When I did casting for Encanta, a shoestring budget of a play, I specified that the characters were Latinx, and there were still a ton of white folks who wanted to audition for it. I made it very clear that it was important for the actorsâ ethnicity to match the charactersâ. Still had a ton of white folks wanting to play the roles. (Thank God for Backstage because if I had to see all those people audition, I wouldâve torn my hair out.)
Casting a show is one of the most important aspects of producing theatre. You may hear stories about companies searching for months and months for just the right person, but thatâs extremely rare. Most productions are on a very tight schedule. There is neither the time nor the budget to waste on dealing with people who are utterly inappropriate for the parts because they think, âWell, Iâm an actor; I can play anything!â
Thatâs why casting notices are so specific about what theyâre looking for. And nine times out of ten, when they say âCaucasianâ (which is the vast majority of speaking and lead roles on Broadwayâthey donât call it the Great White Way for nothing) or âAll-Americanâ or âGirl Next Door,â they are not looking for any people of color no matter how good they are. Yeah, the âwordingâ is less blunt, but if a Black actress showed up for those parts, that would be a waste of time.
Thereâs a reason why it took Viola Davis so long to get to this point in her career, mkay?
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