MAYBE HAPPY ENDING Reviews — Page 27

Three Asians in a cast of 30 for The Muny’s La Cage, which means 10% representation. Well above the Missouri Asian population percentage of 2.1%. The Muny has listened and we will therefore not try to destroy their show! Be like The Muny! 

Playbill.com: Conrad Ricamora Launches Scholarship Fund for Asian Actors Following 'Maybe Happy Ending' Casting Controversy (by Diep Tran)

"Oh, Mary!" actor and Tony nominee Conrad Ricamora wrote on Instagram: "There’s a lot of pain right now. Pain from being told—subtly and explicitly—that we don’t belong. 
Pain from watching history repeat itself, even as we fight for representation.
 Pain that I know so many other Asian American men in this industry have felt before me."

In response, Ricamora announced July 27 that he is launching a scholarship fund for Asian American male actors. He calls it, "The Right to Be There" fund "for Asian American male actors pursuing a BFA or MFA in acting. This is for the ones coming up behind us. For the ones who wonder if there’s space for them. For the ones who need to know: you have a right to be there." 

Ricamora began the fund by donating $18,000. As of press time, the fund as received over $34k on GoFundMe.

Longtime Broadway actor Jose Llana is one of the artists who criticized the Maybe Happy Ending casting decision on social media. He elaborated in a follow-up conversation with Playbill, saying that even though this past season on Broadway has seen Asian men leading shows such as Yellow Face, Oh, Mary!, and Maybe Happy Ending—historically on Broadway, male actors of Asian descent have been "omitted from consideration" for lead roles. To him, Maybe Happy Ending was an opportunity to potentially change that paradigm (he's seen the show three times and had recommended it to friends).

"I’m too old for [the role of] Oliver, but I have so many friends, who I consider my younger brothers—I was so excited this could be something for them," says Llana. "I was fantasizing about all the future Olivers and Claires and James down the road, the potential for all these Asian actors to get their foot in the door...every regional theatre that does it, it gives those actors a chance to have something on their resume that is not King and I, Miss Saigon, Flower Drum Song. God bless those shows, but we need more contemporary shows to be able to add to our resumes."

https://playbill.com/article/conrad-ricamora-launches-scholarship-fund-for-asian-actors-following-maybe-happy-ending-casting-controversy

Updated On: 7/28/25 at 03:15 PM

FolliesCabaret said: "I saw this show in previews, so something could have been added, or maybe I just don't remember, but are there any lines or reasons these characters can't be older? If I'm suspending my disbelief to watch singing robots, there's no reason those robots have to be in their 20s. Isn't the whole point that Claire is breaking? I could see that working just as well with someone in their late 30s, early 40s, whatever age honestly. If the helperbots can be as customizable as this world says, why wouldn't somebody want a helperbot that's older?"


Ricamora’s statement that he is too old for the role of Oliver I think is his way of making the disclaimer of “For the record, I am mad about not because I wanted the role, but because some of my younger friends did.” Of course, had he been offered it, I’m sure he would have said yes.

Anyway, especially now that the issue has made the headline of Playbill, I can’t imagine Feldman not wanting to drop out at this point. Whether the producers will let him remains be seen.

As the fund is for Asian American Male Actors, can we expect a separate faction of Asian American Female Actors to begin a campaign against Ricamora? 

Updated On: 7/28/25 at 05:12 PM

Llana can easily pass as under 40 onstage, as he does not (in appearance or performance) come across as a year shy of 50.

An actor who’s outspoken out about representation and opportunities would not turn down one because they felt they were too old. 

Feeling extra self-righteous today, huh Sutton?

Hey Sutton: chill. I admitted I was wrong about the person who was quoted in the Playbill article. I am happy to be proved wrong. Being right all of the time would be quite boring, I imagine.

Additionally, I was not telling Wayman to chill about the MHE casting issue, I was telling him to chill towards me about misattributing the Jose Llana quote. Wayman has every right to be pissed about Andrew Barth Feldman taking on a role that really should have gone to an Asian man. So your venom is misplaced. 

Have a great day!

Hollywood Reporter: Conrad Ricamora's scholarship fund for Asian actors raises over $40,000 in less than a day

Tony-nominated actor Conrad Ricamora says he started The Right to Be There, his scholarship fund for Asian-American actors, to do something positive in the wake of the ''Maybe Happy Ending'' casting controversy. In only about a day, the GoFundMe campaign has raised over $40,000, Ricamora says, to deal with ''decades of erasure that Asian-American men have felt in theater.'' He added: ''I want young Asian-American men in acting programs to feel seen. I want them to know that ... they have a right to be there. ... The ['Maybe Happy Ending' casting] controversy definitely resonated, and it reminded me that progress is still fragile for Asian-American men in theater, but this scholarship isn’t just about one moment. It’s about a pattern that’s been quietly hurting people for decades.''

Ricamora, who put up $18,000 himself, says the outpouring in donations so far ''makes me emotional. It makes me feel like I’m a part of a community. It makes me feel like there is space, not only for me, but for the people, my friends that I care about in this industry, and the people that will be coming up behind us. It gives me hope that it’s going to get better, and that we have resources, and that are people that are committed to creating a better way forward.''

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/arts/broadway-conrad-ricamora-scholarship-fund-asian-actors-1236331468/

Updated On: 7/28/25 at 08:25 PM

Oh Conrad… Conrad, Conrad, Conrad. Are you really sure you wanna do this?

Asian Americans have the highest median wealth in the USA. I think you’re about to have other groups (let alone female or otherwise-identifying Asian Americans) feeling a little uneasy about what you’re doing by raising money for Asian American males, and may lose sympathy - that was probably shaky and fraught to begin with - for your self-recognized cause.

You just contributed $18,000 of your own money without blinking. Tell us again how Asian American actors are just trying to make a living?

You claim “pain from being told - subtly and explicitly - that we don’t belong.” You were just nominated for a Tony Award FFS. I can see if I squint (not being racist, calm down, I mean really squint) that one could infer subtle “you don’t belong here” vibes from the Andrew casting, but it really is a stretch. But where has anyone EXPLICITLY said “you don’t belong here”? Just a few months ago Lea Salonga had a running tally of Filipinos on Broadway, and that was just one demographic and only in leading roles!!! Come on, be reasonable. 

“In 2022, the median net worth of Asian households in the US equaled $535,400—close to double that of white households and more than eight times that of Black households, Hispanic households, and households of other racial or ethnic groups.”https://apps.urban.org/features/asian-american-wealth-snapshot/

You may get donations from the usual suspects - self-punishing, self-hating people who are the type who’d put on their oxygen mask last - but don’t be surprised if, over time, you start to hear an echo where people were being neutral and the pendulum of sympathy swings in the other direction.

Do you really wanna open up this door, Conrad?

Bonus quote from Darren Criss in Newsweek back in May: ”I hope to do the show for many, many moons. But, you know, after this original cast is done with their time in the show, I love that we can dare to have a non-Asian cast, as opposed to the other way around.”

Maybe the Asian American acting community should align on where they stand before speaking for one another. Could a Korean actor tell a Japanese actor to F off for presuming to want to play a Korean robot from the future?

Updated On: 7/28/25 at 10:07 PM

Darren Criss in the L.A. Times (March 27, 2025):

''Let's call a spade a spade here — I'm the white-passing Asian of our group, but it is my identity. The AAPI [Asian American Pacific Islander] community in the arts is a smaller, if not marginalized, group, so to be up there, I feel that excitement and encouragement from the community at large. It's important, and I hope this show ['Maybe Happy Ending'] can continue to have that legacy and be an inspiring call to action in other artistic spheres.''

Updated On: 7/28/25 at 10:43 PM

Wayman_Wong said: "Darren Criss in the L.A. Times (March 27, 2025):

''Let's call a spade a spade here — I'm the white-passing Asian of our group, but it is my identity. The AAPI [Asian American Pacific Islander] community in the arts is a smaller, if not marginalized, group, so to be up there, I feel that excitement and encouragement from the community at large. It's important, and I hope this show can continue to have that legacy and be an inspiring call to action in other artistic spheres.''"

As I posted above but will again since you missed my question to you several days ago and might miss my above comments too…

Darren Criss in Newsweek. May 2025: ”I hope to do the show for many, many moons. But, you know, after this original cast is done with their time in the show, I love that we can dare to have a non-Asian cast, as opposed to the other way around.”