Posted: 7/26/16 at 1:06pm
I agree that "5 out of 15 are POC" wasn't a...great thing for Scott Schwartz to say. Basically "Hey, least only 2 thirds of our cast for this musical that takes place in Egypt is white!"
Updated On: 7/26/16 at 01:06 PM
Posted: 7/26/16 at 1:19pm
gypsy101 said: "That lyric, "they cut of your ear..." was never included in any distributed version of the film Aladdin. it was erroneously left on the soundtrack.
"
No, that statement is erroneous. Trust me as a kid who saw it multiple times in the theatre and followed the story at the time, it was in the first theatrical release.
Posted: 7/26/16 at 1:19pm
I say this as someone who sees numbers for how many professional theatres across the country cast: American theatre is generally bad at nontraditional casting. Most of the time, unless regional theatres program shows with required roles for people of color- most often shows like West Side Story or Hairspray- they don't cast them very much. Unless it literally says in the script that that the ethnicity is non-white (and even then, every so often you get the issue of some theatre doing West Side Story without any Latinx actors or something), it will very likely go to a white actor.
Some of that is excusable for some theatres, the ones that cast locally in areas without lots of diversity.
But for a concert like this? In NYC? With material that lends itself well to diverse casting? Inexcusable.
Updated On: 7/26/16 at 01:19 PM
Posted: 7/26/16 at 1:27pm
Scott Schwartz shouldn't have said anything at all. Now I know he's a bad director and a moron.
Posted: 7/26/16 at 1:31pm
hmm I could have sworn I had heard it was never in the film (I was an infant at the time of its original release). Either way, it was removed eventually (although the original lyric is much better than what replaced it).
Posted: 7/26/16 at 3:16pm
I think the more important question here is: why is Stephen Schwartz letting his son sh*t all over his legacy? Find a new director!
Posted: 7/26/16 at 3:18pm
Tag said: "I think the more important question here is: why is Stephen Schwartz letting his son sh*t all over his legacy? Find a new director!"
He let him **** all over Hunchback too, so your guess is as good as mine.
Posted: 7/26/16 at 3:21pm
EricMontreal22 said: "gypsy101 said: "That lyric, "they cut of your ear..." was never included in any distributed version of the film Aladdin. it was erroneously left on the soundtrack.
"
No, that statement is erroneous. Trust me as a kid who saw it multiple times in the theatre and followed the story at the time, it was in the first theatrical release.
So? I intend to say that the approach was racist from the get go. In fact, it seemed to have been toned down by then. In an interview with Alan Manken, he said that Disney turned down their initial drafts because their approach was too "edgy". I interpret that to be euphemism for racist.
"
Posted: 7/26/16 at 3:23pm
gypsy101 said: "hmm I could have sworn I had heard it was never in the film (I was an infant at the time of its original release). Either way, it was removed eventually (although the original lyric is much better than what replaced it).
"
This version exists. It exited in the original VHS release and the original soundtrack. I think I might have it on cassette and video tape somewhere. It was removed and changed to what is sung currently because it caused an uproar.
Posted: 7/26/16 at 4:39pm
Assuming that Schwartz is being completely genuine, and not backpedaling from not having even considered the issue of diversity in casting, I change my earlier position. If they were actually trying to come up with a diverse cast and this is the best they could do... Nope, not good enough.
Posted: 7/26/16 at 4:49pm
trpguyy said: "A free public concert in a park on the tip of Long Island is a big deal?"
This concert may be happening in a park, but Bay Street Theatre is a big deal. It's not just a random place on Long Island. It's a prestigious institution in the heart of the Hamptons, with an extremely moneyed and influential creative and audience base. If anyone should know better, they should.
Posted: 7/27/16 at 12:20am
I'm surprised none of the cast has dropped from this.. That would really make a statement, and I think leave this piece in a position to really become a nice night with proper replacements.
Updated On: 7/27/16 at 12:20 AM
Posted: 7/27/16 at 12:34am
elphaba.scares.me said: "trpguyy said: "A free public concert in a park on the tip of Long Island is a big deal?"
This concert may be happening in a park, but Bay Street Theatre is a big deal. It's not just a random place on Long Island. It's a prestigious institution in the heart of the Hamptons, with an extremely moneyed and influential creative and audience base. If anyone should know better, they should.
Idunno, their Grey Gardens looked and felt indistinguishable from the community theater production values of my youth, despite the presence of name performers. But of course, the community theater of my youth frequently cast people who weren't white.
"
Updated On: 7/27/16 at 12:34 AM
Posted: 7/27/16 at 1:36am
sparepart973 said: "EricMontreal22 said: "gypsy101 said: "That lyric, "they cut of your ear..." was never included in any distributed version of the film Aladdin. it was erroneously left on the soundtrack.
"
No, that statement is erroneous. Trust me as a kid who saw it multiple times in the theatre and followed the story at the time, it was in the first theatrical release.
So? I intend to say that the approach was racist from the get go. In fact, it seemed to have been toned down by then. In an interview with Alan Manken, he said that Disney turned down their initial drafts because their approach was too "edgy". I interpret that to be euphemism for racist.
"
"
Oh man, I'm not weighing in on if it should have been a line in the song, or not. Just that it WAS in the initial theatrical prints of Aladdin.
Posted: 7/27/16 at 4:44am
sparepart973 said: "gypsy101 said: "hmm I could have sworn I had heard it was never in the film (I was an infant at the time of its original release). Either way, it was removed eventually (although the original lyric is much better than what replaced it).
"
This version exists. It exited in the original VHS release and the original soundtrack. I think I might have it on cassette and video tape somewhere. It was removed and changed to what is sung currently because it caused an uproar.
"
I have an Original Soundtrack Recording on CD. I got it in like early 90s. And it does include the first version of the lyrics. "cut off...." I remember re-watching/relistening the film / soundtrack later, and thinking, "That's not the lyric I know." Thought I was nuts, then I relistened to my CD, and it was there.
Posted: 7/27/16 at 10:17am
neonlightsxo said: "Tag said: "I think the more important question here is: why is Stephen Schwartz letting his son sh*t all over his legacy? Find a new director!"
He let him **** all over Hunchback too, so your guess is as good as mine.
"
You also forgot the 2001 national tour of a "reimagined" GODSPELL (otherwise known as an 'abomination'
he directed. One of the most horrifying, distorted castrations of a well-known musical I've ever seen.
Posted: 7/27/16 at 10:21am
Luckily, I didn't suffer through that, but I'll add it to the list.
Posted: 7/27/16 at 10:54am
Liza's Headband said: "neonlightsxo said: "Tag said: "I think the more important question here is: why is Stephen Schwartz letting his son sh*t all over his legacy? Find a new director!"
He let him **** all over Hunchback too, so your guess is as good as mine.
"
You also forgot the 2001 national tour of a "reimagined" GODSPELL (otherwise known as an 'abomination' he directed. One of the most horrifying, distorted castrations of a well-known musical I've ever seen.
"
this 2011 tour, is it the same one as the Broadway production at Circle in the Square?
Posted: 7/27/16 at 11:04am
Nobody said 2011. Headband said 2001. Read numbers better.
Posted: 7/27/16 at 11:07am
2001 -- not 2011.
It was a non-equity tour that actually began in 2000 and ran through 2001. There were a slew of extremely questionable changes and revisions, all authorized only because Schwartz was directing, which attempted to further modernize the story; from adding in digital/electronic components to rearranging the entire score into a hybrid classic/punk rock & pop sound. Artistically speaking, it was a total failure and not true to its source material. Here's the only Playbill article I could about it from 2000: http://www.playbill.com/article/new-national-tour-cast-album-of-godspell-in-stores-jan-9-2001-com-93071
Posted: 7/27/16 at 11:15am
elphaba.scares.me said: "This concert may be happening in a park, but Bay Street Theatre is a big deal. It's not just a random place on Long Island. It's a prestigious institution in the heart of the Hamptons, with an extremely moneyed and influential creative and audience base. If anyone should know better, they should."
As Erin Quill put it: https://fairyprincessdiaries.com/2016/07/23/the-prince-of-sag-harbor-egypt/
We also need to reach people who favor an Orange faced racist for President, and remind them that the world does not all look like Sag Harbor in the summer.
Theater is supposed to enlighten as well as entertain. Removing ethnic faces from ethnic stories is not what is going to help America stay on track as a world power – it is going to deepen the divide.
Plus, these are educated people – don’t we think one or two or twenty is going to do a double take when the leads walk out?
Give the crowd some credit – these are the people that buy HAMILTON tickets! Like, they pay ridiculous amounts to a ticket broker without batting an eye, they don’t have friends in the cast that can get them house seats!
Posted: 7/27/16 at 11:18am
Liza's Headband said: "2001 -- not 2011.
It was a non-equity tour that actually began in 2000 and ran through 2001. There were a slew of extremely questionable changes and revisions, all authorized only because Schwartz was directing, which attempted to further modernize the story; from adding in digital/electronic components to rearranging the entire score into a hybrid classic/punk rock & pop sound. Artistically speaking, it was a total failure and not true to its source material. Here's the only Playbill article I could about it from 2000: http://www.playbill.com/article/new-national-tour-cast-album-of-godspell-in-stores-jan-9-2001-com-93071
"
thanks for the additional info! interesting read.
Posted: 7/27/16 at 11:24am
I'm not obsessed with you. You're very childish.
