wonderfulwizard11 said: "What a foolish comment. As has been mentioned, The Color Purple is a story about a queer black woman and her journey, and there are also gay characters in The Humans and Sprint Awakening. You're also forgetting that last year's Best Musical was one of the gayest shows, content-wise to ever win. LGBT representation is important, but theatre doesn't suffer from some maddening lack of it.
You also seem very bothered by the fact that four black actors won awards. "
Can't find the original comment on "where's the diversity" and didn't want to improperly attribute it to you!
I didn't even register that all four musical acting categories went to black actors. It just felt very normal and that's wonderful and I'm so thrilled for them (it was also unsurprising because they were the four I thought would win).
But you know I'm more concerned that there wasn't a whole lot of Asian representation, only because I had a personal reaction this season...
I just remember this strange feeling while watching Allegiance... how eye-opening it was to see a show full of talented Asian actors depicting the lives of Asian-Americans from their point of view on stage. That such a thing was ever possible? The thought literally never cross my mind. And I thought, wow I could have been like them (an artist, a performer, etc.)? Well, not me, I am not nearly talented enough. :) But just imagine what that would mean for younger generations. I certainly didn't react to The King and I that way, the "stereotypical" depiction of "Asians" from a white lens. I never thought it would matter to see someone "who looked like me" and "talked like me" and "thought like me" and "understood me" up on that stage. It was pretty profound.
Plus it was the first and only time I ever sat in the audience of a Broadway show and I was in the MAJORITY. Blew my mind.
So today I looked up how many Asians have won Tonys... only two people of Asian descent have ever won a Tony. Ruthie Ann Miles for The King & I and Lea Salonga for Miss Saigon.
It's great what Hamilton has done... maybe someday there will be an Asian version of something as powerful to break that ceiling for us. Or diversity truly is diversity in every sense. I think it will happen.
ETA: I think this season shows that it is happening, and the recognition I think will eventually follow. Fun fact: Allegiance itself is a very diverse Asian cast - the leads are Japanese, Korean, Filipino, and Chinese.
Updated On: 6/13/16 at 10:49 AM