"WHY HAS THERE NEVER BEEN AN ALL-BLACK REVIVAL OF "GYPSY"?

The short answer is it's been frequently revived, the last 2 revivals lost money, and there are plenty of other shows worthy of a revival. Will there be a revival with a Black Rose someday? Sure. Scott Rudin was planning a revival with Audra McDonald. But I can't think of a Black actress who sings who could sell enough tickets to make this a steady hit.


ChgoTheatreGuy said: "I know that there, and are today many Black singers that could pull this off, even if one of the young up and coming girl singers would be interested."

As to your other points: When it happens, I should hope they cast an actor who can sing, not merely a singer. And it shouldn't matter if an "up and coming girl singer"(?) is interested, since there is one star role and a Broadway up-and-comer isn't selling any tickets.

Updated On: 12/18/22 at 01:55 AM

Louise will be the key to getting a star name for any revival of Gypsy with a Broadway name as Rose. I don't even think it would be necessarily hard to get a name to agree to. It seems like it'd be an easy sell to a young performer wanting to dip their toes into Broadway. Especially with Benanti's performance and Tony award to point to as proof that it can be more than a nothing role with the right performer.

QueenAlice said: "An “all black” production is really a conceit of the 1960s and 1970s for white audiences who couldn’t accept an integrated cast."

I was thinking the same thing. I do think an integrated cast with 3 leads of color would be awesome.
I could see Keke Palmer as Louise.

Updated On: 12/18/22 at 02:06 PM

It was not just aimed at white audiences who couldn't accept an integrated cast. It was creating job opportunities for performers of color, period.

As for whether or not it's still needed today -- when you consider the latter reason for its existence, I say absolutely. As an industry pro, I marvel at movies and TV shows, and even theater, where virtually the entire cast is white, yet no one bats an eyelash over it; producers, writers, etc., are very rarely called out as (even unintentionally) racist for this phenomenon. At all. This cultural inertia is seen, whether stated explicitly or not, as the norm.

Minorities are under-represented (not represented is more like it) in roles that could be filled by persons of any color. And, not that I'm accusing anybody of deliberate ignorance (or worse), but I always get kind of suspicious when people say it was just about integration or call it an "identity gimmick" and imply -- or even outright state -- that we don't need that anymore...

My answer to all that is yes we do, and tough crap if you don't like it. Maybe you'll get something out of it, maybe you won't, but it's not for you, and not everything has to be. There is nothing wrong with reflecting the music, dance, and nuances that make up a specific culture through a familiar lens, especially if that culture is under-represented in media. If that stops you from buying a ticket, then maybe you need to ask yourself why.

Updated On: 12/18/22 at 02:37 PM

I've seen Keke's name thrown around before but I think she has too much charisma to successfully transition from Louise to Gypsy. Even in small roles Keke stands out so it would be a bit unbelievable that somebody this effortlessly commanding would be playing second fiddle to June.

verywellthensigh said: "It would be more interesting to see an original musical about Black female performers in vaudeville than giving Gypsy its umpteen zillionth revival with an identity gimmick."



No less than August Wilson agrees with you (and ErmengardeStopSniveling). I remember reading his comments on this subject a while back basically saying the same thing. He didn't want to see stunt BIPOC casting or, he went further, even color-blind casting but rather color-conscious casting--plays written about or include the experience of characters of color.

My understanding of color-conscious casting is that it goes beyond writing roles for POC, though? It also includes being thoughtful about how casting a POC in a usually white role will impact the story. Will it add layers? Are there certain things that need to be addressed dramaturgically to make the casting make sense? Could it have possible negative connotations (ie. if you cast the villain of the show with a black actor and everyone else is white)?

I don’t know if it needs to be all black, but a version with three leads of color trying to break into very white showbiz industry is a great take and interesting way to make the material feel current without actually having to make many (any?) changes.

g.d.e.l.g.i. said: "As an industry pro, I marvel at movies and TV shows, and even theater, where virtually the entire cast is white, yet no one bats an eyelash over it; producers, writers, etc., are very rarely called out as (even unintentionally) racist for this phenomenon. At all. This cultural inertia is seen, whether stated explicitly or not, as the norm."

Most people don't bat an eye because the majority of people in this country (and likely all countries) self-segregate. It happens for different reasons--a virtually all-white neighborhood doesn't exist for the exact same reasons that Black kids tend to sit at the same lunch table in any given high school--but it happens. So when people see a show with mostly white, Black, Asian casts, or casts made mostly of any other minority, I think they see it as pretty much approximating reality. I certainly wasn't thinking as I watched Uncoupled on Netflix about whether the gay vs. straight cast members was statistically realistic for a contemporary upper class Manhattan setting. I was watching a show set primarily in the gay community, so I expected (and got) a mostly gay cast.

So I don't think criticizing lack of diversity in Broadway shows has much to do with demanding more realistic casting choices. Indeed, no one in here (including me) is going to condemn Hadestown or Hamilton for having a statistically unrealistic majority of people of color, or claim that this is a fraudulent view of reality. But many here probably are going to condemn a revival of a classic show that doesn't make a point of casting a number of roles with people of color, despite these shows generally taking place in historical periods where a person who belongs to a minority would not have been part of the societal group the musical focuses on. Similarly, they will likely not condemn casting a person of color as a member of a family otherwise otherwise comprised of white people, despite that patent unreality.

Because this discussion is never really about what is realistic or reflective of the world in which the show was created, or even the world of today. It's about an ambition for more equality on Broadway and determination to squash racism. Both of which are great ambitions, but neither of which really reflects how life is led, even today.

Personally, unless you are doing a show with a concept, like The Wiz, I think the idea of an all-Black anything is just as much a backward step as an all-white cast. I also think most shows today clearly do have diverse casting, so there really isn't an issue that needs to be corrected here. We don't need an all-Black Gypsy. But an Audra-led revival might be amazing. I can't think of any classic revival that wouldn't benefit from her presence. Am I the only one who loves her on the 110 in the Shade revival recording? I could easily have imagined her being cast as Marion opposite Hugh Jackman in The Music Man. Because what should matter most on Broadway isn't realism but talent--and hopefully the continual display of great talent from people of color will have an impact on the reality of the people who attend the shows and/or own the recordings.

Going back a few years, Leslie Uggams would have made a terrific Rose.

ChgoTheatreGuy said: "To me, it seems odd that as many revivals we have had for the musical "Gypsy", we have never had an all-black version of the show. I know that there, and are today many Black singers that could pull this off, even if one of the young up and coming girl singers would be interested.

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But in this instance, this is about a real "white" family....I mean it's not all fiction. I'm sure they doctored Gypsy Rose Lee's story a bit.