Hugh Jackman in The Music Man

[jo]

theatretenor2 said: "Four Tony Award Winners join Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster. This is looking to be bigger than Hello, Dolly!"

What surprising  but excellent news!  There's going to be a lot of unplanned scene-stealing 

This will likely be followed by news of the theatre choice!

Hugh, Shuler and Warren Carlyle (as Dance Captain) once worked together in the RNT Oklahoma! in London.

 

[HeyMrMusic]

I don’t care if you have six or sixty Tony winners in your cast; this is shaping up to be the whitest revival since...Hello, Dolly!

[CATSNYrevival]

Hugh Jackman and Shuler Hensley together again in a classic musical. I like it.

[mamaleh]

As to cast diversity, the original casting call announcement specified that the role of Tommy Djilas could be any ethnicity. So I have a feeling that featured role will likely be filled by a person of color, along with members of the ensemble. I can’t think of any recent Broadway show where race or ethnicity was immaterial that totally lacked diversity.

[IdinaBellFoster]

mamaleh said: "As to cast diversity, the original casting call announcement specified that the role of Tommy Djilas could be any ethnicity. So I have a feeling that featured role will likely be filled by a person of color, along with members of the ensemble. I can’t think of any recent Broadway show where race or ethnicity was immaterial that totally lacked diversity."

Every principal of the HELLO, DOLLY! revival.

Will the trombones also be white? I love Foster, and this cast is excellent, but it's almost like Rudin is trying to make these casts as white as possible. 

[Kad]

mamaleh said: "As to cast diversity, the original casting call announcement specified that the role of Tommy Djilas could be any ethnicity. So I have a feeling that featured role will likely be filled by a person of color, along with members of the ensemble. I can’t think of any recent Broadway show where race or ethnicity was immaterial that totally lacked diversity."

Oh good, they were considering performers of any ethnicity for the very small role of a boy from the "wrong side of town." That isn't bad optics at all.

[Steven A2]

Or perhaps he isn't trying much to make them diverse.

[qolbinau]

I would hope & assume they would consider people of all races for ALL roles.

[JSquared2]

HeyMrMusic said: "I don’t care if you have six or sixty Tony winners in your cast; this is shaping up to be the whitest revival since...Hello, Dolly!"

It didn't take long for the race trolls to come out.

[JP2]

Race Trolls? Are you being serious? LOL.

 

 

 

[VintageSnarker]

HeyMrMusic said: "I don’t care if you have six or sixty Tony winners in your cast; this is shaping up to be the whitest revival since...Hello, Dolly!"

Fair. Given that the talent already attached would have sold tickets, I'm not sure why they felt the need to fill the rest of the cast with lauded actors at the expense of a more diverse cast. It's starting to feel intentional. This brand of nostalgia is starting to feel a bit loaded. 

[qolbinau]

I mean filling it with lauded actors could also mean quality lol. The question I have is did they pass over other lauded actors that were non-white and available and interested?

[VintageSnarker]

But it's unnecessary. To use the Little Shop revival as an example, no one's going to be suddenly more motivated to buy tickets because they cast an actor who is respected but not particularly great at selling tickets as Mr. Mushnik. Sure, it's a relatively significant part but it's nothing compared to the main roles that are already filled by the star talent. 

I was going to say something about the systemic issues at every level that lead to fewer actors of color being critically lauded but that's a whole can of worms. 

[DottieD'Luscia]

I was hoping that Beth Leavel would have been cast as Eulalie Shinn.

[ren598]

DottieD'Luscia said: "I was hoping that Beth Leavel would have been cast as Eulalie Shinn."

She's not a bad choice and she's a Tony winner so she's qualified.  It appears they are really emphasizing all the Tony winners in the cast and production team.  

[SonofRobbieJ]

They're going to lean hard into the 'Marian is Winthrop's mother' subtext, right?  Cause Marie Mullen won a Tony for playing a middle aged spinster twenty years ago.  For her to have a 10-year-old would be some next level miracle of modern science for turn of the century Iowa. 

[HeyMrMusic]

All of these actors are probably offer only, so were they considering people of color for the roles? Most likely not. These are who they wanted from the start.

And someone already mentioned it, but the unruly teen as the only principal of color (do we consider Tommy Djilas a principal role even?) is bad optics.

[DrowsyKaye]

Truly inspired by this recent casting announcement.

[fashionguru_23]

How can you justify being upset about the lack of diversity in casting, when you don't know everyone who auditioned for the show? I don't understand. 

I agree it would be awesome to see some diversity in casting, but I don't know the whole story.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

fashionguru_23 said: "How can you justify being upset about the lack of diversity in casting, when you don't know everyone who auditioned for the show? I don't understand.

I agree it would be awesome to see some diversity in casting, but I don't know the whole story."

 

Wait, you think these people AUDITIONED for these roles?

[Kad]

This always comes up- "we don't know who auditioned... maybe these really were the best people!" Y'all, that is hiding behind the illusion of meritocracy. You all know for a fact that talent alone does not decide casting- that's why Hugh Jackman is having a whole production built around him. 

This isn't the middle of nowhere in Kansas with a shallow talent pool of all white people. This is New York City and there are scores of extremely talented performers of all stripes cramming into audition rooms every day for roles. We are lousy with diverse talent here. At the end of the day, you are going to have dozens of people in an audition that could play the role and ace it. And at the end of the day, who gets cast comes down to the preferences of a select few. And the select few tend to be selecting the same people. 

[Pose2]

How can you justify being upset about the lack of diversity in casting, when you don't know everyone who auditioned for the show? I don't understand. 

Thank you, I completely agree. It's a business, they are trying to make money, and casting well known people gets you there. 

[HeyMrMusic]

Pose2 said: "How can you justify being upset about the lack of diversity in casting, when you don't know everyone who auditioned for the show? I don't understand.

Thank you, I completely agree. It's a business, they are trying to make money, and casting well known people gets you there."

First of all, none of these six actors actually auditioned for this show. They were simply offered the roles.

Secondly, the only one of the six who is a monetary draw is Hugh Jackman. 

[SweetLips22]

Tommy Djilas and Tulsa probably have the same amount of stage time to showcase their talent.

The frustration of the race card is not as apparent in Australia as for as long as I have been a theatre goer, white was all we saw; we were given no other choice, if there were such. Almost in a way that all major leads until Funny Girl were imported from America.

I'll admit my eyes for years were conditioned to white ballerinas and smooth skinned male dancers but now that diversity is here, so I am changing with it, and acceptance takes time.

It's when I get beaten over the head here that 'this MUST happen/change' that I automatically push back.

What is fair in the casting room? What is the reality? Where has the money come from?
Sit in on that panel and judge the multicultural talent that comes through the door. Does the Cuban/Black/Japanese Tommy Djilas fit the back story or does the nationality then become the 'feature'.

This situation will of course never suit en masse but it is necessary to continue to fight for casting equality so that MY eyes, along with many others, will eventually adjust to a Black Anna, a Chinese Mary Poppins so that it won't matter who is up there 'singing for their supper. Time Heals Everything.

[Pose2]

the only one of the six who is a monetary draw is Hugh Jackman.

I laughed out loud at that ridiculous statement. Thank you. Now, I will watch Sutton Foster's TWO TONY award winning speeches. Anything Goes. Violent. Milly. Sweet Charity. SHE is the reason people go to shows. 

I don’t care if you have six or sixty Tony winners in your cast; this is shaping up to be the whitest revival since...Hello, Dolly!

Cool, yet the cast is set, people are excited and it will be a huge success.