A Black Eliza Doolittle

[EdEval]

I think the time has come when accepting a very competent singing and acting African American  actress to portray Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady. How about Brian Stokes Mitchell as  Professor Higgins, at least he can really sing all the intended notes that Rex Harrison and others have talked them. Perhaps a black Mama Rose or Mame?  There are many Black, Hispanic, and Asian children who aren't listening to rap or hip hop but the classical original cast albums of yesterday and dreaming of playing those roles.  Who says they can't?  Enjoying a performance no longer depends on race but talent.  I hope we see more opportunities for minorities to take on classical musical roles.

[mar6411]

Click bait for Dave19.  Entering in 3 . . .2 . . 1

 

[JBroadway]

This is a bit tangential - not totally applicable to the topic, but I think it's worth mentioning Bedlam's brilliant production of Pygmalion a few months ago, which featured an Indian Actress as Eliza. She spoke with a thick Indian accent rather than a Cockney one, and they even changed the lines to reflect her changed origin. It was a brilliant move on so many levels; it added new layers of meaning and relevance to the piece, particularly with the intersectionality of race and class. And it was especially interesting when you consider that there is a such a big Indian population in London today. 

[RJ14]

JBroadway said: "This is a bit tangential - not totally applicable to the topic, but I think it's worth mentioning Bedlam's brilliant production of Pygmalion a few months ago, which featured an Indian Actress as Eliza. She spoke with a thick Indian accent rather than a Cockney one, and they even changed the lines to reflect her changed origin. It was a brilliant move on so many levels; it added new layers of meaning and relevance to the piece, particularly with the intersectionality of race and class. And it was especially interesting when you consider that there is a such a big Indian population in London today."

I was gonna ask you how they did "Why Can't The English" then I realized you said Pygmalion. Silly me :)

[ggersten]

The Shaw Festival did an "updated" Pygmalion with a person of color as Eliza.  The only lines changed were to update references to amounts of money.  It worked very very well. Harveen Sandhu

[kade.ivy]

ggersten said: "The Shaw Festival did an "updated" Pygmalion with a person of color as Eliza. The only lines changed were to update references to amounts of money. It worked very very well.Harveen Sandhu"

Agree to disagree. I found this production overly preachy and uneven. It didn’t make sense in the contemporary setting.

Having said that, I think an Eliza of color in MFL would work very well and add an interesting dimension. 

 

 

[Elegance101]

Brittany Campbell (I hope I spelled her name correctly) played Eliza Doolittle at Olney Theatre Center last spring/summer. I didn’t see it, but I did think it was an interesting move and could add a lot to the piece. I actually initially thought that’s what Bartlett Sher might do, but I was wrong.

[broadwaysfguy]

broadway by the bay in the sf bay area did a production a few years ago with a very talented young actress named Samantha Williams who was still a student at uc berkeley in their fine arts program.

She happened to be African American, and i don't think anyone in the audience really noticed or paid attention to her ethnicity, and focused on what an outstanding singer and fine actress she was...

http://www.broadwaybythebay.org/my-fair-lady/

 

[icecastle]

I would love it. It seems for many years soprano ingenue roles have been closed off to people of color for the most part- Cosette, Christine, Glinda, Johanna, Maria in WSS. Les Misérables in London only this year cast a Black British Cosette (there had previously only been one u/s on Broadway). There has only been one black Christine in the 32 year history of Phantom, and only two Asian Christines outside of Japan and Korea. 

There is the line about Karpathy coming to the conclusion that Eliza is a Hungarian princess. This could be played for laughs or indicate that Karpathy is incompetent. 

And the complaining by other users about reverse racism begins in 3...2...1!

[BroadwayRox3588]

Ignore Dave when (not if) he comes in.

Also, I would love to see Denée Benton replace Lauren Ambrose if this revival runs long enough for Ms. Ambrose to need a replacement.

[Shh_413]

I've always thought Eliza was one of the golden age female roles that could be played by a WOC and the production wouldn't be affected as much. It would subconsciously add something more to the divide inherent between Higgins and Eliza.

[starcatchers]

Can we get to Bryonha Parham to play Eliza? She’s got a gorgeous soprano, and would act it brilliantly.

[GeorgeandDot]

A WOC could totally play Eliza. I think Ashley Park and Denee Benton would be phenomenal.

[QueenAlice]

Ive seen several African american women play the role. It works fine.

[SmoothLover]

When do the current leads leave? I don't think the current production relies on name recognition. The understudies are well liked. It seems like Harry could be replaced by someone well known but Eliza could be unknown.

[everythingtaboo]

So we're just ignoring the tone-deaf racial editorializing in the OP's otherwise I suppose well-meaning post? 

[BroadwayConcierge]

If we're talking about women of color, I still pray we get to see Phillipa Soo take on the role someday. 

[BrodyFosse123]

Interesting how no one mentions Jordan Donica as Freddy in the current revival.  

[devonian.t]

So it seems it's already been done and worked fine.  

Looks like some people were spoiling for a fight.

Remember, for someone to take the bait, someone else has to be doing the baiting...

[poisonivy2]

It wouldn't even be historically improbable. There were plenty of black immigrants in London by the time the play/musical is set. 

Contrary to what the DailyMail says, Meghan Markle is not the first person of color to ever set foot in London.

[CallMeAl2]

I think it would work fine until Eliza gets to Ascot and the Embassy Ball. The whole point of those scenes is that she is able to "pass" as upper class with some degrees of success. A woman of color would never pass, regardless of her diction. 

Higgins whole point is that only language and graceful behavior separates class, but that is only true as long as we are talking about white people. Once race enters the picture, forget language. The entire premise crumbles. 

It's hard to do a play where class matters and ask the audience to ignore the character's race.  

[poisonivy2]

CallMeAl2 said: "I think it would work fine until Eliza gets to Ascot and the Embassy Ball. The whole point of those scenes is that she is able to "pass" as upper class with some degrees of success. A woman of color would never pass, regardless of her diction.

Higgins whole point is that only language and graceful behavior separates class, but that is only true as long as we are talking about white people. Once race enters the picture, forget language. The entire premise crumbles.

It's hard to do a play where class matters and ask the audience to ignore the character's race."

Well it depends on the actress. There are plenty of people with racially mixed backgrounds who were able to "pass." Merle Oberon is one example. (The fact that she told everyone her mother was her "maid" is one of the saddest things I've ever read.) The children of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings were also able to "pass" seamlessly into white society in the antebellum south. Alexander Hamilton was also able to "pass." These are just really famous examples. 

[Dave28282]

EdEval said: "Enjoying a performance no longer depends on race but talent."

Then why a post where you pick 1 race for a role?

"an African American  actress to portray Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady".

Which excludes many other races. Not really appropriate when you claim to want to cast on talent only.

[Dave28282]

GeorgeandDot said: "A WOC could totally play Eliza. I think Ashley Park and Denee Benton would be phenomenal."

Denee Benton would be great. She has the poise of an Eliza. A voice that matches the character too.

 

[HeyMrMusic]

CallMeAl2 said: "I think it would work fine until Eliza gets to Ascot and the Embassy Ball. The whole point of those scenes is that she is able to "pass" as upper class with some degrees of success. A woman of color would never pass, regardless of her diction.

Higgins whole point is that only language and graceful behavior separates class, but that is only true as long as we are talking about white people. Once race enters the picture, forget language. The entire premise crumbles.

It's hard to do a play where class matters and ask the audience to ignore the character's race."

In the current production, Freddie and his mother (both seen in the Ascot scene) are played by black actors. Karpathy, the Hungarian, is played by an Indian actor.