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<p><span style="font-weight: 400">A planned production of “Dreamgirls” will have to be canceled after the owners pulled the rights because too many white actors were cast in the show.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">According to <a href="https://www.thetimes.com/culture/theatre-dance/article/urlschool-dreamgirls-show-banned-tfnfvqldv">The Times of London</a>, Gillian Banks Theatre School in Yorkshire was granted permission to stage &#8220;Dreamgirls&#8221; by the agency that manages the show&#8217;s rights. But that permission was revoked after it was discovered that only one black actor would be participating.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">The musical was written by Tom Eyen and Henry Krieger in 1981 and opened that same year at the Imperial Theater on Broadway. It was nominated for 13 Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and won six. </span><span style="font-weight: 400">It became even more popular following the release of the 2006 film adaptation starring Beyoncé. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">The storyline follows a fictional group of black female singers, the Dreamettes, on their path to superstardom beginning in the 1960s.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">The theater school responded to the controversy, defending their casting by saying they were open to a “diverse” cast but did not have enough black actors audition.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">“We are just a little dance school in one of the most deprived areas of Rotherham trying to give experiences to our students on a very small scale,” it said, per The Times.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">The school reportedly only has around 200 students and said there was “never any intention to ‘whitewash’ this production.” Gillian Banks Theatre School had already started selling tickets when the permission to perform was revoked.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">Concord wrote in a letter to the school, “Dreamgirls is a show about a time in black American music history when rhythm and blues blended with other styles of popular music, creating a new American sound.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">“It tells the story of the Dreamettes and celebrates their rise to fame, echoing similar trajectories of iconic black girl and boy groups of the time like the Supremes, the Marvelettes, the Temptations and the Shirelles. Your production should be appropriately cast to represent and reflect these artists and their history.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">This update comes as the topic of race-swapping traditionally white characters continues to make headlines. The upcoming Christopher Nolan epic, “The Odyssey,” has drawn criticism for the casting of Lupita Nyong’o as Helen of Troy, among other stylistic choices. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400">It was also just announced that actress Quinta Brunson will star as Betty Boop in an upcoming film adaptation. Disney’s big flop “Snow White” included Colombian actress Rachel Zegler in the titular role despite her not physically resembling the character’s description in literature.</span></p>
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<br /><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/agency-yanks-dreamgirls-over-schools-mostly-white-cast">Source link </a></p>
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Agency Yanks ‘Dreamgirls’ Over School’s Mostly White Cast
