Do you think more Asians will be on Broadway?- Page 2

[zoran912]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 1:36am

Margo has a really good point. There are very few non-whites in positions of power on Broadway. Therefore, there are few chances for non-white performers to get cast in lead roles. Telly Leung is playing Boq in the Chicago cast of Wicked. That's a step forward. Honestly, an Asian could play Elphaba. Asians could play many roles. There has been a black Belle. Pearl Bailey played Dolly. Saycon Sengbloh and Brandi Chavonne Massey are the standby and understudy for Shoshana Bean in Wicked. I think I remember an Asian woman being an understudy for Sherie Rene in Aida. So many roles can go many ways. Has their been an Asian Mimi in RENT? There could be. She's supposed to be Spanish, but she has been played by black, hispanic, and white women. Why not an asian? Or a middle-eastern woman? I'm all for non-traditional casting if the performer can BRING IT unless the role is race-specific.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 2:04am

What's Lea Salonga doing right now? I know she was doing concerts around the country not long ago.

[CostumeMistress]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 2:07am

Really, I think that more ethnicity-blind casting will happen as more and more shows emerge in which race simply doesn't matter. Shows with historical roots (you couldn't cast an Asian man as Joe in Showboat or an African-American man as Leo in Parade!) will possibly always be a hang-up as far as race-specific casting; but as the world slowly but surely becomes more color-blind, so with the theatre... art imitates life.

[buffyactsing]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 2:14am

I too hope roles for anyone who isn't white, thin, and pretty/handsome, and young will increase as well. I agree with several people here. Unless it's a race specific role, talent should rule.

[zoran912]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 2:16am

Thank God some people understand that. Otherwise, we wouldn't have Audra. Thank God someone had the idea to cast her as Carrie Pipperidge in the Carousel revival. Thank God for Lincoln Center!

[clarky]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 2:26am

I just say: Thank god for Disney!

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 2:34am

And Lincoln Center and Nicholas Hytner. Their non-traditionally cast production of Carousel gave us a four-time Tony winning actress. They got a LOT of flack in some traditional circles for casting a black Carrie, but obviously they were right in the end and thank goodness for that.

Updated On: 7/11/05 at 02:34 AM

[zoran912]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 2:51am

Disney? Eh-heh...

I'm guessing we're talking about Aida here..or Toni Braxton as Belle.

[Pinguin]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 3:13am

It's very disheartening to see Asians only spend time in the choruses and to see so few prominent Asian lead actors; There are very few Asian actors with multiple Broadway lead credits (really you have Lea, B.D. Wong, and a couple others).

There are so many girls who just keep going on those non equity Miss Saigon tours over and over again just because it's the only jobs available to them. It's really sad.

I want Lea back on Broadway -stop with the concerts, get back onstage and take another part that everyone thinks is only supposed to be only for a white girl!!!!

[zoran912]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 3:20am

Have any of you seen KA, the new Cirque du Soleil show at the MGM Grand Resort and Casino in Las Vegas? I saw it on Friday. It's stunning. The story could definitely be musicalized. It's the first Cirque show to tell a linear story. This show could give roles to so many Asian performers. However, this show is already running in a much different, and highly successful, format. I would suggest that some composer dig into the Martial Arts movies. I would love to see Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon as a musical, provided the composer was legitimate. Guettel or LaChiusa could do something crazy with that.

[buffyactsing]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 3:36am

Indeed. To think it possible Audra might not have been given a chance brings tears to my eyes.

Did they really get flack for it? My 1994 wasn't that long ago, was it? Frightening.

I know there was some flack that Audra was cast as Grace in Annie...that was shocking to me when I heard her say that.

[zoran912]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 3:44am

Life without Audra is nothing. Pointless.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 3:45am

There were some critics (John Simon, notably -- I'd LOVE to find that review) and others at the time who characterized MacDonald as "Non-traditional casting gone wild." They went on and on about how a turn of the century Maine town wouldn't have been integrated and how Audra and the great Shirley Verrett destroyed the versimilitude of the story.

I remember pointing out that
1) It's not a documentary -- it's a musical
2) People in Maine around the turn of the century also didn't typically burst out into song at the drop of a hat and typically didn't walk around accompanied by a full orchestra when they did
3) the hills in the set were clearly styrofoam covered in plastic grass.

If these things didn't bother them, then why should incredibly gifted African-Americans cast in major roles upset them so much?

Updated On: 7/11/05 at 03:45 AM

[zoran912]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 3:55am

The thought of anyone walking around with a full orchestra to back them up when they randomly burst into song is quite amusing.

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 4:20am

what irked me when i was at SDSU when i was in college was that they did this show... i forgot... Dragon Wings or something like that... anyways... the director cast only one Asian in the show and cast all white people... she basically wanted to prove that white people can play Asian people or something really stupid like that... she felt that non-traditional casting should or would work in a situation like that... for me, i was extremely offended... i felt as if they wanted white people to play the roles but yet in other shows they won't cast non-white people... stuff like that irks me... backward thinking... ugh...

anyways... i agree that we need more prominent asian playwrights and whatnot... asians need to show some type of power... but it's all about how much are audiences truly ready... i think i read that Lea Salonga commented that one of the reasons that Flower Drum Song failed (and please don't turn this into a Flower Drum Song bashing.... this isn't about music and plot or whatever you want to say about FDS) was that audiences were not ready for a show with Asian American romantic leads... i somewhat agree... i mean interracial stories, although getting much better, can still be a touchy subject... and Asian American romances aren't really out there... what do you all think about that type of reasoning that Asian American shows aren't really out there?

[CostumeMistress]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 10:14am

Bravo, Margo, that was VERY well-said.

[Beergoggles]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 10:18am

last i heard Lea was singin the role of Maria in a concert version of West Side Story opposite John Barrowman in Germany!

[midtowngym]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 10:44am

Chances will increase as more native born asians study acting. Talent ultimately triumphs.
I witnessed a perfectly bizarre play at the SPF Festival yesterday called Tempodyssey, about a temp office worker who's the Angel of Death. Her boss shouted offstage in a loud, authentic (or well replicated) New Yawk accent--'get me coffee NOW!', 'pick up the goddamn phones!' Like John Travolta circa Saturday Night Fever. He finally walks onstage, and is chinese!

Updated On: 7/11/05 at 10:44 AM

[the whanau]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 11:27am

Kia Ora:

I am Keala Settles mom, for those who are not familiar with who she is. Keala is Tracy in the broadway production of HAIRSPRAY on tour. Keala is I believe at this point in time the only polynesian performer on broadway and I think apart from Kiri Te kanawa who is in Opera the first Maori. Keala always attributes her voice to her Maori mother and her looks to her English Father. However I agree with you. If your heart is in theatre you will do what ever you need to do to prepare yourself to be in the right place at the right time regardless of your ethnicity.

Prior to her "Hairspray" part, Keala did exactly what you said. She went to school has secured two degrees and played as many different roles as she could to sharpen her skills. From the witch in "Into the Woods" to the wicked witch in "The Wiz" From Bloody Mary in "South Pacific" to the mother Of Gypsy in "Gypsy"
Keala has enjoyed her journey to were she is today. It hasn't been easy and it still is hard work.

I think while many people would like to see a more diverse broadway line up. It really is all about talent, black white or indigo. It is up to each and every one of you as individuals to continue to educate your selves in the art of Music and Theatre in order to prepare yourselves when the time is right. Keala literally went from the street to broadway.

Don't give up, don't get discouraged. As we have always told Keala "Dreams are those wonderful things we reach for when we take our eyes of the obstacles" Don't let ethnicity be an obstacle turn it into an attribute. Because then and only then will you know what it means to "LIVE THE DREAM" where ever it takes you.

Kia Kaha (Be Strong) and learn to enjoy the journey.

Kealas Mom.

[MTVMANN]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 11:28am

Well, at times when race comes into play, I think that asians have an easier time than African-American, because I have seen many asians in "white" roles.

But at any rate:

Just do you own thing!

[MouseInfo]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 12:16pm

Lea is singing in Pasadena on July 16th. She posted it on her newsgroup. She has also expressed continued interest to play the role of Elphaba on Broadway. I can't wait to here her sing "For Good" with Jen Paz.

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 2:52pm

To Margo Channing: Bravo for everything you've said on this thread. We need more playwrights, directors, producers, actors, etc., of all ethnicities if our theater is going to reflect our society. ... As for 'Miss Saigon,' I was the reporter who first broke the story, and I've never understood why Mackintosh was allowed to slander male Asian actors by saying they weren't capable of playing the Engineer, especially after his casting people eventually admitted that their 'worldwide search' had been to find Kim, not the Engineer. The role of the Engineer could have been a star-making role for an unknown Asian guy the way it was a star-making role for Lea Salonga.

To Surefinewhatever: Maxine Hong Kingston's 'The Woman Warrior' has been turned into a theater piece by Deborah Rogin. It was done about 10 years ago at Berkeley Rep. (Before then, I was approached about adapting it for the stage, but I passed.) Why it didn't have more of a life in the theater, who knows?

[XOsweet_dancerOX]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 2:59pm

well there are quite a few now and there are more and more. I'm mexican and not too many are up there ^_^ but it all comes and goes. When you have the talent race kind of dissolves.

[Aigoo]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 3:07pm

This is so interesting. Hah. I used to think my race was a disadvantage to any marketability I would have, but now I'm starting to think it'll help me stand out and I would be able to use it to my advantage. Unless...somewhere in the next 8 years, there's some sort of..mass...invasian sort of thing that goes on with the theatre district. Then I'd sort of blend in. -_-

[Broadway_Bound_Star]

Posted: 7/11/05 at 3:18pm

Wow, i'm Filipino too. I think that therereally should be some more shows with Asians in the mix somewhere. I was looking into RENT, and I found out that they are casting Angel as Asian now. I think thats really awesome. But yes, I think being Asian cuts me out from a few roles, Like youcould never see an asian as Emile in "South Pacific" or a lot of other roles. But yes, I think and hope there will be more oppertunities for us to come. But I am only 75% Filipino, so yeah. It saddens me, but yet I am excited because there are so many of us on the boards, thats exiting!!! But a new up-and comer Filipino is Ma-anne dianesio, she was recently Eponine in the Les Mis tour and she stole the effen show, she is AWESOME! And hopefully when I graduate High School, I want to persure a Musical THeatre career! So there may be some hope for some filipinoes!!!