Casting Our Shows
This week I want to talk about casting.
The Rhymes Over Beats position is that we intend to cast the best actor for the role.
This is not what other theater companies do. Other theater companies cast the best actor for the role based on the breakdown. If the breakdown calls for a male, thirty years old and white, other companies will cast the best white male thirty-year-old actor they can find.
We won’t do this. We will cast the best thirty-year-old male actor we can find. Regardless of the breakdown, it does not matter if the actor is white or black.
Why Are We Practicing “Color-Blind” Casting?
We are doing this for two reasons.
First, unless the play has a contemporary setting, the breakdowns will always specifically say the actor should be white.
In the nineteen thirties for example, there were no Black CEOs, no interracial marriage or siblings of different races – so these characters are assumed to be white.
We don’t feel we must follow this rule any more than when the HAMILTON team felt like it needed to cast a white person as George Washington.
The second reason is to offset the trend where non-white characters are turned white.
This happens all too frequently. I’m not talking about white actors who portray a character of another race, like when John Wayne was cast as Genghis Kahn. Rather, I’m concerned when there’s a case of the original character being non-white in the original source material but then “magically” becoming white in the film or play. The character of Alma in HUD is an example, or the character of Katniss in the Hunger Games.
We Want the Best Actor for the Role
As long as the casting practices I mentioned continue, we will continue to cast the best actor no matter what the breakdown says.
Because casting matters today.
Do you agree? I’d love to know your thoughts.