| re: Haven't we moved on? | |
| Last Edit: Chazwaza 04:34 pm EDT 06/13/24 | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 04:27 pm EDT 06/13/24 | |
| In reply to: Haven't we moved on? - Zelgo 02:35 pm EDT 06/13/24 | |
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| Perhaps I wasn't clear enough... I was not advocating that Gypsy BE all white, or Rose or anyone be white. I was pointing out *why* everyone thinks of Gypsy as a white musical. And the two key reasons are the ones I detailed. Gypsy is a fable. I'm happy to see anyone play it. It is also a fable set in a very real time and real recognizable circumstance of entertainment history and American culture. So you can play it without minding those things (meaning you either cast it as historically accurate, or make changes around historical accuracy of how this story would go if it were black people) or you just take it as is and cast whomever you want. So we very much agree there. I don't agree that people bursting into song is the same as or a justification for ignoring any other cultural or historical circumstances of reality in any given musical, in fact I really strongly disagree with you there. But I do think there's no reason to think about the race of the actors in this show. The thing is a lot of people watching it will, whether you address it or not. So whichever you chose you have to be intentional about it. I also don't think we had NOT "moved on" before. Moved on from what? There was no cultural embargo on POC actors playing Rose. I don't think the revivals we've recently seen were cast with the edict of "this is a white show, about white people having a white experience"... in fact, the key role we are talking about was not "Cast"... Bernadette was the star the production happened around. Patti was the star the show happened because of. Audra is the star this production is happening because of. If George C Wolfe does want to address the race of the cast, if he does do something to make this show able to tell the story of a black or mixed race family at this time in America, and in the Chitlin Circuit as it was known, I would also be very excited to see what he does with it. There is at least a "black version" of the vaudeville world of entertainment that a "Black Gypsy" could be re-set in without changing too much outside of performance style and some massaging of dialogue. I don't believe there is an equivalent for Asian or Hispanic people for that time and circumstance. I may be ignorant of that, but if so then it was certainly not as well known as the Vaudeville circuit or the so-called "Chitlin Circuit". I think Gypsy is not actually *about* the time and place so much as it is about the people, the family, the relationship to each other and to our own dreams, ambitions and compromises that we make for ourselves and the people we are given at birth. It's about family and it's about showbiz. I would love for communities of all races to have this show to do, whether they want to just do it as is without worrying about the historical accuracy of someone non-white in vaudeville or as a nationally famous high-class stripper in America, or if they want to massage it and design it to make some sense in a version that is accurate to where/how their race was able to perform in these styles at the time. Hell, you could probably pretty easily adjust when it takes place too... i don't think you should, I'm just saying the show is way more than the setting, and it's not SO married to its setting and to being the real people it's based on that it couldn't work with some changes too. Anyway, whatever George and Audra do, I cannot wait to see! |
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