On 4/13/25 9:29 AM, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:

The problem with color-blind casting is that the viewer doesn't
know whether the *character* is, e.g., African-American or not.  I
mention this because in TITANIC: THE MUSICAL we see a group of
second-class passengers including several characters from Ireland,
central Europe, and other places, and one of the characters is
played by an African-American.  I thought at first the character
was African-American, but then not only did she seem to be married
to a white man, but she was dancing with the white first-class men
and the white stewards, and I thought, "Well, either she's not African-American, or they're confused about the social conditions
of the time."

It's a weird thing. Racial miscasting is regarded as something terrible,
yet it's done all the time without getting complaints.

When there are complaints, they often get it wrong. People complain when Othello is played by a white of European extraction, but a black actor
of sub-Saharan ancestry would be equally inaccurate. People from that
area were rare in Shakespeare's England. A "Moor," which is what Othello
is called, would have been North African or Middle Eastern.

Historically, well-qualified actors matching a part's ethnicity were
often passed up in favor of white actors in movies. A big reason for
this was the Hays Code, which banned interracial romance or kissing.
Once a white was chosen for a role, any part romantically involved with
it also had to be white.

--
Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com

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On 4/13/2025 8:29 AM, Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:

The problem with color-blind casting is that the viewer doesn't
know whether the *character* is, e.g., African-American or not.  I
mention this because in TITANIC: THE MUSICAL we see a group of
second-class passengers including several characters from Ireland,
central Europe, and other places, and one of the characters is
played by an African-American.  I thought at first the character
was African-American, but then not only did she seem to be married
to a white man, but she was dancing with the white first-class men
and the white stewards, and I thought, "Well, either she's not African-American, or they're confused about the social conditions
of the time."

I would have hoped that it would be at least as historically accurate as Hamilton.

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Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:

The problem with color-blind casting is that the viewer doesn't
know whether the *character* is, e.g., African-American or not.

I agree. I wonder how many viewers of _Bridgerton_ have been left
with the mistaken impression that George III's wife Charlotte was black.

It would hardly be any more inaccurate to cast a black actor as George Washington and white actors as his slaves.
--
Keith F. Lynch - http://keithlynch.net/
Please see http://keithlynch.net/email.html before emailing me.

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On 4/15/25 2:43 AM, Cryptoengineer wrote:

Unless the race of the character is part of the story, I don't
see that it matters. Oddly, in Bridgerton (I only watched the
first season), race is mentioned at least once.

Soprano Kathleen Battle has been noteworthy as Pamina in _The Magic
Flute_. Because of a racial subplot, Pamina is supposed to be white, but
no one really cares. In opera, physical suitability for the role doesn't matter. I've seen a singer who was well over 6 feet tall play a
half-dwarf in Wagner. Heavily built women singing the leading part in
_La Traviata_, a woman who's dying of tuberculosis, have become a
standing joke. I recently heard of a production of _Fidelio_ where
Leonore, who is a woman disguised as a man until the final scene, was
played by a woman who was eight months pregnant.

--
Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com

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On 4/15/2025 3:03 AM, Gary McGath wrote:

On 4/15/25 2:43 AM, Cryptoengineer wrote:

Unless the race of the character is part of the story, I don't
see that it matters. Oddly, in Bridgerton (I only watched the
first season), race is mentioned at least once.

Soprano Kathleen Battle has been noteworthy as Pamina in _The Magic
Flute_. Because of a racial subplot, Pamina is supposed to be white, but
no one really cares. In opera, physical suitability for the role doesn't matter. I've seen a singer who was well over 6 feet tall play a half-
dwarf in Wagner. Heavily built women singing the leading part in _La Traviata_, a woman who's dying of tuberculosis, have become a standing
joke. I recently heard of a production of _Fidelio_ where Leonore, who
is a woman disguised as a man until the final scene, was played by a
woman who was eight months pregnant.

Famously the admonition "it ain't over till the fat lady sings"
references Brunhilde's final song in the Ring Saga. In "reality"
Brunhilde, a Valkyrie and warrior maiden, would not have been fat, her
combined jobs having kept her in shape.

--

Qualified immunity = virtual impunity.

Tim Merrigan

--
This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software.
www.avg.com

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Gary McGath <[email protected]> wrote:

Soprano Kathleen Battle has been noteworthy as Pamina in _The Magic
Flute_. Because of a racial subplot, Pamina is supposed to be white, but
no one really cares. In opera, physical suitability for the role doesn't >matter. I've seen a singer who was well over 6 feet tall play a
half-dwarf in Wagner. Heavily built women singing the leading part in
_La Traviata_, a woman who's dying of tuberculosis, have become a
standing joke. I recently heard of a production of _Fidelio_ where
Leonore, who is a woman disguised as a man until the final scene, was
played by a woman who was eight months pregnant.

Opera is often very silly and is an abstract art form even by the standards
of the theatre where animals are frequently performed by humans in costume
and boys play womens' roles and vice-versa.

But... I could easily see Falstaff played by a women who was eight months pregnant.
--scott

--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

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