Among the theatre today's day there is always the question raised if the production will change the tradition and not use the "normal" casting of a woman for a woman's role or a man for a man's role. However would that technically even be considered normal casting, especially since in the times before King Charles II when women were not even allowed to be onstage? There is also the topic of color-blind casting as well now. I personally think that today we live in a society where if the script does not deal with a certain issue that the asked for race or gender is necessary then the role should go to the best actor or actress. An example was Romeo and Juliet starring Orlando Bloom and Condola Rashad on Broadway this past winter. This was the perfect example of non-traditional casting yet still keeping some of it traditional. It still had the issues amongst the families but also adding that underlying battle of racial issues that still follow us to this day.
Another example of non-traditional casting, from today’s perspective, would be the all-male productions of Twelfth Night and Richard III in rep on Broadway. With only men playing female roles it takes us back to the times when women weren’t allowed onstage but it also presents the lost art form of men to be able to portray women. There are always those issues of if these were worth it and did it accomplish what it needed to, and I think both productions have.
FUNDING
There is practically zero funding when it comes to educational theatre programs. Most of the money go towards sports and more sports. Not that I have anything against sports or anything, but I’d much rather pay to see art than to see people beating each other up on a field. With that aside, we still can have successful productions even without the sufficient amount of money for fancy costumes or huge sets because of a lovely thing called an imagination. The funding in our department usually levels out to the musicals and the bigger productions taking pretty much a huge amount of our funding and the smaller shows getting practically nothing, and we still can achieve what needs to get done without any money except the money necessary to pay for the rights! Comparing the production values (not the actual productions) of our main stage productions and our showcase shows, there is a huge difference on paper but visually, both look as if loads of money went towards each show. We can conclude by saying money is a huge issue and that we don’t have enough, but I think if there is a will and an imagination, then that’s where art comes with what one can create out of nothing.
TAKING THE Art OUT OF THE ARTS
There is a huge difference between making art for the sake of art and making art for the profit. What one sees a lot of on Broadway and with big budget films nowadays is a lot of the influence of commercialism amongst these “works of art.” For example, shows such as Wicked, Rock of Ages, and American Idiot are just the select few that take famous music and use it to create musicals utilizing famous songs to attract audiences to listen. On Broadway, they are missing that edge of individuality and creativity that used to be prevalent and are focused more on ticket sales and attracting a lot of people.
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| Amerincan Idiot the Musical |
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| Rock of Ages the Musical |
There have been, as of
late, a surplus amount of celebrities and film stars on Broadway attracting
crowds of people from everywhere to come and support. From Daniel Radcliffe on
stage as J. Pierrepont Finch, to Orlando Bloom as Romeo, and Jude Law as Hamlet
and many more, there has been a great success of attaining those film stars to
come to the stage. I know a lot of producers see dollar signs when they see
those stars as those roles but that doesn’t mean they were the best fits. I
think there is a limit to casting strictly famous film stars as leads that
work, such as Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan in their 2 shows in Rep. There
is artistry when you have the correct people cast in the roles and then there
is celebrities as stars of the shows for the sake of commercialism.
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| How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying |
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| No Man's Land |
COMPETITION WITH OTHER MEDIA
With other forms of
media now, there is the slight pull away from live theatre and more of a draw
to movie watching and listening to the music on the radio. Film adaptations of
Broadway musicals have made it accessible for people to see them, but that
method could either hurt the Broadway industry or help them. Shrek: the Musical had a performance
filmed and then it was released to see. To me, I think it helps the industry to
show the beauty of Broadway, but it seems like a lot of people are shying away
from the stage versions and would rather wait for the film adaptations before
they would see the musical or the play. Like August: Osage County is a good example of people not knowing about
the play until it was adapted for film.
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| Stage adaptation of August: Osage County |
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| Film Adaptation of August: Osage County |
