The Nightingale Casting Controversy
The choice to cast Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik's new musical The Nightingale with only two Asian American actors caused significant controversy in 2012, culminating in a post-show public forum held by the Playhouse, during which Christopher Ashley and director Moises Kaufman apologized. However, one of the directors stated that the purpose and vision of the play was to create a multicultural environment where all races were included. However, the panelists at a forum argued that multicultural was another way of putting white actors in ethnic roles. Several panelists argued that the director would not have dared to put a white man like Bobby Steggert into the role of Othello, a role typically played by a black person.
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