Gradient: On Tuesday, producers of the hit Broadway show Hamilton put out a casting notice calling for “non-white” rapping actors to audition for the show’s principal roles. Civil rights attorney Randolph McLaughlin of the Newman Ferrara Law Firm attacked the notice, saying it violated the city’s anti-discrimination law which forbids hiring based on race. The Actor’s Equity Association supported McLaughlin, stating that the notice is inconsistent with Equity’s policy of encouraging all actors to apply.
3 comments:
I think this article does a great job of explaining why the buzz created by the Hamilton casting call was an overreaction. The fact that casting calls not specifically mentioning race are usually assumed to be looking for white actors is a pretty good starting point for why producers would list that they were looking for people of color on their casting call. I do think that the Hamilton team could have been more careful with their wording, however, as they probably could have avoided some of this drama if they had posted their revised statement in the first place. Even better, listing that they are looking for “actors, specifically people of color” would be better than “looking for non-white actors” since the phrasing implies preference instead of exclusion. The way things are worded has a big impact on how people will react.
I also really appreciated the author’s analysis of Hamilton’s success, specifically: “One of the reasons why Hamilton is so successful is because it upsets this cycle and exposes its folly.” (The folly being that black actors in traditionally white roles will result in a disconnect for audiences.) The show was written and conceived to have actors of color in the primary roles, so it makes sense for future productions to follow the same model.
I saw the uproar over the casting call on facebook. Until reading this, the outrage just seemed ridiculous. Of course they're looking for non-white actors, it's "Hamilton". It's like saying that the "Color Purple" should have a white cast or that someone should do a production of the "Mikado" with mostly white actors. It doesn't fit with the show and it would take away one of the few shows on Broadway that will cast (actually, want to cast) actors of color in any role. As the article says, a white actor is likely to be cast in any show, while an actor of color has far fewer options. This is something that has been in common conversation for a year now. After #Oscarssowhite it should be obvious that more shows need to call for, and cast, people of color. Casting calls like this shouldn't be unexpected at this day and age. The only viable reason for being mad about the casting call, and this was mentioned in the article, is the fact that it broke an anti-discrimination law. This was just a wording issue though. Big woop, get over it already.
The entire uproar about this casting call post was ridiculous and a misunderstanding. We all know that there are certain shows that cannot have white people cast in non-white roles. Hamilton is no exception. This attorney was making a mountain out of a mole hill when he brought this to the press. I understand that the wording of this post could have been taken the wrong way, but, honestly, people who take it the wrong way have many more issues to deal with. I agree with article that white casting is obvious and abundant. Besides the fact that there should be more colorblind casting in this industry, Hamilton is making great strides to break the norm. Anyone who takes issue with that has their own issues, and need to be less self-centered. We should be celebrating casting that is not all white, not making issues about the wording.
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