Ask the ‘Older’ Audience
The La Habra Community Theater board is afraid to cast a black Romeo to play opposite a white Juliet because (according to board members) their “predominantly older” audience “would not easily accept a mixed racial relationship” (“Theater Rejects Interracial ‘Romeo and Juliet,’ ” by Rick VanderKnyff, Calendar Aug. 25).
How do they know that?
Morgan Freeman (“Driving Miss Daisy”) played Petruchio with a white Kate (Tracy Ullman) in New York, and critics applauded.
Granted, Orange County is not New York. But I think the board is being too timid. It is underestimating the social awareness of senior citizens. Age does not automatically generate racial uneasiness.
SANFORD WOHLGEMUTH
Reseda
The biggest entertainment stories
Get our big stories about Hollywood, film, television, music, arts, culture and more right in your inbox as soon as they publish.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
