#26
Posted: 3/5/16 at 9:35pm
Don't think they have understudies. Which seems odd.
Southern Comfort (Previews) — Page 2
#27
Posted: 3/5/16 at 9:53pm
Not much discussion here about cisgendered actors playing the trans folk, though it was hot button re casting. Just curious if it's an issue with anyone. Also, how's the actual storytelling in the musical's evolution/current iteration? Not how (honestly) the subject is presented, or its (accuracy of) execution: is a story being told, or is it a slice-of-lives situation (as is the case with the documentary, brilliantly set-forth as it is). To me, that's the issue: is there a narrative, with obstacles overcome, action, a climax, and a resolution?.
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling
#28
Posted: 3/6/16 at 12:02am
I don't see why it should matter? How many straight actors have played gay actors?
Um, there isn't really a plot. It's set up in their monthly meetings, but we see them interacting outside of those circumstances, and it all culminates in going to Southern Comfort, which is beautifully done just with lighting. But there isn't a ton of plot. More of like "watch how these friends change over the course of a few months."
#29
Posted: 3/6/16 at 12:48am
There really isn't supposed to be a "plot". It is based on a documentary.
Just give the world Love. - S. Wonder
#30
Posted: 3/6/16 at 9:13am
I didn't raise the issue of cisgender, many trans actors did at the audition process. It was posted on Playbill.com. And plot per se wasn't my question, I was asking if the documentary had been translated into a narrative instead of the presentation of a situation. I now gather from the posts above that it's remained closer to the shape of the film. Question answered.
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling
#31
Posted: 3/6/16 at 10:54am
Auggie, if I recall correctly, the Public was pretty vocal about wanting trans actors and I believe a few members of the cast are trans. It would certainly be preferable for the whole cast to be trans, of course, but if the Public was as committed to the idea during casting as they claimed to be in the press, then at least a good faith effort was made. It's not perfect, but it's not nothing.
I am a firm believer in serendipity- all the random pieces coming together in one wonderful moment, when suddenly you see what their purpose was all along.
#32
Posted: 3/6/16 at 8:34pm
I was just curious what percentage of the cast ended up trans, since it was (perhaps briefly) contentious in the casting. It's not my issue, but it's a question when it comes to discussing a show written entirely by cisgendered artists featuring principle performances (the two leads at least) who are cis. With so much discussion about diversity and appropriated authenticity and identity, I'm just interested in whether it's part of the resulting dialog about this show. When "Hallelujah, Baby!" opened on B'way in the late 60s, a conversation developed about white artists writing about the black experience, and at least one star, Robert Hooks, took issue with the veracity of the results. (I love that score, so this is not to trash that musical.) It just seems an interesting topic when we arrive at another show about a marginalized community, written entirely by people who have not lived the very issues illuminated. I take no stand, but raise the question: The documentary wasn't made by trans artists, either, but admittedly, the subjects were the real deal. Is the trans experience best documented by trans artists? Does it matter? We don't fret over "West Side Story" having no Latino voices among its creators. But it's a different time, and the question is on the table.
"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling
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