Racially Charged Casting Controversy Rocks Historic Theater

[Darrin]

Do casting directors have an obligation to match actors with their characters' ethnicities? La Jolla Playhouse, a nonprofit theater based in San Diego, is about to find out.

<click here for link> Color Blind Indeed!

[agingdiva]

Wasn't it on this site that I read about an all-white production of HairSpray in Plano, TX? That's racially blind to a real fault. But when the emphasis is on the dialogue, why worry about ethnicity? Sounds as if that's the case here.

[Nubiangeek]

I agree with the poster on facebook that said that it was cast in China they should use Asian actors. If they could not get Asian actors, then set it somewhere else.

[centerstage craig]

If it is important to the show. You don't want to confuse the audience. Another way of looking at it you wouldn't cast a 50 yr old in a kids part. If a characters ethinicitis is important to the show and is called out that way in the script then that is what the character should be. There are times to be inventive but don't ruin the meaning of the show (Example: all white version of Hairsray when show is about racial tensions). A director has to be smart about a show and make it believable or it won't work. They shouldn't miscast just because they don't have the actor, if that is the case maybe they should do the show.

[Rose]

Really? You wouldn't EVER case a 50 year old in a kids' part? Footlite Musicals did You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown ten years ago, and the actors' ranged in age from early 20s to mid-40s. I don't necessarily think audiences are so dumb that they'll get "confused." (Simmer down, now - this is said SOMEWHAT tongue-in-cheek, since I was in that production - and yes, I believe I was the oldest one.)

My opinion - know your likely audition pool. If you choose to do a play/musical that calls for cast members from a group who normally don't show up, then you have to do a good enough marketing campaign in the pre-audition period to convince them that it'd be worthwhile to try out. OR, you can play it safe an do shows that cater to the audition pool you have. Frankly, the latter option can make for pretty boring seasons, but it depends on how adventurous a theater company chooses to be. I also think the director has to be sensitive to the work he/she is choosing to present - if they can't serve the piece (as in, do justice to that work of art) by casting it in a non-traditional way, then doing the piece should probably be reconsidered.

Of course, this is really an "avocational theater" opinion - in professional theater, directors and producers make choices all the time to cast or present a show with a different twist. There have been many community theaters who have chosen a show, held auditions and when they didn't get the number or quality of auditioners they needed for that show, have chosen to replace it with something else. It all boils down to individual choice - and it's the AUDIENCE who decides whether it works or not.

My $0.02

[DoubleZ1013]

I think it's a good idea. The only think is that unless the show specifically asks for a particular character or if the plot has a premise that sets the tone (like Hairspray in regard to racial integration), then color-blind casting should be considered. Some of the shows I would like to try out for (ex: Shakespeare's works) make me feel like I shouldn't even consider it, because of the time period and/or setting. My new year's resolution however, is to throw caution to the wind and audition anyway.

[agingdiva]

Double ZZ, I think you need to hie yourself to the next auditions at Garfield Park. They're actually doing a non-Shakespeare show, but if anyone would be open to racially blind casting, it would be Joe Cook.

As for the topic in general, aren't we seeing some positive signs that folks can look past color? Of course, I happen to be responsible for advertising the auditions for A Woman Named Truth at Epilogue, (Jan. 13 & 14) and it would just be foolish to consider casting anyone but a strong African-American woman in the role of Sojourner Truth.

[DoubleZ1013]

I mentioned that it's been a cornicopia a good roles for people of color this year. I'm waiting to hear back from an audition, but if I don't get it I am definitely auditioing at Epilogue next week.

[SpotlightPlayers]

Spotlight Players is looking for one black male actor to complete the 5-member cast for Blues for an Alabama Sky by Pearl Cleage.


The possible roles include:


Sam Thomas - (stage age late 30s, early 40s). A doctor at Harlem Hospital who plays as hard as he works. He is romantically interested in Angel's friend, Delia..

Leland Cunningham - (stage age late 20s, early 30s). Originally from Alabama, he is a new resident of Harlem. He is visiting relatives in the north while he recovers from the death of his wife and their baby (they died in childbirth). He is romantically interested in Angel.


To schedule a read contact director Jim LaMonte at jimlamonte@gmail.com.


SYNOPSIS
Angel Allen, a nightclub singer, has just broken up with her white gangster boyfriend, there by losing her job. Guy Jacobs, with whom she came north to Harlem from Savannah, comes to her rescue by taking her in; he is a costume designer for nightclub performers though he aspires to design for Josephine Baker, expatriate black star of Paris’ Folies Bergere. As Guy walks her home he is joined by a mysterious young man who disappears back into the night. Guy and Angel’s neighbor, Delia, is a social worker spearheading an effort to get one of Margaret Sanger’s birth control clinics opened to serve Harlem’s population; Delia faces a battle because many Harlem residents see birth control as a kind of genocide promoted by whites to keep blacks down, as Black Nationalist Marcus Garvey had believed. Angel and Guy’s friend Dr. Sam Thomas, who Delia has a crush on, carves out time between delivering babies, closing wounds and letting “the good times roll” to help Delia prepare her case. Meanwhile Leland, the mysterious young man who came to Guy’s aid, returns to see how Angel is doing. He is newly arrived from Alabama, staying in Harlem with cousins while he tries to get over the death of his wife and their baby boy. Angel is both attracted to Leland (he would be a good provider) and put off by him (he is very country, very naive and conservative) but encourages their relationship at the same time she auditions for other nightclub owners. Guy wants her to accompany him to Paris, he’s sure Baker will invite him as soon as she receives his new designs, but Angel dismisses the notion as unrealistic. Then she discovers she’s pregnant, but by whom: Leland? A nightclub owner? Should she keep the baby? Or turn to Dr. Sam to abort it?