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re: THE WIZ -- not MUSIC MAN -- might be NBC's next live musical

Posted by:	Brandnuva 04:34 pm EST 01/17/15
In reply to:	re: THE WIZ -- not MUSIC MAN -- might be NBC's next live musical - KingSpeed 05:38 pm EST 01/16/15

Often with "Black/African American Theater" the themes are explicitly about race or, in this case, a racialization of themes that are present in source material. I grew up on The Wiz. Knew all the songs and material. Then, as a college student, immersed in courses on race and culture in society, went to see a local production, and had an extremely emotional response to the realization that the ideas of (1)being in a foreign land where nothing is familiar (2)being convinced that you lack intelligence (3)being convinced that you lack emotional capability to feel (4)being convinced that you are a beast who lacks courage, etc all take on very different tones when presented through the lens of the Black experience in America. That being said, I don't think this is a show that REQUIRES an all black cast. I think it requires thoughtful inclusion. I think Justin Timberlake as the Scarecrow is a wonderful idea. I don't think you can say color-conscious casting is the same in every instance. Having a lost boy of color in Peter Pan is not the same as having a white actor play a slave in the pre-Civil War South. And when the context of a play is one that is ABOUT race (which, often is the case with Black/African-American Theater) you have to consider that context.

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