black broadway shows

do you think there CAN be a new BIG HIT broadway show that features black leads (THE LION KING AND AIDA DON'T COUNT BECAUSE AUDIENCES DONT THINK OF THE SHOW AS "BLACK" BECAUSE THE DISNEY NAME IS ATTACHED) I mean a show that is is an idea with a Black twist like THE WIZ or DREAMGIRLS.

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Updated On: 10/18/03 at 02:37 AM

Isn't there a new musical being written about urban basketball players? And there is the musical version of The Color Purple which is supposed to be coming soon.

Somebody needs to musicalize Whats Love Got To With it....and whoever was thinking about doing Why Do Fools Fall In Love needs to stop because that movie was dead in the water.

I, myself, as an aspiring lyricist would like to see more "black shows" or atleast multi-cultural shows on bway.

RENT is a perfect example of a hit show with a multi-cultral cast! it has a female Hispanic lead (Mimi) and TWO Black leads (Benny and Joanne) and not to mention that the ensamble is almost half black, and the ensamble covers lots of different roles that are played by black acters even tho they arent written as "black roles" if that makes sense? I apologize for my lack of communication skills at the moment, but im tired =)

The answer to your qUestion is YES =)

I would love to audition for "The Color Purple". I am excited that there are talks about reviving "Hallelujah Baby" That's a show from waaaay back.

Being that I am an aspiring African-American musical theatre performer, I don't solely wish that there were more "Black" shows per se that I can perform in. I too, wish for more multi-cultural musicals. And I also like when popular musicals are cast non-traditionally, especially when it is logical. Sometimes non-traditional casting can become rather ridiculous. (I had a friend in a production of Ragtime where Coalhouse was of Italian descent. Don't ask.) Also, I think with casting that sometimes roles are written for specific ethnicities, and it is obvious, and therefore it should be cast in that way. For example, "The Wiz". I think it is a noble idea to try multi-ethnic casting for this show, and with certain roles you definitely can, but I find it to be illogical to do that with a few roles in this show. Dorothy, Aunt Em & Uncle Henry, and The Lion all have diologue that reflects and comments on the Black culture, that when done by Caucasian actors and actresses sound totally out of place and out of character. (God, I hope I am not offending when I say this)

But again, I would like to see more diversity in casting. Why on earth should a Black "Nicely-Nicely" in Guys and Dolls be a problem? Or a Black "Jesus" in Jesus Christ Superstar? Or a black "Seymour"? Now these roles that I just mentioned in context of the script and libretto are not ethnic specific in description or in dialogue. I've heard people say to me and other friends of mine that wanted to play these roles that, "Yeah, you could do it....but I always pictured Seymour to be this nebbish jewish little man." Why is that? Because of Rick Moranis' interpretation? Although Lee Wilkof was Caucasian, there was nothing little about him. Anyway, I say all this to say, that with casting these days, people need to think outside the box, but also within reason and logic.

Just my 2 cents.

Cheers,
The Balladeer

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Could you explain how it is wrong and insulting? Did you read the recent New York Times article on The Chitlin Circuit? Do you understand that vast segments of audiences are never spoken to by people who resemble them or see theatrical evidence of lives that are like theirs? Or do you think the largely white male experience that is depicted is somehow "universal" while a show that features people of color is somehow "specialized?"

I think it would be cool if the producers of long running shows would do that David Merrick thing of bringing in all Black casts, or all Asian casts or all something-different-from-the-usual-run-of-the-mill casts to shake things up a little.

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A former acting teacher played Big Daddy in the first all-black production of CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF. And people kept saying 'IT MAKES NO SENSE. WHY ALL BLACK??? WHY PANDER???'

No one ever considers that a piece of text may actually be enriched by casting a specific ethnicity for a show.

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Well, we are in complete agreement there. A white Coalhouse Walker is a bit insulting...in America. There are actually other countries where donning blackface to do this role is considered inoffensive and actually a part of a long tradition. But that's another story.

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LCZ, I dunno, I sat down the other day and put it to music rather nicely, if only I could hear a big black voice singing the part...But hey the idea is just a dream of mine.

STEVOS

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That is so sad, why did so many people leave the production?

sTEVOS

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I guess in your time away, WSS, you neither learned to improve your reading comprehension, nor your writing abilties. I asked Tuttle to explain why he felt it was wrong, not for you to misquote me, please go back and see I did not write what you said I did.

Also, glad in your time away that you got yourself some rose colored glasses. Would love to live in your parallel universe in which racial equality actually exists.

P.S. In the future, your arguments will be boosted if you pay attention to what you read and, I say this in all humility, BUY A FRICKIN DICTIONARY.

Funny that both you AND Tuttle should return simultaneously. Can't help but wonder if Rob's little flag has popped up?

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Updated On: 10/20/03 at 09:28 PM

"PS: Please consult your own dictionary and look up the word racist. Guess who's picture we'll find."


The cast of AVENUE Q?

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Updated On: 10/21/03 at 04:51 AM

WSS2

This is clearly just a personal attack on NAMO as your argument makes no sense at all.

I'm still not sure what's offensive about the term 'black musical'. Do you feel it should be 'African-American musical'? Or should it just be 'musical'? That I could buy, but if someone asked me what DREAMGIRLS is about, I'd find it very difficult to not use either the words 'black' or 'African-American'.

And if ya need a show that's a white show (though not a musical) I would have to say Brighton Beach Memoirs.

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