Next to Normal with an all-black cast- Page 3

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 7/31/09 at 3:26am

No, I never said that. Hmm, funny you say I have a racial issue when you were the one who originally stated the message of the show would be altered had the family been African-American.

Let me clarify what I meant, because I slightly may have misread your statement regarding auditions. I meant that the actors in the show - Alice Ripley, Bobby Spencer, Jennifer Damiano, Aaron Tveit - were chosen based on talent. But I did not mean to imply that casting made choices based on one race having more talent than another race. I never said that there are non-Caucasian actors and actresses that weren't as talented as the current Next to Normal cast members.

I don't deny the talents of minorities at all, and admire and appreciate the works of many of them.

You didn't cast the show, you don't know who auditioned and you don't know the criteria for why the producers chose who they did. As far as I am concerned, the producers chose each cast member based on how well they connected with material and with each other. And, yes, maybe the cast turned out to be all-white because of the issue of consistency among characters, NOT because the story's message would have been affected due to casting a family of another race.

I thought we were all too crazy for your tastes and you 'peaced out.' So stop trying to twist around my words to make yourself feel better because everyone criticized your ridiculous statements.

Updated On: 7/31/09 at 03:26 AM

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/31/09 at 7:54am

There is NO way that race would change this story of it's message. It is a story about them....not how they fit into the world or how the world perceives them.

Might it change the audience? Yes...because the world/America is still pretty damned racist as a whole. Would I still be drawn to the story as I am know as a middle class, middle age white woman.....certainly.

To paraphrase something Lois Gossett Jr said when he accepted his Academy Award -- you don't have to look to play black, but look to play American. Race doesn't ALWAYS come into play....just like it didn't matter that he was a black man in a position of authority, he was a character that happen to be black as opposed to a black character.

Are there times that it DOES matter and WOULD change things? Certainly -- just not in this story.

[singtopher]

Posted: 7/31/09 at 8:10am

Funny this thread topic should happen as I was just thinking how Tonya Pinkins would be a fantastic Diana.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 7/31/09 at 10:37am

I thought of Tonya Pinkins but I also think she's a little too old for the part, or at least looks a little too old for the part. Part of what I liked so much about Ripley's performance is that she looked like a young hip mom (since she was young when she had Gabe and later Natalie), who could have been so full of energy and life, but who was unfortunately put down by her own life. Still, the show would obviously work with someone who didn't look as young as Ripley, and Pinkins would probably give a mammoth performance as Diana. I can only imagine what her "You Don't Know" would be like.

[Soliantu]

Posted: 7/31/09 at 10:53am

"Why couldn't Dan and Diana or Natalie and Henry be different races?

The idea that the company would have to be "all black" is ridiculous. "

This whole thread is pretty ridiculous.

[yay_gerb]

Posted: 7/31/09 at 11:05am

i don't think it would change the message of the story, but i do think it could play out very different. i love the norm lewis/audra mcdonald idea.

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/31/09 at 11:07am

I don't think Audra has the right voice for this score. How about Melba Moore? (Hey, that rhymes!)

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 7/31/09 at 11:10am

Also, do you think no African-American or Latina actresses auditioned for Next to Normal at all? The creative time chose to cast every single member of that cast of a specific race. Do you think maybe there was a reason for that?

The vast majority of the theatre casting pool is white, because attitudes from fans who think black people can't represent an all-American family, or that Karen Olivo is too dark to play a Hispanic woman, make producers and casting directors resort to homozygous casts.

[ray-andallthatjazz86]

Posted: 7/31/09 at 11:15am

Speaking of Karen Olivo, I'd love to see her Diana one day. She has the right voice and I bet she'd be brilliant in the part!

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/31/09 at 11:22am

"or that Karen Olivo is too dark to play a Hispanic woman, make producers and casting directors resort to homozygous casts."

Are you referring to her playing Eva Peron? I think if you are playing a historical figure you need to actually look like the person, and Olivo doesn't look like Eva Peron. Neither do I, not to say I wouldn't love to get in that dress and belt out those songs.

[Soliantu]

Posted: 7/31/09 at 11:34am

I agree with Jordan. If you don't look like the historical figure (and yes enthnicity is a factor in that, because it is a distinguishing part of a person's appearance), then you should not be playing the role.

[AndAllThatJazz22]

Posted: 7/31/09 at 12:11pm

I am madly in love with the idea of DRV playing Diana. I've suggested it countless times. The raw emotion she brings is exactly what is needed for Diana.

Updated On: 7/31/09 at 12:11 PM

[americanboy99]

Posted: 7/31/09 at 12:29pm

Totally agreeing, Jazzy.

But all I want to hear right now is Pinkins singing "You Don't Know." Wow. Just the thought is orgasmic.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 7/31/09 at 12:41pm

As I said in that thread, many real people have been played by white actors who look nothing like them and no one objected then. I don't even know if she'd be good as Evita, but her skintone should not be the deciding factor in whether or not she's right for the role.

That sentiment is exactly what Kelly2 is being criticized for. Does having an actress pigmentally different from Eva Peron really change the meaning of the show?

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 7/31/09 at 12:52pm

"That sentiment is exactly what Kelly2 is being criticized for. Does having an actress pigmentally different from Eva Peron really change the meaning of the show?"

No...but isn't that like saying Raul Esparza could play Martin Luther King?

[Soliantu]

Posted: 7/31/09 at 1:04pm

"No...but isn't that like saying Raul Esparza could play Martin Luther King?"

Exactly!

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 7/31/09 at 7:21pm

Why not? We've already misrepresented Argentina's national icon for 30 years, why shouldn't ours get the same treatment? Norm Lewis can play FDR when he's done with Next to Normal, with Lea Salonga as Eleanor.

[jaso937]

Posted: 8/1/09 at 3:47am

I would love Pinkins in the role of Diana. I could see Dan Breaker as the doctor (regardless of how the rest of the characters are cast). Unfortunately I do not think the family would ever be racially cast different (meaning a bi-racial family, not that any other race besides caucasian would play these roles). Though not everyone sees race as a factor, most audiences would have a different perception of the family if they were cast as African Americans. The show would take on a different cultural aspect, though I do agree the message will stay the same. Sadly not everyone is as blind to race and skintones as others.

[Kelly2]

Posted: 8/1/09 at 6:59pm

"Sadly not everyone is as blind to race and skintones as others."

Yes, sadly, not everyone wants to ignore the elephant in the room. Not everyone wants to look around and pretend everyone they see is white. Some of us would rather ACKNOWLEDGE the differences in race in this country and the history that goes along with them and be aware of what that means in the current political climate, for better or for worse, rather than living in a state of ignorant bliss where everything is perfect.

But apparently, taking off the rose colored glasses means that you're walking around with a robe and a pointed hood. Some message board this is.

Updated On: 8/1/09 at 06:59 PM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 8/1/09 at 7:07pm

Kelly2 - Girl, you need to quit. You're cracking me up over here. The elephant in the room happens to be your racist Mom who wouldn't identify with Diana if she wasn't white. We're talking about a show that has absolutely no specifics to race whatsoever. The only thing that makes the show "white" is that the original cast happened to be white. Nobody's talking about Dakota Fanning playing Effie White (Hey, her last name is racist, isn't it?!) This particular show (Next to Normal) happens to not be race specific like a lot of other shows. If you were arguing that you didn't like seeing Marin Mazzie and Jason Danieley in PORGY & BESS because it took you out of the show, than your argument would hold water. In it's current state it simply does not.

[JP2]

Posted: 8/1/09 at 7:19pm

The idea of Daphne Rubin-Vega is brilliant.

[Kelly2]

Posted: 8/1/09 at 7:19pm

Jordan, it has nothing to do with my mom or your mom or anyone else's mom. The reality is, the majority of America isn't colorblind. Next to Normal is trying to sell a message, and a product, to make money. And if you think there aren't real reasons why everyone who has played any part of that show at EVERY stage of it's creation (from "Feeling Electric" at NYMF to now) has been caucasian, then you're a hell of a lot more optimistic about peoples' motives and about the reality of "most people" than I am.

I'll be proved wrong when the creators of the show cast someone to prove me wrong.

Updated On: 8/1/09 at 07:19 PM

[AwesomeDanny]

Posted: 8/1/09 at 7:24pm

This topic seemed convenient because I was recently talking about how, as much as it really wouldn't work, I would love to hear Jennifer Hudson sing "You Don't Know" or "Didn't I See This Movie". It might just be that I watched "Dreamgirls" recently.

[Kelly2]

Posted: 8/1/09 at 7:27pm

Or, Jordan, are you like millie and believe that no talented people of any other races auditioned for these parts? Because you're wrong. Some of the people named on this thread have auditioned, and I know PLENTY of other people who haven't gotten so much as a callback. Why is that, do you think? Is it because they're not good? Because I don't think that's why.

I'd love to see half these people get a chance to be in the show. Maybe one day they will be, and I'll eat my words. But I'm gonna bet that'll be around the time when their grosses start to drop. Again, love for the creators to prove me wrong, but I doubt they will.

Updated On: 8/1/09 at 07:27 PM

[Jordan Catalano]

Posted: 8/1/09 at 7:37pm

Kelly2, I'm really sorry but arguing about your racist points of view at this point is like running in the special olympics. Even if you win, you're still retarded.