https://www.claimfame.com/casting-call/audition-and-star-in-broadway-musical-hamilton/
Take a look at the picture before you. What do you see, a group of friends LARPing? Maybe they decided on a colonial theme this Halloween? No. This diverse band of actors is the cast of Lin Miranda Manuel's breakthrough Hip Hop Broadway musical Hamilton.
Recently, Hamilton has received backlash regarding a casting call that stated the show was looking for "Non-white" actors for it's upcoming tour. Some people have been outraged by the wording used in the casting call but why is it such an issue? ABC News correspondent Kendis Gibson played devil's advocate saying that if the casting call had stated that it was looking for only white actors there would be uproar, Gibson is correct...but is his analogy?
This situation recalls another public unrest over casting of NBC's The Wiz in 2015. During it's February premier it was lauded by black twitter and left some white twitter users very confused. How come there are no white people in the Wiz? Gee, I don't know, how come the Wiz was made in the first place? Let's consider intent.
Master of synthesis, composer, director, and lead actor Lin Miranda Manuel himself has said of the ethnic casting choice, "This is a story about America then, told by America now,”. Miranda got the idea for Hamilton upon reading a biography of the founding father's life. Miranda chose to tell his story through the lens of hip hop because he believes that Hip Hop and revolution share a through line. By way of both colorful cast and lyric the show breathes new life into American history.
Simply put, Hamilton and Wiz were not made for white people, not to say that white people can not find ways to enjoy them but they were made in response to a world filled with only white people. Why should white people take up arms over the handful of shows created to reflect minority experiences, (ones that are often ignored) when they can find themselves in almost every other show and movie.
Shows like Hamilton and the Wiz can give aspiring actors and actresses of color the hope that they too can tell their stories. Many times, non white actors find themselves typecasted for roles that are typically the supporting characters for the more important and dynamic white characters. These nonwhite shows do not mean that stories reflecting the white experience are not worthy of being told, they do mean however; that our stories are worthy too.
tweet from @ZahraParkar
I don't think people realize how important representation is. You make an excellent and amazingly stated point. Diversity in entertainment is so rare nowadays despite the fact that people of color (poc) have been extremely vocal about it. Diversity isn't an all-white or an all-black cast, it's a mixture of White, Black, Asian, Hispanic, Arab...etc. However, seeing as the entertainment business failed time and time again to cast POC, it was necessary to make bold statements. That's why I think preforming the Wiz with an all-black cast was crucial to prove a point: people of color can do it. POC can sing, dance, act, and take the lead, creating a beautiful show that inspired so many people.
ReplyDeletePeople who say "POC would have been mad if there was an all-white [insert show here]" seem to be forgetting that many of America's most popular shows have/had an all-white cast. Shows like FRIENDS, Seinfeld, and How I Met Your Mother are based on groups of white people. And if they ever hire anyone of any other race, like you said, they always tend to play the role of supporting character, but never the lead.
I personally never realized how much I appreciated being represented accurately in the media until I saw the pilot for a new British TV-series called The Night Manager. On the episode, they had a white lead actor (Tom Hiddleston)whose love intrest was an Egyptian woman. The setting was in Egypt and they cast ACTUAL Egyptian actors, and they spoke REAL Arabic - with current Egyptian slang and all. I was so happy and grateful that they were as accurate as they could possibly be, and even though the setting changed, I was still incredibly pleased with the effort they made to get as many correct details as possible. That's when I made it a priority to spread the message of diversity as much as I can.
White people will never understand what that feels like because every time they watch a movie, read a book, or even turn on the TV, they will always see some version of themselves be represented. I appreciate white people who make an effort to try to understand it though. We just have to come together in order to put forth a positive image of what diversity should really look like.
(Also if you follow Gina Rodriguez on Instagram (@hereisgina), she posts pictures with #MovementMondays every Monday, honoring actors who are poc.)
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ReplyDeleteI understand why people have this reaction to it, It is not technically historically correct, but I would love to go see it because it is meant to be a show (which means it should not be taken so seriously, It is entertainment) and it makes it so much more interesting that they are taking something historical and putting a relatable, modern twist to it. I have not heard the director or anyone involved state that it is going to be how it was back then. I like the diversity in it because it makes it relatable to all types of people(something everyone can enjoy), not just white people. It should be a problem also when white people play characters of color, yet nobody seems to mind that. To me that just does not make sense, there should be more equality. The least they could do in movies and tv shows (that are trying to be accurate) , is hire an actor with the right skin color. Sorry this comment is kind of rambly, just had to add all my thoughts as they came to me!
ReplyDeleteVery thoughtful post here. I wonder, though. Maybe white people were not the primary audience for the Wiz, or Hamilton, but I'd venture to guess that, as you state here, there is a significant lesson for white people to gain from these productions. Maybe I'm not typical, but I only ever saw the Wiz when I was a kid, and I adored it; the spectacle, the amazing music, the storyline, etc. What if these productions serve multiple purposes that advance both art and our understanding of the complexities of representation in the arts and society?
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