Theater Scraps Its 'Cinderella' Production Because the Cast Was '98% White'

A Minnesota theater canceled its "Cinderella" production because the staff was composed of mostly white people. The announcement of sudden cancellation followed the Chanhassen Dinner Theatres' new push for diversity in their shows.

Roger & Hammerstein's Cinderella is scheduled to be presented to the audiences later this year. The theater said they have to let go of their staff based on the theater's work towards "equity and inclusivity," Blaze Media reported.

"We as a company decided our original casting didn't go far enough in our commitment, and instead of waiting another full year to implement these important changes, we chose now," the Chanhassen Dinner Theaters said in a statement.

The artistic director, Michael Brindisi, told the Pioneer Press on Wednesday that the staff was composed of "98 percent white."

Cinderella in Minnesota Theater

Brindisi noted that the decision of the theater has nothing to do with the content of their play. He added that he was not ruling out staging "Cinderella" in the future.

Brindisi noted that he considered recasting the whole production and came up with the decision to have a fresh start.

"We need to fix things and we're going t do just that," said Brindisi. The theater expressed its belief that its fans and guests will continue to support them despite the changes.

Some of the actors in Cinderella were disappointed, but Brindisi pointed out that the actors respected the decision they made.

Minnesota Theater and its Commitment

Despite its commitment to "diversity, equity, and inclusion," The Daily Mail pointed out that the theater is located in a place where the population is overwhelmed by white people.

The racial demographics of the cast of Cinderella are not far from the demographics of the city. Chanhassen Dinner Theaters are located in the southwest of Minneapolis.

Chanhassen Dinner Theaters has already hired a consultant to help them become a "more intentionally anti-racist theater."

Brindisi said he realized it was time to make the theater "more diverse and more equitable" after George Floyd's killing last summer.

The most recent census revealed that 92.5 percent of people in Chanhassen are white, less than three percent are Hispanic, while 1.1 percent are Black.

Cinderella was announced to be the follow up to its production of "The Music Man." But the pandemic forced the theater to pause the musical a week after its premiere in March last year.

It was reported that "The Music Man" would reopen on July 2 at 50 percent capacity, assuming it meets the COVID-19 guidelines and approval of the actors' union.

Chanhassen Dinner Theatres is set to replace Cinderella with a more diverse version of "Footloose" in 2022.

"We believe this new process will allow us to tell the story in a rich way and allow us to live out our commitment to identity-conscious casting," the theater noted.

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