Topic: PINS AND NEEDLES (Read 14989 times)

Jane · « **Reply #90 on:** September 01, 2004, 05:57:01 PM »

The Ashland Shakespeare Festival practices color blind casting. I find it interesting, yet confusing at times. If the parents are Caucasian and the children a variety of races it takes me longer to figure out the relationship of the characters to each other. Sometimes the meaning of a line changes because I’m not color blind. Overall I’m more concerned with the acting and I’m okay with it. I also like the fact that our town is a bit more integrated during the festival season.

Jane · « **Reply #91 on:** September 01, 2004, 06:01:54 PM »

DerBrucer, darling pics of Fletcher and the Grandlad.

Michael Shayne-have a great time in Los Angeles.

Dan (the Man) enjoy your weekend at the shore.

Thank you Stuart.

George · « **Reply #92 on:** September 01, 2004, 06:04:01 PM »

Color blind casting has never bothered me. I would hope that no matter who is cast or what ethnicity they are, the play itself would make the relationships of the characters very clear. If it doesn't, then it's a problem with the script, not the cast...and that's a different issue.

TCB · « **Reply #93 on:** September 01, 2004, 06:05:57 PM »

Having been in a production of THE BAKER'S WIFE, I have to agree with Noel. Never have I felt so much hatred from an audience, as I felt every night during that show. The audience felt betrayed by the show, it's authors, and it's cast. Our production was nearly flawless, casting-wise, but that only seemed to make it worse. If the audience hated the Baker's wife at the end of "Medowlark" in the first act; they felt even more disgust for the whole show, when the Baker took her back at the end of the show.

I have heard many beautiful performances of "Medowlark,"but for me that song only brings back bad memories.

S. Woody White · « **Reply #94 on:** September 01, 2004, 06:08:20 PM »

Quote from: Jay on September 01, 2004, 05:46:23 PM

Could have Diahann Carroll been cast as Madame Armfeldt? Can Audra MacDonald ever hope to play Desiree when she gets a bit older?

Since Desiree was written for an actress of limited vocal means, casting MacDonald in the part would be a terrible waste. Sorry, just an opinion.

The real problem with color blind casting is that, even today, if just one member of the cast is of a different racial background, that cast member is going to stand out. Panni's example of the Quintet member would have been easier to handle if, say, someone else in the cast (another Quintet member?) has also been non-caucasian.

In the production last year or so of Anyone Can Whistle in Los Angeles, there were several members of the chorus who were not white, beyond the obvious casting of Martin during the song "Simple." There were no problems...BUT...

Would this have worked if the actor playing Hapgood were also black, or of any other race other than white? Or any of the other leads?

Another example: No Strings. There is no, I repeat NO mention of the female lead being black at any point in the story...until the very end, when she and her lover have to face the fact that they are not the same, and that others would object. Even then, it is not said, but implied.

This suggests that race really shouldn't matter...unless it is part of what is being discussed. A colorblind Ragtime simply would not work; color is too much what the story is about. A colorblind Hello, Dolly! can and has worked (with Nell Carter as Dolly), because it is nowhere a part of the story.

A black Hapgood would be interesting to try, especially if everyone ignores the fact until he himself makes a point of it in his conversation with Martin. And that could be more subversive than even Arthur Laurents was aiming for!

SwishySarah · « **Reply #95 on:** September 01, 2004, 06:14:38 PM »

BK: (or anyone, really) When auditioning for a show, is it better to say that you'll accept any role, or to mark the only roles you'd accept? Do you think this has an affect on whether you're cast or not?

And do you believe that it is worth going through however many years of college to get a degree in Musical Theatre? Or should you just take your chances?

Noel · « **Reply #96 on:** September 01, 2004, 06:27:25 PM »

Quote from: SwishySarah on September 01, 2004, 06:14:38 PM

do you believe that it is worth going through however many years of college to get a degree in Musical Theatre? Or should you just take your chances?

I'm asked this question very frequently, and have watched the number of degree programs in musical theatre grow by leaps and bounds over the past few years. College is a wonderful thing, and I think everybody should go. But a degree in musical theatre is, in my view, a waste of time.

When you look at who's working on Broadway, or anywhere in the musical theatre business, you find that surprisingly few of them have college degrees in musical theatre. Most go to college, and study something else.

That's not to say that I think aspirants shouldn't study acting, voice and dance. I think those sorts of classes are essential. Just don't get your degree in musical theatre - there's hardly a point.

Jane · « **Reply #97 on:** September 01, 2004, 06:30:04 PM »

SwishySarah, there must be a reason many of the young actors have continued their education when they could have been working. I don’t know about career wise, but if your question is personal I say an education is a good thing.

William E. Lurie · « **Reply #98 on:** September 01, 2004, 06:40:30 PM »

Nell Carter was not the only black Dolly. Pearl Bailey did it on Broadway and toured for several years. However this was not really an an intigrated production. When Pearl took over from Martha Raye (or Betty Grable... I forget the exact order) the whole cast was replaced with a Black cast; when Pearl and the Black cast left to tour, Phyllis Diller was given a new, all Caucasian cast.

A CHORUS LINE would not work with a non-Asian Connie or a non-black Ritchie, but I have seen productions with a non-Hispanic Paul and/or Diana, and I have also seen some of the other roles cast color blind, particularly a black Judy Turner (instead of joking that her real name is Lana Turner she says Tina Turner).

George · « **Reply #99 on:** September 01, 2004, 06:43:40 PM »

Quote from: SwishySarah on September 01, 2004, 06:14:38 PM

BK: (or anyone, really) When auditioning for a show, is it better to say that you'll accept any role, or to mark the only roles you'd accept? Do you think this has an affect on whether you're cast or not?

I've worked with directors who specifically say to mark only the roles that you will accept because if you tell them that you'll take any role and then get cast in the chorus and then decide not to take it because you really wanted a part, the directors (that I've worked with) will hesitate before casting you in the future (especially if you've done it more than once). It's much better for them and for you to say that you'll only accept certain roles, if you really don't want chorus.

I hope that that wasn't too unseemly an explanation.

Dan-in-Toronto · « **Reply #100 on:** September 01, 2004, 06:47:43 PM »

Quote from: S. Woody White on September 01, 2004, 06:08:20 PM

This suggests that race really shouldn't matter...unless it is part of what is being discussed. A colorblind Ragtime simply would not work; color is too much what the story is about. A colorblind Hello, Dolly! can and has worked, because it is nowhere a part of the story.

Probably few people noticed, but I think this lyric should have been altered when Cab Calloway sang it in the all-Black production.

It takes a woman all powdered and pink
To joyously clean out the drain in the sink
And it takes an angel with long golden lashes
And soft dresden fingers
For dumping the ashes

Michael · « **Reply #101 on:** September 01, 2004, 07:21:27 PM »

Quote from: William E. Lurie on September 01, 2004, 06:40:30 PM

Nell Carter was not the only black Dolly. Pearl Bailey did it on Broadway and toured for several years. However this was not really an an intigrated production. When Pearl took over from Martha Raye (or Betty Grable... I forget the exact order) the whole cast was replaced with a Black cast; when Pearl and the Black cast left to tour, Phyllis Diller was given a new, all Caucasian cast.

A CHORUS LINE would not work with a non-Asian Connie or a non-black Ritchie, but I have seen productions with a non-Hispanic Paul and/or Diana, and I have also seen some of the other roles cast color blind, particularly a black Judy Turner (instead of joking that her real name is Lana Turner she says Tina Turner).

Actually there is alternate lyrics and dialogue that was written for a non-asian Connie.

Lyrics: From the time if was five in King and I

was changed to Summer Stock

Dialogue: The year of the chicken joke is omitted and not replaced by a similar joke. She just lies about here birth year and when she slips and tells her real birthage. Some says something to the fact I thought you said 1965 (or whatever year she said)

Michael · « **Reply #102 on:** September 01, 2004, 07:25:13 PM »

The most recent Cincerella had a mixed cast.

The royal family had a gay white King, a black queen and and oriental son. Cinderella stepsisters: one was white and one was black. There mother was white so maybe one of them was fathered by Cinderella's father.

Matt H. · « **Reply #103 on:** September 01, 2004, 07:30:18 PM »

In the first A CHORUS LINE that I did, Connie was played by a black actress with some changes in dialogue. I saw another version of A CHORUS LINE where Ritchie was played by a Puerto Rican male.

Matt H. · « **Reply #104 on:** September 01, 2004, 07:31:44 PM »

Quote from: Michael Shayne on September 01, 2004, 07:25:13 PM

The most recent Cincerella had a mixed cast.

The royal family had a gay white King, a black queen and and oriental son. Cinderella stepsisters: one was white and one was black. There mother was white so maybe one of them was fathered by Cinderella's father.

And I didn't think it worked at all. But that production, despite HUGE popularity in the ratings and on video, had more problems than mere casting.

Matt H. · « **Reply #105 on:** September 01, 2004, 07:53:46 PM »

Didn't get to a DVD for yet another day, but did get the local video of SOMETHING'S AFOOT watched and duped. The men were all fairly weak, but the two leading ladies (Miss Tweed and Hope) were very, very strong and made the show. And the set, of course, is the real star of the show and was actually staged to take the last bow.

bk · « **Reply #106 on:** September 01, 2004, 07:58:52 PM »

I suppose I like Liz's Meadowlark (the studio version) best, and I suppose I like Susan's next - I'm fond of the arrangement on Susan's, where we did something completely different to the opening which, I don't think, had ever been done before.

I have never taught anything per se - I have done various "talks" in both high school and college classes, and I enjoy doing that a bunch. I'd do it more if only they'd ask me. Also, I've been asked by singers why I don't offer some sort of intensive Broadway singers in the recording studio workshop. I'd do it, if I though anyone would give a flying Wallenda.

I would only mark the parts you're really interested in playing - it shows focus and direction, at least to me it does.

Now, might I ask where in tarnation IS everyone? It's eight o'clock and I'd say we need a frenzy or two right about now, rather than these proclamations about being errant and truant for the next few weeks.

Dan-in-Toronto · « **Reply #107 on:** September 01, 2004, 08:13:58 PM »

BK,

Have you ever been to Toronto?

S. Woody White · « **Reply #108 on:** September 01, 2004, 08:19:22 PM »

Quote from: William E. Lurie on September 01, 2004, 06:40:30 PM

Nell Carter was not the only black Dolly. Pearl Bailey did it on Broadway and toured for several years. However this was not really an an intigrated production. When Pearl took over from Martha Raye (or Betty Grable... I forget the exact order) the whole cast was replaced with a Black cast; when Pearl and the Black cast left to tour, Phyllis Diller was given a new, all Caucasian cast.

Nell Carter played Dolly for the Long Beach Civic Light Opera. Her Horace was played by Nipsey Russell. The Ermengard and Ambrose were, likewise, black. The Cornelius, Barnaby, Irene and Minnie Fay were white. This is a far cry from the racially segregated HD presented on Broadway and on tour, no matter how wonderful Ms. Bailey may have been in the role.

Dan-in-Toronto · « **Reply #109 on:** September 01, 2004, 08:22:37 PM »

My big news today - I won a dictionary. The Oxford Canadian Dictionary people held a contest to see who could come up with the worst word breaks. (Canadian contests are not known for their thrill factor; or their prizes.)

My submission?

superb-
owl

(should be:
super-
bowl)

(I didn't have the nerve to ask how many entries they actually received.)

S. Woody White · « **Reply #110 on:** September 01, 2004, 08:30:25 PM »

THE FLETCHER CHRONICLES:

Today he was definately more into the idea that this is his new home. He's had his nose into everything. He also wants so desperately to play with the other dogs, but they're very unsure of him because he is a) so big, and b) doesn't respond to their growls when they don't want to play.

No one said this would be an easy introduction to the household.

I've been considering calling him something other than Fletcher. That name works great as a last name, but it doesn't fall trippingly off the tongue. Not that he's likely to notice.

I'm more inclined now towards calling him Walter. We did have another dog named Walter, about a decade ago, but he died within a week of our getting him from the pound. There is something about Fletcher that strikes me as being Walterish, however. The fact that he farts, quite noticably, also gives a nice link to the children's book about a dog with that name.

How does Walter Windsor Fletcher sound? (No pun intended.)

td · « **Reply #111 on:** September 01, 2004, 08:31:08 PM »

Quote from: Matt H. on September 01, 2004, 12:43:18 PM

I think there are times when it works and times when it is a disaster, clearly anachronistic to the project at hand. And it never seems to be used except in one direction. For example, I have a bass voice which is well suited to "Ol' Man River." I don't think there is a director or casting director in this business who would cast me as Joe in SHOW BOAT.

I'll cast you as Joe, if someone would cast me as Julie!

td · « **Reply #112 on:** September 01, 2004, 08:34:13 PM »

Quote from: Matt H. on September 01, 2004, 01:17:42 PM

I have to confess I've never heard Betty Buckley's version, but so many people seem to love it.

Seeing and hearing Betty do it live several times, I'd classify it as being as close to perfection as you can get; then again, I'm kinda biased.
BUT, Betty's pre-song anecdote is funnier, and rings truer than Patti's.

Panni · « **Reply #113 on:** September 01, 2004, 08:55:37 PM »

Congratulations, Dan-in-TO!

Let me chime in on Swishy's question re a degree in musical theater. I think college is a great idea because if you're an actor you should have a wide general knowledge of the world. But more importantly, you should know how all sorts of people tick, not just other actors. And that's where I agree with Noel - you don't need a degree in Musical Theater. In fact, you'd be wiser to get a degree in some other field. You're probably not going to use it anyway - you're there to gain knowledge, not a future job. Ours is a very insular - even incestuous - profession. If you just hang out with other people doing what you do, that's what your frame of reference will be. The luckiest thing that ever happened to me in terms of what I wound up doing with my life was that I was not accepted by the National Theater School in Montreal (they told me that I was already overtrained and they'd have to spend a year "unteaching" all the wrong things I had learned in the classes I'd been taking since I was 12.) I wound up going to Theater School - but in a unversity, so I lived in the dorms with nuns and hung out with civilians. The nuns taught me more about life than the acting profs (and I'm Jewish!). And it doesn't hurt - in fact it helps - to know languages and math and literature and geography. An actor should be able to enter the mind of anyone - so the more you know about, the easier that will be. End of lecture.

bk · « **Reply #114 on:** September 01, 2004, 08:57:10 PM »

I have indeed been to Toronto - it was very clean. That was back in the late eighties.

Now, might I ask where in tarnation IS everyone? Might I ask where in tarnation IS our posting frenzy?

bk · « **Reply #115 on:** September 01, 2004, 08:57:28 PM »

Looks like we're just about sold out tomorrow night.

DearReaderLaura · « **Reply #116 on:** September 01, 2004, 08:59:38 PM »

DR SWoodyWhite: You are making me want to get a dog.

SwishySarah · « **Reply #117 on:** September 01, 2004, 09:12:04 PM »

BK: When you see someone who has marked that they'll accept any role, does that look less directed to you? Would you be more likely to cast them in the chorus or not at all than to give them a part at all? Your response was just interesting to me because, what if I were auditioning just to be IN a show, it didn't matter what part. I'd LIKE to be given a role, but I'd accept chorus. Should I still circle roles?

RE: College: Is it worth it, then, to get a degree in Vocal Performance? Or Music Ed? Another question: If I wanted to be a choral teacher, is it worth it to go through the band teacher curriculum as well? Some of the "best" music education colleges require that you certify as a band AND choral director, even if you're interested in just choral.

What is the meaning of life? Why do people say that it's 5 o'clock somewhere, when that point in time can literally only land exactly on the hour? Why do we drive on parkways and park on driveways? Why can't I fall asleep? Is life always one big worry? Why do people who have everything abuse it? Why does ANYONE like Paris Hilton? Why doesn't my computer mouse work? Who cares about the history of Virginia? Do you need summer stock or regional theatre to get on Broadway? Why are some people so fortunate while others have nothing?

Why does my mind work like this?!

td · « **Reply #118 on:** September 01, 2004, 09:24:54 PM »

Speaking of "Meadowlark," I know that Swishy just read an interesting take on that song. . .

bk · « **Reply #119 on:** September 01, 2004, 09:37:23 PM »

It doesn't look "less" directed, it means to me only that they would like to be in the show in any capacity. If I saw a person who checked only certain roles and who didn't want to be in the ensemble, then I'd assume they were interested in the parts that were going to help them grow as performers, in a way that the ensemble wouldn't. There isn't anything wrong with the ensemble, but you also don't want to get stuck there or "seen" in that light to often.

News:

Author Topic: PINS AND NEEDLES (Read 14989 times)