Minnesota Theater Cancels ‘Cinderella’ Production Citing Too Many White Cast Members

A Minnesota suburban theater canceled its production of “Cinderella,” citing that the cast had too many white actors.

Chanhassen Dinner Theatres announced on its website that the production of “Cinderella” was not aligned with its current diversity, equity, and inclusion goals. Instead of recasting the production to include more people of color, the theater opted to nix the production entirely.

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In the same statement, the theater announced that it will invite and pay for a [black, indigenous, or person of color] to analyze the makeup of the cast and how to make the show adequately “anti-racist.”

“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 and becoming a more intentionally anti-racist theater,” the statement reads.

The theater’s Artistic Director Michael Brindisi told Twin Cities Pioneer Press that the reason the play was being cut was that the cast was too white.

“It was 98 percent white,” Brindisi said of the Cinderella cast. “That doesn’t work with what we’re saying we’re going to do.”

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According to the New York Post, the theater resides in the Minneapolis suburb of Chanhassen which is 92 percent white, three percent Hispanic, and one percent black.

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