ALW Report: "UK Theatre hideously white"

...says the guy whose last shows School of Rock, Stephen Ward, Love Never Dies and Woman in White were all completely white.

Why doesn't ALW overhaul Bombay Dreams or write a show with a predominantly ethnic cast?

ALW'a musicals are hideously overrated

I do think Broadway Theater is more diverse. All 4 Musical Theater Tony Winners were non white. I do feel when Leanne Jones who is a big girl needs to go the voice and has had a lack of roles there is this idea of skinny white people should be the only ones to cast. Diversity is always good . But is 9 shows that have non white ast members good or bad

Indeed! I was nicely surprised that Holiday Inn has a more diverse cast than one might expect- so good colourblind casting there, but then over at Something Rotten the cast is almost blindingly white (currently, I can't speak to previous ensembles etc) so while yes Broadway is doing better at 'musicals that have characters for people of colour' it could still do more across the board. That said, credit for progress.

Likewise West End shows could up both shows about/with POC and ensembles/actors in colourblind roles.

Sure, as soon as "basically anonymous internet commenter on a niche internet discussion board" becomes an actual career where people of all skin tones would like to get involved but the people with the bluest eyes and whitest skin get the lion's share of the opportunities while everyone else is noticeably disadvantaged if not flat out discriminated against.

Did we see the same School of Rock? Because I definitely recall some very prominent non-white actors in that cast.

I've just looked up the Stephen Ward cast and there were non-white actors in that, too.

It makes me wonder if part of the problem isn't so much that non-white actors don't get cast, but that people think of theatre as overwhelmingly white even when non-white actors are cast. I mean, there are so many examples of non-white actors being cast in Shakespeare - and not just as Othello - that the idea that agents don't think to put non-white actors forward for those roles, or that directors don't think they're suitable for them, is ludicrous. And yet that is still the argument being made.



Is the problem here that people don't register non-white actors unless they are the majority of a cast? Even then people seem to have short memories - Bend It Like Beckham, Memphis, Scottsboro Boys, The Colour Purple, Sister Act and Motown are all a lot more recent that Bombay Dreams.

Wait, School of Rock?

I can name several musicals right now who have several (and some predominantly) non-white actors:
*Book of Mormon
*Dreamgirls
*Matilda (some of the child cast and Mrs Phelps)
*The Lion King
*Wicked (Boq)
*Charlie & The Chocolate Factory (Violet Beauregarde)
*Kinky Boots (Lola)
*School of Rock (Patty)
*In The Heights
*Les Miserables
*Thriller Live

I think the West End has improved and is more diverse than it used to be. Sure, there are still many musicals who don't currently, or have never, cast non-white actors as leads and perhaps that can be seen as something to change but I think the West End is doing better than Broadway.

Book of Mormon, Dreamgirls, The Lion Link, Kinky Boots, In The Heights and Thriller Live have roles written specifically for poc, casting non-white actors in those roles is the very minimum they can do, not a glorious achievement.

I think the idea of Les Mis being a great example of cast diversity is hilarious, the male ensemble in particular are one big blur of interchangeable white men. The point is that there needs to be diverse casting outside of roles specifically written for POC, which isn't happening.

Do you need a cuddle and a hot water bottle? 

I was there last Friday

It really wasn't full

And many hadn't paid to be there