Open Forum

Generally I have only white students audition for our musicals  (the school population is predominantly white). Should I therefore avoid doing shows like Little Shop of Horrors and South Pacific? 

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Rebecca Reisert
St. Xavier High School
KYSt. Xavier High School
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I think the question that needs to be asked is "How essential to the role is this person's ethnic identity?" With South Pacific, clearly essential. Though I'm also of the opinion that no one should be doing South Pacific (See this op-ed: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/emsouth-pacificem-musi_b_99550/amp )

With Little Shop I am not convinced it is as essential to the roles. 

This is something that is often discussed with In The Heights with Lin Manuel having some pretty clear opinions that it is alright to do In The Heights with a predominantly white cast...in high school. Not professional settings. He argues that high school is one of those few times where you will ever get a chance to truly play outside your race in the same way but that there is value in these kids learning empathy with these other people. I'm not sure I completely agree or at least it is a bit more nuanced than this. 

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Joseph Gels
Theatre Teacher
Boston Latin School
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Thank you for your reply.

I appreciate your sharing Lin Miranda's response about High Schools. I hate that my students may never have the chance to perform in shows like West Side Story and Little Shop of Horrors because they happen to attend a school that is predominantly white. What I didn't say on my message is that my school is a boys' school--I can throw the auditions open to all high school girls in Louisville. Maybe this would attract three strong Black girls to play the urchins.

Thanks for the South Pacific link. I too find so many of the R&H shows problematic now.



Sent from my iPhone


Original Message:
Sent: 4/3/2023 8:48:00 AM
From: Joseph Gels
Subject: RE: Ethnic casting?

I think the question that needs to be asked is "How essential to the role is this person's ethnic identity?" With South Pacific, clearly essential. Though I'm also of the opinion that no one should be doing South Pacific (See this op-ed: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/emsouth-pacificem-musi_b_99550/amp )

With Little Shop I am not convinced it is as essential to the roles. 

This is something that is often discussed with In The Heights with Lin Manuel having some pretty clear opinions that it is alright to do In The Heights with a predominantly white cast...in high school. Not professional settings. He argues that high school is one of those few times where you will ever get a chance to truly play outside your race in the same way but that there is value in these kids learning empathy with these other people. I'm not sure I completely agree or at least it is a bit more nuanced than this. 

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Joseph Gels
Theatre Teacher
Boston Latin School
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Rebecca-

Thank you so much for your conscious question. 
In my opinion, there are thousands of great musicals that you can create and choose from, mostly written from white writers and with white perspectives. In the small percentage of color-conscious musicals, I would refrain from making a choice to cast a role that was created with POC actors in mind with white performers. While one would argue that we, being theatre educators, should always look for the universal and 'the best person for the role' when casting, not having enough POC actors in your pool simply means that you either recruit more POC actors or you allow the strength of your students to dictate what you should produce. So unless you recruit enough Black actors, it would be unwise to produce "Hairspray," for instance. 
But once again, I thank you for this question, and I am sure you will hear a lot of different opinions on this. Mine is rooted from personal impact.

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Bernard Addison
California Educational Theatre Association
CA
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I too am from a predominantly white school and the other students of color don't want to participate.  We just did Little Shop of Horrors last year with white urchins/doo wop girls and had no backlash from anyone.  I felt like the girls could be played by both and the language and dialogue was not specific.  I am sensitive to shows where ethnicity is specific and know we cannot do those, but don't think that applies to Little Shop

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Karin Neal
Theatre Director
Trinity Catholic High School
KS
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Hi, Thank you very much for giving such nice information.

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Sophia Khan
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Original Message:
Sent: 04-03-2023 13:37
From: Karin Neal
Subject: Ethnic casting?

I too am from a predominantly white school and the other students of color don't want to participate.  We just did Little Shop of Horrors last year with white urchins/doo wop girls and had no backlash from anyone.  I felt like the girls could be played by both and the language and dialogue was not specific.  I am sensitive to shows where ethnicity is specific and know we cannot do those, but don't think that applies to Little Shop

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Karin Neal
Theatre Director
Trinity Catholic High School
KS
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Hi guys

It's important to foster an inclusive environment where all students feel comfortable participating. While your previous production of Little Shop of Horrors with mixed casting seemed well-received, it's crucial to consider the perspectives of students of color who may have reservations about participating this time. 

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Aliyaa Khan
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Original Message:
Sent: 04-03-2023 13:37
From: Karin Neal
Subject: Ethnic casting?

I too am from a predominantly white school and the other students of color don't want to participate.  We just did Little Shop of Horrors last year with white urchins/doo wop girls and had no backlash from anyone.  I felt like the girls could be played by both and the language and dialogue was not specific.  I am sensitive to shows where ethnicity is specific and know we cannot do those, but don't think that applies to Little Shop

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Karin Neal
Theatre Director
Trinity Catholic High School
KS
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I try and stay away from anything that requires casting based on race. I teach at a diverse school and in my 2nd year at the school we choose The Wiz hoping that it would draw more students of color. It did not. This caused a bit of strife in our school community which was unfortunate but I took the lesson.  There are so many great shows out there, I would choose one that fits my group.

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Bernadette MacLeod
East Mecklenburg High School
NC
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Here are some interesting articles about the urchins and Little Shop:

https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/theater/this-bay-area-production-of-little-shop-of-horrors-is-coming-under-fire-for-its-casting-choices#:~:text=For%20Tillery%2DBoughton%2C%20McGraw%20and,non%2Dwhite%20race%20or%20ethnicity.

https://www.onstageblog.com/onstage-blog-news/2018/11/11/casting-controversy-with-little-shop-leads-to-anti-whitewashing-policies-at-university

In the script, which is currently a free read on the MTI site, they are described in the cast list as "three black female street urchins." So the authorial intent is clear. The MTI site says this about casting: "While any actor can play any role in the show (i.e., there are no requirements or restrictions other than to perform the book, music and lyrics as written), it is encouraged that the roles of Crystal, Ronnette, and Chiffon be played by actors of color." (If I had to guess, that statement is a concession to commerce.)

But I think the first article I cited is a valuable read and contextualizes the importance of these roles being played by black women. So if you have coordinate schools and can find the appropriate performers, go for it. If not, I'd choose something else. As Bernard said, there are plenty of other shows out there that don't have characters intended to be POC.

Regards,
Jonathan

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Playwright/Managing Partner of YouthPLAYS
Los Angeles, CA
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