<p>I think the issue of ethnic casting is interesting (can we change the subject a bit?) There is a perception that certain roles “have” to be cast with a certain ethnicity. I think I agree with this, but there are lots of shows where it doesn’t really matter. It didn’t really trouble me to see black and Asian Jews in Fiddler, or black and Asian French townspeople, etc. But can you cast an Asian girl as Nellie Forbush in South Pacific?</p>
<p>Note: this reminds me of a production of “West Side Story” at another local high school. The Jets were all white, and the Sharks were all “ethnic”–including hispanics, Indian, etc.</p>
<p>sptch,
I have not read any posts here that espouse that HS theater should prepare one for Broadway! Hardly! HS theater is an activity that many should participate in, as well as see, who have no intentions of ever going into theater for a career in the first place. </p>
<p>I don’t think Middle School is for “simple plays” and “skits”. My kids’ elementary school put on musicals. For example, in sixth grade, my D was in Pirates of Penzance. Our MS puts on full musicals too. They are not simple or skits. My own children have been in full length musicals of all sorts from a very young age. </p>
<p>I haven’t seen anyone here espouse that a high school production should include nudity at all. I certainly would not think that was appropriate! But I do think that most musicals would be appropriate in a high school setting and that some minor adaptations might be needed in terms of costuming or profanity. However, it seems that some want to cut out an awful lots of musicals for high school kids.</p>
<p>Hunt,
I am ALL for non-traditional casting! And I am glad that schools and professional theater have moved in this direction. I believe that any ethnicity should be cast in most shows/roles. There are only a few exceptions I would have where the ethnicity is part of the story line. For example, Ragtime truly requires African Americans in certain roles. Same with Showboat. This is because their ethnicity is central to the story. But in most other shows, it does not matter the ethnicity of the actors, in my opinion. My D, who is white, has played Ti Moune in Once on This Island. A wonderful African American actress who has been in various Broadway shows, and with whom my D has performed with professionally when my D was a child, has played Eliza in a professional production of My Fair Lady.</p>
<p>Hunt, the issue of non-traditional casting is an interesting one, both for school productions and for professional ones. It has become more common for even Broadway shows to include actors who would not usually be cast in certain roles. On the other hand, there are also shows which have always tended to cast in the way that the original Broadway casts were chosen. Rent is an example of this. The ethnicity and race of the actors in the lead roles has not really diverged much in the past 13 years. However, it’s one show that can honestly claim that it has always been diverse in its casting decisions, simply because that’s the way that Larson wrote it.</p>
<p>For high schools, this can be more tricky, depending on how diverse the school population is. I think it would be interesting to cast an Asian girl as Nellie but I’m not sure that a director would be brave enough to do it. :)</p>
<p>In shows like Hairspray where race is at issue, I think you need to cast the show along racial lines. But otherwise, in high school, it can’t matter. Of course, when one of the girls in the Crucible has an African American mother, it sort of makes you think, “Hmm, that would be a good play in itself…”</p>
<p>I don’t know what you do at a school when the best kid for Conrad Birdie is AA, with an otherwise white cast…it might make the parents’ disapproval take on a meaning that was not really intended in the script.</p>
<p>Here’s a question for your theatre minded folks to consider: In Oklahoma, is Ali Hakim supposed to actually be Persian, or is he supposed to be just putting on Persian? Here’s a common description:</p>
<p>*Ali Hakim - A Persian peddler, enamored of Ado Annie *</p>
<p>In the movie Oklahoma, were we supposed to believe that Eddie Albert really was Middle Eastern, or was he intentionally fake-Middle Eastern?</p>
<p>It’s kind of fun to think about. When our HS did Oklahoma a few years ago, a kid of middle eastern descent was cast - of course, he still had to fake the bad “Persian” accent.</p>
<p>Billy Pilgram – I’ve never seen Hair. But, you reminded me of a friend of mine who took her young children to see a high school production of Hair. She had never seen it before, and it was being performed at a Catholic high school, so she assumed it would be okay. A friend even told her, “It’s a Catholic school, it will be fine . . .” Well, she was very surprised, and mortified, when they sang the song you mention. She would have walked out, but because the theatre was crowded, she had her kids sitting four rows in front of her (with the older sister), and couldn’t have left without creating a big disturbance. So she didn’t leave. But I know she is more careful about looking into whether or not a school does modify some of these types of plays now.</p>
<p>soozie - I am sorry if I did not make myslef more clear. The reference to nudity was meant for all levels - college, and adulthood, as well. And yes, my D’s elementary did “The Castaways,” etc., but certainly not the level of some of the things that are done later, or else they would be ready for stardom at 7! Things do evolve and challenges increase. And maybe my language was most simplistic, but at that age, they are not ready for “Macbeth.”</p>
<p>Our kids do Macbeth in 5th grade (not kidding!). So not at 7, but I guess about 11… I have seen both D’s productions, and they do a great job. D2 was Lady Macbeth And they spend a lot of time talking about it (this is a drama class production, then put on in our school’s black box theater), so I think they really understand the story.</p>
<p>BillyP, the best rendition of Sodomy that I’ve heard (and I saw the original) is that done by Jai Rodriguez on the Hair - Actors’ Fund Benefit recording done a few years ago. It’s a great cd with an absolutely stupendous cast. Highly recommend it.</p>
<p>I know this is an old thread, but I just had to mention that my D’s high school is planning to do both Laramie Project *and *Chicago this year, as well as Nunsense. I guess they’ve gotten a bit braver.</p>
<p>Another high school in our county did Chicago last year, and they had a lot of problems with whether they could make cuts–it was cancelled and reinstated (maybe twice). It was put on, and was very well done.</p>
<p>Next week I’ll be sitting in on auditions for our city’s “all-school” musical that draws actors and techies from all the schools, public and private, and all grades. The show this year is Hairspray (fun for the kids and, I think, a big draw for audiences), and I’m fascinated to see who turns out and how the casting goes—we have a substantial African American student population, but few get involved in school theater–it’s a constant frustration. I also think casting Tracy will be a challenge-- overweight belters who can dance don’t come along every day! But somehow the right person always emerges. Last year the show was Fiddler, and everyone despaired of finding a Tevye–till the perfect boy popped up out of nowhere, a senior who he had never been involved in school theater until the previous year.</p>
<p>The nice thing about it is that the younger ones, who generally have small roles, get their feet wet in a real full-length production and get to see what kind of roles they might have someday if they pursue this interest. Another plus is that with so many students eligible to audition, the talent is a notch higher than it would be if just a single school were involved. The only downside is identifying shows that can accommodate a large cast of 4th through 12th graders, especially since the local community theater “competes” with a summer musical using the same age group–there are so many musicals that just don’t fit the bill (Cabaret, for example, to swerve us back to the topic). In any event, I can’t wait til next week–my first time observing auditions, and I think it will be quite an experience.</p>
And they spend a lot of time talking about it (this is a drama class production, then put on in our school’s black box theater), so I think they really understand the story.</p>