Could the Tonys mark a breakout year for Asian-American & Pacific Islander performers?
Could the Tonys mark a breakout year for Asian-American & Pacific Islander performers?
Wayman_Wong
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/22/04
#1Could the Tonys mark a breakout year for Asian-American & Pacific Islander performers?
Posted: 4/28/25 at 8:43pm
This year, the Tony Award nominations will be announced Thursday, May 1, which happens to be the first day of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. May is set aside to recognize the contributions of Asian-Americans, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders to ''the history, culture and achievements of the U.S.'' In line with concentrating on Asia, as it refers to East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Asian Pacific, I came up with this list:
Among this year's Asian-American performers who could be Tony nominees:
* Darren Criss (''Maybe Happy Ending'' )
* Daniel Dae Kim (''Yellow Face'' )
* Francis Jue (''Yellow Face'' )
* Conrad Ricamora (''Oh, Mary!'' )
* Lea Salonga (''Sondheim's Old Friends'' )
* Nicole Scherzinger (''Sunset Blvd'' )
* Thom Sesma (''Dead Outlaw'' )
* Helen J. Shen (''Maybe Happy Ending'' )
Maybe I could be wrong, but I don't think any season has had more than two actors of East/Southeast Asian descent up for a Tony.
Prior examples include: 1976: Mako and Isao Sato (''Pacific Overtures'' ); 1991: June Angela (''Shogun'' ), Lea Salonga (''Miss Saigon'' ); 1996: Lou Diamond Phillips and Joohee Choi (''The King and I'' ); 2015: Ken Watanabe and Ruthie Ann Miles (''The King and I'' ).
If Daniel Dae Kim snags a Tony nomination for ''Yellow Face,'' it'll be a landmark. It'll be the FIRST time an Asian-American man has ever been NOMINATED for Leading Actor in a Play in the Tonys' 78-year history. In 1958, Cedric Hardwicke, a British Caucasian actor, was Tony-nominated in Leading Actor for playing a Japanese businessman in ''A Majority of One.'' That same year, Larry Blyden, another Caucasian, was Tony-nominated for playing Sammy Fong in ''Flower Drum Song.''
#2Could the Tonys mark a breakout year for Asian-American & Pacific Islander performers?
Posted: 4/28/25 at 9:09pm
Nitpicking here, but can the mods please get rid of that quotation mark/parenthesis glitch???
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dramamama611
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/4/07
#3Could the Tonys mark a breakout year for Asian-American & Pacific Islander performers?
Posted: 4/28/25 at 9:23pm
I would think just having so many possibilities is very much a breakout!
If we're not having fun, then why are we doing it?
These are DISCUSSION boards, not mutual admiration boards. Discussion only occurs when we are willing to hear what others are thinking, regardless of whether it is alignment to our own thoughts.
#4Could the Tonys mark a breakout year for Asian-American & Pacific Islander performers?
Posted: 4/28/25 at 9:26pm
Also Amalia Yoo (John Proctor Is the Villain), Claire-Marie Hall (Operation Mincemeat), Tatianna Córdoba (Real Women Have Curves), Zachary Noah Piser (Redwood), and the cast of English. I think they all have a shot at a nomination, especially in those up-in-the-air featured categories.
DroughtofApathy
Swing Joined: 2/5/18
#5Could the Tonys mark a breakout year for Asian-American & Pacific Islander performers?
Posted: 4/28/25 at 9:27pm
Wayman_Wong said: "This year, the Tony Award nominations will be announced Thursday, May 1, which happens to be the first day of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. May is set aside to recognize the contributions of Asian-Americans, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders to ''the history, culture and achievements of the U.S.'' In line with concentrating on Asia, as it refers to East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Asian Pacific, I came up with this list:
Among this year's Asian-American performers who could be Tony nominees:
* Darren Criss (''Maybe Happy Ending'' )
* Daniel Dae Kim (''Yellow Face'' )
* Francis Jue (''Yellow Face'' )
* Conrad Ricamora (''Oh, Mary!'' )
* Lea Salonga (''Sondheim's Old Friends'' )
* Nicole Scherzinger (''Sunset Blvd'' )
* Thom Sesma (''Dead Outlaw'' )
* Helen J. Shen (''Maybe Happy Ending'' )
Maybe I could be wrong, but I don't think any season has had more than two actors of East/Southeast Asian descent up for a Tony.
Prior examples include: 1976: Mako and Isao Sato (''Pacific Overtures'' ); 1991: June Angela (''Shogun'' ), Lea Salonga (''Miss Saigon'' ); 1996: Lou Diamond Phillips and Joohee Choi (''The King and I'' ); 2015: Ken Watanabe and Ruthie Ann Miles (''The King and I'' ).
If Daniel Dae Kim snags a Tony nomination for ''Yellow Face,'' it'll be a landmark. It'll be the FIRST time an Asian-American man has ever been NOMINATED for Leading Actor in a Play in the Tonys' 78-year history. In 1958, Cedric Hardwicke, a British Caucasian actor, was Tony-nominated in Leading Actor for playing a Japanese businessman in ''A Majority of One.'' That same year, Larry Blyden, another Caucasian, was Tony-nominated for playing Sammy Fong in ''Flower Drum Song.''
"
Not only are there more AAPI performers eligible in a single season than ever before, but they're also spread out across seven of eight categories (also including Amalia Yoo, though perhaps less likely than the names mentioned above). Only three Asian actors have ever won, two of whom were/are in shows this past year. While it may be a long shot given the competitive field, if three of them pick up awards then the number of AAPI Tony-winning actors will have doubled in just a single season. In a season that doesn't include either The King and I or Miss Saigon, this is pretty monumental for our community.
#6Could the Tonys mark a breakout year for Asian-American & Pacific Islander performers?
Posted: 4/29/25 at 2:50am
"In a season that doesn't include either The King and I or Miss Saigon, this is pretty monumental for our community."
I think that's the most special thing! That most of the roles (not all but most) aren't centred around the racial identity of the actor which seemed like the only way to get opportunities historically, instead today it's just pure talent on display.
Listen to how incredible Zachary Noah Piser's vocals are during 'Still' (who describes himself as a jewish-asian American I believe). To be able to hold his own next to Idina Menzel who I am sure finds his performance moving is a pretty nice feat.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrB000CdnUU&list=RDYrB000CdnUU&start_radio=1
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
Updated On: 4/29/25 at 02:50 AM
#7Could the Tonys mark a breakout year for Asian-American & Pacific Islander performers?
Posted: 4/29/25 at 3:35am
Depressing it took this long. As "inclusive" as Broadway assumes it is, it's still very white.
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