What do you think of this casting listing?- Page 4

[wonderfulwizard11]

Posted: 5/26/15 at 4:39pm

Talent is subjective. If you think a performance is bad, it's an opinion, not a fact.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/26/15 at 4:39pm

Thinking about race keeps racism intact?

Americans DO love to lie to themselves about race!

[Dave19]

Posted: 5/26/15 at 4:39pm

"Is it at all possible that those who cast the parts actually thought those performers were good, and they simply weren't to your particular taste?"

 

I wish that were the case, but singing immensely off-key has little to do with taste unfortunately.

 

Updated On: 5/26/15 at 04:39 PM

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 5/26/15 at 4:41pm

Okay.

I'm curious, though: If you don't enjoy a performance by a white actor, do you similarly assume they were cast because they're white? If not, how do you explain their having been cast?

[Showface]

Posted: 5/26/15 at 4:45pm

""Is it at all possible that those who cast the parts actually thought those performers were good, and they simply weren't to your particular taste?"
 
I wish that was the case, but singing immensely off-key has little to do with taste unfortunately.
 "

 I wish that "were" the case.

 

 

Anyway, to say that those actors were cast because they were black is just...wrong.

 How would you know that they weren't cast because of talent? The casting directors obviously found them very talented. Maybe the off-key notes were just the performers acting through sung notes, elevating the material to another level, and to their interpretation of the role. 

 

Updated On: 5/26/15 at 04:45 PM

[Dave19]

Posted: 5/26/15 at 4:45pm

FindingNamo, you really like a show with great performers less just because they are not of the ethnicity you like? For example all white. While they might be fantastic and perfect for their roles? Wow. That is a very clear statement.

I will never think that way. I refuse to think in race. 

 

[Dave19]

Posted: 5/26/15 at 4:47pm

"""Is it at all possible that those who cast the parts actually thought those performers were good, and they simply weren't to your particular taste?"
 
I wish that was the case, but singing immensely off-key has little to do with taste unfortunately.
 "
 I wish that "were" the case. 
 
The subjunctive. Remember that.
 
 
Anyway, to say that those actors were cast because they were black is extremely insensitive! How would you know that they weren't cast because of talent? The casting directors obviously found them very talented. Maybe the off-key notes were just the performers acting through sung notes, elevating the material to another level, and to their interpretation of the role. 
 "

Thank you for pointing that out! English is my 4th language. I sometimes think that "were" is for plural (like "we" were) and "I" was. But I understand it now. In this case the "were" is connected to "that".

And now we're at it, can aynybody tell me why "Didn't we almost have it all" is actually "Did we not almost have it all", instead of "Did not we almost have it all"?

Updated On: 5/26/15 at 04:47 PM

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/26/15 at 4:49pm

I didn't say that.  And I am not looking for specific ethnicities I "like."  I am just painfully aware of seeing yet ANOTHER (because there are PLENTY) all-white production when it doesn't have to be.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 5/26/15 at 4:51pm

YES. You get it.

[Phyllis Rogers Stone]

Posted: 5/26/15 at 4:51pm

Dave19 is a race troll, y'all.  No matter what you say, he will move the goalposts. 

[Dave19]

Posted: 5/26/15 at 4:54pm

"I didn't say that.  And I am not looking for specific ethnicities I "like."  I am just painfully aware of seeing yet ANOTHER (because there are PLENTY) all-white production when it doesn't have to be."

 And why doesn't it have to be? Maybe they were the best for their roles?

[Dave19]

Posted: 5/26/15 at 4:55pm

"Dave19 is a race troll, y'all.  No matter what you say, he will move the goalposts. "

Go wash your mouth. I don't look at race.

 

 

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 5/26/15 at 4:56pm

Hmm...

Should there be affirmative action policies put in place on Broadway, through the Actor's Equity Union, to ensure equal access to being cast in shows for underrepresented groups/social classes/ethnicities, then? 

All of this back-and-forth conjecture and hypothesizing is fine, if not redundant, but rarely leads to any kind of actionable change. I would be curious to know if there is some way in which Lizzie and Namo and Kad's desire to have a more 'representational' cast on stage can actually be enforced and/or guaranteed. 

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/26/15 at 4:58pm

I want something that looks dynamic, that holds as 'twere the mirror up to nature itself... I want a theater that doesn't look as one dimensional as the population of characters in a Woody Allen film.

I want theater audiences that grow and develop and if companies can't find highly qualified people of color for roles it's not because those performers don't exist, it's because they aren't looking hard enough.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 5/26/15 at 5:01pm

"I don't look at race."

And yet, when you see a performance you don't like given by a person of color, you are  confident that they were cast precisely (and only) because of their race.

Do you think the same think when you see a performance you don't like given by a white person?

[Kad]

Posted: 5/26/15 at 5:02pm

"Go wash your mouth. I don't look at race."

Except when the black guy in Les Mis sings off-key.

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 5/26/15 at 5:02pm

But how does one enforce, monitor, or guarantee that process to take place? Let's take away the lofty social commentary and fluffy verbiage. 

You want more representation by ethnic minorities in professional theatre. Okay. What is the entity or initiative to ensure that takes place? For higher education, it had to be affirmative action via the federal government.

Does LORT or AEA or The Broadway League or Casting Society of America step in?? That question is not rhetorical. 

[Dave19]

Posted: 5/26/15 at 5:03pm

"I want something that looks dynamic, that holds as 'twere the mirror up to nature itself... I want a theater that doesn't look as one dimensional as the population of characters in a Woody Allen film.
I want theater audiences that grow and develop and if companies can't find highly qualified people of color for roles it's not because those performers don't exist, it's because they aren't looking hard enough."

So let me get this straight; When, for example, the percentage of the population's black people is 10% and the percentage of black oscar winners turns out to be 17% it does not mirror society properly? That is a problem for you? Or does it work 1 way for you? Double agenda if you ask me.

 

 

 

[Dave19]

Posted: 5/26/15 at 5:05pm

"
Do you think the same think when you see a performance you don't like given by a white person?"

Of course! The first thing I do when someone is cast totally out of place is looking for a reason. It usually has to do with fame or race. Both things make me sad. I would be quite open to a caucasian Rachel Marron in the Bodyguard, as long as she is very good. If she's bad, it's weird that they hired her.

Updated On: 5/26/15 at 05:05 PM

[Kad]

Posted: 5/26/15 at 5:06pm

AEA and other organizations are taking a more active stance in diversity; I'm not sure it's something that can be actually enforced, though. It's technically hiring practices. They can be incentivized.

[Reginald Tresilian]

Posted: 5/26/15 at 5:10pm

"Of course! The first thing I do when someone is cast totally out of place is looking for a reason. It usually has to do with fame or race."

So if a non-famous white person is giving a mediocre performance, we can assume they were cast simply because they're white.

[Dave19]

Posted: 5/26/15 at 5:16pm

""Of course! The first thing I do when someone is cast totally out of place is looking for a reason. It usually has to do with fame or race."
So if a non-famous white person is giving a mediocre performance, we can assume they were cast simply because they're white."

It could also be that the person slept with the director, but 2 guys sleeping with the director at the same time doesn't sound plausible.

 

[Liza's Headband]

Posted: 5/26/15 at 5:29pm

AEA and other organizations are taking a more active stance in diversity; I'm not sure it's something that can be actually enforced, though. It's technically hiring practices. They can be incentivized.

Thanks for the response, Kad. I agree with that and assume AEA would have to find ways of incentivizing more diverse casting for producers and companies. A sad but real truth. 

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 5/26/15 at 5:37pm

"Go wash your mouth. I don't look at race."

So you're the one who did Norm Lewis' Sardi's portrait!

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 5/26/15 at 6:11pm

I love that personal standards and preferences become a matter of "enforcement" and "guarantees" to our resident lying sack of Ayn Rand!