Posted: 7/23/16 at 7:02am
^^^
Gurl, you should have zero regrets about jumping back in with that.
Posted: 7/23/16 at 9:41am
*standing ovation*
That post was literally everything. That's the entire argument. Thank you.
Posted: 7/23/16 at 10:40am
Yes JBroadway! YES.
Also: https://fairyprincessdiaries.com/2016/07/23/the-prince-of-sag-harbor-egypt/
https://twitter.com/thejosellana/status/756578751362764800
https://twitter.com/CynthiaEriVo/status/756856580189093888
https://twitter.com/Nic_NAC16/status/756544389539893248
https://twitter.com/BlkTheatreMatrs/status/756579914439020544
This is getting big.
Posted: 7/23/16 at 12:28pm
Well, except for Darrin Criss' character... They turned him Filipino... 
Posted: 7/23/16 at 12:39pm
Please tell me Scott Schwartz will not direct any eventual production.
Still devastated by how incompetently staged Hunchback was.
Posted: 7/23/16 at 1:57pm
Darren Criss wasn't in the concert, so he's irrelevant.
Posted: 7/23/16 at 2:36pm
I did a Google search for Egyptian actors and Mr Robots Rami Malek came up! He will probably too busy with his show to do this on Broadway and I don't know if he sings but there are actors with the appropriate ethnicity out there!
Posted: 7/23/16 at 3:25pm
If they're too lazy to find actors of Egyptian decent for this, just a concert, why even do it? Why consider it for Broadway? Why do the show? It's like putting on "Hairspray" with no fat people. There's no reason to tell the story.
Posted: 7/23/16 at 3:57pm
CindersGolightlysaid: "How much do you guys want to bet that the people saying it doesn't matter are white?"
Well, I'm not. So you'd lose that bet.
Posted: 7/23/16 at 4:11pm
Reminder that there is a difference between modern Egyptians and ancient Egyptians. Regardless, none are white. This is so disappointing.
Broadway was so proud of itself for this past season's diversity, but this should be a wake up call for some that we still have a long way to go.
Posted: 7/23/16 at 4:28pm
Showface said: "Broadway was so proud of itself for this past season's diversity, but this should be a wake up call for some that we still have a long way to go."
Oh, definitely. There's Denee Benton in Natasha, Pierre, etc., Phillipa Soo leading Amelie, possibly In Transit and Half Time and Miss Saigon and nothing else except holdovers like Aladdin, The Lion King, etc.
Posted: 7/23/16 at 4:31pm
PopAria said: "I'd love to see it.
Whoever cast this is obviously novice , but wasn't thinking about long term...
Can't wait to see what becomes of this production.
"
It was Stewart/Whitley casting, and they're no novice casting office. They should certainly be pretty ashamed about this. I know it's a concert staging, but even past concert staging of musicals have had appropriate casting. I have a whole novel about this issue, but that's another day. What happened to the cast from last year when they staged Act 1??
Posted: 7/23/16 at 4:49pm
Scarywarhol said: "Please tell me Scott Schwartz will not direct any eventual production.
Still devastated by how incompetently staged Hunchback was.
"
Also THIS. I'm sorry I read those reviews AND saw it at Papermill, and the critics were right. It was VERY underwhelming and had an identity crisis, like they said. I felt like I was watching a high budget childrens theater production. I know they wanted to go back to the novel, but even that fell flat because they were trying to mesh the film and novel too much and it didn't work. The film works SO well on it's own, and screams to be on stage nearly as it already is, and everything that people love about the film is all but gone in it. Pretty much only the music and characters are still there...and that's it. I could write a book about the problems with it, but one I can't let go of was Hellfire NOT being the act one closer/act break. The movie SCREAMED for the song to be the act one closer on stage, and they closed with something that could easily have been the act 2 opener. The show was imcompetently rewritten as well as incompetently staged. Most of the time these two issues go hand in hand. Bad writing WILL always translate to bad staging. It was so misguided, it hurts. Chorus narration RARELY works for musicals, and this was no exception, but the leads narrating their OWN stuff? No...it NEVER works. Scott may be Stephen's son, but his directing work is not impressing me at all lately.
And to 'lesio' I believe...they had a reading/lab-ish thing in February?? And was that Patrick page?? heck I recognize Murney and i didn't recall well what she looked like. And why was THAT never announced?? Or heck even had auditions??! Good grief, the hand picking of already well known people is just getting too much...
Posted: 7/23/16 at 5:24pm
I believe it was first 'official presentation' of the whole musical (searching for funding). I remember reading about it last year, February was Schwartz's deadline (https://www.theschwartzscene.com/quarterly-newsletter/issue-57-winter-2016/).
And yes, it is Patric Page playing Seti (?). Nikki James was also involved (Moses wife?).
I found this on Julia Murney instagram
https://www.instagram.com/p/BBaj91DFioK/
Updated On: 7/23/16 at 05:24 PM
Posted: 7/24/16 at 10:51pm
Well, it's something..
https://twitter.com/CynthiaEriVo/status/757404921801084929
https://twitter.com/CynthiaEriVo/status/757404946098782208
https://twitter.com/CynthiaEriVo/status/757404973563056128
As prose: "With regards to the @BayStTheater_ reading of #princeofegypt 2day I was able to have an open conversation with the Director, who was open to hearing my concerns and committed to making sure that, though on the outlook, the reading seems to lack POCs, the eventual Incarnation will be wholly inclusive. To be able to have a conversation is a wonderful positive step for art, and learning for all."
Posted: 7/24/16 at 10:58pm
Unfortunately, that also seems to imply Scott Schwartz's continued involvement.
Posted: 7/24/16 at 11:57pm
Why was no one pissed about Aladdin? Two white dudes in that and one has a cheesy Brooklyn accent?
Posted: 7/25/16 at 8:58am
RippedMan said: "Why was no one pissed about Aladdin? Two white dudes in that and one has a cheesy Brooklyn accent? "
I was actually just thinking about Aladdin the other day as a result of this discussion. The same thing could be asked about The Lion King. To be quite honest, I'm not entirely sure why nobody objected to it, but 2 possible answers come to mind:
1. Most of the cast were POC so it didn't draw as much attention
2. In both The Lion King and Aladdin, the only characters played by white people are the villains and the clown-ish characters. Both of those are archetypes that have been occupied by POC and perpetuated harmful stereotypes about them in the history of stage and film. Perhaps having those characters played by white people does not bother as many because it's subverting those stereotypes. Again, it's more about context than authenticity.
I'm not claiming that those arguments are entirely sound, but they do occur to me as possible explanations. But maybe I'm wrong and some people did object to it. I do agree with you RippedMan that there was no noticeable uproar about it.
Posted: 7/25/16 at 9:37am
"The same thing could be asked about The Lion King."
Wait, are you saying that there are people who think that animals should only be played by actors of color? That sounds.... kinda racist.
Posted: 7/25/16 at 10:24am
Well, for one thing, the white Jafar is Jafar himself (the voice behind him, Jonathan Freeman)
Posted: 7/25/16 at 10:29am
Aladdin did not go unaddressed.
http://artsincolor.com/2013/10/casting-aladdin-middle-eastern-actors/
Posted: 7/25/16 at 10:56am
LizzieCurry said: "Aladdin did not go unaddressed.
http://artsincolor.com/2013/10/casting-aladdin-middle-eastern-actors/
"
"Where they cut off your hands if they don't like your face, it's barbaric, but hey, it's home."
I don't think Disney were really that concerned with cultural sensitivity back then or now.
Posted: 7/26/16 at 11:58am
I'm just really confused about the comment from the statement of "Your concern about the need for diversity and authenticity is something we hear and take seriously"
I get where that is sometimes possible. But are we saying the casting for the staged reading of 1776 at City Center was inappropriate because it wasn't authentic? You can go authentic AND diverse if the characters are diverse (like in POE). You can go diverse if the characters are fictional. But if the characters are historical and white, how can you be authentic AND diverse? If we all want color blind casting, then POE did nothing wrong-unless we only want color blind casting of non-whites. and that sounds racist.
Seems limiting.
Posted: 7/26/16 at 12:24pm
Are you really that obtuse?
Posted: 7/26/16 at 12:57pm
Scott Schwartz responds and seems to make things worse by arguing that 5 of the 15 cast members are POC.
https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Scott-Schwartz-Responds-to-Public-Outcry-Against-PRINCE-OF-EGYPT-Casting-A-Diverse-Cast-Was-and-Is-a-Priority-20160725
Updated On: 7/26/16 at 12:57 PM
