Diversity in Chicagoland Theaters

This is a link to an NPR story on Diversity in Chicago's theater scene.

http://audio.wbez.org/848/2006/07/848_20060726e.m3u

I think the subject of diversity is even more important in the suburbs. I can't think of a suburban play I've seen recently that wasn't "white-cast."

1) "Our cast reflects the demographics of our area. We're not going to relocate just because we're sick of middle-aged white collars taking the role of Benedick yet again."

It's the mark of a maturing theater when new plays are sought out and produced. Should we be just as zealous about finding more diverse actors?

Do we find someone of another race simply to be diversified, or find the best actor for the role?

I once played in the pit for "Hello Dolly" where Dolly was African-American. She carried the entire show, and did a wonderful job. But this was 1981, when casting decisions like this still raised eyebrows. The mere mention of a black Dolly in an otherwise all-white cast was enough to get a critic from the Trib all the way out to Wheaton. But she was the best person for the job, and the triumph of landing the title role caught up with her and had her in tears at her first curtain call.

Is it a matter of finding more diverse actors, or specifically luring them to come to auditions? Do people of other races not bother to audition, thinking they wouldn't be cast in an "all white" show? I feel that there are a lot more questions to be answered before making the effort to diversify. Like who to target. They might be beaten out by someone better anyway.

Dan Muir

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ August 13, 2006 09:32 AM: Message edited by: The Inspector ]</font>

The greatest enemy of creativity: analysis paralysis - a state of being where the act of pondering a problem snuffs out any pontential action towards a solution.

I think this issue is especailly important in the suburbs where a majority of active community members are white.

So if theater casts from talent in their town, they end up with a show the color of their community.

When Chicagoland grows and a more diverse populous migrates to the suburbs, will our theaters be ready to incorporate that diverse talent? Will our theaters be willing and able to communicate the social integration through their performances?

This diversity doomsday will be a great challenge that each community must deal with.

M.B.

OK, let's attack this a different way.

Audition notices go out in a variety of ways. Any actor with a computer can log onto NICOTH's Callboard, or go to a theater's website. Newspapers such as the Daily Herald list auditions in the Friday Time Out in the Arts Agenda section. PerformInk and the Reader list auditions throughout the area. Anyone looking for auditions shouldn't have any trouble finding them, if they know where to look. And actors will travel 50 miles or more to do a role. So it's not for lack of getting the word out or casting from a theater's community.

So why aren't more people of different races coming to auditions in the suburbs? Maybe it's the lack of roles suited for them. Put out a casting call for Big River or Showboat or Flower Drum Song, and I'll bet they'll show up in droves. Because they know they'll have a better shot at getting cast. Hold auditions for My Fair Lady or A Little Night Music, and you might get a couple intrepid souls. You'd have a better shot with shows like Guys and Dolls, where people of any race could be cast.

I believe there are plenty of theaters willing to diversify if people of other races would just show up. Perhaps our esteemed moderator could shead some light on the percentage of people of other races who come to auditions.

Dan Muir

Dan may be right; that droves of minority actors might show for the right auditions. It would be nice to hear Craig's experience on the typical split in audition turnout. The first thing you have to look at, however, is the decisions on what shows to put on. As has been noted in other forums, things are tight for most companies these days and audiences are down. Many are looking to crowd pleasers that will bring in audiences, more than friends and family! It seems like many of the shows that are considered to appeal to suburban demographics aren't attractive to minority actors. And let's face it, the bigger cast shows, musicals in particular, that would be attractive to a wide range of actors, are expensive, risky these days of diminished audiences. Bigger shows are also limited to a pretty small range of companies' abilities. So, can we assume that these actors are getting the info? Can we assume they just don't want to be in the plays being produced? Can we ask them?

From the standpoint of what I would cast: the most talented person for the role. Period. Diversity of casting doesn't enter into it. I won't refuse to cast someone because they're black -- it also wouldn't be a factor in casting them. The caveat here is: does the role call for a specific physical type where that type is important to the script? I wouldn't cast Denzel Washington as John Wilkes Booth in Assassins any more than I would cast Brian Dennehy as Walter in A Raisin in the Sun. Some things, however well intentioned, are just brainless. But if there isn't a specific reason to cast a certain way (this also takes in age & sex as well), I'm open to just about anything.

As to what I could cast: Auditions for the past five years or so have been so sparsely attended that as long as they're human (and I'm negotiable on that), they're welcome as the flowers that bloom in the spring, tra-la. To answer the question, minority turnout is minimal.

When I cast Rumors, we had a pretty good turnout, and though she had heavy competition, I wound up casting Robyn Daniels because she was damn funny, not because she was black. However, she was cast as Cassie, Glenn's trophy wife, who is hostile to pretty much everyone else in the room. The fact that she was defensive not just for being a trophy wife but because she was different from the crowd in which she found herself gave Cassie a dimension that is usually not present in a not-very-well-written role. Robyn was completely wonderful to work with.

In You Can't Take It With You, I cast Tara Hornbeck as Rheba, the maid, which made me nervous for all the usual White Liberal/Ruthless Director balance problems. I tried to pull back on some of the more dated modes of speech given to Rheba, but Tara embraced the part as written and played it to the hilt. I hope both Robyn & Tara would audition for me in the future.

In both shows, white guys were cast opposite black women. Since these actors were all new to me at the time and I didn't know if I had any KKK members or Farrakhan followers present, I had to very tactfully go to each person in each couple and ask if they had a problem with kissing somebody of a different complexion. NOPE! Nobody had a problem on that score.

Lastly, in You Can't Take It With You, there is some dialogue at the top of Act III where black couple Rheba and Donald are recapping what the Silly White Folks did during intermission. It concludes as follows:

RHEBA: I'm glad I'm colored.
DONALD: Me, too!

We kept the line as written. Tara stared at the obviously white Scott as if he might be making fun of her, then broke into a smile and a hug as she realized that she had somebody so color-blind that he didn't know or care what color he was. I said, "Either we're going to get lynched or it'll be the biggest laugh in the show."

It was the biggest laugh in the show.

Craig

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ August 15, 2006 02:41 PM: Message edited by: Sgt. Bilko ]</font>

I did some theatre for a while for Borealis in Aurora and they would have killed for a more diverse turn out at their auditions. In terms of a diverse community it would be hard to find one moreso than Aurora. Now I have no idea how people in that community viewed Aurora University or the then attached "Borealis Theatre Company" but at that point in time they had basically zip turn out other than Caucasion.
Sad.
And I have the solution!
No. I don't. Just kidding.

I think the comment made earlier that the diversity of the cast usually reflects the diversity of the community is spot on. (That also applies to scripts...which is why theatres in Wrigleyville are awash with plays about white yuppie 20-something angsting over relationships, but I digress.) I worked alot with a community theatre in the burbs that seems to have totally color-blind casting. They've done Shakespeare and British drawing room comedies with a cast of many colors. Maybe that is unusual, but I suspect not. I still think it's more due to actors not auditioning than companies not being willing to cast them.

Quote:

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Originally posted by Cait Cerridwen:
I still think it's more due to actors not auditioning than companies not being willing to cast them.

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<font size="2" face="Times, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">I agree-and I also think that where the audition notices are advertized has a hand in it as well.
I directed a show a few years ago where the audition notices were far reaching and I got actors from all over the suburbs and from Chicago as well-a much more diverse mix than what you usually see advertizing locally.
I like to see a diverse mix of actors at auditions and I like to cast a diverse mix of actors because, well-that's the world. But ultimately my casting choices have to do with who fits each part best.

Quote:

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Originally posted by Mwbrouwer:

This diversity doomsday will be a great challenge that each community must deal with.

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<font size="2" face="Times, Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">But is there really a need for diversity? Are the minorities crying "NO FAIR!"? The talented ones will be and are cast. Directors discriminate over talent, not color. Or should.

Have any of us heard audiences or reviewers dispair over not seeing diversity? I haven't. Nor have I heard exclaimations over a minority actor in an all-white show. Perhaps because it just doesn't matter. I saw a friend in a play in the city where she was the ONLY caucasian, which is what the script called for. It was strange to see, but the tables had been turned; I saw what it was like for other races to cheer on one of their own. But I didn't demand that more caucasians be cast. Wasn't necessary. The rest of the cast was brilliant, and made for a memorable evening.

I once saw a version of "Cat On a Hot Tin Roof" where Big Mama was African-American. It gave an interesting twist to the entire story. However, in the playbill was a disclaimer: "There is no political, racial, cultural, or prejudicially biased reason for the casting of this play." Meaning they cast the most talented people, and it showed.

So, is the doomsday coming? I doubt it. I think it would've been here by now.

Yeah... I think the clearest path to diversity is to not make a big deal out of it.

Make sure that (A) your auditions are well publicized and (B) people know that everybody is welcome. Then you cast the best actors, regardless of ethnic makeup. Saying that you HAVE to integrate your cast is kind of futile if the only ethnicity showing up is Caucasian.

Once we can get to the point where the only thing we notice about a person is their talent, we are diversified.

I doubt many Caucasian* actors regularly audition at Congo Square. I also wonder how many Caucasian, heterosexual actors on this board are regular players at About Face Theater or Real Read?
One thing I?ve noticed, as the years roll by, is that people tend to stay among those with whom they feel comfortable. If few African American actors show up for auditions in Naperville, for example, there are reasons for this which are more complicated than marketing efforts of a theater.
Are people from marginalized groups, such as gay, lesbian, African American, and Latino groups complaining about not being able to audition in these suburban locales? If so, there may be a problem. If not, there probably isn?t enough community presence of that group to make auditioning for a particular theater an attractive option. In time, as demographic maps change, more people from these groups may audition at theaters that are currently have a Caucasian majority.
I think a suburban theater group in a Caucasian-majority neighborhood can advertise for diversity, but shouldn?t be surprised if the turn out is low-to-none. It?s human nature.
I?m very impressed by those exceptions to this rule; those men and women racially are not members of the US majority culture, yet audition for such theater groups, anyway.

(* The meaning of this word, which once only referred to white-skinned people from the Caucasia region, has expanded to designate all white-skinned humans of European, southeast Asian and north African descent.)

I know what you mean about staying in your "comfort zone". I had cast a African American actor in the ensemble of "Our Town"-not because he was African American but because he was good. It took him a while to feel comfortable being the only non-Caucasian person in the production, but that lessened eventually as the "bonding" took place among the cast and crew. I assigned him 2 roles-that of the undertaker and also the roll of the audience member who questions Editor Webb about social problems in Grovers Corners. He asked me if I had given him that particular role because he was black, and I told him yes-because that gave the scene more impact, and he agreed with me.

I tend to speak from experience quite a bit, and this is no exception.

If any theater did "The Sound of Music" and wants to be more diversified, they're doing the wrong show. Maybe that's the trouble with most suburban theaters. Do the right show, and they will come.

It was the early 90s when Naperville's Summer Place staged Big River. I'm guessing when I say that a good half of the cast was African-American. I remember thinking, "Wow! Where did they come from?" Meaning there were so many of them, all excellent actors with beautiful singing voices, that I wondered why I hadn't seen them before. Well, logic tells me that they finally found a show they'd have a good shot at getting cast in. Word got around and apparently the director had no trouble filling those roles.

The same theater, a year before, I was cast in "The Boys Next Door" where one of the mentally-challenged men was African-American. One of the directors of Summer Place put the alert out to one of his former students who came to auditions and ran away with the part. He was one of three African-American men who showed up, but he was the best actor. I saw the same play cast with caucasian actors in that role, because no African-American actors showed up. It wasn't the same.

The same season, SP staged Kismet. I took a friend, who is half-Chinese, to auditions where she had no trouble getting cast as one of the harem and a dancer. She had no stage experience since high school, but she's quite exotic-looking and was cast the same day.

Maybe it's an easy in for any minority actor to snag a role that calls for their particular race, and maybe the competition would be sparce. But when word DOES get out that those roles are available, they have come out. Whether they'll continue to come out will depend on the show. I'd love to do "Five Guys Named Moe", but I'm the wrong color. The cast calls for six African-American men. As much as I'd love to, I wouldn't audition for it.

So how to make your shows more diversified? Do the shows that call for different races. I'd love to see it.

DM

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ August 20, 2006 06:24 PM: Message edited by: The Inspector ]</font>

Ok, now we're getting into murkier territory because we're speaking at cross purposes. What Mark was originally talking about was not the diversity of casting people of different races in shows, period, but in casting people of different races in parts that are normally cast WASPily.

As I said, I'm absolutely in favor of that type of diversity when it isn't harmful to the intentions of the script.

The idea is not that we encourage people to come out for shows in which there are obviously parts for them, but to let them know that we'll cast them when it's not so obvious.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ August 20, 2006 07:32 PM: Message edited by: Sgt. Bilko ]</font>

I'm encouraged by the response this post has received. Dan, I really value your perspective and experience. (Have we met in the theater trenches before?)

?Good art is art that allows you to enter it from a variety of angles and to emerge with a variety of views.? - Mary Schmich quotes

Some very good points were made that there is a great amount of untapped talent in minorities.

How does a theater present itself as an attractive place for minority actors? Producing the right show is key, granted, but what do you think are other factors that welcome or discourage outsiders?

Well, the last posts from Mark, Dan and Craig seem to be a good wrap up and Mark's question is a good one. What can companies do to to attract minorities? You can hope a company's reputation for being a good place to work would include that minorities are welcome, but that's hard to put out effectively until you actually get minorities in a show so they can spread the word. You can cast the best and be colorblind, but if your pool is all white, who knows you're really colorblind. Show selection may be key, but when a theatre's demographic is overwhelmingly monochromatic, the biggest opportunites are when it doesn't make any difference. So you advertise auditions in the usual places, do you add "looking to diversify cast" in hopes of attracting more minority auditioners? Doesn't that seem to promise some minorities will be cast and then you may compromise your 'cast the best' standard. Do quality minority actors want parts where it doesn't make any difference? Do they feel too uncomfortable performing for an all white audience, even if they feel comfortable with the company? Maybe it is better to just concentrate producing good stuff, be open to anyone where the script allows and not worry about it so much unless there is a bigger reaction in the acting community that opportunities for minorities are not fairly available.