“…the Gershwin estate’s insistence on all-black casts has meant that performances in Britain have to rely partly on imported singers and are relatively rare.” – The Economist, October 17, 2009
I’ve seen Porgy & Bess at the Met. “Summertime” is wonderful and worth the trip, but otherwise, opera in English just doesn’t work for me. I love some operas like Rigoletto and could see them or just listen to the recordings over and over. But there’s a lot of opera that just bounces off me.
I once saw La Boheme – can’t remember if it was a DVD or one of the times I saw it at the Met – where a black woman had the role of Mimi. I admit that my first reaction was to be surprised. It’s obviously historically inaccurate and it probably even violates something in the score… where Rodolfo or Marcello (the one after Mimi) is swooning over her, he probably says something about her appearance… I’m just speculating.
But I didn’t have a problem with it. Opera is an artistic interpretation, and there’s absolutely no basis for taking race as a factor in casting. I do understand that you don’t cast someone inappropriate to do the Dance of the Seven Veils – it would be uncomfortable for everyone. Otherwise, the people putting on the production ought to be able to decide on the cast.
Saying a cast has to be all-black absolutely has its merits. Porgy did appear more authentic to me because of the all-black cast – but I didn’t stop to think that no white person has ever had a role in Porgy on stage by the insistence of the Gershwin estate. That sort of grates on me. I can see that if they didn’t have any requirements on this at all, that most casts would become completely are just about all-white. I can also see that a lot of black opera singers probably get their best opportunities or even make their livings on Porgy.
Many years ago I asked a black co-worker if there should be magazines like, “White Woman”… since there were magazines with names like, “Black Woman”. She said something that really opened my eyes. She said the women’s magazines were basically for whites only. She said she couldn’t possibly use any of the products sold in a woman’s magazine – she had to buy the black women’s magazine to read and buy things relevant for her. All this made me feel like an ignorant fool.
So, there you have it. I support affirmative action and I’m completely against discrimination. Not allowing performances of something because the cast isn’t all black… it just can’t be right.
