PRINCE OF EGYPT will finally premiere! — Page 2

disneybroadwayfan22 said: "It will premiere in Denmark later this year......with the director of HUNCHBACK...
https://www.theatreworks.org/201718-season/201718-season/prince-of-egypt/



First of all, TheatreWorks is in Mountain View, CA, not Denmark. Second, this is a regional theater. They're not bringing Marin Mazzie out from New York. Third, TheatreWorks has a very good record of producing shows written by minorities and women and casting accordingly. Fourth, with everything going on in this world to be concerned about, if you're ready to start splitting hairs about Sri Lankan versus Egyptian, I truly feel sorry for you. They'll cast who they cast and don't need the approval of anyone on this board.

UncleCharlie said: Fourth, with everything going on in this world to be concerned about, if you're ready to start splitting hairs about Sri Lankan versus Egyptian, I truly feel sorry for you. They'll cast who they cast and don't need the approval of anyone on this board.

So would you be ok if say Mindy Kaling was cast to play Celie in The Color Purple? She has brown skin so that's good enough qualification to play a character of African descent.

trpguyy said: "The website is ambiguous, but it does say:

"Join TheatreWorks as this inspiring world premiere musical begins its international journey towards a
2018 debut in Denmark."

Edit: the BWW article reads, "The Prince of Egypt is set to begin performances on October 6, 2017 in San Francisco and on April 6, 2018 in Denmark."

Here, it says in October-November 2017.

https://www.theatreworks.org/201718-season/



But, oh god, I'm listening to Deliver Us and I'm scared of how Scott could screw up the number. Granted it is obviously challenging, but damn his direction for Bells of Notre Dame was lazy at some parts.

Call_me_jorge said: "This would be the perfect show to bring Julie Taylor's back to broadway with!



"

Dear God, PLEASE! This show deserves so much more!

VintageSnarker said: "darquegk said: "I suspect the film's greatest visual will be impossible to replicate onstage: Moses, escaping the palace in his Jean Valjean moment, removes his wig and makeup, transforming visually from an Egyptian into a Hebrew."

I think a reasonable representation could be achieved with some creativity though of course it wouldn't be the same. The best way I can imagine achieving that same level of spectacle would be at the Met Opera.

JennH said: "The plot isn't about "race'. The only thing we have to go by is Egyptian. And yes it makes perfect sense to not have a snow white cast. Even though historians don't know what these people actually looked like, we can certainly assume that they're weren't lily skinned considering the location and climate. So we're literally basing what the cast should look like based on LOCATION. [...] What am I missing? This issue really is a show-by-show basis, you can't blanket the "If the plot isn't about race, then cast whoever" to everything ever written and created."

What are you talking about? It's about the Hebrews and the Egyptians. It's not Les Miserables. It's about race.



"

Yes and no...its not about an ethnic war. Don't get me wrong, I see your point, but that's not what this piece is about. It's about two "brothers" who come to be each others enemy later on life and a bible story happened to be used to tell it. The plot is about Moses and Rameses relationship. That's the driving force of this piece.

Disneyonbroadwayfan-I agree wholeheartedly. If BofND is any indicator, he will absolutely screw up that number and it's a damn shame. Actually he'll just screw up this whole thing which is even more of a shame because this music is among the top, if not THE top, of his fathers best work. These songs...I can never get enough of them.

TAYMOR....HOLY CRAP WHY CANT THIS HAPPEN???!!!! Please someone start a petition...I don't want to see this epic masterpiece that could be one of the most amazing things created for the stage ruined by Schwartz family nepotism....

JennH said: "Yes and no...its not about an ethnic war. Don't get me wrong, I see your point, but that's not what this piece is about. It's about two "brothers" who come to be each others enemy later on life and a bible story happened to be used to tell it. The plot is about Moses and Rameses relationship. That's the driving force of this piece."

I get your argument but you could also say that Miss Saigon is about a romantic relationship or Aida is about a love triangle. Those things are true but they don't change the fact that race is relevant to the plot. Compare that to RENT where actors with similar backgrounds tend to get cast in the individual parts but race isn't a factor in how they interact with each other.

Stephen Schwartz is again content to sink an entire show and everyone involved for the sake of patting his boy on the back. Hunchback had by far the worst direction of any professional production I have ever seen. And that incompetence ruined its chances. It's a disgrace that Scott has been handed this. Inexcusable.

This is also a regional production and not a big regional production, no? Is there any seed money? So I wouldn't expect miracles.

Scarywarhol said: "Stephen Schwartz is again content to sink an entire show and everyone involved for the sake of patting his boy on the back. Hunchback had by far the worst direction of any professional production I have ever seen. And that incompetence ruined its chances. It's a disgrace that Scott has been handed this. Inexcusable. "



I 100% agree with this post and just wanted more people to see it so here it is again.

Now I certainly would not want to see a non-black cast in the Colour Purple, Dreamgirls etc. but are we really that consistent when it comes to attitudes towards cross-racial casting? For example, we can accept and celebrate a black Valjean (I certainly have no issue here). We can also accept an Asian Aladdin (if it were a white Aladdin I can just imagine the protests now).

What is it about race that we are so protective in certain situations? I'm thinking that perhaps because there does seem to be a history of discrimination on the Broadway stage and the arts more generally based on race that maybe it seems offensive when there is finally a role that could be more appropriate for a non-white person, it still goes to a white person anyway. And in certain situations (e.g., Color Purple/Dreamgirls etc.) - white actors may not suit the style, make it hard to buy-into the story and the subtext of an oppressor playing the oppressed is just wrong. I can sympathise to these kinds of reasoning. Are there other reasons?

disneybroadwayfan22 said: "Call_me_jorge said: "This would be the perfect show to bring Julie Taylor's back to broadway with!



"

Dear God, PLEASE! This show deserves so much more!



"

And you think Scott would do better?

Julie probably has the most interesting ideas out of any broadway director ever. She may have brought Spider-Man into financial ruin, but that doesn't mean she isn't a visionary director. When held by the reins she does amazing work.

g.d.e.l.g.i. said: "Jorge, I think they were agreeing with you, saying that they hoped they'd pick someone like her and that the show deserves so much more than Scott. Could be reading it wrong, though.



"

That's how I read it as well. As in this show (like Hunchback) deserves every bit of justice to the fantastic work it is without being destroyed by his own son...but of course they seem to have the same ideas lately so it's no wonder he keeps having Scott direct his own works.

This is epic material they have to work with, and is my favorite work of Stephens because it really is him at his best because those at Dreamworks/Katzenberg allowed Him to fly without being hampered by Eisenberg instead if anyone remembers how that all went down...

The thing about adapting films to stage is that some need to be worked and tweaked for it to work on stage, you can't just throw them on a stage and expect it to go well. But this is a rare exception. You could just throw this on stage with some stage elements to help with scene transitions, expand those scenes, wrote some more songs for the appropriate moments, and it's all good. This film already works SO damn well that's there's hardly any changes in terms of storyline that need to change. All it needs is expansion to make it a two hour musical and that's it. B and the B and LK were the same way.

Yes it deserves MUCH more than Scott and Taymor would SOAR with this. But are we sure we're not just saying this because "Africa and LK"? Someone here said as long as she has an already well written story to work with/doesn't play writer as well as director, she's great. SO TRUE. And this is just the ticket. Why oh why can't this happen...

"Our first act is living proof that nepotism is alive and well!" -Squidward in "Culture Shock"