EYES ON BROADWAY

UPSTATE NEW YORK THEATRES GRAPPLE WITH DIVERSITY

by Kelundra Smith

s professional regional theaters lent on Broadway, with musicals and in Upstate New York prepared dramas including Suzan-Lori Parks’s Afor the 2012/2013 season, many adaptation of Porgy and Bess, starring artistic directors had their eyes on Broad- Audra MacDonald; A Streetcar Named way to determine which way the pendu- Desire, featuring and lum would swing. According to Theater Nicole Ari Parker; Sister Act, the Mu- Communications Group, the umbrella sical, with Whoopi Goldberg; plus the organization for professional regional musical Fela! written, directed and cho- theaters, most theaters make their season reographed by Bill T. Jones and pro- decisions based on Tony Award nomina- duced by Jay-Z, Will Smith and Jada tions and wins. For instance, Good Peo- Pinkett-Smith. Ed Sayles, artistic direc- ple by David Lindsay-Abaire was nomi- tor of Merry-Go-Round Playhouse in nated for a 2011 Tony Award for Best Auburn, New York says that African Play, and is the most performed play of American music has always been on the 2012/2013 season. John Logan’s Red Broadway starting with Porgy and Bess

won the Tony Award for Best Play in and moving on to Hello Dolly! starring T. Charles Erickson 2010 and was the most performed play in Pearl Bailey and Ain’t Misbehavin’ after the 2011/2012 season. a long gap. [Editor’s note: African This practice is justified by Peter American musicals have been on Flynn, former artistic director of Hangar Broadway since the turn-of-the twentieth Theatre in Ithaca, New York. “I feel like century—The Sons of Ham (1899) and In I have an opportunity as well as a re- Dahomey (1903) with the immensely tal- sponsibility to present a to community ented Bert Williams and George Walker, that is four and a half hours away from The Red Moon by Bob Cole and J. Roderick Covington as Oshoosi and really quality, entertain- Rosamond (1909), and Shuffle Along Sam Encarnación as Elegba in Syra- ing, successful theater,” he states. “So in (1921), Eubie Blake’s big hit, to name a cuse Stage’s production of The Broth- bringing a popular name from Broadway few. Then, as now, White producers ers Size by Tarell Alvin McCraney. I’m saying ‘Here’s what’s going on and became interested in Black musical work upper-class Black family that come into what’s popular and I’d like you to know for the reason mentioned by Sayles play while they are in their vacation what that is.’” below.] Sayles says producers started to home on Martha’s Vineyard. It is a rare In 2011/12 plays with Black protago- see that they could make money off of occasion for a Black director to have two nists and/or all-Black casts were preva- on Broadway, which shows on Broadway running concurrent- is why shows such as The Color Purple ly, something that probably has not hap- and Memphis exist now. pened since ’ simultane- Kelundra Smith is a freelance arts jour- Director Kenny Leon, who is also ous productions of ’s nalist and currently the public relations artistic director of True Colors Theatre in and Joe Turner’s Come and Gone manager at Syracuse Stage in Syracuse, , had two plays on Broadway last in the 1980s. However Leon’s achieve- NY. She is a graduate of the Goldring season: by Katori Hall ment has been scarcely acknowledged Arts Journalism master’s program at and Stick Fly by Lydia Diamond, with by mainstream media. Is this a sign of Syracuse University, and wrote this arti- musical composition by Alicia Keys. progress that his Blackness no longer cle during her time there. Her work can The Mountaintop is about the last night matters? Is this the Obama effect, where also be seen on BroadwayWorld.com of Martin Luther King Jr.’s life with a since we have a biracial President, other and in the The Charleston Post & supernatural interpretation of King’s Black achievements do not matter? Or is Courier, The Society of Stage Directors coming to grips with his impending it simply that no one cares? and Choreographers Journal, and other death. Stick Fly is a soap opera-esque regional publications. comedy about the secrets and lies of an (continued on page 8)

Spring 2012 Black Masks 71 Regional Theater... (continued from page 7)

Right now, there are no Black plays or musicals on Broadway, and the pros- pects for 2013 are dim. Motown, the musical written by Berry Gordy and di- rected by Charles Randolph-Wright, and a new version of Horton Foote’s The Trip to Bountiful, starring Cicely Tyson are due on Broadway in spring 2013. Mu- sicals about Nelson Mandela and Ray Charles are in development, as well as a

musical adaptation of the film The Nutty Joe Schuyler Professor, but the expected dates have not been released. The trickledown effect of fewer shows featuring actors of color on Broadway leads to fewer opportunities for Black actors to go on Equity audi- (l. to r.) Jeannie Jones as Black Pearl, a prisoner whose voice and knowledge of tions and therefore receive Equity roles Black slave songs capture the attention of Susannah Mullahy, a Library of in professional regional theaters. Despite Congress ethnomusicologist played by Jessica Wortham in Capital Repertory’s some forays into non-traditional casting production of Black Pearl Sings. by some theaters, an article titled “Color- blind Casting or Color Consciousness?” Parker (Showtime’s Soul Food) and which are separate issues in themselves. written by Dominique Morisseau on The (The Wire). These numbers account for working Public Theater’s blog recently incited a Since many theaters also employ Equity actors and stage managers, but do lot of discussion about opportunities for directors of color when they stage their not account for the 20 percent of mem- actors of color. Morisseau wrote that one Black play, this means opportunities bers who choose to withhold their racial “there is an unspoken rule in the theater are also limited for Black directors. In a identities altogether. that no one is talking about. Character Q & A by Gretchen Michelfeld in the Still, if the usual patterns held, with descriptions in plays, which may eventu- November/December 2011 newsletter of all the Broadway Black productions in ally be shared in casting breakdowns, are The Stage Directors and Choreographers the previous season, the 2012/13 region- coding a tone of racial inequality in the Society (the professional union for direc- al seasons should be teeming with Black theater. Unless race is specified, we ac- tors and choreographers working on shows and opportunities for Black actors tors of color (yes, I am also one of them) Broadway and in professional regional and crews. But, Black stage profession- know that we are most likely not going theaters in the US), Sharon Jensen, exec- als are haunted by the number one. to be seriously considered for the role, utive director of the Alliance for Inclu- That’s the number of plays with African because ‘no’ racial specification usually sion in the Arts, said: “The issue is also American casts that appear in the sea- translates to ‘[W]hite.’” what messages we send about who sons of most professional regional the- Another barrier for Black actors is counts, about what stories deserve to be aters. The plays are usually by Lorraine the tendency to cast celebrity on Broad- told….If the purpose of the theater is to Hansberry () or Au- way. The Mountaintop starred Samuel L. illuminate the capacity of the human gust Wilson (Fences, , Jackson, who is sixty-three, as a thirty- spirit, the theater (of all places) is a place Jitney), or maybe George C. Wolfe (The nine-year-old Martin Luther King Jr. and to include and reflect the full spectrum Colored Museum). Angela Bassett, fifty-three, as the young and dimension of humanity.” There are some exceptions to the rule maid in his Memphis hotel room. Stick The lack of representation is addi- of “one.” Geva Theatre in Rochester Fly starred Mekhi Phifer (ER), Dulé Hill tionally problematic because it desig- staged A Raisin in the Sun and Superior (Psych), Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Amer- nates the arts, specifically stage direct- Donuts by Tracy Letts in its 2011/12 sea- ican Gangster) and Tracie Thoms (Rent), ing, acting and writing, as being a pro- son. Syracuse Stage produced Tony although the standout performance was fession reserved for White people. Ac- Kushner’s Caroline, or Change and The by the youngest and lesser known cording to the 2010/2011 Actors’ Equi-ty Brothers Size by Tarell Alvin McCraney Condola Rashad, daughter of Phylicia annual report, 7.3 percent of members in their 2011/12 season. Capital Rep in Rashad (Clair Huxtable on The Cosby identify as African American, while 84.6 Albany staged three Black-themed pro- Show). Likewise, A Streetcar Named De- percent identify as Caucasian. The num- ductions: Uptown Downtown, Leslie Ug- sire starred Blair Underwood (The New bers are even less for Latino and Asian Adventures of Old Christine), Nicole Ari representation in American theater, (continued on page13)

8 Black Masks Spring 2012 1 Regional Theater... Theatre on Broadway last April. Syra- Black talent on stage or behind the (continued from page 8) cuse Stage and Hangar Theatre also con- scenes. When Sayles is casting, he says sidered Stick Fly, just as Capital Rep he has always looked for the best voices, considered The Mountaintop, but decid- regardless of race, even before non-tradi- gams’s one-woman show, Frank Hig- ed otherwise. Thus, only one of the plays tional casting was popular. Sayles casts gins’s Black Pearl Sings, and Tracy scheduled to be produced in 2012/13 is out of Upstate New York, Memphis, Letts’s Superior Donuts in their 2011/12 by a living Black playwright, Nilaja Sun. , as well as New York City, where season. However, of all these plays only Regional theater producers also look the most racially diverse auditions occur. two were written by Black playwrights, to new plays or rarely produced play- Likewise, Flynn holds auditions in and only one, The Brothers Size, by a liv- wrights to infuse diverse themes into Ithaca, NYC, Washington DC, Pitts- ing Black playwright. Moreover, Hangar their seasons. Says Sayles, “We are start- burgh, Sarasota, FL and Elon University Theatre in Ithaca and Merry-Go-Round ing a Finger Lakes Musical Festival; we in North Carolina. He also contracts Playhouse in the Finger Lakes region will be previewing twenty brand new many designers from Los Angeles and shows. Each week two artists will be Washington DC. coming in to present a sketched out idea Professional regional theaters are by for a new musical. There’s a musical no means the blame for lack of diversity about the Civil War I really want to take in American theater. Cultural attitudes a look at.” Hangar Theatre also has a about the arts, socio-economic status and Pilot Reading Series where playwrights education are also large factors in this, are paired with Hangar alumni in NYC and warrant separate articles. However, to workshop plays. Afterwards, there is a when business as usual is not working— reading and talkback session with an which it evidently is not because theaters invited audience and the board. The hope are still talking about diversifying their T. Charles Erickson T. is to develop new work so it can be pro- audience demographics—having only duced on the main stage. Seeking new one play seems like obvious audience Gabrielle Porter (Radio 3), Christina work is especially important for regional pandering, suggesting that Black people Acosta Robinson (Radio 2) and Cait- theater artistic directors because shows are only welcome at the theater when lainne Rose Gurreri (Radio 1) in Syra- often disappear just as quickly as they certain plays are on stage. cuse Stage’s production of Tony Kush- appear on the Great White Way, but The lack of color on the stage is ner’s Caroline, or Change. regional theaters need to serve their com- reflected in the make-up of regional the- munities continually. ater audiences, with most patrons being (both summer stock theaters) did not All of the artistic directors expressed older, White and middle class, some- produce any plays with Black protago- the opinion that diversity is important to nists or by Black playwrights in the 2011 them and that there is no shortage of or 2012 seasons. (continued on page 14) The 2012/2013 season does not look Séamus Gailor (Noah Gellman) and Greta Oglesby (Caroline) against (set much different. Capital Rep is staging designer’s? backdrop in Caroline, or Change. Race, written by David Mamet, a deci- sion made based on the play’s appeal to twenty-to-thirty year old theatergoers as revealed by a staged reading that the the- ater held in the fall. It is also producing Ella by Rob Ruggiero, Dyke Garrison, and Jeffrey Hatcher. Geva Theatre is staging Matthew Lopez’s The Whipping Man and No Child by Nilaja Sun. Syracuse Stage is producing August Wilson’s Two Trains Running and the world premiere of Cry for Peace: Voices from the Congo, a play derived from Syracuse’s Congolese refugee communi- T. Charles Erickson ty, written by Ping Chong and Kyle Bass, with Sara Zatz. Other plays were under considera- tion. Both Capital Rep and Syracuse Stage considered Bruce Norris’s Cly- bourne Park, a modern sequel to A Rai- sin in the Sun that opened at Walter Kerr

Spring 2012 Black Masks 131 Regional Theater... consider a play, but he is not driven by ple from minority neighborhoods that (continued from page 13) the Broadway cache because they pro- are subscribers.” She adds, “How we duce for a commercial profit and region- turn this around is something artistic al theaters are connected to a mission in directors want to do....We are in our thing something Maggie Cahill says has their communities. He notes, though, neighborhoods. We are in our urban been a part of the conversation for the that having a successful connection to communities. We want to be a part of the past fifteen years. “I think people like Broadway helps with the marketing. urban landscape.” Some of the artistic directors believe The issue of whether the reason race that marketing Black plays is difficult is still a part of the conversation in such because there is a historical lack of sup- a socio-politically progressive art form port for work by artists of color. Others as theater is because too many people are believe it is not. When Syracuse Stage not seeing their relationships with their produced Crowns, a musical about the identities encompassed on stage. So the legacy of hats in the Black church, they conversation continues both on Broad- sent a photographer to do a photo exhib- way and in the regional theaters about it of church ladies in fancy hats for the the constant struggle to create a more theater lobby so people could see them- inclusive theater culture for Black artists selves in the theater. Capital Rep, how- and audiences. It will take consensus ever, has a similar, but less successful from the theater community to push Joe Schuyler story of offering discount tickets and Black theater artists out of February, reaching out to Black churches and so- Black History month, and into the main- rorities to promote Crowns. On the other stream canon. Part of this is changing the In Capital Rep’s production of Tracy hand, Sayles believes having music in mentality that producing plays by and Letts’ Superior Donuts, two bagmen his shows places him at a marketing ad- with Black artists implies a racial context Flynn (Patrick White) and Magee vantage, versus straight dramas, which that makes the production not relatable (Cornelius Gearney Jr.) shakedown rarely go on tour. is one of to the mainstream. Non-traditional cast- donut shop employee Franco Wicks Merry-Go-Round’s biggest sellers, and ing and producing new plays help, but in (Brooks Brantly). Ragtime sold out the day after it opened. order to ensure lasting diversity in the Says Cahill, “I think many regional theater a commitment to employ artists going to places where they know other theaters have given up on the idea that of all ethnic backgrounds all the time people.” She continues, “If you go to a there is going to be an outpouring of peo- must be made. Chris Rock or Jerry Seinfeld show you know who’s going to be in each audi- ence. They’re both fantastic comedians. So why? I think one of the reasons is that when you [an African American] go to a Chris Rock concert, you will feel a col- legial atmosphere the minute you walk in. When you walk into a regional theater as an African American, you’re going to be among fewer people of color.” She continues, “And we’re shocked when the only time people from XYZ community come [is] when this person [of color] is on stage. Well yeah. I think people relate best to stories about themselves.” Indeed, most artistic directors of these theaters complain about the gray- ing of their audiences and the lack of diversity. Syracuse Stage’s producing artistic director Timothy Bond says, “I think the dearth of African American sto- ries and stories by other people of diverse backgrounds in the American theater is a sad story in terms of how regional theater is producing work.” Bucking the trend, he emphasizes that what is on Broadway may prompt him to

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