Ladies and Gentleman....Taye Diggs is your next Hedwig- Page 26

[Littleshopofcarrie]

Posted: 8/8/15 at 5:41pm

Slightly off topic but I'm seeing the show Wednesday night and was wondering how the view was from the last row of the mezzanine?

[ChildofEarth]

Posted: 8/8/15 at 6:09pm

"Slightly off topic but I'm seeing the show Wednesday night and was wondering how the view was from the last row of the mezzanine?"

 You might not be able to see the audience participation during Sugar Daddy, depending on where he goes. Last time I saw it, he was still in the front row, so I'm assuming you'd be able to see it. Everything else should be fine, it's a smaller theater.

[yourheartcansing]

Posted: 8/8/15 at 6:16pm

"Slightly off topic but I'm seeing the show Wednesday night and was wondering how the view was from the last row of the mezzanine?"

 I saw it from the very back corner seat of the mezz and all you miss is the audience interaction during sugar daddy. the theater is small enough i don't think there's really a bad seat there.

[Phan2]

Posted: 8/12/15 at 5:34pm

Nice review of Taye:  http://www.nj.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2015/08/hedwig_broadway_taye_diggs_ticket_info.html

[HedwigInch]

Posted: 8/12/15 at 5:51pm

The not so nice thing about it is them white washing Darren Criss. :/

You can sell Taye as the first black Hedwig but claiming all the other Hedwigs were white is just false. 

Anyway I disagree he might be the best Hedwig yet. He is not right now. I read a review on Tumblr about last night's show and he is still flubbing lines. It's his 4th week...

Also the date in the article is wrong. Taye isn't Hedwig until October 30th. Unless they know more than we do.

 

 

Updated On: 8/12/15 at 05:51 PM

[haterobics]

Posted: 8/12/15 at 5:56pm

"The not so nice thing about it is them white washing Darren Criss. :/"

 

Most people wouldn't even have a clue of his background, and he reads as white, so nothing shocking there.

By that criteria, Obama isn't even the first black president, since he's only half-black?

[HedwigInch]

Posted: 8/12/15 at 5:59pm

""The not so nice thing about it is them white washing Darren Criss. :/"

Most people wouldn't even have a clue of his background, and he reads as white, so nothing shocking there.

By that criteria, Obama isn't even the first black president, since he's only half-black?"

I expect the media to do some research before writing their articles. Just google Darren Criss and you get told he is half Filipino. White passing doesn't give people the right to erase his heritage. 

The Obama comparison makes no sense. He is half black so obviously he "counts" as black.

If years from now someone asked me who the first Asian Hedwig was I would tell them Darren Criss.

 

[haterobics]

Posted: 8/12/15 at 6:02pm

"I expect the media to do some research before writing their articles."

 

HAHAHAHA....

[Phan2]

Posted: 8/12/15 at 6:08pm

I did notice that, HedwigInch.  I think it would be preferable for writers to state that Taye is the first African-American actor in the role, rather than to broadly categorize the rest of the Broadway Hedwig actors as "white."    From my perspective, President Obama is the first African-American president, since he is part African-American.    This is steering off the topic of Taye in the performance of Hedwig, but I just want to make a quick mention, because I have cousins who are part Asian-American and part "white," it is easy to assume that they are "white" because visually, they look "white."    Most folks assume if you do not look like a person of color, then therefore you are not.  Not the most accurate assumption.   My cousins are proud of being part Asian-American, are attached to their Asian culture, and see themselves as persons of color.  Anyway, I do think it's preferable for writers to be more careful when they identify an actor as "white," especially since they easily may avoid mentioning it altogether by simply stating Taye is the first African-American actor in the Broadway role.  But anyway, that is sort of veering off-topic.    Folks are free to disagree with the writer's opinion that Taye is the best (Broadway) Hedwig yet (I expected some disagreement).    Consensus was not expected by me.  I just wanted to post the review here.    The October 30 date is curious. 

Updated On: 8/12/15 at 06:08 PM

[HedwigInch]

Posted: 8/12/15 at 6:12pm

Oh, I know you didn't expect people to agree with it. Just bringing over the news so to speak. 

And yes, I agree. Feel free to advertise Taye as the first black or African-American Hedwig. That's accurate as far as I know. It just bothers me when people try to make a point that he is the first POC and then just totally ignore Darren's background. His mom is Filipino, his dad Irish. If he looked like his brother this wouldn't happen. His brother for some reason is not white passing. Genes are strange.

Anyway, I think that October 30th date is most likely a mistake? At least there aren't any dates available on Telecharge past October 11th.

[haterobics]

Posted: 8/12/15 at 6:13pm

"If years from now someone asked me who the first Asian Hedwig was I would tell them Darren Criss."

 

It's good that you have that chestnut planned and ready to go, although the situation where anyone would ask you that is somewhat elusive.

[Phan2]

Posted: 8/12/15 at 6:15pm

 I didn't expect everyone to agree with the writer.  I do expect some people to agree.   Just didn't expect a consensus. 

Updated On: 8/12/15 at 06:15 PM

[ChildofEarth]

Posted: 8/12/15 at 9:49pm

That article is absurd and I'm going to assume the writer never saw the show or only saw it with Neil...since the others are far better.

 

also, am I the only person who doesn't think Darren is white passing? One look at him and you know he isn't white.

[Phan2]

Posted: 8/12/15 at 11:00pm

Well, I thought there was at least one person here (maybe two, I honestly don't remember) who preferred Taye the most, although I don't remember now if she/he saw all of the previous Broadway actors in the role.   

[AppleSunday]

Posted: 8/12/15 at 11:02pm

"also, am I the only person who doesn't think Darren is white passing? One look at him and you know he isn't white."

This might be an odd way to put it, but to me Darren looks something. When he first came across my path I felt compelled to look up his background. I have no idea what I was specifically expecting to find, but I had a feeling he was something other than a common euro mix. However, had someone told me he was 100% white before I had the chance to look it up, I think I would've believed them. And slightly off topic but when I was leaving the theatre after his final performance I was right behind and older couple who I quickly realized were his parents. They seemed very tiny and sweet and kind. And his mom was very chic. 

Updated On: 8/12/15 at 11:02 PM

[haterobics]

Posted: 8/12/15 at 11:06pm

"also, am I the only person who doesn't think Darren is white passing? One look at him and you know he isn't white."

 

I never watched Glee much, and don't follow him much, so I think I always think of him as white since I never thought about him enough to wonder otherwise.

 

This isn't a very rare thing, though. I mean, few people consider Louis CK to be the top Mexican comic, for example.

[BroadwayConcierge]

Posted: 8/12/15 at 11:07pm

"When I was leaving the theatre after his final performance I was right behind and older couple who I quickly realized we're his parents. They seemed very tiny and sweet and kind. And his mom was very chic."

 

I feel kind of bad continuing this dialogue on the Taye Diggs thread, but if anyone wanted to actually see Darren and his parental units, here ya go. Super cute.

 

Updated On: 8/12/15 at 11:07 PM

[Littleshopofcarrie]

Posted: 8/12/15 at 11:37pm

Saw the show tonight and I was so impressed. His accent was a little hard to understand but I LOVED the way his voice sounded in the songs. The new black jokes were really fun and had the audience roaring. Taye really nailed both the comedic and dramatic parts of the show. All of his different voices were really great and were so helpful in distinguishing character from character. RNJ was fantastic as well. Overall, such a fun night at the theatre!

 

 

[Phan2]

Posted: 8/13/15 at 1:25am

Thanks for posting your thoughts, Littleshopofcarrie! 

[Phan2]

Posted: 8/13/15 at 1:29am

As for Darren, how about we move that discussion to the Darren thread.    I am curious now what his siblings look like.  Can someone post a photo in the Darren thread?

Updated On: 8/13/15 at 01:29 AM

[timisimaginary]

Posted: 8/13/15 at 9:56am

""If years from now someone asked me who the first Asian Hedwig was I would tell them Darren Criss."

 

 

 

It's good that you have that chestnut planned and ready to go, although the situation where anyone would ask you that is somewhat elusive.

 

"

i'm not sure who the first Asian Hedwig was, but the show has been done in Korea and Japan for years, so i'm pretty sure it's not Darren Criss. he might be the first Asian Broadway or NYC Hedwig though.

[HedwigInch]

Posted: 8/13/15 at 10:03am

"""If years from now someone asked me who the first Asian Hedwig was I would tell them Darren Criss."

 

 

It's good that you have that chestnut planned and ready to go, although the situation where anyone would ask you that is somewhat elusive.

 

"

i'm not sure who the first Asian Hedwig was, but the show has been done in Korea and Japan for years, so i'm pretty sure it's not Darren Criss. he might be the first Asian Broadway or NYC Hedwig though."

 

Ah, that's what I meant. First Asian Hedwig on Broadway. I don't know about off Broadway. I am pretty much only familiar with the Broadway Hedwigs.

 

[little_sally]

Posted: 8/13/15 at 11:26am

Phan2, Criss' brother is a member of the band Freelance Whales,if that helps.

[haterobics]

Posted: 8/13/15 at 11:32am

"If years from now someone asked me who the first Asian Hedwig was I would tell them Darren Criss."

 

It still seems like you would need a plethora of Asian Hedwigs on Broadway before you would need to step in and correct someone that, in fact, Darren Criss was the first. He played the role a year before Jose Llana, and two years before Telly Leung, etc. Otherwise, if the perception is that all the Hedwigs aside from Taye are white, no one would ever ask about the first Asian Hedwig, no?

 

Also, if that were the case, wouldn't it be more correct to say he was the only Asian Hedwig on Broadway? If you told me someone was the first, a natural follow-up would be, who was the second, no?

 

I'm a stickler for accuracy in fictional dialogue.

 

Updated On: 8/13/15 at 11:32 AM

[HedwigInch]

Posted: 8/13/15 at 12:59pm

*Let It Go Let It Goooo plays softly in the background*