I practice colorblind casting as a rule. It wasn't until the read-through for
You Can't Take It With Me that I realized I had cast a Chinese adoptee as Rheba and part-Japanese guy as Donald. They were the only two who made me laugh in auditions, and they were wonderful in the show. They just played the objectives and not stereotypes.
Line deletions:
p. 11 - "Sort of like Porgy and Bess."
[p.16 - "I'm known as the Kay Francis of Kirby & Co" has nothing to do with Rheba and Donald, but it also has zero meaning for a modern audience.]
[p. 28 - "Of course, why they make these bottle openers for Singer midgets I never did..." - incomprehensible for a modern audience.]
[p. 40 - I cut the bald lines because the joke didn't seem worth the agony of working with a bald cap.]
p. 64 - Changed Donald's "how white folks" to "how some folks."
p. 64 - Cut Rheba's "Yassuh, I'm glad I'm colored."
p. 64 - Cut Donald's "Me, too."
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C. J. Breland
Asheville High School
Asheville NC
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Original Message:
Sent: 11-15-2017 10:23
From: Michael Hancey
Subject: YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU
I'm auditioning/casting this show at the end of the month. After reading the comments here I get two take aways.
1) We're all a little uncomfortable with the way the characters are written, especially in 21st Cent. America. We can use it as a talking point with our casts.
2) Colorblind casting is the thing to do, and then finding ways to make "it" work with our respective casts.
My school doesn't have a large ethnically diverse cast. However, in my research I found that James Earl Jones played Grandpa on Broadway. How did that cast handle these characters?
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Mike Hancey
Musical Theatre, Drama, Theatre Guild, & Theater Manager
Laramie High School
Laramie, WY
Original Message:
Sent: 11-14-2017 21:56
From: Taylor Horne
Subject: YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU
Maybe I'm being too sensitive, but has anyone else been uncomfortable when casting Rheba and Donald?
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Taylor Horne
Upper School Theatre Director
Jacksonville FL
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