Posted on 10/03/2018 4:04:48 AM PDT by Altura Ct.
Kent State University has cancelled its fall musical production of “West Side Story” following complaints that too many white students landed lead roles.
Bridgett Martinez, a musical theatre major who is of Puerto Rican descent, tried out for her “dream role” of Maria, but she said “it all just got screwed up” when “it was given to a white female,” KentWired.com reported.
Martinez was instead cast as her understudy, and the other three leads that portrayed Latino characters were given to non-Latino students.
The outrage to the casting led to a September schoolwide town hall meeting, in which Eric van Baars, Kent State’s School of Theatre and Dance director, decided to cancel the show as a substitute for recasting, and replaced it with a production of “Children of Eden,” a musical which he believes will regroup the divided school.
“The cancellation of West Side Story was in response to our community members’ voices and the national dialogue regarding the desire for authenticity on our stages,” van Baars told Fox News. “To be current and culturally engaged, the School of Theatre and Dance supports the progression of conscious casting in the American theatre today.”
Van Baars announced the move in a schoolwide email, writing “while not all will agree with this choice, I hope most everyone in the school supports a fresh start on the process.” He added that all the actors cast in West Side Story will also be in Children of Eden.
Students pointed, not to talent, but rather diversity and inclusion as their main focus.
“Something we would like to continue to push for is have a person of color in that room all the time – auditions, callbacks, cast lists being made – because we should have someone on our side in that room,” Martinez told KentWired.com.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Race has trumped merit for 2 generations.
Um, wasn’t “West Side Story” just an updated “Romeo and Juliet”?
Your identity is determined by your race. That idea would met with total agreement in nazi Germany in the 1930s.
-PJ
Maybe the Ohio State National Guard should make another guest appearance....
You beat me to it!
Unfair to the whites.
”For What It’s Worth “
University of Missouri doesn’t happen to all universities. But universities that act stupidly, have a much higher chance of getting it than others.
I guess they have never heard of any white Latinos in the last couple of years.
Yes, let’s not cast roles on talent. Just make sure it’s race based affirmative action. That’s the ticket.
Empty seats? Eh no problem.
Man, ain't that the truth :-\
Racism and bigotry on public parade and you’ll love you little pip-squeak commoner.
“Students pointed, not to talent, but rather diversity and inclusion as their main focus”
This is Orwell’s 1984.
Next they will cancel the basketball season.
What a field day for the heat
Colleges in the U.S. should be shut down in order to protect the minds of our young.
Seriously. This kind of thing is just demented and there should be consequences.
“West Side Story” is just a retelling of “Romeo and Juliet”, so it’s already cultural appropriation.
Same thing happened when a black girl landed the role of Annie when Hollyweird was making a movie. Oh, wait, never mind.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.