Just cast a snowy owl, you!
This came up several times recently, both because underrepresentation of people of colour in theatre is always an issue, and because the opera company I work for announced next year’s season and casting, and we’re doing Othello, starring this guy:
Moorish, no? Coming on the heels of our super-white Aida, this is ever so exciting.
And look, we have a relatively diverse company for opera, and they have cast a variety of singers of colour in lead parts that were written for white singers, so it’s not like this is a deliberate snub, but it is stupid. Very, very stupid. Because it’s all very well to say that you cast purely for the voice, but recasting a minority role with a white dude will be, at the very least, deeply problematic for as long as opera is dominated by white singers (film & theatre:white actors). So maybe, if you don’t have an appropriately Moorish dude to sing Othello, you could pick a different opera?
Cue the horrifying bronzer!
Neurotic Owl 