Theatre History Podcast # 11
“You Don’t Read Latino”: Discussing the History of Latinx Casting with Brian Eugenio Herrera
The recent success of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton has led to some casting controversies as regional theatres mount productions of his previous hit musical, In the Heights. As this week’s guest, Princeton University’s Brian Eugenio Herrera, shows, these controversies have a long history, as Latinx actors have unsettled the simplistic racial categories perpetuated by white-dominated American society.
Links:
- Read Brian’s essay, “The Best Actor for the Role,” about the history and theory of casting in the Journal of American Drama and Theatre.
- Read about a recent casting controversy involving In the Heights in this news story that quotes Brian.
- Find out more about Brian’s award-winning book, Latin Numbers: Playing Latino in 20th Century US Popular Performance.
- Listen to Brian’s reviews of contemporary theatre on podcast, StinkyLulu Says.
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This podcast aims to introduce listeners to the artists, scholars, and archivists who are working to bring the history of performance to life. We hope that, by listening to this show, you’ll learn about exciting new performances, fascinating books, and valuable repositories of knowledge, all of which will help you better understand theatre’s history.
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