<p>Hmm. It seems I can't do simple math late at night. The freshman showcase photo I referred to as being a picture of the class of 2007, is actually the class of 2009. The two A-A students I referred to were freshmen last year and will graduate in 2009, not 2007. Sorry for the mistake.</p>
<p>Thanks for the nice thoughts directed my D's way. Thank goodness, she is not doing any college applications! She went through that 3 years ago. She is a junior at Florida State and is studying in London this semester.</p>
<p>Hey..yes i am bringing back this topic, lol....cause i have a question to ask...Last week when a women from barbados asked me what i wanted to do with my life and i told her MT (broadway)...as usual, she said it was impracticle (i think the people here just dont understand)....oh well....she said it was impracticle and that me as a black girl would not get any roles,and would not be able to make a life career out a it, since the roles for black actresses are decreasing rapidly on broadway....</p>
<p>noww...how true is that? I know that there ahve been quite a number of shows on broadway for black actresses that are no longer on broadway anymore eg. Ragtime,dessa rose, Marine Christine (off- broadway)...but there are also still quite a few shows on broadway that black actresses can be in eg. The colour purple, the lion king, tarzan, wicked, etc.</p>
<p>but are the roles for blacks really decreasing?</p>
<p>Kayla, pleeeaaassseee do NOT listen to naysayers and people who -- for reasons of their own -- set out to be discouraging to talented and lovely young people like you. Follow YOUR dreams and work hard to make them come true.
But be <em>practical</em> and smart about <em>how</em> you pursue your dreams. Study and do well in school. Work hard on your training. Be intelligent about the choices you make.
But whatever you do, don't listen to even well-meaning people who want to stomp on your goals and dreams before you even really get started. That would be a shame.
My unsolicited two cents! :)
L</p>
<p>kayla, being an actor is very definitely an 'impractical' career. I don't think that anyone here, if honest, will deny that. However, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't follow your dreams by studying, training, and giving it your best shot. While it's true that there are fewer roles on Broadway for black actors, there's really no way to determine if "the roles for blacks are really decreasing". You'd have to have a crystal ball to know what shows are on their way to Broadway and to know who was going to be cast in them. Every season approximately forty shows open on Broadway, and forty shows close, with many in both categories.</p>
<p>There are many shows which have roles for black actors, and many other shows which cast black actors in roles which are not traditionally planned for actors of color. The woman who plays Cassie in A Chorus Line is black, her u/s is not. Rent has always had several roles played by black women. Chicago and Hairspray, other long-running shows, are two more. Is it going to be more difficult for an actor of color to be cast? Yes. Does that mean you should give up now? Not if it's something you truly want to do.</p>
<p>Lastly, I will say that, while it's understandable to dream about Broadway, it's a mistake for young actors to set that as their only goal for an acting career. The vast majority of actors in theatre never set foot on a Broadway stage, and even those who are fortunate enough to be cast in a Broadway show, will not be cast in another one. There are theatre opportunities across North America, and around the world, which are available to stage actors. Only a very small percentage of actors will experience Broadway.</p>
<p>Kayla, please please listen to the wisdom of NotMamaRose and AlwaysAMom. Black or white, you will run into many people who will poo poo going into theater as a college major or career choice and say it is impractical. It may not be "practical" but if it is your area of passion and you can't see doing anything else outside of the arts, go for it. </p>
<p>As far as being of color, there are many shows that feature actors of color, even if not as many that feature white actors. Besides those shows that you named, there are shows like AlwaysAMom points out that use colorblind casting and actors of any color are cast in roles not necessarily written to be an African American character. Same with ensemble. Her example of the current cast of Chorus Line is one and same with the new revival of Les Mis. So, there will be opportunities for actors of color in theater and so don't let that stop you. </p>
<p>But AlwaysAMom pointed out something that every prospective college student should realize, Black or White or Asian or Indian....and that is that if your goal is narrowly defined as "Broadway", that is quite unrealistic. Certainly go for it, but in my opinion, a successful actor is one who works as an actor. There are many many realms in which you can get work on stage. Do not limit your sights to Broadway or bust. Even those who have been on Broadway, as she points out, don't always get to do more than one show there. But there are many opportunities for work in theater and so if you make THAT your goal, you can reach it. I believe in you and so you need to believe in yourself and reach for your dreams. There will be naysayers all along the way, as well as many rejections. If you want it, go for it!</p>
<p>Where ever one goes in life there are unfortunate run-ins with people who will scoff at our desires. They can not even begin to see inside your heart or know what makes you tick in that beautiful creative mind of yours. It IS important to keep that in perspective....they just don't know you!! BUT you know yourself...and that is all that is important. Lucky for you...you have a place like this forum to turn to for advice and encouragement. :)</p>
<p>I always like to try to turn the tables on an incident as this. If you can get past this insensitive person's comment than congratulations to you Kayla!! You have just added a new layer of teflon to that thick skin you will need for this road ahead. Chances are great it will not be an easy path...but keep plugging away. I say, bring it on!!</p>
<p>thanks you guys...and yea 5pants, the comment just flew over my head , im not even worrying about it..lol</p>
<p>and yes, i should of corrected myself, i know getting to 'broadway' is a very hard goal...i plan to do theatre where ever and whenever i can, so that it can always be a learning process for me :-) but thanks you guys for the support :-)</p>
<p>Too late to edit my previous post, but I'd like to correct a mistake I made, before anyone else does! :) The character to whom I referred in A Chorus Line is Sheila, not Cassie. My apologies. I should know, I saw the show last week!</p>
<p>Diversity seems to be the goal at most Universities that we have visited, and when visiting U Maryland recently my family attended a fabulous production of "The Piano" a Pulitzer Prize winning play with an all African American cast.
In my white a-- opinion, MT needs more ethnic material. We need more play writes and composers of color. I loved "The Piano" I wish it were a musical!</p>
<p>I direct children's theatre and choose to do color blind plays. Right now I'm directing Annie with an Indian child as the lead. When a director chooses a play, she has to consider her talent pool and weather or not color blind casting would compromise the story that the author intended. PLEASE! Encourage people of color to tell their stories as Musical Plays. Rap music has opened a new door for black musicians, bring on the colorful plays!</p>
<p>When my (blonde hair/blue eyed) daughter played Ariel in Footloose last year in a Community Theater production of Footloose there were some that were surprised that the director chose Ren to be a young black man. They were great together and I never once noticed the color of them as I watched. Being in the south, we thought that there might be some people who would comment after the shows but the director said he heard nothing but positive reaction to it. I think it's great and I hope would love to see more color-blind casting out there. There are so many talented people who want to perform and there are certainly parts that can be considered differently if directors just look beyond the traditional! I like what you are doing with the Indian girl playing Annie, Sarahsmom. Why shouldn't there be one?</p>
<p>My D was in a color blind production of "The Sound of Music" a few years ago, and it was really wonderful. The show was staged to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the school's new theater complex, and SOM had been the first musical ever staged there, so they did an all school production to mark the decade that had passed. Though the girl and boy playing Maria and the Captain were white, the Von Trappe children were played by Asian, black and white children. It was quite lovely.</p>
<p>I believe the play you saw was August Wilson's Piano Lesson, unless there is another play with an AA cast and a very similar name. As for non-traditional casting, I am happy to hear that it is happening more and more in community and school theatre. My AA D was in Fiddler on the Roof, which was a surpirse to us that she was cast. Unfortunately she did stick out as a Russian dancer in one scene and then a bottel dancer a few later.</p>
<p>On Play bill today there is an article about the new Les Miz production which has a very multicultural cast.</p>
<pre><code>It was "The Piano Lesson" and it was beautifully done. The cast was very talented.
A couple of years ago I chose to do a play about Harriet Tubman. The town where I teach has few black famliies and I was concerned about the casting, but decided to go ahead with it. Only one AA child auditioned and we ended up casting two white girls as a young and older Harriet. How do you feel about this? Would you have been offended to see this?
When I am casting dance parts, I choose the best dancers for the parts. A co-director I work with sometimes worries about having someone notice that an actor has been in other scene as another character, but feel that if an actress/dancer is convincing, the audience will over look it. I bet that you and your family were more "aware" than the rest of the group.
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<p>Sarahsmom,
I understand the difficulty of finding AA kids for parts when starting out with productions that need a diverse cast. I think it is great that you are doing plays that have specific parts for AAs since this is the way to encourages many families and kids to take part. When we ahve talked with families about why they do not audition for community theatre, typically they feel they will not be included, so it is when they see directors and the community reaching out they begin to show up. </p>
<p>As for DD in Fiddler. More than being AA, several people commented on her being female and playing male parts (the bottle dancers, I don't think they cared about her playing a Russian dancer). This did up set a few orthodox families, which I guess was a risk the director and choreographer opted to take, but I do understand how this might have been offensive.</p>
<p>My D (who is white) was in a recent production of Fiddler and one of the Russian dancers (bottle and otherwise) was a woman. They just put her hair up, pasted on a fake mustache, and off she went!</p>
<pre><code> We cast girls as boys frequently. I find that girls rarely have an issue it and even ask to play boys, but the opposite is rarely the case. There are always twice or three times as many girls that audition for any given play and I have to say that it bugs me that so many more musicals have twice the MALE parts as female.
Keeping Calm, it truly saddens me to think that ANYONE would be upset over an AA playing a bottle dancer in Fiddler, but I can believe it. Hang in there and tell your D that change is slow, but the diversity IS becoming more and more of a goal for universities around the country. My hope is that as universities become more diverse, so will MT.
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<p>To my mind, the question of using an AA wouldn't be an issue in Fiddler - the issue is using the SAME dancers for both the Jews and the Russians, and using females for either! In a show all about the "TRADITION" - the girls just wouldn't be dancing the part!</p>