Where is BLACK BROADWAY these days?- Page 4

[HeidiL87]

Posted: 12/19/06 at 10:16pm

Well, in this day and age I don't think there is a place for "Black Broadway" anymore than there is a place for "White Broadway". I like the fact that most shows have actors from both races. One of the most popular shows on Broadway right now is Hairspray. Its about integration not segregation. To me one of the most moving songs in the show is "I Know Where I've Been". Its about the black experience and Civil Rights. I think Dr. King's dream was to have all races living TOGETHER in harmony even on Broadway.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 12/19/06 at 11:44pm

There are no black actors in BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and haven't been in a while.
What's up with that?
This is a show that should be completely colorblind because it appeals to younger audiences and they should see the world as multi racial and cultural.

I always found it inresting that a lot of the earlier "black" musicals were written by white authors, starting with PORGY AND BESS.
Comden and Green wrote HALLELUJAH BABY.
I thought the all black HELLO DOLLY was very interesting (Maybe because Pearl Bailey caught the spirit of the show.)
And Even more interesting was the multi racial PAJAMA GAME.
I agree that it was a time of the race rebellion and a lot of this was forced, but at least they were trying.

Posted: 12/20/06 at 12:56am

Beauty & the Beast does employee Asian & Hispanic actors right now. According to Equity News, 2.6% of membership is Asian, which is 64.402 people out of the 2477 production contract total. Do that many Asian people have production contract jobs? If anyone has the right to complain, it might be them. American Indian actors make up .1% of membership which comes to 2.477 people. I think that African Americans have it just fine. It's other people that may be under-represented. For the sake of argument, where is the American Indian show? Has there been one? At least there have been African American shows. (Equity News says 'American Indian'. I thought the proper term was Native American, unless they mean Middle Eastern, for which on their chart there is no such catagory. If they mean Middle Eastern then there have been Middle Eastern shows.) Hispanic actors are 2.7% of membership which comes to 66.879 people. Are they well represented?

[kk holiday]

Posted: 12/20/06 at 3:24am

When I was young, I was first introduced to the theater world through a production of The Tap Dance Kid. I loved that show and still remember parts vividly some 20+ years later.

Black theater is/was a sign of the times.

Hippie/ free love movement brought shows like Hair, J.C.S., Company, Pippin, Godspell (Please correct me as this is all just coming from the top of my head.) Then it became black is beautiful period with The Tap Dance Kid, The Wiz, Ain't Misbehavin'...now we have the child at heart where Disney pumps out every classic they have to the stage (What will they do with The Fox & the Hound??) and the big epic musicals..Cats, Starlight Express, Phantom, Wicked..fill the stage with Iron beams and automated lighting and sets(and actresses) that fly into the rafters or float above the audience...or where the baby boomer has their nostalgic moment during every jukebox musical that comes out (Lemon, Jersey Boys, All Shook Up..) Seen a good movie lately? Maybe they'll make a musical out of it (The Wedding Singer, Sunset Blvd., High Fidelity, Steel Mag.)...thats life!

I am all for a good reemergence of black theater as long as theres an audience for it and the production is put together well.

And lastly, AndyF...there is no need to get to that point of degradation for the sole purpose of a laugh. And I say that, not as a black man..but as a HUMAN.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 12/20/06 at 4:01am

Who cares? I don't think it's needed. It's just another form of segration. Why do that? I'm all for color-blind casting when it makes sense, but I don't see why we need eclusive racial shows for no reason. I think Color Purple, Pacific Overtures are great shows, but there's no need to have an "all black" cast of a show.

[avab802]

Posted: 12/20/06 at 12:10pm

Does a show need to have an all-black cast to be considered a black show? Hairspray has several main characters who are black and must always be played by black actors. So did Ragtime. Do these roles not count towards "black Broadway" just because there are also white characters/actors in the same show?

[uncageg]

Posted: 12/20/06 at 12:22pm

andyf...as an African American, I found your post to be a bit offensive. If you were trying to be funny, it did not come across that way.

And the Tiger Woods/James Earl Jones comment was in very poor taste.

I think that if a show calls for an all black cast than the cast should be all black. Plain and simple. It is not so much of it being a need for an all black show, just if an all black cast is needed.

As an African American, I can tell you that if producers want the African American Community to attend the theatre more than they do, then they are going to have to have all black shows. The fact is that most African Americans do not attend the theatre on a regular basis. For 8 years I have Chaired an African American organization here in Denver at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts. It has been very hard to get the community out to anything other than a black oriented show. We have been doing all (Buth the last, Radio Golf) of August Wilson's plays in order and those shows would be the ones we would feature at our annual gala events. And they were sold out. The Lion King has gotten more African Americans out, but not many more. Unfortunately, a lot or most people in the African American Community just do not connect with theatre. I have been told over and over again by black friends that it is just to "white" for them. I always respond that whether you are Black, White, Grey, Yellow, Purple or Orange, a show tells a story that any person of any color can enjoy and understand. But unfortunately, that's just the way it is! Just my 2 cents.

Updated On: 12/20/06 at 12:22 PM

[uncageg]

Posted: 12/20/06 at 12:58pm

I think he was trying to say that producers don't really think in those terms. But it just didn't come across that way upon the first reading. The offensive portion to me was the "negrotizing" comment. That seemed to be coming directly from him.

[Copeman63]

Posted: 12/20/06 at 12:59pm

Uncaged- As a fellow Coloradian, I can totally understand your frustration in finding an audience!
Whatever happened to the original poster? I find it hysterical that he kept posting such badly structered arguments and when it became appearent that he was wrong, there was nothing... Gotta love message boards...

[LuPonatic]

Posted: 12/20/06 at 1:54pm

I think selecting all black shows because they are all black is a step in the wrong direction. If something calls for an all black cast, that's fantastic, but that shouldn't be why it is selected...it should be because it is a good show. How would people feel about a show being labeled "all white cast?" I doubt that would go over too well. There may be some racism on the side of producers, I'm not saying there isn't. but maybe that comment about African Americans just not connecting with theatre is influencing these decisions. It's a vicious cycle...African Americans don't come to the theatre, so why choose a show geared toward their culture...even though such a show would bring them in. What do we do?

If I were an honest producer, I would research the target audience for a prospective show, and see how many of that demographic attend the theatre...If my target audience is 18-38 African American males, and they rarely attend the theatre, I'm going to think twice about investing. Producing is about money, not equality.

I say get the people in the theatre, and more shows will pop up for them.

[uncageg]

Posted: 12/20/06 at 2:03pm

Copeman.....we also have not had the best seasons for the past few years (Like 4!) at DCA. DCTC always has something interesting though.

I would also like to touch on some comments made about Oprah and Tyler Perry.

I don't see Oprah touting any other shows than The Color Purple! Being the most powerful woman on TV, it frustrates me that she hardly ever features theatre on her show.

As far a Tyler Perry is concerned. Our organization has discussed this a lot. Most African Americans that are avid theatregoers do not attend his shows. They have low production values. I think they call them box shows. They come into town for a few nights and they are gone. You can probably put the entire set and lights in one truck. I have seen his shows on DVD but would not pay to see them in the theatre. It bothers me and others that he puts on low quality shows and then you see him sitting in his huge mansion driving his expensive car. When interviewed he always says that he wants to give his audiences the very best. Yes his shows are entertaining, but it has been dabated if it is good theatre. And they always sell out to mostly middle to lower class African Americans.

[Kringas]

Posted: 12/20/06 at 2:23pm

It also gave us the all-black HELLO DOLLY, which some people, myself included, found a little distasteful because it was *imposing* a black sensibility on a work. If you think that's no big deal, imagine an August Wilson piece with an all-white cast and tell me it would have any where near the same feeling.

You really don't see the difference or are just being deliberately obtuse?

[Calvin]

Posted: 12/20/06 at 2:31pm

A read from a few years ago, BTW. (Sorry if this is linked already, but I'm not wading through this many pages!)
What's the antonym to redux?

[uncageg]

Posted: 12/20/06 at 2:35pm

Just a note....The Denver Center Theatre Company did an all Black version of "A Streetcar Named Desire" two seasons ago which was quite interesting. Some things took on a new meaning and it was quite powerful. It was also very well attended. But again, it still did not draw many more African Americans out to the theatre. But it did at least draw a few more. And again, it was the show we featured at our Gala Dinner. The actors have said to us year after year that they look forward to our Gala nights because that night always has the most Black audience members and they rely on the response from them during the show.

[lildogs]

Posted: 12/20/06 at 4:29pm

I think I get what the original poster means....but I think he/she is frustrated by the lack of exciting original work for black actors in THEATRE. I would like to point out that almost every audition I see mentions either color-blind casting or encourages minorities to audition. I did a kids tour show and it was written in the script that at least one of the four actors be a minority.

IMO, alot of black audiences see theatre as a stuffy, boring elitist entertainment, preferring tv, music and movies. If you look at those industries, the number of black, asian and latin artists explodes! The number one movie right now is PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS and the other hot film is DREAMGIRLS.

SURVIVOR and LOST are both huge hits with VERY mixed casts....

And at any time, at least half of the top ten songs are by black or latin artists.

And back to the casting issue: If producers are casting an ensemble of 5 guys and one is black, one is latin and the other three are white, doesn't that work out to be pretty fair? I think alot of casting directors RESERVE slots for minority actors, actually making it more difficult for the white actor to be cast--of course there are so many other "white" roles available, it kinda balances out.

In a perfect world, the best actor would get the job, regardless of color--but we don't live in that kinda world, Thelma.

[javero]

Posted: 12/20/06 at 4:59pm

IMO uncaged is onto something. Perhaps it can be attributed to my age, but I much prefer seeing a lily-white production of a well-written, performed and directed work on B-Way to anything from Tyler Perry and to a lesser extent, gasp...David E. Talbert. I'm going to regret this post someday because I'm trying to complete a novel which I hope to one day adapt to stage and I'm unequivocally "black".

Much of this springs from my beef with the rapper & hip-hoppers than have come on stream over the past 25 years or so and my wish to never see any of their fare on a stage anywhere. My fear is that if Broadway producers start pandering to a demographic group that simply isn't feelin' stage plays/musicals which aren't replete of minstrelsy the Great White Way will head down the same slippery slope that has the US recording industry in free-fall right now. That is, where there is simply no accounting for taste.

I'm not some hoighty-toighty prude out of touch with the times either. It's just that really good R&B with poignant lyrics & well constructed music has been displaced by hoodrats & hoochie mamas spouting drivel over beats thrown together by nob twiddlers who change their names every 3 months and put themselves out a indie record producers. R&B acts that took the time to hone their craft in recent years past can't even get a record deal these days with the premium labels.

Live theatre is still safe haven for thinking persons and those that appreciate the avant-garde both of which transcend banality. I'm had enough of the backyard BBQ/hair salon/your big mammy-themed movies that have surfaced of late featuring some rapper-turned-actor & predominately black cast. Heck yeah, I'd be pleased by more black broadway fare but not due to producers lowering the bar in terms of production values and casting/directing just to put more brown bottoms in seats.

Updated On: 12/20/06 at 04:59 PM

[Fenchurch]

Posted: 12/20/06 at 5:03pm

I have to say, I think you're selling Hip Hop and R&B short. While what you describe certainly happens, I don't think all of your assertions are necessarily true.

[javero]

Posted: 12/20/06 at 5:19pm

French...I don't claim to hold a monopoly on truth or reason but will offer that many AfAm baby boomers find the chart-topping rap & hip-hop out there now absolutely repugnant. It is SOULLESS, misogynistic in terms of lyrics, ill-composed in terms of sonority and trite.

A few of you are going to jump all over me for this next remark, but the salvation of R&B as an art form rests clearly in the hands of sheep of another fold now like Robin Thicke & gasp...Justin Timerlake. I refuse to add Gwen Stefani to the list for a number of reasons including my opinion that 'Holla Back Girl' is the worst song every recorded on this planet. Perhaps we need another British invasion because the home team hasn't a clue any longer.

I'll spare you a treatise on the history of R&B recording. The R&B acts of only a few years back were "polished" and groomed by the label's A&R execs before they were turned loose on the public. I to this day still shake my head over a label allowing Keyshia Cole's debut album to be released with her butchering the English language on one track in which she ad libbed over and over "I shoulda just did it".

The hip-hop & rap music producers have sampled the heck out of quality R&B recordings but the end product is NOT an improvement in the estimation of many of us who span both the civil rights & hip-hip eras. The twain shall never meet I'm afraid.

Updated On: 12/20/06 at 05:19 PM

[uncageg]

Posted: 12/20/06 at 5:27pm

Even though we are talking theatre here, I will say that I agree that R&B music these days is nowhere near as good as it was. With the exception of a few artists.

And yes, I am tired of rappers and other artists sampleing some of the good old R&B hits. And Jay-Z using "It's A Hard Knocked Life" makes me cringe every time I hear it.

[uncageg]

Posted: 12/20/06 at 5:30pm

Hey...am I am glad this tread has turned into an intelligent conversation about Blacks in theatre. A conversation that I think should be had and had honestly as a lot of you have been about the subject.

[javero]

Posted: 12/20/06 at 5:34pm

uncaged--there's a connection here though. If someone dare mount the stage version of Martin Lawrence's cinematic triumph 'Big Momma's House' at the Palace Theatre, you can bet your bottom dayum dollar the music will be composed by Buster Bling and one of the Pussy Cat Gals or Fergilicious or Gwen Stefani will be cast to deliver the showstopper 'My Humps Got Humped on Broadway' LOL. That said, I never make the mistake of trying to dictate the taste of others, you feel me.

Updated On: 12/20/06 at 05:34 PM

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 12/20/06 at 5:35pm

>> You really don't see the difference or are just being deliberately obtuse?

If it makes you feel all smug to call me obtuse, go for it, bud, but the simple fact remains: take an August Wilson play, play it "white", and then tell me it's the same theatrical experience.

The all-black DOLLY? Little more than a minstrel show, something that in the 19th century would have resulted in comments like "Look at those darkies dance!" When Merrick presented it, he knew exactly what audience would come see it, and it damn sure wasnt a black one.

The truth is a painful taskmistress. Deal with it.

[Fenchurch]

Posted: 12/20/06 at 5:57pm

While I totallly agree that a great deal of popular music is produced beyond any real creative input, there are hip hop groups out there that I'd love to see do something something for the stage...

A Fugees musical? I'd be first in line.

[uncageg]

Posted: 12/20/06 at 6:06pm

Javero....Actually if that ever happened, I could see them sofening the show up just a bit and turning to a Babyface type composer for the music.

Fenchurch.....Exactly. And when I saw "The Color Purple" the audience was mostly white. Although I know it is drawing a large black audience. Most of the predominently black shows that have been on Broadway don't just attract black audiences. They have to attract more than that to be successful. (Did I say that right?!!)

[javero]

Posted: 12/20/06 at 6:06pm

A Fugees musical, hum.

I luvs me some jukebox musicals so I could work with that.

uncaged--if I understand you correctly, you're suggesting that black-themed b-way shows can't depend on exclusively black audiences for their livelihood a position with which i concur.

Updated On: 12/20/06 at 06:06 PM