Mimi and Joanne

Why does Mimi have to be a Latina and Joanne African-American?
It really doesn't say that anywhere, but does anyone know why?

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There's a reference to "the Spanish babies" in Out Tonight, but technically, it doesn't necessarily imply that Mimi herself is Hispanic.

I could very well be wrong, but I'm assuming it's simply because the original Mimi and Joanne were played by women of those ethnicities and they just continued to cast people to somewhat match the originals.

Mimi's mom speaks spanish on her voice mail: "Mimi, Chica, donde esta?" Not sure about Joanne. Maybe they just wanted to make sure the cast stayed multi-racial.

Updated On: 4/5/06 at 09:47 AM

Thanks OasisBroadway, that makes sense :P

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Yeah, if that's true, the basis would have been off Yasmin. However, I'm not sure of that statement, as Daphne was with the show from the very beginning.

Mimi and Angel are the only characters that have a set ethnicity by the script. The others were just cast like that originally, and they've stuck. In the original NTYW workshop, Collins was white.

However, they haven't always cast the show with Mimi/Angel being hispanic - until recently (I'm not sure if he's there anymore), the Angel understudy was Philipino (Enrico Rodriguez, so I'd assume he's part Hispanic, but he looks Philipino), and they've cast black women as Mimi (Melanie Brown).

Joanne has always been cast with a black woman but Mimi has not always been cast with a Latina actor. Many Mimis have been black, e.g., Krysten Cummings, Marcy Harriell, Krystal Washington, Saycon Sengbloh, Dominique Roy, Saskia Garel.

The casting has been more by habit/tradition than by what is indicated in the script. The actors playing Angel, for instance, have been black, Latino, Asian, or a combination of those.

(Karmine wasn't close to 19 when Rent came out)

And as the story goes, accourding to Karmine. Jonathon wanted her to be the original Mimi. But Micheal wanted to stay with Daphne and her sister got the swing role..

Unfortunatly that's what they pretty much always do on Broadway...try to copy the look and sound of the original perfomer. I guess they're worried about an audience not liking change.

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I think the only tie to Angel's ethnicity in the script are his and Mimi's part of La Vie Boheme (juevos rancheros, etc.), but that's a pretty thin link.

I just looked at your photos, Joshua. You don't look all that different (type-wise) from Justin Johnston or Stephan Alexander, so it wouldn't be that much of a stretch.

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Updated On: 4/5/06 at 04:59 PM

Danny Calvert is pretty much as white as you can get.. And he understudied Angel on the last tour....

misto, I'm curious who has covered both Angel and Collins. Someone on tour?

Kringas - you are right. I think I had my early-movie screenplay/stage scripts messed up (it refers to a 'hispanic kid' banging drums in the old Chbosky screenplay). My mistake.

thevolleyballer - in some cases, different cast members are forced to sing the SOL solo #2, due to illness and whatnot. I seem to remember reading a review a while back in which a Roger understudy did it (Josh Kobak? Colin Hanlon?). Plus, if you really want to hear/see a white guy do BOTH solos, find the DVD of "Broadway's Greatest Love Songs" - Adam Pascal does both, accompanied by a huge chorale. Its interesting.

But, either way, Rent isn't about race. It really doesn't matter if any of the characters are black/white/Asian/Hispanic/purple/whatever. Sure, some dialogue may be off (the final Voice Mail), but thats about it.The story would still be what it is.