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Amas Repertory Theatre: Passing As Black While Becoming White

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Amas Repertory Theatre: Passing As Black While Becoming White AMAS REPERTORY THEATRE: PASSING AS BLACK WHILE BECOMING WHITE by JEAN H. SIDDEN A DISSERTATION Presented to the Department of Theater Arts and the Graduate School of the University of Oregon in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy June 2014 DISSERTATION APPROVAL PAGE Student: Jean H. Sidden Title: Amas Repertory Theatre: Passing as Black While Becoming White This dissertation has been accepted and approved in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in the Department of Theater Arts by: Theresa J. May Chairperson John B. Schmor Core Member Lori Hager Core Member Mark Whalan Institutional Representative and Kimberly Andrews Espy Vice President for Research and Innovation; Dean of the Graduate School Original approval signatures are on file with the University of Oregon Graduate School. Degree awarded June 2014 ii © 2014 Jean Hartley Sidden iii DISSERTATION ABSTRACT Jean H. Sidden Doctor of Philosophy Department of Theater Arts June 2014 Title: Amas Repertory Theatre: Passing as Black While Becoming White Amas Repertory Theatre was founded in 1969 by Rosetta LeNoire, an African American actress who pursued a mission of developing original musicals while practicing interracial casting. The company’s most successful show was Bubbling Brown Sugar (1975). Throughout Amas’s history LeNoire’s complicated perspective on what constituted discrimination sometimes caused her casting choices to be questioned. LeNoire believed in a colorblind theatre and society, however, as the decades passed, her colorblind perspective was challenged by neo-conservative philosophy which states that in a colorblind society no particular group should receive any more privilege than another. This definition of colorblind is used to justify conservative efforts to eliminate affirmative action and undermine race conscious legislation. In the late 1990s, at her retirement, LeNoire, who always believed that color did not matter, turned her theatre over to white leadership, who still operate Amas today. At that point, Amas changed from a company that had, from its founding, been considered to be a black theatre to one that is now white. As the history of Amas unfolds, my study examines the complex politics surrounding the concept of colorblindness. Efforts by Actors’ Equity to promote interracial or, as it is often called, nontraditional casting are also investigated as well as the conservative backlash against race conscious policies, particularly during and after the iv administration of Ronald Reagan. In the present day Amas practices a multicultural mission, however, as my dissertation examines the company’s programming decisions as well as its perspective on race, Amas is revealed to be an example of how white operated theatres, even if unintentionally, through the agency of white power and privilege, are affected by the same institutional racism that permeates American society. My dissertation then challenges Amas and other theatres to take responsibility for staying fully aware of the racially charged issues and tensions that exist in America today. When theatre professionals seek out and are committed to engaging in open dialogue on race they are in a stronger position to make knowledgeable decisions regarding the representation of race on stage. v CURRICULUM VITAE NAME OF AUTHOR: Jean H. Sidden GRADUATE AND UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOLS ATTENDED: University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona Arizona State University, Phoenix, Arizona DEGREES AWARDED: Doctor of Philosophy, Theater Arts, 2014, University of Oregon Master of Arts, Theatre Studies, 2009, University of Arizona Bachelor of Arts, Interdisciplinary Arts and Performance, 2002, Arizona State University AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST: Theatre History Representation of Race Onstage African American Theatre History The Life and Plays of Anton Chekhov Musical Theatre Directing Acting PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Graduate Teaching Fellow, University of Oregon, 2010-2014] Acting I, II, III, History of Theatre I, II, III Graduate Teaching Assistant, University of Arizona, 2007-2009] Introduction to Theatre vi GRANTS, AWARDS, AND HONORS: School of Theatre Arts Graduate Creative Achievement Award, 2008, University of Arizona. Peter Marroney Scholarship, University of Arizona, 2008 Arizona Community Foundation Scholarship, University of Arizona, 2009 Mary L. Ashton Scholarship, University of Arizona, 2008-09 Arnold, Isabelle, and Rupert Marks Graduate Scholarship, University of Oregon, 2011-12 Glen Starlin Research Fellowship, University of Oregon, 2012-2013 vii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I gratefully acknowledge the careful guidance of my dissertation committee Chair, Associate Professor Theresa May, who surprised me with her detail and many questions. Though mightily challenged by my consternation, Dr. May never let go and it is because of her kind persistence my writing is organized, focused and possibly makes sense. Dr. May also recognized the change in direction I took half way through my writing process, supported and encouraged me, and was always excited for my discoveries. I also am grateful for the careful readings and excellent notes and suggestions of other committee members, Associate Professors John Schmor and Lori Hager and Dr. Mark Whalan. I also thank Assistant Professor La Donna Forsgren who enlightened me as to just how much I had to learn on the topic of black theatre. Many thanks also to May Britt Jeremiah in the Theatre Arts Office for all her nurturing care and assistance. Thanks to Tricia Rodley for putting up with my disposition over the course of four years. Believe it or not, it meant a great deal. Best of luck with every single thing you do. viii For Ian and Bridget, always ix TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 1 Maybe It’s Okay? ...................................................................................................... 5 Keeping Rosie Alive .................................................................................................. 10 Debate on Nontraditional Casting: Never-ending ................................................... 14 Scope and Structure .................................................................................................. 20 Terminology ............................................................................................................... 23 Methodology and Scholarship ................................................................................... 25 Why Not a Black Theatre? ........................................................................................ 27 Black Theatre and “black theatre” ............................................................................ 28 II. THE JOURNEY TO AMAS: BACKGROUND AND INFLUENCES THROUGH THE TWENTIETH CENTURY ........................................................... 30 The Harlem or New Negro Renaissance ................................................................... 31 James Hubie “Eubie” Blake and the Beautiful Garden ............................................ 39 Bill “Bojangles” Robinson: The Godfather .............................................................. 47 Harold Burton and Wendell Willkie’s One World Philosophy ................................ 56 Federal Theatre Project .............................................................................................. 63 American Negro Theatre ........................................................................................... 69 Black Arts/Black Nationalism and the Founding of Amas ...................................... 73 III. AMAS IN THE 1970s-1980s: BLACK ARTS, BUBBLING BROWN SUGAR , AND BINGO! ............................................................................................. 81 Brown vs. Board of Education ................................................................................ 84 x Chapter Page Arts Funding Climate 1950s-1970s: American Culture Control ............................. 86 An All Black Hello Dolly! Fighting the Good Fight for Integration ....................... 93 Bubbling Brown Sugar 1975-1977............................................................................ 103 Guys and Dolls : Ghetto-izing Acceptance ................................................................ 109 From Bubbling Brown Sugar ’s Success: No Future Guarantees ............................. 112 Funding Changes in the 1980s: A Temporary Place at the Table ............................ 116 Bingo! (1985): Forgoing Blackness for the Sake of Politics .................................... 123 IV. NONTRADITIONAL CASTING FORMALIZES.................................................. 128 The Non-Traditional Casting Project (NTCP) and the First Non-Traditional Casting Symposium: Integration in All Forms ............................. 130 As the Nation Goes So Goes Nontraditional Casting ............................................... 140 The Rosetta LeNoire Award: What the Union Wants .............................................. 153 Amas Struggles as the Culture Wars Take Their Toll .............................................. 156 The Debate in the Early 1990s and a Multicultural America ................................... 161 The Founder Lets Go ................................................................................................. 168 Towards the Millennium ..........................................................................................
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