white Broadway — Page 2

Actually I don't recall seeing a lot of black audience members at Raisin in the Sun either. More than usual, but less than half the audience.

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All I'm trying to say is that "giving them what they want and they'll come doesn't always work!" If you're theory is correct they should have come in droves to see On Golden Pond, Gem of the Ocean, Raisin in the sun, and Caroline or change. They Didn't. I'm not saying because your audience isn't black that there shouldn't be minority characters. But I am saying that a lot of shows when the cast is primarily 'minority' flop. What about the capeman?? Producers are going to quit producing these works as magnificent as they are if the audiences stop coming. The only reason Color Purple made it was because of Oprah (marketing wise). If oprah tells you to wear flannel you do it! I'm not saying broadway is racist I'm saying producers have one thing on their mind. Making money. And they will do anything they can to get it. I wish I could've seen Robert Guillaume playing the Phantom I hear he was magnificent. But if the audience rebels the producers do what they need to do in order to save the show.

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Updated On: 2/23/06 at 11:58 AM

But Margo that's even better. I'm sure most of us are aware of the level of Oprah's involvement. But she lent way more than her money, Her name, which is worth more. IT's plastered all over the Billboards and Marquee. I think that's the producers' doing actually.

Just to give another point of view here on a related topic, I think any discussion of this issue has to take into consideration in some way the percentage of the total population of the country which is minority, or, as seems to be the main focus of this discussion, which is black. I'm not sure that there's ever been a study done as to what percentage of the actors on Broadway at any given time are visibile minorities but it would be interesting to know how that reflected the numbers in the population of the country as a whole.

On a related note, as a theatre student, I can say that the number of visible minorities studying theatre is very small, and I would be very surprised if their numbers even came close to the numbers in the total population in the country. Now, of course, I guess we have to wonder if this is a chicken/egg which came first type of story, but I don't honestly think that it is entirely. Interesting discussion.

Lastly, keep in mind that this is an article written by a college sophomore.

Updated On: 2/23/06 at 12:09 PM

erinrebecca, conversely, at my school the amount of minorities--even just black minorities--studying theatre is very large. I think for certain years, the acting conservatory here has more black kids than white kids (I'm pretty sure the recent production of Chekhov's "The Seagull" here had a cast that was about 75% black, which was the senior class I think).

I love how colorblind casting only goes one way - towards the minorities. When actors of color want to be part of non traditional casting they start the "best person for the job!" rallying cry. But when Jonathan Pryce played the Engineer, he wasn't entitled to be included under the "best person for the job" umbrella. It's so hypocritical.

And props to anyone who mentioned that casting decisions come down to money, and they always will cause producers are in this game to make money. Lea Salonga got dropped into Eponine because she was a marketable name and because she could sing the hell out of it, not because she was Asian. And that's true color blind casting - seeing everything else the actor brings to the table and not the color of their skin.

How about the old-fashioned notion of hiring someone because they have talent?

I'm not saying that casting should be completely colorblind in every instance. Just as much as it would be ridiculous for a white woman to play Celie in the Color Purple, it would be equally ridiculous for a black woman to play Nellie in South Pacific. These plays deal directly with racism, and therefore it wouldn't make any sense for a person of any other race to star in them.
However, when you have a show where race is not a theme there is no reason why race should have any bearing on casting. The reason why, imo, one might be under the (false) impression that colorblind casting only goes one way is because there are very few plays in which a character is a minority for no specific reason. If a character is supposed to be black or asian or latino, it is usually because that is important to the plot or theme and therefore the actor should be played by someone of that race. There are many instances when the fact that a character is white is important, but there are just as many, if not more, when it is not. If a character's race is not mentioned, he is assumed to be white. That assumption is the root of this problem.

Also, I just want to say that citing three examples of shows in which minorities are playing roles originally written as white is not enough to convince me that this trend does not exist. Yes, there are instances of colorblind casting on Broadway. Yes, Broadway is doing a better job than many other media. But does that change the fact that a problem still exists? Absolutely not.

I can't believe that anyone is giving any creedence to the original writer of the piece. He writes worse than most of the posters on this board. Is there some truth to what he's saying, sure, like with anything else but he sounds like a blogger on a rant, not a "writer" with a credible point.

He reads like a moron trying to get some play and unfortunately, he now has.

Yea I completely disagree with this article though the author does make some good points. Everyone on this thread has very strong views about this topic, and the number of minorities on Broadway is scarce. Some of it is casting related because a role is created by a certain performer who may or may not be white, asian, black (Though the script does not directly indicate it) it will usually be cast based directly on the first performer (this isn't the case a majority of the time, but I've noticed a pattern in certain shows) . Sara Ramirez mentioned something like this when she was at Seth's Chatterbox--how she was "denied" roles because "you cant play the lead because that has to be a white girl and you can't play the best friend because we cast her and she's black". Though when minorities are given the oppurtunity to shine it leaves the door open for others to get a chance on the stage, something similar to what Ramona Keller was saying. "There's not a lot of us, but for those of us who made it; It opens doors for others" (something like that).

omg! there was a production with a white effie!! it was strange!