this show is white!"

Here is a flagrantly racist comment, "happily" put forth by Tom5. Is anyone going to jump down THIS poster's throat for their toxic and hateful rhetoric?

[VintageSnarker]

Posted: 4/25/18 at 10:43am

I liked him in Songbird. I didn't see the Subways are For Sleeping concert.

As for her casting, it messes with some of the themes of the original which yes, was very racially loaded. ditsylife09 already covered it. But who knows what they're doing with this?

It'll be interesting to hear word of mouth on this. If the music isn't good, I can't see myself going for the puppet.