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  • 2016-11-21 (xsd:date)
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  • Producers of 'Hamilton' Issued 'Non-White' Casting Call (en)
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  • Hamilton, the Tony-winning Broadway musical that retells the story of the United States' founders with a multicultural cast and a hip-hop score, attracted unwanted controversy in March 2016 when its producers issued a casting call specifying NON-WHITE men and women actors for ongoing and future productions of the show. The advertisement came to the public's attention after a prominent civil rights attorney, Randolph McLaughlin, questioned the legality of its wording. CBS News reported: Though the producers of Hamilton maintained that the ad had been approved by Actors' Equity, the union's general counsel said it had not and would not approve such language, the CBS report continued. The issue revolved not around the fact that the cast was predominantly non-white — which is called for in the script — but rather the specific verbiage of the ad, which left the impression that white actors were not eligible or invited to audition. This is how Actors Equity explained the problem in a statement to Playbill: The Hamilton producers re-wrote the casting call and issued a statement in response to the controversy: The casting call was so amended. Despite its rapid resolution, however, the incident was ripe for politicization eight months after the fact, when GOP Vice President-elect Mike Pence attended a performance of Hamilton during which he was directly addressed by one of the actors, who expressed the multi-racial cast's fear that the Trump/Pence administration would not defend us and uphold our inalienable rights. After President-elect Donald Trump labeled the actor's speech harassment, some partisan news outlets attempted to draw a contrast between the show's ideology of inclusiveness and the non-white casting call in March, implying hypocrisy on the part of the producers and cast: But such a characterization ignores the fact that the seeming violation of federal employment laws was purely technical, and pertained not to what was stated in the ad, but rather what was unstated. Given that the roles being cast were written as non-white, it wasn't discriminatory for the producers to seek non-white actors to play them. What was further needed to meet requirements for fair hiring practices, however, according to Actors' Equity, was an addendum to the effect of: Performers of all ethnic and racial backgrounds are encouraged to attend. It was added, making any subsequent controversy moot. (en)
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