The Nightingale casting controversy

"The Nightingale (musical)" redirects here. For the 1982 Charles Strouse children's opera, see Nightingale (children's opera). For the 1914 Igor Stravinsky opera, see The Nightingale (opera).

In 2012, the La Jolla Playhouse in California received criticism over the casting of a workshop of a musical adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's 1843 story "The Nightingale", set in ancient China.

Background

An unfinished musical under development, based on the Danish fairy tale "The Nightingale" written by Hans Christian Andersen and set in ancient China, was part of the La Jolla Playhouse's "Page to Stage" program, a workshop series in which unfinished new works are tested and altered during the show's run. The music was by Duncan Sheik, with a book and lyrics by Steven Sater; the workshop was directed by Moisés Kaufman, with performances from July 10 to August 5, 2012. Two Asian-American actors were cast, and the remainder of the cast were black and white actors.

Criticism

The Asian-American theatre community expressed indignation at the small number of Asian-American actors cast, with some commentators noting similar criticism of Jonathan Pryce's casting as an Asian in Miss Saigon (1989).

Responses of the creative team

During a public forum to address the debate, which had been suggested in a letter of protest from the Asian American Performers' Action Coalition, Christopher Ashley, the Artistic Director of the La Jolla Playhouse, stated that he intended to follow a multi-ethnic casting principle. Ashley and director Moises Kaufman acknowledged the criticisms and stated that their ongoing focus, through the play's series of workshops, was to explore multiple ways of telling the story through a multi-cultural lens. Kaufman later told the Los Angeles Times that his intention was to combine elements of both Eastern and Western cultures and that he was open to a version of the show with an all-Asian cast.

Speaking from the audience, book and lyrics writer, Steven Sater, stated that the musical had gone through seven workshops "in a number of directions with a number of directors" over the course of its development, with each exploring his overall vision of the piece. He described his own vision as comprising a blend of cultures with a focus on the mythical elements and heritage of the fable on which it was based, in lieu of traditional realism. He stated that in 2003, the show's first workshop utilized a multi-cultural cast, including a black actress playing the Empress Dowager, Wayne Wilcox and an Indian-American actor playing the Young Emperor, which Sater described as "a beautiful casting choice at the time" and demonstrative of the play being "always a story about enlightenment". In 2007, the play was workshopped at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco with director James Lapine and utilized an all-Asian cast. Sater described the significant part in the show's development process that this particular workshop played, saying:

It was a beautiful workshop of the piece. But we all came out of it feeling a number of things, one of which was that we felt, as white creators, we would not presume to know, or to tell, the story of Asia. We felt that the music which existed for the piece, and the storytelling, which more than anything else is informed by Shakespeare, really, is my influence, and coming from a Danish telling of the story. I wanted to tell a story that reflected the world in which I live, which is multi-cultural, and multi-ethnic. I still feel this.

During the forum, Sater acknowledged the sociopolitical issues arising out of the "longstanding inequities of the system in American theater" and the need "as an artist of social consciousness to be mindful of those issues and to address them'. He stated, "I began work on this show ... in 2001. It was in the wake of 9/11 and what spoke to me in this story was the way The Song of the Human Heart could bring down the walls that divide us." He said:

I think if art is anything, it exists to bring out the humanity in all of us and that is what we're trying to tell in the song of this bird, the nightingale, who brings out the humanity in a man whose heart has been closed and turned cold. We did not set out to do an all-Asian cast, an all-Asian version, and then give up on that idea. Rather, it's something we explored, as this cast is something we're exploring, on a piece that remains to be finished. I was writing for a vision that was in my mind, and that vision always was, and remains to be, multi-cultural, and multi-ethnic.

After the panel, composer Duncan Sheik said that the discussion had "affected my thinking of the show."

In 2011, the musical was workshopped at Vassar's Powerhouse Theater with a multi-ethnic cast (also directed by Kaufman).

References

Template:The Nightingale

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