Sicilian Culture: The News & Views: Do You Believe In Magic?

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Do You Believe In Magic?
By Michael Posner, The Globe & Mail
April 21, 2001 - - Heavy e-mail fallout from last week's item about actor Tony Nardi whizzing his agent over Mafioso typecasting.
According to Nardi, Toronto casting agent John Comerford had threatened to blacklist the entire roster at Nardi's agency, ETM, unless Nardi read for the part of a stereotypical mobster. Comerford denied it and ETM declined comment. Now, other actors are writing to salute Nardi's courage and relate similar experiences.
"I applaud, in standing ovation, Mr. Nardi's decision to exercise his freedom of choice and to bring forth this misconduct," says Michael Mahonen. Casting agents are the gatekeepers to auditions, he says, which means who gets called is entirely subjective.
Another actor, Frank Pelligrino, says he's often found himself "torn between the need to support my family, and my disgust at the stereotypical and unimaginative view of Italians that often pukes itself up on my fax machine in the form of a script... My dilemma is always the same: 'Why am I being put in this horrible position of having to regurgitate clichés in order to remain working? But . . . I "do" have a choice . . ."
Meanwhile, I see that Section 2 (Services and Obligations of an Agent) of the standard agency contract stipulates that agents must "recognize the Client's right not to accept any and all employment opportunities offered."

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