Don't Break More Than Your Leg!

Do you know what a ghostlight is? Why do  we encourage performers to ‘break a leg’?

Are you afraid of mentioning Macbeth in a performing arts space?

Theatre superstitions have been around for as long as people have been telling tales to each others, and have bleed over from religious beliefs. Though, most superstitions are actually born out of practicality on a stage, there are a handful of superstitions that have very little grounding.

Superstition: The ghostlight, sometimes known as ‘equity lights’
Practice: Leaving a single lit bulb at center stage.
Origin: Every theatre, or performing space, has at least one ghost. Having this light on for them gives them the opportunity to take the stage and perform. This way they stay appeased and will not curse the show.
Practical Explanation: The light is so that the stage hand who opens the theater can see where the stage is, and not kill themselves trying to get to the work lights, or a window, or something else that will cast a greater amount of light on the space. Also, their use is currently mandated by the Actors' Equity Association

Superstition: The Scottish Play, or The Bard’s Play
Practice: you can’t say or refer to ‘Macbeth’ by its title or it will cause a disaster within your show, or space
Origin: The superstition is said to have gone back to the characters of the witches in the show. It is rumored that a local coven saw the show and did not appreciate the way that they were portrayed, and then cursed the show.

Cleansing Ritual: Tradition requires the person who spoke it to leave, perform traditional cleansing ritual of turning three times, spitting over one's left shoulder, and be invited back in.
Practical Explanation: There is a lot of violence and sword fighting in the show, more than most of the other Shakespearean shows of the time, and when a theater was putting this show on, it was seen as a last-ditch effort to get audiences through the door. Inevitably, the theaters that resorted to such a spectacle of a show would board up shortly after the production, and Macbeth became a scapegoat to blame financial woes. Also, when actors weren’t trained properly for fight scenes, they would tend to get seriously injured, and it was easier to blame the curse, than stupidity.

Superstition: Real Mirrors on Stage

Practice: Never put an obviously reflective surface on a stage

Origin: A Spirit may disturb a prop or set piece and cause an accident in seeking out a glimpse of their reflection that would speak to the vanity of the spirit

Practical Explanation: Having a mirror on stage has the risk of reflecting the audience or the backstage area and breaking the fourth wall for theatre goers, and also with lighting changes, may reflect a stage light into the audience which would be uncomfortable.

Superstition: Break a Leg
Practice: In most English-speaking countries, the expression "break a leg" replaces the phrase "good luck". It is generally acknowledged that wishing a person "good luck" is considered bad luck
Origin: Wishing an actor or performer ‘Break a Leg’ before a performance. It’s general bad luck to the show and to the cast to say ‘Good Luck’. Some beliefs vary in severity from ruining an entire run of a show financially, to stage injuries, to poor audience reactions.

Practical Explanation: There are several different explanations that no one can truly pinpoint. Most of them relay that the phrase itself is a general wish of good fortune to you and your show.

Fun Theories on Origins: To "break the leg" or "break a leg" is archaic slang for bowing or curtsying. Some would say  that the term originated during Elizabethan times when, instead of applause the audience would bang their chairs on the ground—and if they liked it enough, the leg of the chair would break. Another popular theory concerns the physical "legs," or side curtains, of the stage proposes that the company of actors would rush onstage through the curtains to take a considerable amount of bows, thus "breaking a leg (side curtain)" in the process.

Superstition: Fresh Flowers on Stage

Practice: always use fake flowers in stage productions

Origin: A Spirit may disturb a prop or set piece and cause an accident in seeking out the flowers that would speak to the vanity of the spirit

Practical Explanation: Real flowers would wilt under hot stage lights

from 'Citizen Kane'

Superstition: Don't Whistle in a Theater

Practice: Whistling in a theater is generally looked down upon, and even forbidden in some spaces

Origin/Practical Explanation: All the explanations I have ever heard or read about were of the practical nature. "Back in the Day" a lot of stage hands would be sailors on leave or out of work because a lot of the work was similar with ropes and such. Ship hands would use whistling to communicate with each other on decks of ships as well as on deck of the theater. The fear was your whistling might cue the wrong thing and you might end up with a sandbag in the face.

There are other minor superstitions ranging from sleeping with your script under your pillow, the rule of Threes, and when its most appropriate to receive gifts, but I wanted to hit the ones that I had been exposed to the most as a theatre person for the last 12 years.

Sources (some are just fun): Backstage.com StageDoorMemphis Playbill Ghosts of Broadway Superstitions and Saints 8 Rules from Playbill

Never Full Dressed Without a Smile

So I know that this is supposed to be about Musical Theatre, but I am finding that because I am limiting myself to this topic, its why the blog keeps starting and stopping, so I apologize in advance, this too is not about musical theatre.

So, after my mile a day challenge I thought that I would do something fun and… seemingly easy. Someone had mentioned  something about a tie-a-day challenge while I was in the middle of the 30 day mile a day challenge. I wont bore you with the details on how that actually came about, but I will tell you that I thought it was a super fun idea!

As I write this post, tomorrow is day 30, and I didn't think I would fail this hard. This week in San Diego has been brutally hot, and the mere idea of wearing a tie made me break out in a sweat. I haven't worn a tie in over a week. I don't have more than a 6 day streak on this. It was difficult.

I love my clothes, I spend a great deal of time (and money) thinking about fun ways to look my best and to spark a conversation with someone. It generally works, and now that I am employed in a space that has very little dress code its even more noticeable when you wear a tie.

As I started the challenge, within a week, I already started having problems. I found that I liked about 5 of the 50 or so ties that I own (I guess technically some of them are owned by my boyfriend, but… that doesn't matter). So I started to but some guidelines on my challenge.

A tie a day, and it SHOULD not be the same tie (I cant be boxed in TOO much, so there were a FEW repeats) and it CANNOT be the same tie/shirt combination.

I find that in California, or to be more specific, Southern California, the idea of wearing a collar, let a lone a tie every day is suffocating for a lot of people. Wearing a tie and a jacket is a symbol. A symbol of varying meaning for most, but a symbol nonetheless. I like to throw in ties, bow ties, and vests into my day to outfits as often as possible, so when the idea came up that I should do a tie a day challenge, it really seemed simple.

But with weekends it became a struggle. Wearing a tie to work may get the staff chatting, but wearing a tie to brunch on Sunday gets major side eye. It was hard. I found that I am really super casual on the weekends, which I don't think I would have admitted to before this. The fanciest I would normally get would be a polo shirt. I went to a house party in a tie and vest, and I heard about it non-stop.

I don't go to church, so I literally would never wear a tie on the Sundays of this challenge. I honestly barely left the house.

I also found some major flaws in my wardrobe. I have a lot of weird patterned ties. They are hard to match to a shirt that isn't plain white, or plain blue (sometimes, even those weren't cutting it) and so once I got through what I would call my "good ties", it started to become a challenge (which I guess was the point).

pictured: not my boyfriend

In the middle of this challenge I was helping my boyfriend pick out an outfit for an important meeting. He needed to wear his business formal suit, nice shoes, a belt that matched, and a tie. Usually he dresses the standard button down and slacks for work, nothing too flashy. Seeing him take the time to get this all together meant that much more. To see a well polished business formal outfit walk out the door, when in general its something very standard really makes a statement. I think that if he wore a suit and tie every single day, this particular outfit would have looked very standard on him. I think that the tie, and the idea of polishing off the suit, made this occasion special, and made him look that much more amazing.

I still like wearing ties, and even bow ties sometimes. I like the extra flash, and the clean look it lends an outfit. I also really enjoy the laid-back So Cal persona that I have come to embody my last 6 years here (and 17 in California all together) to the point if I could get away with a tank top and basketball shorts everyday, it would be so blissful. and I don't feel like challenging that.

So, one big win with the 30 day, mile a day challenge, and one small defeat in the tie a day challenge. I hope the next one goes a little better.

Though, the lessons learned during this challenge were surprisingly numerous. I found some great combinations in my wardrobe that I never would have thought of before, It was also telling me that I need to do some additional purging in the closet. I remain steadfast that dressing up is fun, but its not necessarily as easy as I always pretend it is, and looking good for an occasion can mean more when its not expected of you. I guess having a ton of ties isn't the same as wearing a ton of ties, and most importantly, its okay to fail at something.

That last one is something that is always really hard to swallow.

Miss Saigon - 25 years later

Miss Saigon represents a lot in musical theater. It gave us Lea Solanga, which I feel we are all grateful for. It gave us another hit show from the team that gave the world Les Misérables, and was nominated for 10 Tony Awards in 1991

It currently holds the place as 13th longest running musical on broadway, April 11, 1991 thru January 28, 2001 with 4,092 performances.

It has its hold firmly on one of the most recognizable Asian storylines in the history of performing arts. Originally opening on the west in 1989, to celebrate is 25th anniversary, there was  a London Revival in 2014.

It was recorded and presented at select movie theaters around the nation on Thursday 9/22 and I was able to see this.

I had never seen Miss Saigon. It had been one of those shows that has always hovered on the periphery of my musical theatre obsession, but never really made its way to the forefront until recently.

When the 25th-anniversary cast recording was released, I listened to it. It was beautiful, but it didn't really catch me. There was one number that i feel in love with, and would listen to a lot from time to time. “Move in my mind” is one of those songs that will always get me going. Women singing, especially if there is harmony involved, and belting, and emotions. Yes. please.

I also did a little research on the show, and found out a lot about the original cast and some of the racist undertones, and that it was, unsurprisingly based on Madame Butterfly.

I was able to sing backup for a small men’s ensemble of Bui Doi once, and that was amazing, so i knew the music was great.

When they announced that we would be able to view i knew that it was something that needed to be seen with my own eyes. I immediately bought tickets, and convinced some of my friends to join my boyfriend and I.

I didn't really know what to expect. I heard from several people that they changed some of the songs, and of course there was a lot more swearing than anyone ever remembered. I want to say I enjoyed it, though the Social Justice Warrior in me kept complaining about the sexism, the racism, the white-saviorhood of the whole thing. It was also extremely depressing, but, you know, Madame Butterfly is also super sad.

I overall enjoyed the music more than anything. Much like Les Mis, it was incredibly powerful, and there are definitely some melodic lines that got stuck in my head, but it wasn't an easy score to hum along to.

The biggest downfall for me, was seeing the Gala at the end. I know for a lot of people it was a true highlight, and I feel like those people's opinions need to be honored, but for me, it was distracting. Lea Solanga is an incredible talent, but the first few acts were… confusing. Watching her sing was great, but then seeing her sing with cast members who just performed, was weird. When they brought out the original Chris, that was cool. But then the new Kim, and the new Chris… and all the kissing. It was… awkward, and seemed ill-planned

T

hen Jonathan Pryce came out, and he is not in the best shape. And he did the biggest number that the character he originated sang in the show, which is 900 years long. He brought out the new engineer, then the original producer, and composers came out. It was just… it dragged. I dont know what they could have done to entertain me. I think because I am new to this show, i felt like I was on the outside and I hated that.

Now that its being revived on Broadway, a new generation will be exposed to the Heat in Saigon. I really hope that the show has the same impact as the original.

I appreciate having a complicated relationship with this show now, at least I have a relationship with it now. I do feel that the history of this show may be just as important as the actual show itself.

Disney's The Lion King, Does it hold up after all these years?

The first time I saw the Broadway Disney’s The Lion King live on stage I had to pick my jaw up off the floor. It had been around, and around, it was probably on its 5th or 6th national tour, as it was around 2007 when I saw a touring company in Sacramento.

The original Broadway production opened on at the New Amsterdam Theatre in 1997. It has been almost 20 years since we first saw a live action Rafiki wail those opening notes, those notes that still gives us goosebumps. I still am a vocal advocate and supporter of the additional ensemble vocals that had been added to this show by Lebo M.

To this day, I can not say how much I love these a capella African chants. One by One, the Lioness Hunt, and Grassland chant are the best pieces in the show. Especially when One by One opens the second act and the actors are in the audience with birds. #myheartswells

The vocals, the puppets, the sets, the famous history behind Julie Taymor’s crazy brain child. Something that really help her make a name for herself. This show set the stage for Disney to promptly take over Broadway (and many welcomed it)

I was so so excited to see it again, and to share the joy of this show with my friends (and some of their kids, too)! I wanted them to see what I had seen, feel what I had felt. The show started and as "The Circle of Life" begun, I was all smiles.

As the dialogue started, and the story began to unfold, I became less than enthralled.

Was it that I had already seen it once, and the Disney magic had worn off? Or was it, that after all these years of playing Broadway and countless national and international tours, the show lost the polish it once had?

I felt a lot of over-acting from the "feline" actors. I can't tell what it was specifically, but their movement on stage seemed trite. Especially that of the 3 main male characters, Young Simba, Mufasa, and especially Scar.

The Hyenas, Shezi, Bonzai, and Ed were incredibly sloppy in their performance. I could barely understand their dialogue, their singing, and the movements that they had seemed without motivation. It was all very distracting.

Throughout several numbers, members of the ensemble seemed straight up bored. They were not involved in the scene at all. I know that when you are a flower with a giant taco on your head, you may not want to smile, but you are pulling focus, dude. It seemed so unprofessional and awkward.

One of my favorite pieces, made famous by Tony Award, Grammy Award, Drama Desk Award winner Heather Headley, and also done masterfully by the Nala that I saw in 2007, Shadowland, lacked power, lacked sorrow, and lacked a literal and figurate voice in this performance.

If I didn't know that song so well, I would have had no idea what she was singing about and that made me sad for people who could have enjoyed that number they way so many have in the past.

Reading through the bios of the cast, a number of the performers had played various roles literally thousands of times. Were the actors just going through the motions and I picked up on it?

It's hard to say what my problem was. Friends of mine who were seeing the show for the first time were still incredibly entertained with it, as I was the first time. They loved the spectacle that it was, some of the vocal pieces they had never heard had their hearts racing.

One problem everyone I was with had, and it is a constant problem at the venue we watched the show. The San Diego Civic theatre has terrible sound. It always has been terrible and I assume it always will be terrible. The dialogue was extremely low, and quiet and the music was unbalanced.

I know I am critiquing the crap out of this, and the bottom line is overall the show was just okay. I'm glad I got to go with my friends. I am even more glad that the tickets were at a discounted price. Disney's the Lion King is still such a great show, though, so I can't be mad at it for too long. I would definitely see it again.

Lastly, I want to include one of the best things, I personally feel came from Broadways Disney's the Lion King.

As the Broadway show celebrated it's 10 anniversary, it had a homecoming of sorts. in 2007 the Lion King opened in Johannesburg. "There would be no 'Lion King' without South Africa. This is where the umbilical cord was first cut," said Oprah Winfrey, who brought 150 students from her Girls Academy which is located nearby.

Grease: Live! (I was wrong)

In a previous post, I had a lot to say about the live broadcast of Musicals on network television. I still stand behind my support and adoration for this, even as it works out some kinks. We can all agree that there is much to learn.

I was TERRIFIED when Fox announced that it was going to jump in the game with ‘Grease:Live’. I literally could not complain about it enough.

I was stone cold wrong.

I was so irritated by this idea of Grease being brought to the small screen for a lot of reasons, all of which I had mentioned, and I feel like the Fox executives read my post and said “He’s right, let's change these things”

While Grease will always be sexist AF, and it has been 9 months since I watched this event live, I want to say how wonderfully surprised I was at how much I truly enjoyed the production.

There was so much thought and care put into staging this. The sound stages and exteriors were in front a a live audience, that you COULD SEE on tv. The halls, the gym, the diner, everything looked great.

Also, for good measure, I loved the transition for Marty to singing in her room with the girls, to singing at the US show for “Freddy My Love”

Some of the more questionable lyrics were either omitted or made more family friendly, and most importantly, between Thomas Kail’s direction, and Aaron Tveit’s acting, Danny Zucko seemed like a guy who got sort of lost in a very real way, and tries to be a better guy. Its not implied, it's not awkward. Many have said that his performance in this production was bland, or lackluster (I admit, I did some research for this post) but I disagree. I remember distinctly thinking that there was a choice to soften him up during his "tough guy" Danny, and I thought it went a long way in the storyline. A fresh perspective on where Zucko was coming from. It made sense that Danny joined Doody in “Those Magic Changes”. It spoke more about their journey, particularly Danny's

The dance numbers were on point and actually focused on ALL the dancers, not just leads. That's always nice to see when the choreographer goes through so much work to have most of it scrapped in favor of “star time”

The supporting cast was amazingly well done. Vannessa Hudgens, who’s father had just passed, truly showed the meaning of the show must go on, and using your pain in your performance, Kether Donahue, an all around personal favorite, might have been the funniest thing that graced that sound stage, the boys, who were more or less forgettable, didn't irritate me as the “thunderbirds” or “Burger Palace Boys” (whichever version is your favorite) tend to do. And also, they were multi-racial, which made me very happy.

I was not a fan of Carly Rae Jepsen’s added song. I don't know why it was there. It was boring, it didn't show off her voice, we were all sad. I'm going to chalk it up to something important happening off stage...

Though I will have to gush a little about Boys II Men pulling out all the stops. I grinned ear to ear for one of my favorite numbers in this show. It was such a magical moment.

To be frank, the BEST thing was that race scene!! I appreciate they kept that intact from the film and they used every filming trick in the book to make that come alive, with literal smoke and mirrors. The imagination, and stagecraft (set craft?) behind making this pivotal moment come alive continuously blows my mind and is something that people always mention when discussing this event.

Mario Lopez was a shit show. Plain and simple. While I'm sure he's a lovely and competent man in real life, his performance was unbalanced and distracting. I really needed him to not be there.

Overall I hope this continues. I hope I continue to be surprised, and this format is enlightening children and families of all ages to how wonderful theatre can be. Cheers to the production team of Fox's Grease: Live! and cheers to all the Emmy's you won.

Next up, Hairspray: Live on NBC. will you be watching?

This is not about Musicals, It's just a mile.

This has nothing to do with musical theatre.

I did this thing, and it was not theatre related. I set a goal and I reached it. I'm super proud of myself. I wanted to share it with you.

About 2 months ago, we had this Leadership and Culture presentation in our office. It was really informative, and I walked away with some perspective, and a lot to think about.

A Little Background: There was a topic that was brought up in the meeting that really got my attention. I wanted to hold on to this idea as soon as I heard about it. It a series of 30-day challenges that had been self-assigned to a guy who ended up having a TED talk about it. We were then asked if there was a 20-day challenge we could do for ourselves. It was presented as something that didn't have to be difficult, it didn't exactly have to change your life or your whole world. A challenge just for you, and help you grow.

To Get a Little Personal: I had recently (and not so recently) been told by medical professionals that I need to focus on cardio in my workout routines. It's good for my body, which is genetically at risk for diabetes and heart disease, just like it's good for most people’s bodies. I had already started showing some of the pre-diabetic warning signs, and I needed to continue to take care of myself to stay healthy.

However, I fight with the same boredom that many, many people do when it comes to cardio. Bikes, and ellipticals, and treadmills, and ever the stair climbers… you are huffing and puffing and staying in place. Its tough to stay engaged. So I thought it over and figured one mile is not that hard. I decided to start a mile a day challenge.

For this challenge, I gave myself one simple rule: I had to run at least one mile every day, for 30 days.

Off and Running: It was a simple start and I felt great about it. Sometimes I would be feeling really good, the initial mile would have me energized, and I would run more than a mile. Sometimes the cardio would warm me up and I would actually do some lifting for another 20 or 30 mins. It got me up off the couch and out the door. I was active for at least 15 to 20 mins every day, and I could feel a big difference.

My Mile a Day Goal Tracker

The Good: In the time I had given myself for this challenge, my boyfriend, Ben, and I had a little vacation planned. I had to plan a little in advance and map out a couple of routes while we were gone. It was nice that I was able to get out and run while I wasn't at home. I ran around a super cute area in Oakland, and found a really nice trail outside of Reno. Places I most likely would not have seen!

The Bad: One or two times, I would have to go to the gym late, at the end of the day. 10 pm on a treadmill seems really awful, but it was actually fine. I would crawl back home, shower and get right into bed. Those nights I actually slept extremely peacefully.

The Ugly: The worst was an evening where I was in a dance workshop for almost 3 hours and hadn't run my mile yet. A lot of people said to me “you danced for 3 hours, that counts” but it would have broken my rule. I had to RUN one mile, that was the deal that I had made with myself. I'm glad I stuck to that and didn't compromise. It made me feel that much more accomplished when I looked back on my 30 days.

This was at 10:20 PM 

It was one of the tougher months I have put myself through, but it got me into a good routine. My last day of the challenge, I tried to push myself to run 2 miles, but I ran out of time I could spare being at the gym. I ended up with a good idea of what i can accomplish at the gym. I'm proud of myself.

I wouldn't even say this is a wholly original idea, either. I obviously got the idea from someone else, who was explaining someone else's journey. Mini-challenges have been around for quite some time, but I like the small little wildfires it creates within a community.

Several friends and colleagues of mine have asked me about this and they have been inspired. Some are modifying the idea so that it for works for them, and what they hope to gain in the fitness department, but using the basics of “it's just one mile” to get motivated.

The Bottom Line: Let’s face it, some days, a mile is hard. You don't want to get out of bed, or you had a long day, you just finished a whole pizza by yourself, but you do it. You get some endorphins, you move on with your day. Other days, you think its going to be a drag, but then you hit a good stride, and you really feel motivated to take the day on and continue being active! I guess its all about perspective.

Me in the gym Wednesday Morning October 5th

October Sky - A Review

On Friday, September 30th, Ben and I went and saw the new musical "October Sky" at the Old Globe. This show is an adaptation of the 1999 film starring Laura Dern, and Jake Gyllenhaal.

I have to admit I was excited for this show when it was announced. We had a gift certificate to the Globe that was burning a hole in my pocket and I picked this show as the front runner in my head.

The Good:

The stand out of this show for me was absolutely the set. The set was just phenomenal. I read that, since this was based on the film, they wanted to keep a cinematic quality and have the scenery move seamlessly, and they succeeded. The set moved swiftly and the pieces were gorgeous. The highlight was the large wooden structures.  They also had a great giant scrim that projected sweeping west Virginian skies it extremely effective. On several occasions, both of us were pointing at the beautiful things that were taking place.

The Bad:

About 2 weeks before we saw it, I started realizing that this might be the whitest show ever. I was right

The story takes place in a small mining town, Coalwood, West Virginia and is based on a true story. Families lived in the town, that was owned by the mining company and they worked in the mine. The company also owned the houses they lived in, and the schools the children attended.

The bulk (95%) of the actors were white. There was one black family, and the father’s skin color played into the script very minimally, literally in one scene it was quasi-mentioned. There was one other black actor, Bathtub Amos (Destan Owens) who sings a pretty amazing song. That is it. The ensemble was very large, and also very male. I would say that white men took up more than 50% of this cast.

The Ugly:

This show was seriously lacking any sort of female narrative at all. There were maybe 8 women total in this cast, and only 4 or 5 were named, and only 3 had a strong storyline. The 3 “main” females in this cast existed only for the men.

Ironically one of the major plot points was the female teacher, Miss Riley (Sandra DeNise), getting the point across that not everything in the world is designed to pick up or knock down the male main character, Homer Hickam (Kyle Selig), except in this storyline, it is.

I was reading the liner notes about the show, and the guy who wrote the music and lyrics  for the show, Michael  Mahler, had a strong perspective on why each of the 3 women mentioned had such a strong presence in the show. The female director and choreographer Rachel Rockwell lumped all women in these small towns together as one being. That really bothered me. It felt like she thought of the women as a sole entity that lived to worry about and care for their fellas. I think that is totally unfair.I know historically that this is how these women have been portrayed, and that isn't accurate at all. Even this show proves that they were women who had autonomy, who found a lot of strength where there wasn't much being given, had dreams and hopes for themselves, and their children, outside of their seemingly small lives.

I wanted to hear more about their stories. I don't think it would have been too tough to have these women speak with each other about something other than the male miners that happen to be dictating their lives. (FYI did not pass the Bechdel test)

Bottom Line:

I will say that I did enjoy a large portion of the music. I love bluegrass and folk, and this was clearly an inspiration to the composer. I did find myself distracted by a lot of the music sounding familiar. I picked up music from David Yazbeck’s the Full Monty, Kitt & Yorkey’s Next to Normal, and Joe DiPietro’s I Love You You’re Perfect Now Change.  

The cast really seemed to shine when singing together as well, which is a bummer that the show was so solo heavy. There was a female trio that was gorgeous, the miner’s chorus was amazing, and the whole ensemble together gave me goosebumps

The cast was talented overall. Some of the cast was weaker than others as far as believability in their roles, which was a surprised considering how far along they are in the run. The most impressive singer that stood out, in my opinion, was a black man who sang a glorious song about moonshine. By far the best vocals and the best stage presence.

I guess I came back to the question, Why was the show written? It's not that this was a bad story to tell, but my QUESTION is why are these stories still being told. The white male narrative is so tired. This could have easily been a multiracial cast. There wasn't a lot of dialogue about race, or even class, honestly. Yes, historically speaking, you would not have seen a heavily integrated mining town in the late 50s, but I feel like Hamilton has really paved the road to ignore that.The film paid a great tribute to Homer Hickam, and was did pretty well, and really help launch Gyllenhaal's career. I don't regret seeing this show, but I do not see a ton of marketability in this.