[Mb-hair] A Few Questions

[joseph.simon at fandm.edu]

There are plenty of black people in PA, yes.  But, I'm doing a 
student run production.  So, I'm talking specifically about the 
student body on my campus.  Sorry I didn't make that clear earlier, 
so that's where the casting gets tricky.


>joe there are plenty of black people in PA
>also you can have ny or philly auditions for a day etc
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Little Birdie" <lbirdie at hotmail.com>
>To: <mb-hair at islandlists.com>
>Sent: Wednesday, April 13, 2005 11:36 AM
>Subject: RE: [Mb-hair] A Few Questions
>
>
>>  Hi Joe, and welcome to the Hair list.
>>
>>  It would be hard to do a production of Hair without at least a small
>amount
>>  of racial diversity in the cast. I have seen many productions that had
>only
>>  a few people of color in the Tribe, and seen that work, although the
>>  strongest productions are often those with a larger mix. There are songs
>and
>>  lines in Hair that reference racial equality, and this is one of Hair's
>>  messages. Even such simple lines as in Claude's hallucination when a black
>>  man and a white man take each others arms and say "Black and white go nice
>>  together, don't they?" would have to be cut or changed. Not to mention the
>>  song Colored Spade.
>>
>>  Certain roles, and the songs those characters sing, are written
>specifically
>>  to be played by African American actors and actresses, while others are
>not
>>  specified. I have seen success with gender switching in the role of Hud.
>>  Delores Hall understudied that role on Broadway, and was good when she
>>  played it. Hud isn't necessarily a man, but he is most definitely black.
>>  Your problem is not an uncommon one, sadly, and I believe some companies
>>  have tried casting this role with a caucasian actor. I would have a hard
>>  time thinking that could work, but perhaps others here who have struggled
>>  with this situation can tell you more about it than I can, never having
>seen
>>  it done.
>>
>>  There are other ways to fill in your company - perhaps you could open
>>  auditions to faculty and staff? To people outside the school community
>>  because of these special circumstances? I would strongly encourage you to
>>  try and find some ethnic diversity if you are mounting a production of
>Hair.
>>
>>  I am not sure what you are asking in your last paragraph, when you speak
>of
>>  vocal or gender switching. Do you mean to solve this problem, or in the
>show
>>  in general?
>>
>>  Nina
>>  The Hair Archives
>>  http://www.michaelbutler.com/hair/holding/Hair.html
>>
>>
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>
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-- 
Joseph Simon

"It is not in the stars to hold our destiny, but in ourselves."
				-Shakespeare