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Minnesota Theater cancels Cinderella production because the cast is ‘too white’
- Chanhassen Dinner Theaters are due to host a Cinderella production later this year
- However, the show was scrapped when its art director noted that the cast was extremely white.
- Chanhassen Dinner Theaters recently hired a diversity consultant and instituted new “ Diversity, Equity and Inclusion ” protocols
- A production of Footloose, which will feature a more racially diverse cast, is now slated for 2022 instead.
A local Minnesota theater canceled a production of Roger & Hammerstein’s Cinderella because its cast was “too white.”
Chanhassen’s dinner theaters were due to present the show later this year before its artistic director stepped in to denounce its lack of diversity.
“ It was 98% white, ” art director Michael Brindisi told Pioneer Press on Wednesday after looking at who got picked.
However, Chanhassen – located southwest of Minneapolis – has an overwhelming population of white, and the racial demographics of the cast were not much different from that of the city as a whole.
According to the last census, 92.5% of the inhabitants of Chanhassen are white. Less than 3 percent of residents are Hispanic, while 1.1 percent are black.
No photos of Cinderella’s casting were officially released before the show was dropped.
Chanhassen Dinner Theaters has canceled a production of Roger & Hammerstein’s Cinderella because its cast was ‘too white’
Dinner and show! Chanhassen – located southwest of Minneapolis – has an overwhelming population of white, and the racial demographics of the cast were not much different from that of the city as a whole.
Cinderella has been played around the world for decades and typically features a predominantly white cast. Pictured: Cinderella’s performance on Broadway in New York City in 2013
In a statement released on Monday, the theater said: ‘After careful consideration and with our continued commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion, we have made the decision to cancel our upcoming production. .
“In addition to changing future programming, we are establishing new pre-production protocols. We will invite (and pay) BIPOC artists to analyze the production with our creative teams through a new focus of diversity, equity and inclusion … This conversation will take place before the start of the design and casting process. .
Chanhassen Dinner Theaters hired a diversity consultant and committed to “identity conscious casting and becoming a more intentionally anti-racist theater.”
Meanwhile, the organization is in the process of mounting a production of The Music Man and has “high priority given to casting BIPOC artists”.[lyputtingtogetheraproductionofTheMusicManandhasa’strongpriorityplacedoncastingBIPOCartists'[lyputtingtogetheraproductionofTheMusicManandhasa’strongpriorityplacedoncastingBIPOCartists’
Many productions staged by Chanhassen Dinner Theater in recent years have featured a predominantly white cast (pictured). They have now instituted new diversity protocols
The cast of Mamma Mia from the Chanhassen dinner theater is pictured
Meanwhile, Brindisi told the Pioneer Press that the theater is planning to recast Cinderella.
However, they decided to ditch the show and start from scratch with a separate production.
While some of the cast were shocked by the news, Brinidisi says most “respected the very difficult decision we had to make.”
Chanhassen Dinner Theaters will replace Cinderella with a more diverse adaptation of Footloose, now slated for 2022.
Artistic director Michael Brindisi pointed out that the cast of Cinderella was 98% white. Production has now been discontinued
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