| re: John McWhorter on a Black Rose in GYPSY. | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 01:36 pm EDT 06/13/24 | |
| In reply to: John McWhorter on a Black Rose in GYPSY. - portenopete 12:17 pm EDT 06/13/24 | |
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| I largely agree with him. I was brought up with some very positive experiences in "color blind" theatre when I was a young performer, and have worked for a Boston regional theatre that was doing that for many years before other theatres dared to. But it seems to me that the "visibility" that afforded performers from marginalized groups (including the disabled) has morphed into a desire for not just the actor to be visible but the role to be refashioned in their image. And although I see why that's applauded, I agree with McWhorter that it also plays with history in an odd way. McWhorter is very right that a black Hovick family would be pursuing a different Vaudeville circuit and their songs would not be those sung in Styne's score. And yet he's also right that for many people, a black actor cast in white role is seen as exactly that - that it's still a "white" role no matter who plays it - which gets in the way of that new sense of visibility. So it's a tough call. Is there a way for Audra to play Rose as black without the question of incongruent history, or to play the role "traditionally" without it feeling like a white character played by a black actor? The real problem is, I think many of us just want to see her do the role and not think about the other layers - but many others understandably won't be able to let those layers out of their mind. And so it goes. So I don't have a solution, but I do feel it was important for McWhorter to write about. |
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