Diversity In Theatre

There have been many roles that should have consisted an Asian to play the lead role, but they did not see an appearance. There have been many situations where white actors have won Oscar’s for playing Asian roles. Such as Aline MacMahon playing a yellowface role in Dragon Seed and Linda Hunt for playing as a Chinese Man in the Year of Living Dangerously (Vox, 2016). Although these two movies were in the 1940’s and 1982, this situation still hasn’t changed up to today’s date. In 2010 the Last Airbender casted white actors for their live-action movie for a famous Asian anime. In 2012 Ashton Kutcher played as an Indian for a Popchips commercial. The documentary Hollywood Chinese by Arthur Dong is about how white performers who play Asian roles (Vox, 2016). This documentary mentions how Asians have been treated unfairly in the industry.

August Wilson’s 1996 address entitled “The Ground on Which I Stand”, sparked a vigorous debate in the world of theater over the idea of “colorblind casting” and he presented the need for a Black Theatre. Mr. Wilson was outraged by the fact that of the 66 major companies belonging to the League of Resident Theaters, only one was black. He felt that the supporters of black theatre used their funds to increase black hiring in primarily white theatres as opposed to creating a theatre for the black community. Hw wanted to have more black theaters established to cater to the black actors as well as draw in black audiences. He attacks the increasingly popular trend of “colorblind casting” which basically meant casting black actors in roles traditionally

The article is about black creative production (theater) since the play is directed by African American playwright Richard Wesley. In addition, the predominantly black casts are spectacular and deliver a strong performance. The ability to be multi-skilled in your craft displays creativity and versatility where the actors can utilize their many talents.

In the article review “Race-Conscious Casting …” Lyra D. Monteiro claims that Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton lacks the other parts of history that are important to African Americans. The examples in history that are important to African Americans are when the slaves were free or when they were finally given rights in America, and their involvement and development in the Harlem Renaissance.

Three sources analyze the racial conflicts of white actors playing colored parts, and all agreed that it was not a trivial situation, for audiences, or actors. Racial tensions are very popular with the media. While there is some minor tension today, the movies and plays of Othello top the charts for most racial conflicts. First, The article, “Othello: the role that entices and engages actors of all skin colours,” by Andrew Dickson shows the history of the actors that played Othello, and when the actors were black, they were either not cast, due to segregationists, or were criticized in their performance for the same reason. Also, this article uses diction to convey the seriousness of white vs. minority crisis. Next, the video, “SHAKESPEARE UNCOVERED White Actors Playing Othello” by PBS, shows the performances of many Othello actors that were white. Additionally, the video shows one white actor who used makeup to make himself more than than black. The video uses hyperbole to describe the absurdity of Othello movies. For example, Laurence Olivier, the 1964 Othello was black-top showing how far film industries will go to cover-up racial tensions, and the narrator describes the makeup as ridiculous,and dramatic. Finally, the last article, “Aladdin: putting a white character in Disney’s live-action remake is offensive,” by Hannah Flint displays that film industries feel obligated to please a white audience, keeping the minorities second fiddle by adding characters white people

While theatregoers are generally familiar with the names of such pioneers as George M. Cohan, Irving Berlin and Jerome Kern, the names of their black counterparts - Will Marion Cook, George Walker and Bob Cole, among others - are virtually unknown today. Allen Woll aims to remedy that neglect in this book, offering a thoroughly researched account of the evolution of black musical theatre from the turn of the century to the present day. In his discussion of the careers of Ethel Walters, Eubie Blake and Lena Horne, to name just a few of the luminaries considered here and in his outlines and analyses of "A Trip to Coontown", "Shuffle Along", "Porgy and Bess", "Ain't Misbehavin'", "The Wiz", "Dreamgirls" and dozens of other shows, Woll brings the works vividly to life. "Black Musical Theatre" should become an essential reference and guide for anyone interested in theatre and African American

The national black theater has been here for almost 5 decades and hopefully will still be here even longer after 5 decades. The goal of black theater at the time was to strengthen and heal black communities in Harlem, as well as to tell the ordeals

actually address the historical legacy of slavery, Lin Manuel Miranda’s casting brought light to the misrepresentation of non-whites in media and history. Throughout history, minority races, specifically African-Americans and Hispanics, are often whitewashed into stereotypical themes; thug life, segregation, or the “bad guy”.

From the Ancient Greeks, to the Romans, and all the way to present day New York City, theatre is a tradition that has been passed down for thousands of years. The art of expression through live performance is something that will never go out of style. The history of Broadway is a rollercoaster with flourishing highs and devastating lows, but they both have significantly contributed to shaping the industry into the prosperous business that it is today.

It is not just about winning, or even being nominated, but representation. Clearly, the Latino, Asian, and Native American community do not have the representation they deserve in the media - the roles for other minorities are not there and there is ZERO reason for their absence. Would the Martian, a movie about a fictional space trip to mars, be any different with a Latino? Would the movie Room, another fictional movie based off a book, be any different with a Native American actress? There is no reason to be casting movies with white actors and actresses if it does not matter to the plot, and that is something Hollywood has yet to

Who’s next? It seems that the issue about race in American history never reaches an endpoint. The intersection of race, gender, contradiction has been continually crucial to shape the identity of minority American. As early as the first wave of Asian immigrants, Chinese immigrants, arrived in west coast, Asian Americans was haunted by anti-Asian movement and intense hostility. Foreign Miners’ Tax passed in 1852 was a representative of racial campaign between whites and nonwhites. The requirement of monthly three dollars’ tax intentionally crashed the earliest American Dream of Chinese immigrants who expected to lead a better life in the US. Such Anti-Asian movement was eventually ushered into legalized level. California Supreme Court declared in People v. Hall in 1854 that Chinese migrants were not entitled to testify against the white citizens in US court based on the fact that people, other than whites, could never enjoy the same rights as white Americans. Since then, Asian immigrants were subjected to numerous social and legislative initiatives that specifically targeted them on a racial basis. In David Henry Huang’s semiautobiographical play Yellow Face, he mixed his own memory and fiction to depicting an image of Asian American racial identity. In 1990, Hwang led a group of Asian-Americans to protest the casting of a white British actor as a Eurasian character in the musical Miss Saigon. However, later in his own play Face Value, he mistakenly casted a white actor,

Over the course of approximately one-hundred years there has been a discernible metamorphosis within the realm of African-American cinema. African-Americans have overcome the heavy weight of oppression in forms such as of politics, citizenship and most importantly equal human rights. One of the most evident forms that were withheld from African-Americans came in the structure of the performing arts; specifically film. The common population did not allow blacks to drink from the same water fountain let alone share the same television waves or stage. But over time the strength of the expectant black actors and actresses overwhelmed the majority force to stop blacks from appearing on film. For the longest time the performing arts were

Theses are all very popular sitcoms that show little to none representation for people of color. The television show Girls, created by and starring Lena Dunham, has received many complaints on the fact that there were no people of color in the show when it had first aired, and there are still barely in it today. In the article ‘I’m a White Girl’: Why ‘Girls’ Won’t Ever Overcome Its Racial Problem, written by Judy Berman, Berman states, “Dunham continues to cast non-white actors only when race defines their character.” (Berman). What Berman means by this statement is unless the character’s race has to do with the role they’re playing, you most likely won’t see a person of color in the show. The only times you will probably see a person of a different race would be if their character was either in the background, playing a character that isn’t given a major enough role to even be given a name, or playing a role where they are seen in a negative light, such as a bum in the streets or a racially stereotypical character, such as an angry black man. A research project had been conducted at the University of Southern California to analyze and come to a conclusion as to how diverse Hollywood actually is. The researchers looked over several hundreds of films from the years 2007 to 2014, not including 2011, and studied more than 30,000 characters to reveal how truly diverse films in

In a study of 414 films and television series, only 33 percent of all characters were women, and only 28 percent were of racial minority status (Associated Press). Casting diversely in entertainment has been an issue for years and has recently spawned many controversies such as the 2016 Oscar Controversy where an outrage occurred due to a lack of minority Oscar winners. Many cultures and races fell underrepresented and cast aside by film and television. The entertainment industry should cast more diverse actors because it increases viewership, provides a broader perspective, and creates a more realistic setting.

On its surface, A Chorus Line simply provides little insight to that of what it means to be a performer on Broadway, but what genuinely boosts the show forward are the racial politics of the seventies, which were immersed in ethnic multiculturalism, and reeling from the uprisal of the gay rights movement and the previous decade’s civil rights activism. A Chorus Line imagines a world where everyone inhabits all the traits and abilities they will ever need to succeed in life, a world in which one’s racial or ethnic background would never be something that holds them back from opportunities, but rather something that provides an identity, something to embrace and celebrate. In having created a world where race has no hindrance on the hiring process