Colour-blind Casting in Theatre - Good thing or bad thing?

At the Stratford Shakespeare Festival (aka “Stratford”) this year, the actress playing the female lead in Romeo and Juliet is Nikki M. James.  Nikki is black.  While most seasoned theatre-goers probably won’t have any issues with this - colour-blind casting has been used before in many major productions, especially ones casting big names, I can’t help but wonder what the general public would think.  Are they accepting Nikki’s tragic portrayal?  Does it help that Lady Capulet is also played by a black actress?  Romeo, by the way, is played by a white actor.

Stratford has historically been lily-white.  The first time I saw a non-white actor in any Stratford show was in 1999 when I saw West Side Story (The Stratford Shakespeare Festival isn’t only about Shakespeare.  In fact, this year, they’re also doing George Bernard Shaw’s Caesar and Cleopatra.  Nikki M. James is also in this show, replacing Anika Noni Rose as Cleopatra.  Julius Caesar will be played by Christopher Plummer.) where all of the Sharks were played by non-white performers.  Maria was played by Miss Saigon alumna, Ma-Anne Dionisio.  Since then, Stratford has had more non-white performers, though not plenty.

Does colour-blind casting change the interpretation?  For example, in 1999, the role of Ellen, Chris’ American wife in Miss Saigon, was played by Margaret Ann Gates, who is of Korean descent.  As Miss Saigon is supposed to be the “updated,” 1970s version of Madame Butterfly, one would expect Ellen to be a white, southern belle.  When Margaret Ann was cast, message boards (this was the late 90s - not too many blogs at that time) were flooded with threads with titles such as “was he just seeking a replacement?”  or “does he even love his wife?”.  Had Margaret Ann been white like all the previous non-understudies, these threads would not have existed.  But these online critics were harmless compared to Michael Crawford’s replacement, Robert Guillaume, in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera.  Many people just weren’t ready to see a black Phantom and many returned their tickets even before he made his debut.  However, Robert Guillaume’s run as the Phantom was nonetheless popular.   Some people even found the 1997 version of Cinderella, starring Brandy and Whoppi Goldberg to be distracting.  However, that was TV, and TV has a very different audience, often one that isn’t as enlightened.

For some reason, tragic shows are more likely to go for colour-blind casting, and the actors are usually cast in tragic roles.  Les Miserables has done so since at least the early 1990s, when Toni Braxton made her debut as Eponine.  Other non-white Eponines have included Ma-Anne Dionisio, Lea Salonga and Joana Ampil (for some reason, they like to cast former Kims as Eponine.  Similar role, I guess).  Lea has also played Fantine.  Javert, the evil policeman in the production, has been played by Norm Lewis, who is African-American. Brandy’s Cinderella, a Canadian touring production of Grease! (Ma-Anne Dionisio was Sandy) and a mid 90s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which I saw with my English class in middle school are the only non-tragedies I can think of.

How do YOU feel about colour-blind casting?  Good?  Bad?  Does it only work if a non-white performer is cast in a traditionally white role (unless, of course, you’re doing a “reverse” production of say, Othello)? Does it only work if the person in the role is a big name (think Denzel playing Brutus in Julius Caesar or any of the “big named” stage actors like Lea or Ma-Anne) Feedback!!!

Cultural Lessons: Drama/Theatre

Going to live theatre was definitely part of my upbringing, especially after I was 8 or 9 years old.  If you include ballet, my first stage performance was The National Ballet of Canada’s The Nutcracker, around Christmas 1987 or 1988 (I’ll do a post on dancing another day).  By my teens, I was going to at least two shows a year (I was a teen during the HEIGHT of British Theatre Invasion of Toronto (Cameron Mackintosh musicals)).  I saw shows such as Les Miserables, Showboat, Miss Saigon, The Phantom of the Opera, Sunset Boulevard, etc, as well as plenty of trips to Stratford.  But when it came to actually being involved in the theatre/drama business (whether it be actor, director, producer or whatever….even if you tell people you want to be the next Ang Lee of the stage), it’s a definite no-no.  No wonder it’s so hard for Asians in this part of the world to be noticed in the film and theatre world!  If you don’t build it, no one will come!

This is what I don’t understand.  Why is it okay to play a musical instrument but not okay to be involved in theatre (with the exception of actually going, of course)?  Can’t theatre be seen as an accomplishment, just like playing piano or violin?  Why is acting, “less proper”?  Does it have to do with the historical connection with prostitution?  Can’t acting or directing be seen as a hobby just like classical music?  I did a double major in drama and history just so I wouldn’t look like I was a rebel.  And the drama part wasn’t even a BFA but a straight BA (Honours).

Cultural Lessons: Music

I’d like to open this topic up for discussion:  Why DO YOU THINK that it’s considered very “normal” and “Asian” for second generation kids of Asian descent to take western classical (using the generic term of “classical” here, not the classical period) music lessons while stereotypically, kids of other cultures who do so are “white-washed”?  I don’t have stats, but I have heard that Julliard and Berklee have lots of students of Asian descent, both American and foreign.   I’ve said in previous posts that it’s class-related.  Would you agree with me?  Would you see more non-Asian students at these schools if more came from middle class families?  What about white kids?  In my experience, white kids who were very serious about music (classical music, not the garage band type) and knew how to read music well in junior high were generally of Eastern European descent.  Usually no more than third generation.  (This was a problem when it came to middle school level instrumental music.  They usually started you from scratch, so it was very discouraging for at least 25% of the students.  While we might not know how to PLAY the instruments we picked up, we already knew how to read and often were frustrated at the slow pace.)  Is classical music just not a priority?  Even if the families are of a similar social class?  I would think that the ability to play piano or violin would be something parents are proud of.  Classical music is more “international” than most sports (other than soccer, anyway), I think.

Would you like your kids to take classical music lessons?

***NOTE:  What I’d LIKE to see are more prominent Asian composers (not music/song writers who do pop…NOT THE SAME THING)…lots of Asian music students (in Asia, anyway), just copy what they hear, making their music more mechanical-sounding…creativity isn’t important here, just as long as you play the right notes with decent expression, you’re okay…..having been trained in piano and voice, mostly be teachers of Eastern European descent, I’ve learned that it’s a big NO-NO.