Diversity

Watching a lot of interviews celebrating how broadway is celebrating diversity. Some of last nights speeches really got me in the feels....

But - as a latina woman, every time I go to see a show, I am struck by how little diversity is reflected in the audience. There are times I actually count how many other latinos or people of color are in the audience with me. I can usually count us on one hand. Is the diversity shift on stage going to result in a shift in the audiences as well?

I'm not sure what I'm hoping to accomplish with this post. But, I do know you guys are NEVER quiet or shy about expressing your opinions....sooooo

Thoughts? (*drops & runs*)

Broadway simply has to be more affordable as a way to introduce musical theatre to communities where it has not laid as big of a footprint AND I hate to say it, but new scores may have to better reflect what people in various communities and in the mainstream are actually listening to these days and sing them in a way that sounds less legitimate (to borrow a phrase from Julie Andrews' character from Victor/Victoria). The way to really reach people outside theater lovers is first through the music itself. I just don't know how new Broadway scores can hit the mainstream or if it's just one of those things that just will never happen ever again.

sciencegirl said: "Watching a lot of interviews celebrating how broadway is celebrating diversity. Some of last nights speeches really got me in the feels....

But - as a latina woman, every time I go to see a show, I am struck by how little diversity is reflected in the audience. There are times I actually count how many other latinos or people of color are in the audience with me. I can usually count us on one hand. Is the diversity shift on stage going to result in a shift in the audiences as well?

I'm not sure what I'm hoping to accomplish with this post. But, I do know you guys are NEVER quiet or shy about expressing your opinions....sooooo

Thoughts? (*drops & runs*)



I think a lot of people just don’t know about affordable options. They assume it’s broadway so it’s expensive. Especially if it’s sold out and they’re looking at stubhub. It takes planning and patience and not everyone (all races) cares to do that. People also have misconceptions of what “musicals” are about. A friends husband swore off musicals Bc his grandmother took him to cats 20 years ago lol.





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I also was getting the feels with all the diversity speeches last night. I just wish there were more shows with people of color in them. To me it's unacceptable that people of color are typically not seen for "white roles". It's awful that there have only been 2 African Americans to play Phantom on Broadway. Why can't an Asian or Hispanic man play Phantom? Why can't an Asian woman play belle in beauty and the beast? the list goes on....

For an industry that preaches so much on diversity and how much they hate Trump for his divisive language about people of color, Broadway sure hasn't done a damn thing to open it's gates to all people of color.

Lin Manuel said it best: "Broadway doesn't have shows for people who look like me, so I made my own

I don't think it's always cost, though that's a huge factor. It's also — did you go to shows with your family? Has anyone in your family even been to live theatre? You need someone to introduce you to it. For a lot of white Americans, their grandparents regularly went to shows or took them to one. For others? Not so much. Many of my Gen X/millennial Asian American friends have no family history of going to the theatre.

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LizzieCurry said: "I don't think it's always cost, though that's a huge factor. It's also — did you go to shows with your family? Has anyone in your family even been to live theatre? You need someone to introduce you to it. For a lot of white Americans, their grandparents regularly went to shows or took them to one. For others? Not so much. Many of my Gen X/millennial Asian American friends have no family history of going to the theatre."

I think you hit the nail on the head. My first show was Phantom with my mostly white high school. My next show was with my best friend and her parents (they were jewish).

A few years ago I did take my family (parents/siblings/nieces/nephews) to see Mama Mia. For all of them, it was their first show. Not the best show, but cheapest for me to buy a dozen tickets to...I may have done more damage than good with that choice, lol.

Updated On: 6/12/18 at 12:38 PM

As far as audience members goes, it really depends on the musical. When I watched the classic revivals Hello Dolly, My Fair Lady, and Carousel, the majority of audience in the orchestra were definitely senior citizens. When I watched Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, or any of the Disney musicals, they tend to be younger and more diverse for sure. When I saw ON YOUR FEET! and Latin History for Morons, I felt I saw a lot more hispanics/latinos in the audience than I usually do when seeing other shows.

As for affordability, I think everyone always looks for a discount. As a New Yorker, I know I do especially since I tend to see a show via rush/lottery first. I also think tickets are indeed affordable but for the hit shows, scalpers somehow end up getting a hold of them and reselling at such a high price outside the budgets of most people.

Also, regardless of race, $100 for the average American is a lot of money and seeing theater is a form of luxury. I have friends who would much rather spend $50 at a pub drinking and watching sports on TV rather than doing rush and watch a Bway show. To each his own.

I have learned though that if one really wants to see a show, somehow that person will make it work. Back in college, I wanted to see Cabaret but could not afford tickets. I learned that I could volunteer usher & see the show for free so... I volunteer ushered once every 2 months with my friend Kat for 2 years and it was our Bway outing! Yeah we always sat in the rear mezz during the show but now as an adult in my 30s, we both splurged and bought tickets to sit in the orchestra tables in the recent revival back in 2014.

(First off, I’m Asian American.)

Representation does matter, however. When I saw Children of a Lesser God (on Easter Sunday), it was a very mixed crowd with many black people in the audience. If there weren’t a black lead (and several other people of color in the cast), would there be that kind of a turnout for that particular play? I’ve heard black people on the street saying they’re interested in seeing The Iceman Cometh. That’s not something I would ever hear a white person on the street say about any Eugene O’Neill play. It really matters to have that visibility. Yes, these plays didn’t sell out, but that’s not because of anything other than the plays/productions themselves, I believe. They did get noticed by the people paying attention.

It’s the same thing that happened when I saw Latin History for Morons. And I happened to attend “Pinoy Night” at Once On This Island because Lea Salonga is in the cast. These shows actually do bring in the right people when the diversity onstage is prominent and marketed unabashedly.

The Hamilton thing, yeah, that’s a real problem. It’s like the people of color reclaimed something and the rich white people snatched it right up and made it only accessible to themselves. I wish there were a way to fix this. I’m not sure if it’s even popular among non-theatregoing people of color because it’s just that exclusive.

It’s really miraculous that people of color (especially Latinx and Asian people) have any kind of interest in the theatre when in 2018 we’re still reveling in the small victories like Lindsay Mendez winning a Tony for a “white” role and Ruthie Ann Miles being the second Asian woman ever to win a Tony.

The most Asians I've ever saw in the theatre from personal experience was The King and I, but they seemed more like Asian tourists than Asian-Americans. Not sure how I could tell that, but just a vibe I received. I wonder how the make-up was for Allegiance, Flower Drum Song (2003), K-Pop, Miss Saigon (both original and 2017) and Here Lies Love. Obvs there wasn't much of an audience of any kind for Allegience and Flower Drum Song as those shows closed relatively early in their runs. Miss Saigon also closed earlier than those Cameron Mackintosh productions tend to close.

I mean, it's interesting to me that Fences was this big sell-out hit, but now Denzel is doing this 4 hour Irish drama and it's a pretty easy ticket to get. How come the Black Community came out in droves for that, but not this? Is it the playwright? Is it the play? Etc. Just find it all interesting."

Hmmmm You really don't know? Did you see how Fences was marketed? Did you see the number of Black faces and names on the flyer? They actually marketed it TO the Black audience. It's written by August Wilson. They made it feel familiar and inviting. Iceman Cometh isn't that. It's Denzel and 20 white men, and it's 4 hours long with 3 intermissions. In it's marketing and presentation, it feel exclusive and not inclusive. It' not that interesting or hard to figure out.

Broadway has been and is a white mans game. Marketing and cost play HUGE parts. The Hamilton audience is white a HELL. The diversity is only on the stage (and honestly, its not that diverse in some cases). smh

Who's saying the cast isn't diverse?

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I imagine why there are more Asian-American theatergoers could be due to cultural and financial issues. Speaking for myself, my parents grew up in rural China in poor families; they never went to the theater, and therefore never were instilled with that tradition, nor passed it on to me. I only started going to theater because a high school teacher had an extra ticket to ''Pacific Overtures'' ...

I once interviewed Mako (''Pacific Overtures'' ), and he told me that he was frustrated that more Asian-Americans didn't support their own artists. He pointed out that the better-off Asian-Americans would go to see the Broadway tours at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles (because it was a sign of status), but those same folks seldom came to his home-grown theater, East West Players, to see Asian-American actors in Asian-American plays.

In 1990, I was fortunate enough to have my first play, ''Whiskey Chicken,'' produced at the Asian American Theatre Company in San Francisco. It got pretty good reviews, got extended and became the theater's biggest commercial hit (at that time) and earned me a playwriting award from Drama-Logue magazine. I recall our audiences were 50-50. Half-Asian, half-Caucasian. I had written a comedy about a Chinese-American family in the '50s. After one performance, a white patron asked me if I was the author. I said I was, and she told me that her immigrant father was exactly like the crusty and cranky Chinese father in my play.

When theater works, it's so universal in speaking to everyone.

Updated On: 6/13/18 at 06:04 PM