Two showcases were recently held in Los Angeles and New York to find a black comedienne to be added to the show's cast.
- Dec 13, 2013
AceShowbiz - "Saturday Night Live" is indeed taking it serious when it's criticized for the lack of black female cast member. The show has secretly held auditions to find a black comedienne to be added to the team after executive producer Lorne Michaels said, "It's not like it's not a priority," in response to the casting controversy.
It has been reported that two showcase auditions for African-American women were held earlier this month. The first audition took place at the Groundlings Theatre in Los Angeles on December 1.
The likes of Misty Monroe, a Groundlings Sunday Company alum, Amber Ruffin, Simone Shepherd, Tiffany Haddish, Nicole Byer, Bresha Webb and Darmirra Brunson were among those participating in the audition. Some of the girls took to social media to share their excitement, spreading the news of the audition.
The second audition, meanwhile, was held in New York on Monday and was attended by Michaels himself. The show creator said one of them would be added to the cast in January. "All told we've seen about 25 people," he said. "A lot of the people we saw are really good. Hopefully we'll come out of the process well."
To New York Times, he also stressed that "he did not attribute the surge of interest in securing a black female directly to the criticism the show had faced," but believed that it was "100 percent good for the show to have an African-American woman" in the cast.
"SNL" added six new cast members this season, all of whom are white. Sharing his thoughts on why there's currently no black woman in the regular cast line-up, Kenan Thompson said back in October, "It's just a tough part of the business. Like in auditions, they just never find ones that are ready."
