The Nightingale Casting- Page 3

[albertramos22]

Posted: 7/22/12 at 3:35am

Ok, this kind of annoys me. It's a musical based on a fairy tale that tried to do color blind casting and is now being crapped on for not employing enough Asians...Well, if you want a Historically accurate show with a mostly Asian cast, wait a few months when Allegiance has it's pre-Broadway try out over at the Old Globe with Lea Salonga, George Takei, and Telly Leung. It is a show I am excited to see about the California internment camps (concentration camps) Japanese-Americans were forced to live in during World War II. Wait, there will probably be drama there because I don't think any of the three leads are actually Japanese.

Their argument that Asians have few roles to begin with sounds alot like affirmative action lol. If this argument is valid, then I am angry the cast of Spring Awakening wasn't all German, Hugh Jackman played a gay man in The Boy Next Door yet he is "straight", Nathan Lane has played a straight man, there were no real Mermaids in the Little Mermaid (Probably why it flopped, and why was Ariel white while the amazing Norm Lewis isn't), and a million other examples any Theater Geek can come up with. We go into a theater to suspend disbelief, this is a fairy tale with a talented cast that shouldn't have to deal with all this drama. Unless it is some part of their advertising strategy, then well played....well played!

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/22/12 at 1:46pm

How does it sound like affirmative action lol?

Also, making a statement like "there were no real mermaids in Little Mermaid" shows you have no desire to have a serious discussion about this lol

[3bluenight]

Posted: 7/22/12 at 1:50pm

here is a link that i think is relevant to this discussion.

as an asian american actor, director, and writer it is important to continue having these dialogues.

But it's also important to me as a citizen and a human. how we live together is a conversation that never ends.
How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love Discussing Race

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 7/22/12 at 1:51pm

It was relevant when I posted it already in this thread!

[sally1112]

Posted: 7/22/12 at 3:22pm

Saw the show Tuesday night, and I really enjoyed it. The color blind casting works well for me, and reminds me of many other shows that I see that commonly do this too.
They need to work on a few songs and some of act one, but other wise it is a very enjoyable show.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 7/22/12 at 10:31pm

The #nightingale hashtag on twitter is VERY enlightening. Tara Rubin saying they didn't have a proper audition process, Moises Kaufman saying they owe everyone an apology...

https://twitter.com/#!/search/%23nightingale

[dramamama611]

Posted: 7/23/12 at 1:52pm

Well.....they gave one.


Playhouse Apology

[Kad]

Posted: 7/23/12 at 2:01pm

So, did Sheik and Slater not attend the panel?

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 7/23/12 at 2:11pm

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/jul/23/tp-forum-on-plays-cast-evokes-harsh-criticism/?page=1#article

http://lajolla.patch.com/articles/la-jolla-playhouse-says-we-are-sorry-to-casting-decisions-that-caused-racial-tension

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/culture/la-et-cm-heated-exchanges-at-la-jolla-playhouse-over-nightingale-casting-20120722,0,6438118.story

It sounds like they attended but were not on the panel.

[Kad]

Posted: 7/23/12 at 2:20pm

"Multicultural casting was never meant to justify a Caucasian person playing a culturally specific role.”

I agree with that sentiment- though I'd broaden Caucasian to... well, anybody that is not of the specified culture.

I know people have pulled the old "so it only works one-way?!" on this.

And no.

But when you set a work in an Asian country- when actors of Asian descent are highly underrepresented- and cast Caucasian actors, it is insulting. It is saying, "Go wait for the next revival of Flower Drum Song, bitches!"

[HOUFlip04]

Posted: 7/23/12 at 4:53pm

Sheik and Sater were in the audience, and Sater did stand up and add his thoughts and input. On Twitter he was quoted, in response to why an all-Asian cast (in a previous workshop) was changed to a multi-cultural cast, as saying, "We felt as white creators we couldn't fully tell the story."

And in response to that, David Henry Hwang (on Twitter) said that Sater's statement equated to "We couldn't see characters as fully human with an Asian cast."

Updated On: 7/23/12 at 04:53 PM

[Copperfield2]

Posted: 7/23/12 at 8:03pm

As a Chinese American I have to say that I'm surprised that in California, which has a large Asian American population the creative team couldn't find more Asian American actors to appear in this show.

And there is an Asian American theater company in NYC they could have drawn upon.

[A Director]

Posted: 7/23/12 at 11:05pm

It could be the creative team didn't take the time to find more Asian American actors to appear in the show.

A theatre holding a panel discussion is nice, makes people feel good, but in the long run, doesn't change things. The real question is, what happens now?

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 8:47am

We live in a society where most productions of Madama Butterfly and The Mikado are cast with mostly non-Asians. And yet no one would dream of putting on a production of Porgy and Bess without black singer-actors. Also, how many regional/stock/community theatre/high school productions of King and I have been filled with mostly white actors? The King and I is a show most people say that Asians can claim. It's our east-west struggle play, and still people produce it without a majority of Asian actors. Would anyone produce Hairspray or Show Boat, shows with similar racial issues, without a substantial amount of black actors? We live in a society where we view Asian actors or characters as optional or easily replaced and substituted.

Which brings us to this production. If the story were set in Africa, would they dare cast mostly non-black actors? I would think not. Words like "colorblind casting" and "multiethnic casting" is definitely convenient when a white actor is cast in a non-white role, as is the case with The Nightingale. But when the lead of a show is decidedly playing against race and cast with a white actor, that makes the casting look lazy and inconsiderate instead of bold and daring. You know what would be bold and daring? A black Billy Bigelow. An Asian Marian Paroo. A Latina Mama Rose. Or anything equivalently leading role played by an actor of ethnicity, not a leading role of ethnicity played by a white actor.

Even if it was not the creators' intention, this is yet another example in a long history of Asian actors being under-represented in theatre and in the media. Should we have to wait for casting calls for King and I, Miss Saigon, or Flower Drum Song to book work? Or should we be lucky enough to land the token ensemble track?

I saw Prison Dancer at NYMF this past weekend. Not only did the show feature an all-Asian cast, it was an all-Filipino cast. While watching the show, I realized how many talented Asian actors there are...in this one show alone, a show presented at NYMF! And the story can be told just as effectively using good actors of the correct ethnicity. Am I saying it would have been bad to cast a Latino or white person in the show? Not necessarily. But why give those roles to them when there is a plethora of talented Asian actors to choose from?

May this show open up more discussions about Asians in theatre. It's not a problem of colorblind casting and using it to a creative team's advantage. It goes far beyond that and deep into the American mindset.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 4:37pm

"And there is an Asian American theater company in NYC they could have drawn upon."

Well and not to mention, closer by, http://www.eastwestplayers.org/

[newintown]

Posted: 7/24/12 at 4:56pm

I think a lot of words and time have been wasted over nothing.

The creative team made it quite clear that they were creating a fable, a fairy-tale, set in a mythical place called "China." Perhaps, if they were smart, they would have made up a mythical name, instead of using "China." But the piece is not about a real "China."

If any work set in a place remotely Asian could only be performed by Asian actors, there would be tempests every time The Good Woman of Setzuan and all of Brecht's other mythical Asian plays were produced.

[dented146]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 1:32am

It's a missed opportunity no question. And it seems that the creative team understands the situation.

Someone mentioned La Jolla. La Jolla may be primarily white but The La Jolla Playhouse is on the UCSD campus and the UCSD student body is mostly Asian. To me it just makes the error seem more egregious.

[Bobby Maler]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 3:11am

NewinTown said, " But the piece is not about a real "China."

Um, that's what the Asians are saying. They wouldn't have a problem if it was set in Middle Earth. But it's CHINA, a very real place, even more real in today's interconnected world than it was during Hans Christian Andersen's time. There is no reason to do this in 2012.

"If any work set in a place remotely Asian could only be performed by Asian actors, there would be tempests every time The Good Woman of Setzuan and all of Brecht's other mythical Asian plays were produced."

Again, that's their point! One of the women from AAPAC said, "there was once a time when white men played Othello but the African American community stood up and said 'that's not acceptable.' The Asians are telling you now, 'this is not acceptable.". Not everyone gets to play Malcolm X. Not everyone gets to play The Emperor of China. And that goes for King and I and Good Womn f Sczhechuan too.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 4:00am

"Maybe they casted the show intentionally and without malice, because they wanted to have a "rainbow" cast"

If they wanted a "rainbow" or colorblind cast, they shouldn't have cast 5 out of 12 roles with white actors.

The creative team said it's not about Asia or China, but the show has Chinese names, Chinese costumes, Chinese sets, and clearly states it's set in China.

If it's a fairy tale cast in a mythical place, dress them as matadors, call the girl Shaniqua, and hire an Indian actress to play her. Have Victor Garber and Whoopi Goldberg give birth to Paulo Montalban in a medieval European-esque kindgom. Don't steal everything from Chinese culture except the actors and then claim it's not really Chinese. I'm glad the creative team was called out and made to answer for it.

Updated On: 7/25/12 at 04:00 AM

[My Oh My]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 8:35am

It was only a matter of time. There is only so much snubbing and lip service any group of human beings are willing to take.

I admit that I've always secretly felt sort of sad to see the same 2 or 3 credits in most Asian actors' biographies. The initial sense of accomplishment that shows like Miss Saigon brought soon served to only highlight the ridiculous lack of work available for Asian actors and especially the lack of flexibility in casting Asian actors in roles typically filled by actors of specific backgrounds.

I've long bemoaned the absence of Lea Salonga on Broadway and feel someone of her talent should have a long roster of Broadway credits by now. Unless she personally can't be bothered--something I highly doubt--why hasn't this woman played Elphaba on Broadway? Why hasn't she donned the iconic white dress as Eva Peron in America? It just seems unreasonably limited on the Great White Way for such a great talent.

Saying she hasn't done more roles on Broadway because she physically doesn't fit most roles and would thus not be believable is the stock response most commonly on offer, and that makes me sick.

I wish they'd come out with it, be honest, and admit they find her looks distracting as an "other." It would bring me no joy, but would at least restore my faith in a discussion on race leading toward the right direction. The idea of all that is Caucasian to be the "norm" is so deeply promoted and embedded in all of us, it's a sad day when we can suspend disbelief enough to learn compelling things, look at mythical lands, and render musical storytelling effective, even more real than reality, but we can't see an Asian actor, an "other," inhabiting something/someone "normal."

It's no mystery to me that the Asian community's anger has long been brewing. I'm offended by those who think this isn't a problem. If there is a group who is still consistently cornered into a set mold created by people who think it's where they belong, it's the Asian community.

I do feel sorry for the creative team members at the center of this controversy because I feel their hearts were in the right place and this issue is much deeper, complex, and carries many years of accumulated baggage and resentment. I expected to see "racist" hurled about mindlessly, which is often the standard, knee jerk response. I'm impressed by the lack of that word in discussions of this across the net. And I'm even more impressed by the controlled anger response most have adopted across the board, whether Asian or not.

More power to the Asian community and may their anger effectively assert it isn't OK to shrug one's shoulders at an entire community and that hoping it all goes away by way of the ambitious explanations given is doing just that.

Updated On: 7/25/12 at 08:35 AM

[newintown]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 8:43am

"Not everyone gets to play Malcolm X. Not everyone gets to play The Emperor of China. And that goes for King and I and Good Womn f [sic] Sczhechuan too."

But anyone can play Abraham Lincoln or Queen Victoria.

Racism is, despite the cries of racists, a two-way street.

Updated On: 7/26/12 at 08:43 AM

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 8:55am

Thank you, My Oh My. A very measured and thoughtful response. Anyone who doesn't think this (under-representation of Asians in theatre) is a problem needs to wake up. How many roles and shows are opened up to Asian actors? How many shows need specifically white and black actors? How many require specifically Latino actors? I tell you, many more than King and I, Flower Drum Song, Miss Saigon, and maybe Millie and Anything Goes (and even these roles sometimes go to Latinos or other ethnicities). So when there's a show that's said to be set in China but has Asians as the minority in the cast, there is reason for concern.

[iluvtheatertrash]

Posted: 7/25/12 at 9:00am

There hearts were definitely NOT in the right place. If they wanted a multi-racial cast, why is 75% of it white and maybe 1% of it Asian?

The discussion was fascinating and sad... And I'm not quite sure the creative team quite got the panel's point.

[newintown]

Posted: 7/26/12 at 9:47am

I wonder if there are Caucasian roles in Chinese theatre, and if they ever cast them with Asian actors...

[darquegk]

Posted: 7/26/12 at 10:50am

Somebody mentioned how Asians rarely do "The Mikado," and there's an interesting example. An admitted classic of musical theatre and opera/operetta, and yet in a very real way it borders on Asian minstrel show. The characters have names only SLIGHTLY above "ching-chong" humor, repeated jokes are made about "Ooh, Japanese people don't do this or that," and the Emperor, the titular Mikado himself is frequently portrayed with a broad and stereotypical accent, though more of the (arguably less-offensive) guttural "uSamurai uStyleu" accent than the "das sooo lacist" Christmas Eve accent.

Would The Mikado even WORK with an Asian cast? It might be a little too close to home in that scenario.