| The Outsiders and Tulsa. | |
| Posted by: portenopete 08:21 pm EDT 05/03/24 | |
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| I saw THE OUTSIDERS the other night. I'd read the book and seen the film when I was in high school (in the early '80s) and I'd forgotten the story was set in Tulsa OK, a city that has acquired new resonance since the events of the massacre on Black Wall Street have become better-known. I found myself getting distracted by the fact that four of the Greasers yet none of the Socs were being played by Black or mixed race actors, and none of the Socs ever mentioned the fact, even though the play was still clearly set in the mid 1960's, a time where I can only assume racial tensions were extremely high. If there had been diversity among the Socs- who are inevitably going to seem like "the enemy"- I might have figured the casting had been done with no regard to race, but their extreme whiteness highlighted the diversity of the Greasers and I found it highly improbable that a Soc wouldn't have introduced race into the equation pretty quickly if a Black kid was hitting on his girl. (And is there a reference to Dallas not having greasy hair like the others? Joshua Boone seemed awfully clean-cut in a way I don't remember Matt Dillon seeming.) I may have missed textual explanation in the script so apologies if I have and I welcome being corrected :).And kudos to Trevor Wayne, who did an admirable job subbing for Ponyboy. I don't know if he'd gone on before Wednesday when I saw the evening show, but he was remarkably assured and very sweet. I marvel at the skill and talent of these young virtuosos. |
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| Previous: | re: When will the Tonys start giving Ensemble Awards? - portenopete 10:21 am EDT 05/04/24 |
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