musicals or plays?

Question

not to offend, but it seems like every musical is made for white people and there are not many parts for black people. does anybody know a list of musicals or plays where there are a lot of black people, besides the wiz?

Answer 1

These shows have specifically African American roles:

Titanic
Ragtime
The Color Purple
Porgy and Bess
The Swing Mikado (different version of the Mikado)
Carmen Jones (version of the opera Carmen written by Oscar Hammerstein II)
Avenue Q - Gary Coleman (but you have to be a puppeteer too) Other roles can be played by AA's as well.

Playwright Laurence Holder has written many musicals with African American characters, though his shows are not as well known.

Many other roles in theatre may be cast as any ethnicity. Of course it also depends substantially on the director, but to name a couple:

Joseph..Dreamcoat - Any role in this show may be cast as any ethnicity.
110 in the Shade - Audra McDonald played Lizzie and was nominated for a Tony for her performance! Her father was played by a Caucasian man named John Cullum who was also nominated.
42nd Street
A Chorus Line - I've seen MANY different ethnicities in this show
A Funny Thing...Forum - why not? It's Sondheim!
A New Brain
Annie - they're orphans, who do they have to match??

I haven't even finished going through the As, but you get the idea, right? I think it's more important to look at roles that are right for your age than your skin color. AUDITION! You don't know what role you'll get until you do and it certainly won't be the same with every director. My daughter is 3/4 Asian & 1/4 Caucasian and played a Von Trapp last year... GO FIGURE! I took her for the heck of it and told her to go in, have fun, and knock their socks off and she rocked it! The same director cast her in another show the next time he directed in our area. I still can't believe that one of my kids was in Sound of Music, but hey... she also played the little Dutch girl in Miracle on 34th and had to do her lines and that song in Dutch. She's also played British... you get my meaning here? Just audition. Be versatile and audition. As Forrest Gump said, "You never know what you're gonna get"

Break a leg!!!!

Answer 2

Best Musical

Answer 3

what do you mean? Every play or musical can have be any skin or hair color. For Disney's High School Musical play the girl who played Gabriella was black. Same as Alice In Wonderland. Also in Peter Pan, Wendy was Asian. And for Grease, Sandy was a brunette. So you should audition for the plays that you say are "made for white people" and if you are good, they will choose you for the part. Don't worry if you are black, white, Hispanic, Asian. That doesn't matter.

Answer 4

Dreamgirls, Ain't Misbehavin, Aida,Once on this Island, Purlie, Raisin, Your Arms Too Short To Box With God, The Life, Dinah Was..., Caroline or Change, Ain't Nothing But the Blues, Ragtime, The Lion King, Rent, Smokey Joe's Cafe,Sophisticated Ladies,Jelly's Last Jam,Showboat, Five Guys Named Moe, Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk, The Color Purple, Porgie and Bess.- -Hope this list helps !!!!

Answer 5

A very good musical with an almost all African-American cast is Raisin. It is based on Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun. Before it became a musical, it was a play and a movie. I loved it. It's a very powerful musical.

Answer 6

The beauty of the theatre is that many plays can be altered for a performace by a skilled director. I see no reason that "white" musicals (Grease, etc.) could be performed by a mostly or all black cast.

Answer 7

Well I like the fact that you asked this question, I dont really know musicals are good but I dont think that its just white people. That musical " Mary Poppins" It had 6 black people in it.Its just a matter of talent I dont really think that poeple are really racist-well every one is racist to a piont.

Answer 8

there are quite a few out there actually. Just challenging to search. Look for black writers. They write to their own audience and experience, just as whites do.

Answer 9

porgy and bess is only allowed to be performed by African Americans, its in the rights when you apply for the show, it is a musical by Gershwin, The song you may know from it is 'Summertime'

Answer 10

Just wanted to add to what was already mentioned:

The Lion King
Aida
Hairspray
Ragtime
Dreamgirls
Show Boat
Parade