When is blind casting okay?
When is blind casting okay?
#1When is blind casting okay?
Posted: 7/5/14 at 4:21pmI'm talking about color-blind and gender-blind casting.
#2When is blind casting okay?
Posted: 7/5/14 at 4:26pm
Fasten your seatbelts...
Updated On: 7/5/14 at 04:26 PM
TheGingerBreadMan
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/7/12
#2When is blind casting okay?
Posted: 7/5/14 at 4:26pm
When it is non-essential to the plot of the show.
Examples: There can't be a white Seaweed in Hairspray because the racial differences are a very big part of the plot. There can't be a female Angel in Rent because the fact that he is a man who cross-dresses as a woman is a huge part of the character.
#3When is blind casting okay?
Posted: 7/5/14 at 4:28pm
Generally you should try to cast color blindly whenever the ethnicity isn't a central part of the character. Obviously a white Motormouth or black Velma wouldn't work in Hairspray, but a black or Hispanic Javert or Eponine in Les Miz works fine.
Gender blind casting is somewhat more tricky, because a lot of times a character's relationships with other characters are based on whether the character is male or female.
Keeping BroadwayWorld Illustrated
Updated On: 7/5/14 at 04:28 PM
#4When is blind casting okay?
Posted: 7/5/14 at 4:30pm
I'm just asking because my director likes to have something about the struggles of black people even when it doesn't make sense.
He would make Maria black and set the Sound of music in 1960's Mississippi.
Sutton Ross
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/13
#5When is blind casting okay?
Posted: 7/5/14 at 4:35pm
I think that for the majority of shows, blind casting works just fine. But, it doesnt work in shows like Memphis or Hairspray where racial relations is a main theme.
I saw a blind production of Hairspray and it was all f*cked up.
#6When is blind casting okay?
Posted: 7/5/14 at 4:35pm
PLEEEEEEEEASE film that and put it on YouTube.
I'm BEGGING you!
#7When is blind casting okay?
Posted: 7/5/14 at 4:36pm
As someone said in another thread last night, R&H shows were written for a specific period. In my own opinion doing that kind of concept doesn't work because what is there to gain from it other than being "hip, and cutting edge". You would also need to change the libretto to reflect the lack of Austria, Germany or the growing Third Reich. Something that the R&H Estate would never allow in a million years.
Maria can be black, Audra is black, so why can't Maria.
"I think lying to children is really important, it sets them off on the right track" -Sherie Rene Scott-
#8When is blind casting okay?
Posted: 7/5/14 at 4:37pm
I'm just asking because my director likes to have something about the struggles of black people even when it doesn't make sense.
He would make Maria black and set the Sound of music in 1960's Mississippi.
You're lying.
#10When is blind casting okay?
Posted: 7/5/14 at 4:54pmIt's true he's doing Cabaret with a color blind cast because he feels that "his people" are still being treated like the Jews during the Holocaust.
#11When is blind casting okay?
Posted: 7/5/14 at 4:57pmAnd who are "his people"?
"I think lying to children is really important, it sets them off on the right track" -Sherie Rene Scott-
#12When is blind casting okay?
Posted: 7/5/14 at 5:01pm
He refers to African-Americans as "his people"
#13When is blind casting okay?
Posted: 7/5/14 at 5:34pmJust so you're clear about something - your director is an idiot.
#14When is blind casting okay?
Posted: 7/5/14 at 5:39pmAs they so wisely put it in the brilliant "Tropic Thunder", "what do you mean, MY people?"
#15When is blind casting okay?
Posted: 7/5/14 at 5:44pmThis thread is hilarious. Is the OP a troll?
#16When is blind casting okay?
Posted: 7/5/14 at 5:44pm
No I thought it might be an interesting discussion
Updated On: 7/5/14 at 05:44 PM
#18When is blind casting okay?
Posted: 7/5/14 at 5:45pm
You're lying.
You're a lying troll.
You're a lying troll who's lying.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
#19When is blind casting okay?
Posted: 7/5/14 at 5:47pmI saw a production of Sound of Music set in a french penal colony. Maria was played by a mulatto mute hunchback. Made you think.
#20When is blind casting okay?
Posted: 7/5/14 at 5:47pm
I'm sorry I said yup to Jordan saying he was an idiot
This is actually true
FishermanBob
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/9/12
#21When is blind casting okay?
Posted: 7/5/14 at 5:48pmAs long as people seem to keep wanting to take this topic to its illogical extreme, have we considered species-blind casting? I know of a Ring-tailed Lemur who I think would be perfect for Mrs. Lovett.
#23When is blind casting okay?
Posted: 7/5/14 at 5:50pmMy director is doing a musical version of MISSISSIPPI BURNING but setting it in 1981 London since he thinks punk rock was wrongfully treated by the mainstream the same as southern black people in the 60's.
#24When is blind casting okay?
Posted: 7/5/14 at 5:54pmWhen we did Little shop he tried to make a statement about race by making Audrey black. The role was soo far out of her singing range. She sounded like Beyonce in a wood chipper.
