Casting diversity seems more and more common in recent years- which I think is fantastic. I am working on a HS production of Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella- and I remember when the Brandy/Whitney/Whoopi version came out when my D was little- I loved the colorblind casting, it adds interest.
In terms of diversity at auditions, I may not have seen much of it but I am of South Asian/Indian descent myself, and I did see a few African Americans, Latinos and Oriental Asians, especially at Chicago Unifieds. I won’t lie, walking into auditions was like walking into a sea of vanilla ice cream, but there were consistently chocolate chips (some lighter/darker than others) at every audition I’ve been to 
Campus diversity was a big factor in that S pretty much threw out any school that didn’t have a reasonably diverse student body from the get-go. My straight, white, upper-middle class kids go to an incredibly diverse (in just about every way) high school. They would feel weird in any other environment!
Yes @Roro101, I agree. We were at Chicago Unified’s and there were sprinkles of color mixed in.
To @soozievt point, outside of college non traditional casting seems to be in right now. I hope it continues on that trajectory. It may encourage more young people and their parents to get involved, even if it’s not culturally the norm for them.
I actually asked one of the program directors at Chicago Unifieds, on behalf of a student who couldn’t attend an information session, about the diversity at his school. His response was that he estimated the student body in his program was probably about 80-90% white, and then said, “look at the pool of kids auditioning at unifieds, they probably reflect the pool of students who are auditioning for most of these programs, and therefore the kids who get admitted.” Interesting to me, my D, and our friend. They are from an urban school where my blond child is actually a minority. The sea of white blonds at Chicago was definitely an eye opener, and there is no advantage to being a type that is a dime a dozen. It will be interesting to see where my urban kid lands, I hope that small programs within large schools will still have a diverse student body, agree with CrashCourseMom, a student body that isn’t diverse, in every way, will be a huge adjustment for my D.
Like @soozievt 's daughter, I come from a very very “vanilla” area where I am a religious minority as a Jew! People have no clue about race in my high school, though they are very accepting. I also have seen very few ethnic minorities at auditions! There were maybe two Asian girls at NY Unifieds? I’m about ready to go to a school with a ton of diversity.
I’ve said it before, and without any facts to support it believe it to be true, that college auditions are seasonal castings. Artistic teams know what shows they like/want to produce and they bring in actors to fill the role. That may help to explain why super talented performer X got into highly selective ABC school but didn’t get in to much lesser known XYZ school. In regards to casting…Most auditions in the real world are color blind except when casting “black roles”. West side story, the king and I, miss saigon, etc have notices like…multicultural actors encouraged to apply. Nevertheless I have seen many tours and professional productions where those shows are cast color blind even though race is integral to the production. Now I’m not debating that roles of color go to a person of color, but just stating a fact that it doesn’t occur universally. I agree that you can not feasibly launch a production of ragtime without the racial diversity to support it. But how many times have you seen west wide story where the sharks were a hybrid mix of dark haired/wigged non-latinos?
Maybe just like with college auditions its a supply and demand predicament.
I’m loving your commentary, @Sguti40 and fully agree with it!
@IfYouOnlyKnew, wouldn’t it be nice for an URM to not have to worry about those things? Hopefully, this will become less and less of an issue as diversity within theatre departments increase all around.
@Sguti40, I have to respectfully disagree. I cannot imagine a college program - whose goal it is to produce Broadway stars, if at all possible, or at least working, successful actors - would use up one of their few slots on a person b/c of one show they want to do. First and foremost, these schools take students who they think are talented/nice/driven enough to make it. Perhaps, if they are deciding between a 6’ tall brunette and a 4’10" Asian who are EQUALLY talented, they may go with the 4’10" Asian if they are doing Chorus Line the next year. But I think talent and potential always come first. The reason I think some super talented performers get into a selective school and not a lesser known school probably has to do with yield. Here’s my theory. The uber talented kids will get in everywhere (or virtually everywhere), even though the lesser known schools KNOW they don’t stand much of a chance getting these kids to come to their school. But they don’t want to NOT offer these kids a slot, on the small chance that the kid will say yes for whatever reason. The talented kids will get into some really top notch schools, but not some lesser known schools, b/c the lesser known schools don’t want to “waste” a slot on someone they are pretty sure is going to go somewhere else. And remember, many of these schools (like UMich) know where the kids are applying…some (like Ithaca) even know the kid’s order of preference of schools (assuming the kids tell the truth when asked).
As for diversity, my D’s program is pretty diverse given the pool of applicants from which the school had to select. The vast majority who apply are white girls. Her school puts on shows like Fires in the Mirror, Anna in the Tropics, and Good Person of Schezuan, and they are cast pretty much color blind. This spring they are doing You Can’t Take it With You, and the role of Donald (the black butler) is being played by a Caucasian boy. And it’s not because we don’t have black boys…a few years ago, a black girl played the role of Melchior’s mother in Spring Awakening (Melchior was played by a Caucasian boy). I guess what I’m trying to say is, it’s school. It’s training. College performances are for the kids to learn. And color blind casting is just fine, which I think is awesome.
I also think that color blind casting in certain situations is happening on Broadway and elsewhere, which is great. Look at Cinderella, Phantom, and a host of other shows that cast color blind. That being said, I think there is an ADVANTAGE to being a minority in this business, b/c there will always be shows that would be more difficult to do color blind, like Hairspray, West Side Story, Book of Mormon, Scottsboro Boys, In the Heights, Miss Saigon, Dreamgirls, etc. And because there is always a need for minorities, and fewer of them go into this business than Caucasians, schools will be thrilled to see them at auditions. And so will summer stocks. And, so will Broadway.
My daughter grew up in a rural, albeit very very liberal, mostly white, part of New England. Then she trained at Stagedoor and ArtsBridge where most of the kids were pretty (some extremely) well off. She very much wanted a school with more ethnic, socio-economic, and cultural diversity. It was definitely a factor in her decision-making.
@monkey13 - I sat through multiple presentations at auditions last year where the dept head, or whomever was giving the talk, spoke about the idea that they were casting an ensemble to work together over the next four years, and they would specifically be seeking diversity in types. (with the grain of salt being that “diverse” still means good looking and crazy talented) As we prepped for D’s audition season, one of the things I sweated big time was audition order and timing. If you are a pretty blond girl (like my D) they are going to see a million of you. If you go too soon are you forgotten? If you go too late, do they already have one like you they plan to admit?
It would not seem strange to think that college directors have lists of shows they would “like to do” in their heads- I know for a fact that high school and youth theater directors do (because I am one of them, and I talk to lots of them). And If I have been dying to do Miss Saigon- and a younger version of Lea Salonga comes in… (though to be fair, Lea’s voice stands on it’s own- and she has played lots of roles not written for Asians, I am just saying you need a specific type to carry that show authentically) Anybody else remember when there was a big fat stink b/c Jonathan Pryce was playing the engineer and he is NOT Asian? (or half Asian, which is what the role is supposed to be)
As I have said before, I love that schools and professional theaters are doing more and more color blind casting. But I also think they want to make sure there is diversity in the group as well
monkey13 wrote about what I was thinking too but didn’t post. But since she did, I will too!
I don’t think college admissions auditions are about casting their shows for the next four years. First, I think colleges want kids who will thrive in their program and the training most of all, and that this matters more than casting shows. Second, I don’t think their show selections for the next 4 years is determined (though may be for the upcoming season). Third, this would get very complicated if they were using college admissions auditions to pre-cast shows the next four years because the configuration of their student body will vary as each class graduates and so every year the student body is not the same entire group. If they did what is suggested in other posts, they’d have to figure out which kids would still be at the school for each of the coming four years. Yikes. Fourth, in many schools, freshmen cannot be in productions and so that implies they would already have figured out shows two seasons from now.
What I DO think is that some colleges (not all), value diversity in the make up of their student body and in their MT program for lots of reasons. But when it comes to casting, sure, it would be beneficial to have all sorts of types of students, no matter which shows are selected down the line.
I think URM have an extra boost when it comes to admissions.
When it comes to professional casting, there is a need for minorities in general, but also there is more color blind casting than ever. So many Broadway, National Tour and Off Broadway playbills I have seen include minorities in their casting. I don’t think being a minority will hurt in the overall scheme of things, though I am sure it can come into play in casting for particular roles or types, depending on producers and casting folks, and so there’s that possibility in certain situations.
I think the only schools that might do this are ones that guarantee casting of their BFA students so they have to make sure they have the right ensemble for their shows. Otherwise I think it doesn’t happen.
I know one program in particular that has been looking for an older, sophisticated look for the past few years, and another that looks for an older, “edgy” look. So, in that way, they are accepting or denying people based on looks and their vision of what their students will look like in the next years. Obviously, this isn’t directly related to racial diversity, but it is a form of diversity–or lack thereof–and it clearly supports the fact that there are programs that accept people based on looks, not just talent.
Since there are programs that do this, it’s not hard for me to believe that there are those who consider their upcoming shows when accepting/denying people. In fact, one of the people that I know in the college program industry says this happens, sometimes even at the highly regarded program with which this person is connected.
let me be clear- I don’t think schools accept people to precast their shows. In fact, I think in many cases they are looking for a broad range to give themselves the most options. But they do talk about how they are looking for a “company” - meaning they don’t need 10 blonde girls and 10 blonde guys (or any other variation - they want a mix).
But I do think if a college has a plan to do Ragtime or Hairspray or Scottsboro Boys (b/c race is a plot point in those shows it is hard to imagine color blind casting) in the next year or two they would have their eye out for people who would work.
I think the smaller the program, the more this MIGHT play into the process. Not saying it does, just that it could if you only had say 40-50 people total in the program at any given time. (certainly a possibility when there are schools that take 12 or less)
Which kind of brings you back to the chicken/egg question, @myloves. Were some of these kids just so darned talented and good-looking that they would have succeeded anywhere, even right out of the box possibly without even going to school? Shoot, if I were running a program those are the kids I would want, so I could take credit. 
But would I reject those kids to protect my yield? That’s also a long-argued question. But I agree that, as much as most schools prefer to have some type-diversity, they are probably not accepting people specifically to cast shows they’ve got lined up. It’s more likely they pick the shows based loosely on what they know they have. Of course what do I know, really.
I think casting is a consideration and certainly type is a consideration, but more to build a class that offers the most flexibility so that as many types are available when casting is done at a later time. Personally I do not think programs know what they are casting for years in advance. For one thing, the rights to produce shows are only available months in advance, not years in advance. They certainly do not know years in advance whether a show like On the 20th Century would be headed to broadway–or whether a national tour will be in their neighborhood.
And then there are the schools like BoCo (there are others, but I’m just throwing that one out there as an example) that are not rolling, accept everyone at once, accept 3X as many kids as will end up there, and they have NO idea which third that will be. In September there could be many multiples of a particular type showing up, or none.
but that is a “larger” program - so at any given time there are several hundred students studying there, which mean they automatically have more choices. I guess I was thinking of CMU earlier, If you have 24ish per grade, (when you combine acting and MT b/c I know the crossover) and you can only perform junior senior year, and you have guaranteed casting,…