Racial Issues and BWW Posters — Page 2

We had a SMOKINGLY HOT black Javert!

Mind you, so did you guys. ^_^

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My drama teacher always used to say you should cast the most talented person for the role, and if they didn't look right, the audience would still be more forgiving than if you got a physically appropriate but crap actress to play the part. I must say, I concur. ^_^

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Because theatre queens are bitchy little critters who need *something* to complain about, and no one could be bothered starting another Mel Brooks hate thread? *shrugs* Who knows?

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So, again, I ask what the difference is between the all black Follies that were discussing or the all Asian Falsettos that was actually produced? And why does one ruffle feathers but the other doesn't?

Because Asians just don't come across as interesting or discuss-able. I know because I am one.

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"My drama teacher always used to say you should cast the most talented person for the role, and if they didn't look right, the audience would still be more forgiving than if you got a physically appropriate but crap actress to play the part. I must say, I concur. ^_^
"
I agree--and I think non colour blind casting is COMPLETELY inexscusable in high school/student situations. I went to a high school with a very good musical theatre program but our artistic director (whow as talented but an ass) was pretty bad at being convinced to cast colour blind--going by talent. I grew up in Western Canada where there isn't a huge black population--but there is a HUGE Asian population and we had one girl who I was close to who was aJapanese exchange student (but spoke perfect English with no accent0 who really deserved far better parts than the dance ensemble type roles she'd get).

Kringas I think I'm not being clear.

In theory I think there is no real difference between an All Black FOllies and an All Asian Falsettos. You asked why one ruffled feathers on here and one didn't--my belief is at least part of the reason is the Asian production comes from an all Asian rep theatre company. The proposed Black Follies sounded like peopel wer etalking about an open ended "regular" Broadway revival that just happened to be explicitly all black-- Whether there should be or not that will strike people as quite different. They'd expect an Asian rep theatre company to stage productions that they might not regularly be cast in-- I'm not sayign oen is better than the other but I suspect if someone had posted an All Asian Follies thread they woulda gotten quite as imilar reaction

The whole principal bothers me. What is the need to have an "All-(Race)" production of any show? If theatre is to be truly color-blind, than there should never be a show featuring a cast of one, exclusive race (unless, as mentioned, the show calls for it). The proposal of an All-Black cast, or an All-Hispanic cast, etc. appears, to me at least, just as racist as those who complain over it. Why specifically feature race in a show that does not call for it? Color-blind casting (although, I doubt will ever be the case) should be the norm in all situations. There should be no need to say in a casting notice "This show will feature an All-(Race) cast."

With regards to the proposed question, I'm with Eric. It seems to me that an Asian Rep company would be expected to provide shows with an All-Asian cast. Not to say that they wouldn't hire a non-Asian if they auditioned (I hope they would), but generally for a company run by a certain race, other members of that race will tend to gravitate towards and, therefore, audition for their productions.

Let me know if I'm not making myself clear. Thanks.

Updated On: 2/15/14 at 09:21 PM

So if the hypothetical all black Follies we discussed in that thread was hypothetically going to be done by a theatre who gave African-Americans the chance to play roles they wouldn't normally play, would THAT be different?

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As a white woman I know that MANY white people .. even the so called progressive ones don't ACTUALLY like to see people of a different race on stage. ESPECAILLY when they are cast in traditionally white roles. They may say otherwise in public, but in PRIVATE they get honest. It usually is preceded by the phrase... "I'm not racist, but..."

I wish we would just be honest. It freaks us out.

I, personally, am very comfortable with it, in fact encourage it, but lets stop PRETENDING that is doesn't weird us out a little. It is better in the long run if we are honest.

When Robert Guillaume took over the role of Phantom it FREAKED the f*ck out those lonely women who were obsessed with the show. They couldn't go and get their fantasy fix with the show, because to do would mean thinking sexual thoughts about a black man.

One of the things I like most about racially diverse casting is that it forces me to see a human in a dramatic situation and NOT a race. If I find myself seeing only a race, that is clearly MY issue.

I wish everyone would read "White like Me" by Tim Wise. It really hits home.

http://www.timwise.org/

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It's the snarkieness that those threads always encourage, because, like I said, people willfully want to act like there's no difference between a black Phyllis and a white Celie.

Say what you want, but at the end of the day it's just one more thread hypothesizing something that will never happen. BWW is full of the. For some reason, though, it just really rankles the feathers of some people. (Edited to note that BFB's "It freaks people out" was exactly what I was trying to say here)

And, I can't speak for everyone, but I know that it really hadn't occurred to me how many of those choices listed on the thread before it went awry were so perfect because it would never have occurred to me to cast black actors in the roles. I'd imagine other people might think that, too. Is that inherently racist? Probably. Am I proud of those thoughts? No.

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Updated On: 6/22/07 at 09:53 PM

Screw her "Could I Leave You?" I want to see her do "Lucy and Jessie."

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Well put by bj....

Ok, but really, does it not make The Lion King so much more interesting if most, if not all, of the cast is black?

I'm not disagreeing with any of you, I just wanted to throw that one out there. Because I frankly would not want to see a white Simba. I remember a BWWer and I once got into an arguement about a black or white Mufasa or Simba, because I said that there's nothing racist with me saying that I wouldn't want to see a white Simba or Mufasa, and she/he/i don't know said it's racist against black people. I'm not sure how but that was what was said.

I know there are white people in The Lion King. But everytime I've seen the Lion King, the fact that black actors were playing certain roles (such as Mufasa and Simba, etc...) made the show more...I'm not sure, what it was supposed to be, I suppose. It's not even the fact that it's taking place in Africa...
anyone following, or am I spewing crap?

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