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YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU

  • 1.  YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU

    Posted 11-14-2017 21:56
    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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  • 2.  RE: YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU

    Posted 11-15-2017 04:07
    I can understand your trepidation and I have two options that might help.  

    1. I have seen Rheba and Donald cast as Irish immigrants.  Lovely accents and energy.
    2. I personally have used color blind casting and the roles became comedic in nature instead of ethnic.  Actually, my two actors had a blast with finding the unique, quirkiness that worked for those characters within the relationship of an already quirky family.  

    I wish you the best.  It is really a wonderful show.

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    Carolyn Cork Greer
    Kentucky Thespian Society
    Troupe #3161
    Owensboro KY
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    Original Message


  • 3.  RE: YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU

    Posted 11-16-2017 19:46
    We just closed this show! It was an all-girl cast. We did pretty much the same thing as C.J., we tweaked lines or cut them.  We changed Porgy and Bess to Bonnie and Clyde just because it was funny but not un-pc. Our Donald was African American and our Rheba was Chinese. They were adorable together.

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    Jennifer Jordan
    Director of Theater and Dance
    Miss Hall's School
    Pittsfield MA
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    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU

    Posted 11-15-2017 06:13
    It was 100% uncomfortable at my school as well. We use color blind casting also, and oddly enough, our perfect Rheba was a student who was in fact African American and a Donald who was of Italian heritage. I actually had another teacher work with me on casting for that exact reason; allowing mark have backup for casting choices if confronted about it.

    We had a discussion with the cast, and I also had individually with both of the actors, about the nature of the show, and the time period. Before our discussion, many students were shocked with some of the speech which inherently has some racist insinuations, but overall I think we got past it and worked with the language.

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    Andrew Frey


    Kings Park NY
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    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU

    Posted 11-15-2017 07:44
    I completely agree. I read it as many people from SOU were doing it or had done it when I was attending the MOTS program there. I have a very diverse school, and I could not get past the way these characters were written. Several people suggested it was a good conversation starter about history, but it was not a conversation I wanted to have. My tech director and I chose not to do the show, as we have with several shows that might make any of our kids feel "less than." I know many people have done it, but I just couldn't see that it was worth it.

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    Amber Perkins
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    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU

    Posted 11-15-2017 08:23
    Not at all. These characters are inherently racist and a product of their time.

    I have done this play twice in 20 years and have made significant changes to the lines regarding these characters -- even though I know it is wrong I feel completely justified.

    --
    Mark A. Zimmerman
    Theatre Director,

    Akron School for the Arts
    Firestone High School
    470 Castle Blvd
    Akron, Ohio 44313

    330-761-3275

    FirestoneTheatre.com




    Original Message


  • 7.  RE: YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU

    Posted 11-15-2017 08:55
    Mark,

    I'm auditioning this show TODAY.  What did you do with the lines?

    Great conversation!  We are into color-blind casting, and I was thinking that there is a lot of great history in this show!

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    Raymond Palasz
    Auditorium Director/Director of Theatre
    Schererville IN
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    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU

    Posted 11-15-2017 10:00
    I would have to go back and look at it to be sure. But I definitely removed everything that indicates race for either of these characters.

    I did not and would not cast black actors in these roles.

    In our first production, Rheba was played by a Spanish exchange student -- the language barrier helped the character's quirks make sense.

    We stripped the racial references from Donald and played him as being kind of dumb. Both times played by a white actor.

    We cast the play multi-culturally even though that does not make sense for the story. The audience easily accepts it and laughs along with what is otherwise a very charming comedy.

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    Mark A. Zimmerman,

    Theatre Director
    Akron School for the Arts
    Firestone Community Learning Center
    470 Castle Blvd
    Akron, Ohio 44313

    Troupe 5570

    mzimmerm@apslearn.org
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    Original Message


  • 9.  RE: YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU

    Posted 11-15-2017 09:33
    Yes, I am uncomfortable with those characters.  We played Donald for comic relief by making him more of a caricature of a bum and Rheba as a competent housekeeper.  

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    Original Message


  • 10.  RE: YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU

    Posted 11-15-2017 10:24
    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
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    Original Message


  • 11.  RE: YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU

    Posted 11-15-2017 12:59
    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


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