Robert Bettmann

Once again, again, there is a controversy driving a tremendous amount of discussion in the art world. The issue this time is a comment made by New York Times dance critic Alistair Macaulay within a review of the New York City Ballet’s current Nutcracker production. The final 100 words within his prescient 1100 word review are:

“Jenifer Ringer, as the Sugar Plum Fairy, looked as if she’d eaten one sugar plum too many; and Jared Angle, as the Cavalier, seems to have been sampling half the Sweet realm. They’re among the few City Ballet principals who dance like adults, but without adult depth or complexity. Ashley Bouder (Dewdrop) has the brilliance they lack, but also a greater and more tough-grained hardness. Even Teresa Reichlen (as Coffee), often one of the company’s freshest and most multidimensional dancers, performed with a glassiness I don’t recall. And Ms. Otranto’s conducting lacked the moment-by-moment rapport with her dancers that turns a safe performance into a tingling one.”

That’s a pretty bad review. But as you might imagine, the words that are driving the controversy are:

“Jenifer Ringer, as the Sugar Plum Fairy, looked as if she’d eaten one sugar plum too many.” Continue reading “I’m ok and you’re ok but maybe less with the plums”

Erin Petty wrote an article for the City Paper November 18, 2010 titled, Color Theory: Racial Stunt-Casting on D.C. Stages, or Is It Just “Nontraditional?” After reviewing a few examples, she writes, “actors weren’t just cast because they were great for the role, but also because the director had something to say”, and the color of the actor helped the director make the statement. Petty goes on to explore the casting of a black woman in the JonBenet Ramsey role in the Woolly Show House of Gold. In talking about House of Gold with my friend Emily (who attended with me) we discussed how the directors made choices to bring a slight remove from the extreme creepiness, and that the color of Ramsey’s character was one of those things.

The character on stage declaims that she is white, but the audience sees the actor is black. This relieves the viewer: we are in a fiction world – the world of theater. The action of the play is overwhelmingly disturbing, and this affect — stunt-casting, perhaps — actually is what makes the action congestible. Petty’s phrase (?) stunt-casting to describe casting-against-race I found very insightful. Continue reading “No Irish Need Apply”