Rent: School Edition- Page 2

[njmasquers]

Posted: 7/30/08 at 2:00pm

A high school in Northern NJ is doing RENT: SCHOOL EDITION this month and they are promoting it as "the first HS in the Metro NY market" to do it, but I know that is BS.

My main gripe is that the program's director went out of his way to cast his "favorites", and dismissed a number of outstanding African-American youth actors who tried out. Benny, Angel, and Mimi are being played by Caucasians, which, contrary to what MTI is saying, is not the way it was cast in the NY workshop in 1994.

The MTI website also strictly prohibited anyone who is a member of SAG, AFTRA, EQUITY, and AGVA from performing. Well, once again...another surprise. The actor playing Mark has a slew of SAG and AFTRA credits.

My "spurned" kids saw the show this weekend, thought that it was OK. One kid has seen it 15 times on B'Way...has the CD...script. Really feels the "cuts" hurt it, but I know that MTI has a big money-maker on their hands. Don't forget..they own the Disney HSM franchaise and that has brought in $$$$$$ for them.

I plan to see it this weekend. I will report my review next week.

Tom Thompson
njmasquers

[Trekkie2]

Posted: 7/30/08 at 2:07pm

"My main gripe is that the program's director went out of his way to cast his 'favorites'"
That's what happens at any high school. Sad, but it's a fact. Also happens if your mommy or daddy helped build the sets or gave an ass-load of money to the department.

[Gobstopper]

Posted: 7/30/08 at 2:34pm

"Benny, Angel, and Mimi are being played by Caucasians, which, contrary to what MTI is saying, is not the way it was cast in the NY workshop in 1994."

Actually, I'm pretty sure the workshop Angel, Mark Setlock, was Caucasian... No idea about Benny.

Mimi definitely wasn't though, because it was Daphne Rubin-Vega in the workshop and she's Latina.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 7/30/08 at 2:37pm

"The only issue is one that is common to high school productions - the actors don't have the life experience or understanding to really bring the characters to life."

That can be said about every high school production of every broadway show ever performed. I honestly don't understand why people think that a high school play is supposed to be designed and performed almost commercial quality. It's nonsense.

[njmasquers]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 3:14pm

Well, I saw the show in Northern NJ this past weekend. Let me start off by saying that the kids in the show were nothing short of SPECTACULAR!

Now for my directoral and production comments. It was awfully "white". Now please understand that I an very familiar with this show...I have seen in a number to times..read the book...listen to the music...attended workshops...etc. But this is Northern NJ!!! One of the most diverse centers in the USA. The director apparently did not have the guts to recruit ethnic groups from places like Newark Arts HS,Rosa Parks Arts HS, or Cecily Tyson Arts High School. This is what made the show suffer immeasurably. Mimi needed to be Latina (she wasn't!) Bennie and Collins needed to be black or Latino (they weren't...white instead!) Many of the other kids were from lily-white enclaves like Tenafly, Montclair, Glen Ridge, Parsippany. They even recruited from the AEA ranks with the character of Mark....a professional ringer. After checking with both AEA and MTI, apparently EVERYONE can be a pro in this show.

Do I feel jaded? Yes, I am. I work with some of the directors in these urban, under-funded areas, and not a single one of them heard about this audition, which according to one school official was "announced to every drama teacher in the state". That's BS! Thankfully, one of the school I work for will be doing "RENT" this school year...and as director..I assure you it will be multi-ethnic.

Updated On: 8/6/08 at 03:14 PM

[TonyVincent]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 3:53pm

Why does an actor "need" to be a certain race to understand the character and perform the show properly? That's pretty prejudiced if you ask me. Just because I'm white, I can't capture Benny's essence because Taye Diggs (and, as a result, all the actors who followed him) is black?

Especially since race doesn't play a huge role in the show, I don't see why it's a big issue. Yes, part of the taboo of some of the relationships are their different backgrounds, but it's not a central plot point. It's not like you're doing West Side Story or South Pacific where racial differences are a central theme and the major source of conflict.

I'm all for integration, but saying that characters "need" to be black because the original actor was is ignorant, and your post strikes me as quite racist.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 3:58pm

Yeah, and I don't get why Benny and Collins can be black or Latino. There's a pretty big difference there.

The only one I can see an argument for is Mimi being Latina.

[yankee_fan907]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 5:34pm

And why would Mimi be an exception? Why would Mimi have to be played by a Latina? I'm confused...

[Jonny boy]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 6:14pm

Cause in the lyrics it talks about being at "home where the Spanish baby's cry"

The whole idea of RENT being performed by a highschool doesnt work at all for me.........

[yankee_fan907]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 7:12pm

I hate to be THAT GUY, but it would be "babies," not "baby's." This goes for everyone, apostrophes do NOT make words plural. EVER! Anyway, I see how that would imply her heritage. But, she could always live in a Latino neighborhood and not be Latina herself. That certainly shouldn't restrict the role - not in a musical about love and acceptance.

[winston89]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 10:30pm

Mimi's last name is Marquez. A very Latin sounding last name. It wouldn't make sense to have someone who is white play someone with a spanish last name.

It would be like casting someone who is black as Mark Cohen. It just wouldn't work because Cohen is clearly a jewish name.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 10:37pm

Well, someone CAN have a Spanish last name and be white.

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 10:39pm

I know the casting of Collins isn't discussed, but I figured I'd throw my two cents on his future casting in nevertheless.

The original idea for Collins was a white Tom Waits-type character. When they weren't finding good actors for the part, they switched the audition notices to try out black actors and found it was a good fit. Considering the fact that Collins was supposed to be white, I see no reason why he can't be cast as white now, in student or regional productions.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 10:40pm

Mimi's mother sings in Spanish during one of the "Voicemails."

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 8/6/08 at 10:48pm

Another thought...who says black guys can't be junkie songwriters with writer's block? Let's have a black Roger.

[njmasquers]

Posted: 8/7/08 at 12:42pm

Hmmmm...I think some people are missing the point I made earlier. The HS (PVHS in Passaic County, NJ) made NO ATTEMPT to seek out actors of color. This is what irks me, especially since I work with some SUPERIOR young actors in some of the urban areas that surround the lily-white enclaves that the director cast from. NONE of the teachers I work with were given notices, even those that belong to the Theatre Arts networks (Thespians, STANJ, etc). The show itself is a BEAUTIFUL example of diversity. Take a tour of Alphabet City in lower Manhattan and you will see for yourself. This is the area that Larson wrote about, not NE Bergen County, the Hill Country of San Antonio, or Holmby Hills of LA. The director has constantly shown his lack of diversity in casting other shows, such as "Les Miz", "Sweeney Todd", and "Tommy".

The schools who select this show need to be aware of the racial diversity that exists in the show. Even "La Boheme" protrayed ethnic groups well.

Don't even get me started on the "racist" crack made by a previous writer....

[winston89]

Posted: 8/7/08 at 1:20pm

I was always under the impression that the reason certan characters are cast as partiuclar backrounds is this. That the East Village/Alphabet City is a very diverse area. And, that Larson wanted to capture that diversity on stage. So yes, a lot of these characters could be played by actors with different backrounds (a white Benny or a black Roger etc). But, the reason that they were never done is because even though you could technically have an all white cast of Rent. That would not show the diversity of Alphabet City and it would not show the diversity Larson originally wanted to show while writing the show.

[gvendo2005]

Posted: 8/7/08 at 1:37pm

Precisely. And if the cast is racially diverse and happens to have a white Collins, or a black Roger, that diversity is still being shown and it changes little to nothing about the show.

[Jonny boy]

Posted: 8/7/08 at 1:46pm

I'm sure it works fine for people that have never seen the show before but, for the people who have and know the characters, I think it would be a little strange....

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 8/7/08 at 2:12pm

Do these students attend the high school doing the show? If not, I don't see why they should be in it.

[yankee_fan907]

Posted: 8/7/08 at 2:15pm

I agree with Spork (at least I think? Sorry, your post is a little vague...). Only students at the high school should be in the production. The director should not have to seek out people of color to be in the show if they are not easily accessible. It's a school show, not a professional one!

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 8/7/08 at 2:21pm

If you meant that my post was vague, let me clarify: you said exactly what I was trying to say.

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 8/7/08 at 2:21pm

That's what I was wondering Spork. If all these students who should have been cast in the show don't go to the high school, why would they be cast? The only time I've ever seen that done is when an all girls or guys school needs the opposite sex for a show.

[yankee_fan907]

Posted: 8/7/08 at 2:26pm

Or at my school we've cast people from one of our sending district's grade schools in order to fill parts that are supposed to be young children (like Ngana and Jerome from South Pacific for example).

[njmasquers]

Posted: 8/8/08 at 8:24am

I agree with Spork, YankeeFan and JonnyBoy. This is actually a professional training summer drama program run by one of the school districts here in Northern NJ. The HS has been running a summer theatre program in Northern NJ for several years. Very few of the kids actually come from the home HS (PVRHS). Quite of few of them are Asian, but there were none in the cast. 2 of the boys (Mark and Gordon) are members of Actor's Equity. They supposably got "permission" from Equity to perform in the show and state that in the program, but according to a friend in the membership and benefits department, they have no record of this...

The only time I heard about the production's casting was in early June from one of my students. None of the drama teachers I work with in the area received word about the show.