Duluth Pocahontas Casting Criticized
DULUTH, Minn. (AP) -- A Duluth opera celebrating American Indian culture is being criticized for its failure to cast Native Americans in principal roles.
The Duluth Festival Opera's production of "Pocahontas: A Woman of Two Worlds" opens this week. Native American opera soprano Lyz Jaakola, a member of the Fond du Lac band, says there's no excuse for not casting American Indians.
Duluth Festival Opera director Craig Fields tells the News Tribune the auditions didn't generate interest from American Indian opera performers. Jaakola says the casting crew didn't try hard enough or in the right ways to attract Native Americans.
Fields says there are parts of the opera that call for only American Indian involvement and that Fond du Lac singers and drummers are involved with the production.
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