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| So Many Thoughts! Re: Woke Students Shut Down A High School Production Of 'Hunchback' | |
| Posted by: broadwayjoey 06:17 pm EST 02/06/18 | |
| In reply to: Woke Students Shut Down A High School Production Of 'Hunchback' - mattyp4 04:37 pm EST 02/06/18 | |
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| So many thoughts on this... • If the students are advocating for 'color-conscious casting' as mentioned in the linked article, then do they realize that this would require casting an actress of Romani descent? I don't believe that any of those students protesting were Romani. • So then why should any them be any more 'fit' for the part in a 'color-conscious casting' world than a Caucasian actress? Unless they're saying that race/ethnicity boils down to just the shade of a person's skin. Which (besides not being remotely true) I believe is a viewpoint that many activists representing various people of color have specifically spoken out against. • Furthermore, is the 'enlightened' (I use that word in place of the original poster's "woke") position to be pro 'color-blind casting' or pro 'color-conscious casting'? In "Great Comet" among other productions, we've seen countless 'enlightened' protests saying that casting should be 'color-blind' and that a black actor should absolutely be able to play a Caucasian Russian character. Now we have 'enlightened' protesters saying that a white actress should absolutely not be able to play a Romani French character. So which is it? • Or is it just that actors of color should just be given preference for all roles until they are represented in the theater in proportion to their percentage of the greater American populace? (An Affirmative Action type position.) All in all, this student protest comes across to me as trying way too hard to be "woke" and progressive, without much thought being put into their position. Furthermore, with it being led by an actress who wanted to play the lead and wound up in the ensemble, one has to wonder how much of this is motivated by a sense of social justice rather than a sense of sour grapes. |
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| re: So Many Thoughts! Re: Woke Students Shut Down A High School Production Of 'Hunchback' | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 01:01 am EST 02/07/18 | |
| In reply to: So Many Thoughts! Re: Woke Students Shut Down A High School Production Of 'Hunchback' - broadwayjoey 06:17 pm EST 02/06/18 | |
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| "If the students are advocating for 'color-conscious casting' as mentioned in the linked article, then do they realize that this would require casting an actress of Romani descent?" Arguably, that would be ethnic-conscious (or words to that effect). In this context, color-conscious just means that Esmerelda is brown, and she should be played by a brown actress. You raise many good points, but ultimately, the issue can be just as simple as they should probably cast a brown actress or pick another show. |
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| re: So Many Thoughts! Re: Woke Students Shut Down A High School Production Of 'Hunchback' | |
| Posted by: joegugs 07:15 pm EST 02/06/18 | |
| In reply to: So Many Thoughts! Re: Woke Students Shut Down A High School Production Of 'Hunchback' - broadwayjoey 06:17 pm EST 02/06/18 | |
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| I agree with all of the above. If they were doing say Dreamgirls with a Caucasian Effie they may have a point. There seems to have been a misconception in the article that the role is a person of color which I do not believe is the case with this character. | |
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| re: So Many Thoughts! Re: Woke Students Shut Down A High School Production Of 'Hunchback' | |
| Posted by: broadwayjoey 07:43 pm EST 02/06/18 | |
| In reply to: re: So Many Thoughts! Re: Woke Students Shut Down A High School Production Of 'Hunchback' - joegugs 07:15 pm EST 02/06/18 | |
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| If a black actor can play Pierre, why can't a white actress play Effie? Why should 'color-blind casting' only work in one direction? | |
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| re: So Many Thoughts! Re: Woke Students Shut Down A High School Production Of 'Hunchback' | |
| Posted by: Michael_212 09:34 am EST 02/08/18 | |
| In reply to: re: So Many Thoughts! Re: Woke Students Shut Down A High School Production Of 'Hunchback' - broadwayjoey 07:43 pm EST 02/06/18 | |
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| If a black actor can play Pierre, why can't a white actress play Effie? The Great Comet was written to be a show with a diverse cast. Though not plainly stated, the feel of the show is that we're watching a group of contemporary performers playing these characters in Russia. |
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| re: So Many Thoughts! Re: Woke Students Shut Down A High School Production Of 'Hunchback' | |
| Posted by: BruceinIthaca 08:07 pm EST 02/06/18 | |
| In reply to: re: So Many Thoughts! Re: Woke Students Shut Down A High School Production Of 'Hunchback' - broadwayjoey 07:43 pm EST 02/06/18 | |
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| Because of history. Tolstoy's novel is now far enough in the past and so enshrined in the "eternity" of the canon that there is room for casting beyond the realistic. We aren't there yet with "Dreamgirls" and with race in the United States. We can't have a mixed race or white "Raisin in the Sun" yet (except, perhaps, in acting or other performance classes) because we are still too close to the segregation of the late 50s in Chicago (which still lingers in that city, alas) and to ask us to imagine the white actors in those roles, particularly with speech patterns of black vernacular English that Hansberry used, would feel like a minstrel show. I suppose if one wanted to do an avant-garde deconstruction of Hansberry's play, such casting could have a kind of Brechtian effect, but I need to be persuaded what would be gained from that. That's where I think Bruce Norris'"Clybourne Park" was such a useful play (whatever some think of him as a playwright--I happen to admire his work)--it engaged the play from a white person's perspective and made that conscious and apparent, without coopting the reality of Hansberry's own drama. So, in fifty years, maybe a white Effie would work. Not yet. |
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| re: So Many Thoughts! Re: Woke Students Shut Down A High School Production Of 'Hunchback' | |
| Posted by: WWriter 08:06 pm EST 02/06/18 | |
| In reply to: re: So Many Thoughts! Re: Woke Students Shut Down A High School Production Of 'Hunchback' - broadwayjoey 07:43 pm EST 02/06/18 | |
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| For me, it's a two-part answer. 1. In our world, being black affects one's life ENORMOUSLY, so in pretty much any show about African-Americans, the characters' being black is an important part of the show. In contrast, Pierre's race is not an issue, so any race will do. (I'm hearing Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in my head now.) 2. People of color have way fewer roles to play, so giving one to a white person is just kinda mean. IMHO |
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| re: So Many Thoughts! Re: Woke Students Shut Down A High School Production Of 'Hunchback' | |
| Posted by: BruceinIthaca 07:18 pm EST 02/06/18 | |
| In reply to: re: So Many Thoughts! Re: Woke Students Shut Down A High School Production Of 'Hunchback' - joegugs 07:15 pm EST 02/06/18 | |
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| Not to swerve away from the thoughtful and serious discussion, but have you ever seen the movie "Camp"? There's a performance of it that makes your point in hilarious, if nonetheless endearing ways. The "color" issue with Romani/Romany people is complicated, as my tediously long post below suggests. |
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| re: So Many Thoughts! Re: Woke Students Shut Down A High School Production Of 'Hunchback' | |
| Posted by: Zelgo 12:28 pm EST 02/07/18 | |
| In reply to: re: So Many Thoughts! Re: Woke Students Shut Down A High School Production Of 'Hunchback' - BruceinIthaca 07:18 pm EST 02/06/18 | |
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| Apparently the person who instigated the shutting down of the production was an African American girl who was passed over for the role of Esmeralda. Of course, she has about the same ethnic claim on the role as a white actress--which is actually none. I see no evidence that she was more talented than the white actress chosen. In this case, having a white actress is actually colorblind casting. If the director chose an all white cast or just kept blacks to minor roles (none of which I can tell from the article) I understand the point of the protester. Otherwise, I'm not seeing much of a point here. |
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| re: So Many Thoughts! Re: Woke Students Shut Down A High School Production Of 'Hunchback' | |
| Posted by: BruceinIthaca 10:34 am EST 02/11/18 | |
| In reply to: re: So Many Thoughts! Re: Woke Students Shut Down A High School Production Of 'Hunchback' - Zelgo 12:28 pm EST 02/07/18 | |
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| No, you have it wrong. The student passed over is of Indian descent. The African American student quoted was cast in the ensemble and not up for Esmeralda--she simply believes an injustice tied to race, representation, and opportunities has occurred. Whether you agree with her or not (and I have complicated feelings), don't turn this into a "black and white" issue. | |
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| re: So Many Thoughts! Re: Woke Students Shut Down A High School Production Of 'Hunchback' | |
| Posted by: joegugs 07:20 pm EST 02/06/18 | |
| In reply to: re: So Many Thoughts! Re: Woke Students Shut Down A High School Production Of 'Hunchback' - BruceinIthaca 07:18 pm EST 02/06/18 | |
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| Bruce I agree with your well written post below and yes that is exactly what I was thinking of when I chose Effie and Dreamgirls! | |
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| re: So Many Thoughts! Re: Woke Students Shut Down A High School Production Of 'Hunchback' | |
| Posted by: summertheater 08:33 am EST 02/07/18 | |
| In reply to: re: So Many Thoughts! Re: Woke Students Shut Down A High School Production Of 'Hunchback' - joegugs 07:20 pm EST 02/06/18 | |
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| It's really a shame there are people out there who think that only a certain race is allowed to play a part in a theater role. That's the true definition of racism. Looks like the white student who was discriminated against has a very good case for a federal civil rights lawsuit. |
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