Threaded Order Chronological Order
| re: Is it time for a CITY OF ANGELS revival? Perhaps starring.....? | |
| Last Edit: Singapore/Fling 11:20 am EDT 03/22/21 | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 11:19 am EDT 03/22/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Is it time for a CITY OF ANGELS revival? Perhaps starring.....? - Chromolume 01:41 am EDT 03/22/21 | |
|
|
|
| It can get harder when you're working with college students versus the general public. A lot of the campus response will be influenced by the ways that your department/school are responding to the larger issues around diversity, representation, and dismantling white supremacy in our culture; if the students are already inclined to not trust the administration, you'll have a harder road. First and foremost, the best thing you can do is include members of the student body in your process of choosing the musical. Bring them into the conversation as to what shows you're looking at, why they speak to you, and see how the students respond and what concerns or advice they have in approaching each selection. And then, in terms of being proactive, some things your school could do would include hiring a director of color and bringing the history of racism in Hollywood into your rehearsal process and public-facing content. If the production approaches the show by saying, "this reflects the reality of our culture and we're investigating that within the context of this show", then you should foster more goodwill. It's not about being "politically correct", it's about acknowledging the ways that these stereotypes are harmful and often distasteful to members of the audience who are seeing their culture played for laughs. So part of the strategy is to take out or complicate the mockery, in the hopes that you can still keep the joy (as in, Munoz is enjoying torturing Stone with these references, so you try to make that the focus of the song... if Munoz is in charge of the stereotypes, it changes the tone). |
|
| reply to this message |
| re: Is it time for a CITY OF ANGELS revival? Perhaps starring.....? | |
| Last Edit: Chromolume 04:54 pm EDT 03/22/21 | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 04:53 pm EDT 03/22/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Is it time for a CITY OF ANGELS revival? Perhaps starring.....? - Singapore/Fling 11:19 am EDT 03/22/21 | |
|
|
|
| First and foremost, the best thing you can do is include members of the student body in your process of choosing the musical. We do. We have a student subcommittee who vets any number of titles before making recommendations. Though this doesn't mean that faculty aren't allowed to make other suggestions as well. It's a process we implemented a few years ago and are still trying to improve. And then, in terms of being proactive, some things your school could do would include hiring a director of color and bringing the history of racism in Hollywood into your rehearsal process and public-facing content. If the production approaches the show by saying, "this reflects the reality of our culture and we're investigating that within the context of this show", then you should foster more goodwill. Yes. Last year's spring musical was originally going to be the revival version of Side Show (vetted and chosen by the students, but with some regrets after - not sure how that happened), with an African-American director, who after being sold on the project, eventually changed his mind - Spring Awakening went in its place with the student body's consent. Which then got cancelled of course, but is now going to be the online musical this spring with a different director. In general, we're not shying away from shows with racial issues, however the BIPOC students are concerned about choosing shows with "token" roles - and I totally understand that. |
|
| reply to this message |
| re: Is it time for a CITY OF ANGELS revival? Perhaps starring.....? | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 05:52 pm EDT 03/22/21 | |
| In reply to: re: Is it time for a CITY OF ANGELS revival? Perhaps starring.....? - Chromolume 04:53 pm EDT 03/22/21 | |
|
|
|
| It sounds like y'all are having the right conversations - and of course, not everyone will be 100% happy, but if you're doing the work and proceeding from a place of goodwill and listening to each other, I think generally that's enough to keep people happy and feeling valued. | |
| reply to this message | reply to first message |
Time to render: 0.010266 seconds.