Controversial high school prod. of "Big River" in Glenelg, Maryland
Controversial high school prod. of "Big River" in Glenelg, Maryland
#0Controversial high school prod. of "Big River" in Glenelg, Maryland
Posted: 5/22/05 at 3:40am
A black Huck Finn and a white Jim might be OK for a high school production of Mark Twain's classic tale -- but those performances had to be edited out of a C-Span talent show after the copyright holder objected to the cross-casting.
Jay Frisby, a black student who played Huck, and Nick Lehan, a white student who played Jim, taped their performance of the song "Muddy Water" for "Close Up," a weekly show that highlights high school excellence.
Hmmmm.
The rest (Associated Press)
"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt
#1re: Controversial high school prod. of 'Big River' in Glenelg, Maryland
Posted: 5/22/05 at 3:57am
i agree lizzie... hmmm....
my thoughts are this: i can understand why the copyright holder refused. they do NOT have to give permission to everyone who wants to perform. This right of refusal is often used to not over-expose the material. I think that showing a clip of a black huck and white jim might also be misleading and cause a misrepresentation of the show - which could be just as damaging as overexposure.
Updated On: 5/22/05 at 03:57 AM
#2re: Controversial high school prod. of 'Big River' in Glenelg, Maryland
Posted: 5/22/05 at 4:50am
Presumably, "Close Up" was doing their show on this high school precisely because of their controversial perspective of the play. So the fact that R&H Theatricals didn't want this aired is probably because they didn't want the controversy attached to their play. I think R&H Theatricals' real problem was that by the school intentionally reversing the races of the actors portraying the characters, it caused debate by looking at racial issues in a new light. R&H Theatricals doesn't want to have to give a definitive answer on colorblind casting to the whole nation, so they blocked it in an attempt to cut down on the audience.
The one student's father's comment really got to me. Is the real controversy that a black student played a white boy, or that a white student played a black slave? If two white students had portrayed the characters of Huck Finn and Jim, they probably wouldn't have been prevented from airing the segment. Same thing if it were two black students. Usually these are unintentional conditions based on the actors available in the school, but to intentionally cast the opposite race in actor/character portrayals is what made this controversial.
Colorblind casting is an issue that everyone dances around but rarely answers directly, because they don't want to sound racist by saying no. Even in shows that are comprised of black characters, to say that only black actors can play those roles is racist. So, like R&H Theatricals, they claim that this play is "special". You can have an all-white Miss Saigon, Annie Oakley can be black, but a white actor starring in Raisin in the Sun is inconceivable. Colorblind casting has to go both ways, or else the whole argument behind it is hypocritical.
I personally think this type of casting would bring an interesting perspective to the play, because it does make you think about your own assumptions about race in our society.
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Updated On: 3/28/08 at 04:50 AM
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Jon
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/20/04
#3re: Controversial high school prod. of 'Big River' in Glenelg, Maryland
Posted: 5/22/05 at 7:24am
Ummm... let's start with the first problem...
DID THEY HAVE PERMISSION TO VIDEOTAPE IN THE FIRST PLACE?
A standard contract allows a 30-second clip to be taped for promotional purposes only. Anything longer needs express written permission of the license holder - regardles of contrroversial casting, etc.
timote316
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/04
#4re: Controversial high school prod. of 'Big River' in Glenelg, Maryland
Posted: 5/22/05 at 10:33amR&H has a special thing that you can apply for and be able to tape. I don't know if Big River is available in that program, though.
#5re: Controversial high school prod. of 'Big River' in Glenelg, Maryland
Posted: 5/23/05 at 12:08am
"DID THEY HAVE PERMISSION TO VIDEOTAPE IN THE FIRST PLACE?"
There was no reference in the article the problem being with the permission to videotape the segment. The spokesperson from R&H Theatricals said that they refused to allow the segment to air specifically because of the casting.
Like a firework unexploded
Wanting life but never knowing how
Wanting life but never knowing how
Jon
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/20/04
#6re: Controversial high school prod. of 'Big River' in Glenelg, Maryland
Posted: 5/23/05 at 7:10am
The R&H video licensing program applies only to shows actually written by Rodgers & Hammerstein - to which they own all the rights. Their contract with William Hauptman (BIG RIVER book)and the estate of Roger Miller (music & lyrics)would not include videotape rights.
if one thinks R&H is out of line, they should go directly to Hauptman and the Miller estate and see what they think. Unfortuneately, Mark Twain is dead, so there's no way of knowing how he would feel!
NightLaughs
Leading Actor Joined: 6/26/04
#7re: Controversial high school prod. of 'Big River' in Glenelg, Maryland
Posted: 5/23/05 at 7:41am
I was at the Cappies Awards Galla last night, where they performed and spoke of the controversy. (front and center actually 
) I got a first-hand look I suppose.
R and H did not only object to their show being video taped, they wrote a letter to Glenelg Country school, they objected to the color blind casting, and their letter refered to it as something along the lines of "cleary breaching the intended purpose" of the show, or some other craziness. The letter was not kind or subtle about it's intentions.
This was the issue at hand. Last night Jay and Chris performed an AMAZING parady of the song, calling R and H on their hipocracy and pointing out that we are in 2005. As a nation we'd like to think we are beyond stereo-types. Apparently some are not. The number was a huge shout-out to our generation, we pride ourselves on being open-minded. It was an amazing moment for all who witnessed, and the two got an enormous standing ovation. Not to be a drama queen, (sorry) but I was nearly moved to tears... I'm proud to say I was there, I think it was important to all. A man spoke last night (I don't have a program with his name and my memory is failing me) of the politics and what he is doing to stop this and how he will continue to fight RandH's estate until the decision is changed.
Anyhow, the two are continuing to fight this, and are performing "Muddy Waters" at the Kennedy Center in a few months, and will continue to ask R and H for permission to perform it with their casting choices.
I'll be back with more later.
If you limit your choices to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is a compromise."- Robert Fritz
Updated On: 5/23/05 at 07:41 AM
mikewood
Broadway Star Joined: 4/7/05
#8re: Controversial high school prod. of 'Big River' in Glenelg, Maryland
Posted: 5/23/05 at 10:41am
I think a talent show type set up that anything should be fair game. Give the kids a break. Given the context of the story, I don't think a full blown production should have a black Huck and a white Jim. (This kind of reminds me of the white Amneris thread of a few weeks back.)
Kind of makes me wonder if when I sing (badly) my girlfriend's kid to bed with "Wheels of a Dream" if the copyright holder is going to knock on my door because I'm white. :) Either that or because I'm a lousy singer.
BLAH BLAH BLAH
actor465
Chorus Member Joined: 12/28/04
#9re: Controversial high school prod. of 'Big River' in Glenelg, Maryland
Posted: 5/23/05 at 11:31am
NightLaughs, I was at the gala last night as well, and I have to agree, their performance of "Ebony/Ivory" to the tune of "Agony" from Into the Woods was amazing.
As for the controversy, it can for sure be argued both ways. I also think none of this would have come up if they had never filmed for C-SPAN. But I don't think that R&H had any right to step in (especially now that the production has been over for more than two months) to criticize the director for her casting choices. It would not have been the same the other way around, with Nick as Huck and Jay as Jim. I also think people should take into consideration that Glenelg Country School is a small private school with limited choices for casting.
The two actors won awards for Featured Actor and Lead Actor in a Musical, the results of voting from more than a month ago before all of this came up. They also won for Best Song ("Muddy Water"), the song they were forbidden to perform.
I saw the production, which received unanimous rave reviews from the Cappie critics, and at first the nontraditional casting seemed strange, but after only a few minutes it all seemed natural. We all knew that Huck was free and Jim was a slave. We did not have to look at their races to remember that.
It's not as if (in a potentially bad example) there were a group of all black Nubians with a white Aida. Now that would not make sense. In Big River, Jim is not shown with a large group of other slaves. But I don't know.
I think that this will take a very long time to be resolved. I would expect to see these kids on Oprah.
NightLaughs
Leading Actor Joined: 6/26/04
#10re: Controversial high school prod. of 'Big River' in Glenelg, Maryland
Posted: 5/23/05 at 5:46pm
"I think that this will take a very long time to be resolved. I would expect to see these kids on Oprah."
I agree.
If you limit your choices to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is a compromise."- Robert Fritz
#11re: Controversial high school prod. of 'Big River' in Glenelg, Maryland
Posted: 5/23/05 at 6:05pm
Jay and Nick are both friends of mine...they are both INCREDIBLY talented, and deserved their respective characters. Both think that the entire situation is insulting, and appauling
I completely agree.
awkward.
"I think it was the Korean tour or something. They were all frickin' asian!" -Zoran912
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#12re: Controversial high school prod. of 'Big River' in Glenelg, Maryland
Posted: 5/23/05 at 6:12pm
"This was the issue at hand. Last night Jay and Chris performed an AMAZING parady of the song, calling R and H on their hipocracy and pointing out that we are in 2005. As a nation we'd like to think we are beyond stereo-types."
As a nation "we like to think we are beyond stereotypes?" We DO? What nation do you live in? I think this sort of hip, post-racism pose is so incredibly disingenous. This isn't color-blind casting, this is color-conscious casting done in order to make what probably seemed like a really profound point. At least to the high school imagination.
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Updated On: 5/23/05 at 06:12 PM
#13re: Controversial high school prod. of 'Big River' in Glenelg, Maryland
Posted: 5/23/05 at 6:15pmI don't see why the copyright wants to do that..just simply look at it as colorblind casting..but I guess colorblind isn't always a good thing.
#14re: Controversial high school prod. of 'Big River' in Glenelg, Maryland
Posted: 5/23/05 at 6:22pm
Nick and Jay were better for the parts they got. And even IF the school is private, and there are less choices for casting, what do you do? Just get a black kid to play the slave? This is repulsive. I am UTTERLY disgusted.
awkward.
"I think it was the Korean tour or something. They were all frickin' asian!" -Zoran912
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#15re: Controversial high school prod. of 'Big River' in Glenelg, Maryland
Posted: 5/23/05 at 6:29pm
Oh come on. It is one thing to cast a white kid as a SLAVE, in the US, in a musical based on characters created by MARK TWAIN, but for god's sake, don't PRETEND it isn't fraught with problems.
And really, do NOT try to convince me that it just so happened to work out that the casting landed this way, that it was color blind (an impossibility if whoever cast the show had their EYES OPEN). Do not pretend that it wasn't conscious, that whoever did it didn't think this would add some sort of po-mo comment on the characters.
Please don't be that willfully naive. Sure, they can play the parts. But the copyright holders, who OWN the work, do have the right to say it can't be taped and broadcast. As WHITE SLAVE OWNERS once had the right to OWN BLACK PEOPLE and to tell them what they could or couldn't do. Welcome to The Ownership Society.
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NightLaughs
Leading Actor Joined: 6/26/04
#16re: Controversial high school prod. of 'Big River' in Glenelg, Maryland
Posted: 5/23/05 at 6:31pm
Wow, biting skepticism and great big grown up oppinions. Looks like I'm put in my place now....
It is repulsive, Jwei123, I agree.
If you limit your choices to what seems possible or reasonable, you disconnect yourself from what you truly want, and all that is left is a compromise."- Robert Fritz
FindingNamo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/22/03
#17re: Controversial high school prod. of 'Big River' in Glenelg, Maryland
Posted: 5/23/05 at 6:38pm
"Colorblind casting is an issue that everyone dances around but rarely answers directly, because they don't want to sound racist by saying no. Even in shows that are comprised of black characters, to say that only black actors can play those roles is racist."
Says WHO? Who, anywhere, says that saying that black actors should play characters who are black is RACIST?
"I personally think this type of casting would bring an interesting perspective to the play, because it does make you think about your own assumptions about race in our society."
It does? In what way? Please explain what you mean by "interesting perspective?"
And which was it? "COLOR BLIND CASTING" or "CONSCIOUS CASTING TO BRING AN UNDEFINED INTERESTING PERSPECTIVE?" Cuz I can see why shutting down the latter would be the obvious choice.
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Updated On: 5/23/05 at 06:38 PM
actor465
Chorus Member Joined: 12/28/04
#18re: Controversial high school prod. of 'Big River' in Glenelg, Maryland
Posted: 5/23/05 at 7:19pm
I don't want to get involved in a huge argument, and as I said, this whole controversy can be argued both ways. I do not think, however, that the director cast the show in such a manner to prove any sort of point. That's at least what I got out of it. In all honesty, the production would not have worked the same if the roles had been switched. Other than race, the white student fit the role of Jim better than the black student, and vice versa.
And again, I don't think any of this would have surfaced if they hadn't filmed for television. Would it have still been wrong? Do you think licensing companies should ask who is playing which roles to every production to which they give the rights?
MrMidwest
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/8/05
#19re: Controversial high school prod. of 'Big River' in Glenelg, Maryland
Posted: 11/11/05 at 10:57am
>>"I personally think this type of casting would bring an interesting perspective to the play, because it does make you think about your own assumptions about race in our society."
>It does? In what way? Please explain what you mean by "interesting perspective?"
I've been thinking about this and I sort of have my own take on it. If you were to show that white people just as easily could've been enslaved and made property if they had been the minority wouldnt that kind of go a long way to show how nonsensical racism is and that it just comes from ignorance?
It's something that I'm interested to hear more opinions on.
"The gods who nurse this universe think little of mortals' cares. They sit in crowds on exclusive clouds and laugh at our love affairs. I might have had a real romance if they'd given me a chance. I loved him, but he didn't love me. I wanted him, but he didn't want me. Then the gods had a spree and indulged in another whim. Now he loves me, but I don't love him." - Cole Porter
Updated On: 11/11/05 at 10:57 AM
Vespertine1228
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/30/05
#20re: Controversial high school prod. of 'Big River' in Glenelg, Maryland
Posted: 11/11/05 at 5:23pm
I believe that high schools shouldn't do certain musicals that are race specific, even with colorblind casting, if it distracts from what the story is trying to do. For example, a high school near me did an all-white production of "Aida" last year. It was insulting. The message of the musical was totally lost, and it looked and felt awkward.
Any director that's casting someone else's show with the sole intent of making a statement with the race of his/her actors and the characters they play isn't someone I'd want to associate with.
#21re: Controversial high school prod. of 'Big River' in Glenelg, Maryland
Posted: 11/11/05 at 5:52pm
Colorblind casting is an issue that everyone dances around but rarely answers directly, because they don't want to sound racist by saying no.
Well, I am white and my boyfriend is black, and I still don't agree with the casting choice. I am not scared of sounding like a racist, because I am not. I am all for colorblind casting when the roles aren't written for a specific race. but when you take world-known characters like Huck and Jim, whose relationship was groundbreaking back when the book was written. (it was actually banned by many groups for it's "liberal and radical" subject matter, about the relationship between a black slave and a white boy who meet under extraordinary circumstances, it undermines the entire historical context and importance of the show, along with the actors' portrayal of the characters. to me, it would be insulting to be in that audience seeing a sixteen year old white boy trying to portray a lifetime of slavery and stuggle to be seen just as a person, and not a piece of property.
Now I love the casting choice of Audra in Carousel, and I loved Stokes in Kiss me Kate and La Mancha. But in no way are those roles confined to the rules of Race. When it comes to a white coalhouse walker and a black Willy Conklin, count me out.
"I'm an American, Damnit!!! And if it's three things I don't believe in, it's quitting and math."
Updated On: 11/11/05 at 05:52 PM
#22re: Controversial high school prod. of 'Big River' in Glenelg, Maryland
Posted: 11/11/05 at 6:00pm
Pippin---Very well said, and I agree!
By the way, I HATE the term "color blind." We shouldn't be "blind" to any person's color. We should try to understand better, celebrate and appreciate our differences when it comes to race, culture and history. Color is a part of each of us. Acceptance is the key. Ignoring it isn't the answer.
"Jaws is the Citizen Kane of movies."
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#23re: Controversial high school prod. of 'Big River' in Glenelg, Maryland
Posted: 11/11/05 at 6:10pmBINGO, best twelve
"I'm an American, Damnit!!! And if it's three things I don't believe in, it's quitting and math."
gypsy71
Chorus Member Joined: 11/3/05
#24re: Controversial high school prod. of 'Big River' in Glenelg, Maryland
Posted: 11/11/05 at 8:20pmI worked at the Weathervane Theatre in New Hampshire a few summers ago as the resident costume designer. It is an equity summerstock theatre. We did a production of Big River where Huck was african american and so was Jim. The girl who played Sarahs daughter was Asian. The show did very well. Weathervane is very big on non traditional casting. I designed a production of The Wiz that summer where Evilene was played by a skinny white guy in drag. As far as copywrite holders or any other legal issues, this is the first I have heard of. I believe sometimes non traditional casting works and sometimes it doesnt. I do think it is a good thing when people talk about live theatre. I am sure this schools production will reap from the free publicity.
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