The Diary of a Theatre Kid: March 2017

Sunday, March 26, 2017

I'm Confused

When I proclaim that I'd like to be thought of in roles that allow me, as a woman of color, to be a whole woman. It is not just because pt1
— Cynthia Erivo (@CynthiaEriVo) March 26, 2017

I simply want to try something new, it is because in the majority, on stage, too often we are the mother, victim, slave, best friend Pt2
— Cynthia Erivo (@CynthiaEriVo) March 26, 2017

Maid, belting "Diva". Never or rarely ever the lover or the lawyer or business woman or the modern day woman. I put these questions out pt3
— Cynthia Erivo (@CynthiaEriVo) March 26, 2017

So that we can start to open up our imaginations about what it is black women are and can be, and to have a conversation about why pt4
— Cynthia Erivo (@CynthiaEriVo) March 26, 2017

those full bodied women roles are not the norm and are the reach. Are we not human? Do we not share in emotions like all others? Pt5
— Cynthia Erivo (@CynthiaEriVo) March 26, 2017

Do we not experience, love, lust, pain, envy, intimacy. Are we not strong enough to play the superhero. Are we not well read enough pt6
— Cynthia Erivo (@CynthiaEriVo) March 26, 2017

To Be the brain on stage? Maybe we want to be more tender than the diva, we want the high drama and guilt of lady Macbeth or passion of pr7
— Cynthia Erivo (@CynthiaEriVo) March 26, 2017

Cleopatra. Now I am clear that writing must be done, I'm also clear that it is being done and it is often overlooked, so those included, pt8
— Cynthia Erivo (@CynthiaEriVo) March 26, 2017

And noticed: Widen your horizons and cast the way you think might be a risk, because 9 times out of 10 it's probably a reality!! Pt9
— Cynthia Erivo (@CynthiaEriVo) March 26, 2017

As it pertains to me I am far more than my voice and the scope of my imagination spans past the standard idea of what is expected of me pt10
— Cynthia Erivo (@CynthiaEriVo) March 26, 2017

I like a challenge, I relish mess, I live for passion, I understand pain, I love my strength, and I have been bred with intelligence, pt11
— Cynthia Erivo (@CynthiaEriVo) March 26, 2017

I simply want to use ALL of it to tell a story. Actors, Singers, Performers, you are far more than you think you are, seek to learn ALL PT12
— Cynthia Erivo (@CynthiaEriVo) March 26, 2017

Of your facets. Stories are only really truly interesting when they are multilayered. Pt13 ❤
— Cynthia Erivo (@CynthiaEriVo) March 26, 2017

Ok... So I love Cynthia Erivo, but I am a little confused by these tweets. She says she wants more women of color to have a wider variety of roles instead of just the "mother, victim, slave, best friend, maid, belting 'Diva'." However (Now people please don't hate me for this, but) aren't most roles for women like that to begin with? Let's talk about some of the most well known female roles in theatre (I'm talking about roles for any race by the way not just for women of color). Including the role that Erivo won a Tony and Grammy for.

Rose in Gypsy

Mother
Victim
Belting "Diva"

Violet Weston in August: Osage County

Mother
Victim

Kim in Miss Saigon

Mother
Victim
Slave (Kind of)

Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes

Belting "Diva"

Eliza Hamilton in Hamilton

Mother
Victim (After Alexander has the affair)
Best Friend

Fantine in Les Miserables

Mother
Victim
Slave (Kind of)

Eponine in Les Miserables

Victim
Best Friend

Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard

Victim
Belting "Diva"

Elphaba in Wicked

Victim
Best Friend
Belting "Diva"

Effie White in Dreamgirls

Mother
Victim
Best Friend
Belting "Diva"

Celie in The Color Purple

Mother
Victim
Slave
Maid
Belting "Diva"

Now I'm not trying to hate on Erivo. Nor am I trying to get into an argument. I am honestly just confused at these tweets. Part of me does get where she's coming from because she wants women of color to play the smarter roles and that I do get. I understand that completely. She says that women of color are rarely the lover or the lawyer or the business woman or the modern day woman." or are not portrayed/written as having "love, lust, pain, envy, intimacy... strong enough to play the superhero... well read enough to be the brain on stage?" she says she wants "the high drama and guilt of Lady Macbeth or passion of Cleopatra" However let's go revisit the list from before with the added qualifications.

Rose in Gypsy

Mother
Victim
Belting "Diva"
Love
Pain
Strength
Smarts
High Drama
Passion

Violet Weston in August: Osage County

Mother
Victim
Pain
Smarts
High Drama

Kim in Miss Saigon

Mother
Victim
Slave (Kind of)
Love
Pain
Intimacy
Strength
Smart
High Drama
Passion

Reno Sweeney in Anything Goes

Best Friend
Belting "Diva"
Love
Lust
Intimacy
Strength
Smart
Passion

Eliza Hamilton in Hamilton

Mother
Victim (After Alexander has the affair)
Best Friend
Love
Pain
Strength
Smart

Fantine in Les Miserables

Mother
Victim
Slave (Kind of)
Love
Pain
Envy
Strength
High Drama

Eponine in Les Miserables

Victim
Best Friend
Love
Pain
Envy
Strength
High Drama

Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard

Victim
Belting "Diva"
Love
Lust
Pain
Envy
Intimacy
Strength
Smart
High Drama
Passion

Elphaba in Wicked

Victim
Best Friend
Belting "Diva"
Love
Lust
Pain
Envy
Intimacy
Strength
Smart
Guilt
Passion

Effie White in Dreamgirls

Mother
Victim
Best Friend
Belting "Diva"
Love
Pain
Envy
Strength
Smart
Passion

Celie in The Color Purple

Mother
Victim
Slave
Maid
Belting "Diva"
Love
Pain
Intimacy
Strength
Smart

Now can you see where I'm just a little confused? In my full honest opinion as an actor the women have all the juicy roles. They get to sing the best songs, they portray the most conflict and they have a range of characters from the comedic diva to the drunk whore to the starving mother trying to save her kid(s). All male roles (in my opinion) are about getting a girl in some way shape or form and the male roles that aren't about getting a girl are just comedic roles and have no depth. Anyway that's my semi-rant of sorts for the day. Sorry to talk your ears off. Please start a discussion below in the comics especially if I'm missing something.

The Last Midnight: April

In Transit
Opened: December 11, 2016
Closing: April 16, 2017
Tony Awards: N/A

Paramour
Opened: May 25, 2016
Closing: April 19, 2017
Tony Awards: N/A

Significant Other
Opened: March 2, 2017
Closing: April 23, 2017
Tony Awards: N/A

Sunday in the Park With Geroge
Opened: February 23, 2017
Closing: April 23, 2017
Tony Awards: N/A

Saturday, March 25, 2017

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Friday, March 24, 2017

Coming Up: The King and I US Tour

So as of two days ago I bought two tickets to see The King and I as The Kimmel Center. This is not my first rendezvous with The King and I. I saw another tour which starred Sandy Duncan and I saw it when my elementary school performed the show (Yeah my Elementary School performed The King and I. That's right a bunch of 9 & 10 year olds.) I bought the tickets as an early Mother's Day present for my Mom. She wanted to see the production when it was in New York. I was about to start working on it, but the only free time we both had was in September of 2016 and the show had announced it was closing in June of that year. Darn. When it was announced it was going on tour I said (SCORE!!!!!!) So anyway... I'm kind of excited and I may do a review of the show. I'm not sure.

Jose Llana and Laura Michelle Kelly

Jose Llana

Joan Almedilla and Son

Laura Michelle Kelly

Thursday, March 23, 2017

Opening Night: Miss Saigon (2017 Broadway Revival)

Miss Saigon has officially returned to Broadway! Tonight marks opening night for this ridiculously beautiful musical. I'm not going to go too much into it because we all know that I will be posting non stop about this soon enough. We all know it's true let's not even fool ourselves.

Eva Noblezada, Rachelle Ann Go and Female Ensemble

Jon Jon Briones, Eva Noblezada and Ensemble

Rachelle Ann Go

Gregory Ye and Eva Noblezada

Eva Noblezada and Alistair Brammer

Cast:
Eva Noblezada as Kim
Jon Jon Briones as The Engineer
Alistair Brammer as Chris
Nicholas Christopher as John
Katie Rose Clark as Ellen
Devin Illaw as Thuy
Rachelle Ann Go as Gigi
Lianah St. Ana as Kim (Alternate)

Thursday, March 16, 2017

Unexpected Song: Sister Act

P.S. Sorry again guys. I meant to delete a draft of a post, but I accidentally deleted this post instead.

The score of Sister Act is just such a fun score to perform and it's beautifully written. It has one of the most simple, yet most touching ballads in theatre. The song "Sister Act" **SPOILER** takes place when Deloris realizes that being in the convent with her sisters is where she belongs and that is where she is needed and wanted **END SPOILER** Anyway I just think this song is so beautiful in it's simplicity. I love how it is Deloris standing center stage with a single spotlight on her and the rest of the stage is dark. Deloris just opens her mouth and speaks sings from the heart. It is incredibly beautiful and their are no riffs or crazy notes it focuses on the words Deloris says and that makes it all the more powerful.

Patina Miller (West End, Broadway)

Cynthia Erivo (1st UK Tour)

Raven Symonè (Broadway)

Ta'Rea Campbell (1st US Tour)

Deleted post

I totally just deleted Unexpected Song: Sister Act. I am so sorry! I will redo it and get it back up ASAP. Sorry about that!

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Another Hundred People: Lola- Kinky Boots

Just a look at some of the men who have portrayed the fierce, sassy, beautiful role of Lola in the hit musical Kinky Boots. Again if the production has a ^ next to it that means they were a former understudy in that production.

Matt Henry
West End

Stephen Duret
Broadway (u/s)

J. Harrison Ghee
Broadway, US Tour

Darius Harper
US Tour (u/s)

Kang Hong-seok
South Korea (alt)

Billy Porter
Chicago Out-of-Town Tryout, Broadway, US Tour

Todrick Hall
Broadway

Alan Mingo Jr.
Broadway, US Tour, Toronto

Callum Francis
West End (u/s), Australia

Miura Haruma
Japan

Wayne Brady
Broadway

Timothy Ware
Broadway (u/s), US Tour

Kyle Taylor Parker
Broadway^, US Tour

Nick Rashad Burroughs
Broadway (u/s)

Monday, March 13, 2017

Casting Goals: Hello, Dolly!

I'm currently rewatching Hello, Dolly! on Netflix and I figured let's do another Casting Goals! Now I'm only doing the role of Dolly Levi. I don't know the show well enough to cast all the roles.

Laura Benanti

Kristin Chenoweth
She has stated she wants to do this show.

Cynthia Erivo

Sutton Foster

Heather Headley

Anna Kendrick

Lady Gaga

Patti LuPone

Bernadette Peters

Dolly Parton

Jenna Russell

Emma Stone

Sunday, March 12, 2017

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Friday, March 10, 2017

Another Hundred People: Fantine- Les Miserables

So this is my new favorite obsession. I took a poll and it was close, but Fantine won by just one vote so here we go. Again this is mostly English productions (Except for the original French show) *Quick Note: If the production has an ^ next to it that means they were a former Fantine Understudy in that production.* I feel like I'm going to make this a more frequent post. Sometime next week I'll do Lola from Kinky Boots.