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re: Philly High School drops MILLIE after complaints of racism
Posted by: BruceinIthaca 05:46 pm EST 12/26/15
In reply to: re: Philly High School drops MILLIE after complaints of racism - simbo 05:39 pm EST 12/26/15

Or, as I say above, you suspend disbelief, and assume that the characters are white Midwesterners even if the actors playing them are not. Wasn't Barbara Cook from Tennessee, after all? And switching to film), Hermione Gingold sounded like no Iowan I ever met--even with all the Delsarte and elocution lessons in the world! I think part of the pleasure can be the utopian opportunities (I'm stealing from Jill Dolan and Jose Munoz) such theatrical experiences offer!
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Jill Dolan could weigh in here with gravitas.
Posted by: Delvino 09:55 am EST 12/27/15
In reply to: re: Philly High School drops MILLIE after complaints of racism - BruceinIthaca 05:46 pm EST 12/26/15

(Ah, and wouldn't Jill Dolan have a lot to say about the way an audience unpacks Marian's plight as a spinster in River City! That aspect of "Music Man" is quite the wildcard in 2015, our perception of this woman's influence vis a vis inherited property and entitlement in a staunch patriarchy. Of course, isn't it interesting that she's unleashed, sexually speaking, by a man who's a capitalist criminal? And then, to get back to the topic; Dolan might find a white slave trader Mrs. Mears, a very compelling figure, tied to few options for women in "Millie's" universe.)
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re: Philly High School drops MILLIE after complaints of racism
Posted by: TheOtherOne 11:21 pm EST 12/26/15
In reply to: re: Philly High School drops MILLIE after complaints of racism - BruceinIthaca 05:46 pm EST 12/26/15

"Wasn't Barbara Cook from Tennessee, after all?"

You are right about her not being a midwesterner, but she is from Georgia.
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re: Philly High School drops MILLIE after complaints of racism
Posted by: LegitOnce 08:04 pm EST 12/26/15
In reply to: re: Philly High School drops MILLIE after complaints of racism - BruceinIthaca 05:46 pm EST 12/26/15

Well said! It's not as if Music Man is conceived as a naturalistic work, after all, and even if it were so conceived (as say, A Doll's House is) there is certainly precedent for presenting such a piece in a non-naturalistic manner.

The Asians in Millie I find troublesome; this is an issue that could have been addressed in the adaptation to the stage, but that opportunity was at least in part missed.
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