The Fairy Princess is gearing up for BroadwayCon and you should be too!
Come check out the second Asian American panel with my amazingly talented panelists – Ali Ewoldt, Shoba Narayan, Raymond J. Lee, and Telly Leung!
We are on the schedule officially, and it will be FAN TAN FANTASTIC!
We will be talking about where Asian Americans are on Broadway now, and where they intend to go from here – these are the folks that live and breathe #ChangeTheStage
Jan. 27th, 10 AM at the Jacob Javit’s Center in the Hildy Parks Room, 1A
Now, on to the BROADWAY...cuz TFP has some NEWS!
That is RIGHT – Ms. Carmen Ruby Floyd has joined in the cast of HELLO, DOLLY and she is – Bernadette Peter’s Understudy!
Ms. Floyd has been in LION KING, AVENUE Q, PORGY and BESS, and AFTER MIDNIGHT – so Broadway is what she does – but this is a #ChangeTheStage moment, and we are all here to witness it.
TFP spoke to Ms. Floyd, and here is what she said about the part, which, is DOLLY EFFIN LEVI, btw, in case you did not get it the first time!
Ms. Floyd, what are your thoughts on joining the cast of this show?
“I’m just happy to sprinkle some #BlackGirlMagic, especially for this show.
I grew up with Pearl Bailey playing Hello Dolly with Cab Calloway, so I ‘know’ that soundtrack – that is what I grew up listening to, dreaming to, singing along with.
Legit singing! High B’s! Representation matters – this is one of the classic ‘practically perfect in every way’ shows, and I am legit thrilled to be there.
Jerry Herman! YES!
And when do you start?
Rehearsal starts tomorrow!
Tell TFP some of the things you are most excited about for this show?
I’m going to wear some amazing costumes and be fierce. This next week I get to see the show with Bette Midler before she goes. It goes dark for a week, and then…Bernadette Peters!
It’s like opening a new show, and I am here for it. I met her when she came to AFTER MIDNIGHT, and she was so kind to me – that’s all you need after a show. I wrote that down in my journal after meeting her, that one of my dreams was to work with her, and now to understudy her? I am so joyous.
I’m taking it all in, all of that. Come see us in our Sunday Clothes!
Congratulations, Ms. Ruby Floyd, TFP is definitely coming to see you – having been blown away by your previous performances and it will be a thrill!
Thom Sesma – last seen Off Broadway in the beautiful revamping of PACIFIC OVERTURES, will take on the title role of SWEENEY in the Off Bway Production of SWEENEY TODD on February 27th.
Thom is a well respected character actor on the stage and on film and television – holding down roles on Broadway since 1983! Thom has been the change he wants to see, and TFP could not be happier to see him take on this magnum opus of a role.
Here is what Mr. Sesma has to say about it:
I am profoundly grateful, not just for the opportunity to play the role, but in retrospect – just for the opportunity to have been taken seriously as a ‘candidate’ for the role.
It is equally surprising and ‘reassuring’ that the Producing and Creative team behind the Barrow Street SWEENEY have assembled a cast of Actors that reflects a distinct American landscape – Caucasian, African American, and now with Zach Piser and I, Asian American.
The most remarkable thing about this casting is how UNremarkably it has been recieved. We’re just actors – like I said, kind of crazy and kind of right. It’s how it should be.
I hope people pay attention.
EXCITING!
Now we have some slightly sad news – the glamorous Merle Dandridge, who played the role of Papa Ge in the revival of Once On This Island, has had to leave the show because of her television show, Greenleaf – produced by OPRAH… (c’mon, that is so fab)
TFP was very lucky to catch the her the Saturday matinee before she left and though she had seen the show in previews, it was so stellar now that it has opened and the cast is more settled. She would also like to give a shout out to T. Oliver Reid,
who was on that day as Agwe – he was a spectacular God of the (cold) Water.
The whole cast was delightful, and as TFP looked at her 5 year old’s face, watching the show, being drawn into the magical world that was created, she could not help but wonder what effect it would have on his own creativity, now that he has seen this show.
SIDEBAR: There was some Broadway Beef that went down over ONCE ON THIS ISLAND this past week, and this is what TFP has to say about it, as a person of mixed race herself.
As a person who is never easily identifiable and who often is told that she does not ‘count’ to claim one thing or the other it is time to accept, oh greater Broadway community that mixed race people look all kinds of ways.
The way they present, does not negate their background or their culture.
We all need to come together and agree that when someone makes a mistake about a mixed race person ‘belonging’ somewhere or being able to tell one story or another – not only do we limit our understanding of the term, People of Color, we often fracture it without meaning to, creating distrust and turmoil, when what is needed is more understanding.
Ok – back to fun news and then we wrap it up…
Drama Desk Winner Francis Jue– taking the world by storm in various productions of KING OF THE YEES by Lauren Yee, will be joining his fellow cast mates, Sutton Foster, Gavin Creel and Harriet Harris, in a reunion of THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE for one night only, for the Actors Fund. Tickets can be found, here, and let’s keep raising money for people in showbiz who find themselves in a bit of a pickle now and then.
There you go – Folks who are #ChangingTheStage, one role at a time.
Chosen for their excellence, their passion, their commitment & cuz they are so damn cute.
TFP out.
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