The Fairy Princess had hoped that – magically – that pandemic would have really changed people. That all the diversity statements that occurred when people were murdered or attacked would affect genuine change – but that is not the case in theater, and frankly, though TFP was ‘hopeful’, she knew that POC who are not in charge of much, were going to return to our ‘designated‘ spots once theater opened back up again – and she has been proven absolutely whi….er…right.

TFP is correct. She doesn’t want to be, but that’s the way it is kids, that’s the way it is.

Strides have, of course, been made – a body in motion will remain in motion unless acted upon by a greater force. There are some who were ‘in motion’ prior to the pandemic and used the pandemic for the personal reset that it has turned out to be for many. If you were one of the people who were ‘in motion’ and you formed a coalition and made strides – awesome for you!

TFP happened to be extremely busy (yes, unusual) during the pandemic, and she is grateful because if writing this blog has taught her nothing else, it is that, bad stuff happens, but you carry on. She wants to applaud some of the good stuff, and then we shall get to what she is going to write about that will, once again, stall her career, because that is what truth telling seems to do…anyway, here is some good stuff:

TFP was featured on the podcast – Mama’s Talkin Loud with Hosts, Cara Cooper & Jessica Rush – here is the link: https://broadwaypodcastnetwork.com/podcast/mamas-talkin-loud/

Ms. Cooper and Ms. Rush have talked with several AAPI Parents – TONY Winner, Ruthie Ann Miles, Raymond J. Lee, Pearl Sun – so make sure you check them out where you get your podcasts.

TFP hosted a panel with the Cast and Creatives of SOFT POWER for BroadwayCon, and you can check that out here on YouTube or on their Facebook Page:

TFP also spoke with Actor, Jeffrey Omura who is running for NYC’s City Council – and if elected to serve, he will be the only Japanese American to be elected to office in New York State, and the only Openly LGBTQIA Candidate to serve in his District.

The election is June 22, New Yorkers – so if you can vote – please do, and let’s help things change for the better!

Now, Broadway is set to reopen September 14, 2021 at full capacity.

Take that in for a minute- FULL CAPACITY.

Which means, your butt will not be socially distanced from anyone else’s butt. Likely proof of vacination will have to be shown, and masks possibly worn – but TFP does not have the mental wherewithal to take in that, as of the 14th – full capacity will be ‘a thing’.

TFP just gonna self medicate…

The tickets selling the best are for – hold please while she gathers herself – for The Music Man revival that producer, Scott Rudin excommunicated himself from so that he could still make money and badger people over the phone.

He just cannot be in the office to throw it at them.

Ultimately, what it does prove is that Broadway success is a self fulfilling prophecy – he stated he wanted Broadway back to it’s “Golden Age”, aka no People of Color. He proceeded to cast the show without People of Color (according to the last announced cast), and people are buying them up like hotcakes because well, a lot of folks like Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster, and they would like to go back to a ‘less complicated time’ where no one has to worry about other people and their feelings and being held accountable.

They do not want to acknowledge any privilege. They do not want to hear the word ‘systemic’, they just want to go forth, comforted in the fact that they will not be able to confront their own prejudices, and instead have an ‘enjoyable night out’ watching performers that should just ‘sing and dance and keep their mouths shut’.

Broadway crowds have so far, proven Mr. Rudin right.

All of this ‘accountability’ is not holding anyone accountable. Sexual predators are still working. Problematic Producers are still producing. Costume Designers who have several accusations against them over time…still sewing.

Heck, Garth Drabinsky is back! He was not held accountable by Broadway, but by the Federal Government, but again, back he comes.

Maybe it will be ok, TFP loves RAGTIME.

Tell TFP now about ‘cancel culture”.

In fact, while there is NO POSSIBLE REASON to invest in an All White Creative Team on Broadway – that is precisely what Producers are funding – with the odd exception being, well, THOUGHTS OF A COLORED MAN written by Playwright Keenan Scott II.

That play will open with an entirely Black Cast and a minority led Creative Team, and is written by a Black Playwright. It will be in one of the Schubert theaters – so at least the Schuberts seem to be acknowledging some progressimovement.

But that’s pretty much it.

Unless SOFT POWER transfers to Broadway, which would be amazing as very few of the shows that are returning have an AAPI in a lead role – with the exception of HADESTOWN, HAMILTON, DEAR EVAN HANSON (on occasion), (possibly) ALADDIN and SIX – so…it would be nice to see.

BTW, when they do – they usually have ‘just the one’.

Ahem.

However, as referenced by the above video – when you have POC Creators, you have POC visible. When you do not have any POC behind the table, the show tries to wedge them in when the can, but not really. Or they are there in a super supportive role that facilitates the lead character who does not share their background.

Nothing has changed. Off Broadway & Regional Theater is possibly more ‘open’ to change than Broadway, but it is apparent, Broadway is not changing any time soon – after all, who holds rich Producers accountable?

No one.

Thus far two revivals announced for the next season and their Creative Teams are decidedly without POC. The Music Man, directed by Jerry Zaks, has a female lighting designer – Natasha Katz, a white British Choreographer, and an Italian American, Santo Loquasto, as lead designer- the Creative Team are almost exclusively past TONY Winners- and they are not People of the Global Majority.

Leaving TFP like, “What happened to all those inclusion statements?”

Then there is DANCIN” the Bob Fosse musical that is a tribute to the works of…well, Bob Fosse, is also coming around again, directed by Wayne Cilento who was in the Original Company.

 “We plan on delivering a Dancin’ that is every bit as eclectic and uplifting as the original, full of all its inherent edginess, but is also relevant to our current era,” he says. “Every creative decision will be made through that lens to meet this moment.”

Except on the announced Creative Team.

They are not going to be wearing lenses that are naturally tinted – they are going to be ahem, clear glass. Those are the lenses.

If ONLY there were some POC who intimately knew the work of Bob Fosse, who had been, perhaps, taught it by Gwen Verdon and there was proof of that expertise on the internet…

Anyway – while his statement promises, on the stage visible to the audience, at least – a sense of People of Color and their contributions to dance, which will be great to see – what is missing on Broadway – consistently – is the presence of People of Color BEHIND THE TABLE.

DANCIN’ is not the only show that is guilty of this – it is an ongoing issue. Lack of Diversity behind the table happens in almost every show on Broadway. The problem is no one seems to be doing anything about it- even given that we have had an entire year off to figure it out.

Yes, yes, every single corporation has put out perfectly vetted statements of intent in terms of diversity – but unlike the Networks, there has been no announcements that TFP is aware of, of – for example – funded internships for People of the Global Majority in the theatrical world; or if there are, and they have ‘just’ been announced and are looking for viable candidates.

Internships are great, actual JOBS are better- and there cannot be only one Person of Color in your Office- it is not HIGHLANDER.

Changing and expanding hiring practices is all well and good, it is twenty years too late, and they will take years to become effective. START ANYWAY.

If you meant those diversity statements of support – TFP is going to need receipts.

Show us your staff.

Be as brave as those at Tara Rubin Casting when they sent out to the world, a photographic representation of their staff, right after showing a very supportive image of Mr. George Floyd.

This photo tells us that they have learned very little from the debacle at La Jolla with The Nightingale, which they also cast, but they are ‘excited to get back to work.’

We cannot tell, but they are smiling behind those masks.

Which is why they had to issue the following when people responded to their Instagram post and freaked out:

While this blog post is not specifically about TRC, what is interesting to TFP is that when the workshop for Farewell My Concubine was being cast – which is a new musical – Tara Rubin Casting was able to find an AAPI Casting Director, but TFP does not see her in that photo.

Guess it is a case by case hire….

At least we know now.

What the photo really means is, the more things change – or swear they will change – the less change actually happens. There are statements and memes and gifs, but in the end, no white person is going to step aside for a Person of Color.

They aren’t. Particularly in a field as competitive as theater and entertainment at large. The Folks in charge are fine with the status quo – they call us when they ‘need’ us, and unless someone sets the dogs on them, they do not budge. Which is not TFP calling all and sundry the ‘r’ word- it is saying people who benefit from ‘the system’ are not going to actively try and change the system unless they have unbelievable moral fiber.

Honestly if they are good at their job, and provide opportunities to help show business become more equitable, that is fine. However make yourself a personal pledge to change the status quo. Get some more ‘fiber’ in your life- it is good for you!

Mentor people. Actively look to diversify your office!

TFP is not attacking you for the color of your skin – she does not do that with anyone.

Pointing out what needs to change, is not an attack.

Change needs to be across the board – Producers, Casting Directors, Directors, Choreographers – you ALL have to do ‘the work’.

TFP knows doing ‘the work’ kinda stinks. She knows it is annoying to confront ones own biases – but it has to be done – we are all learning, but let’s be honest – you could see this coming from miles away, and you waited to be called out on it.

SOME people are doing it – MAESTRA, MUSE – but it could and should be so much more.

TFP is sick to death of having to reiterate that People of the Global Majority belong in Entertainment and beyond, and yet – here she is saying it once again.

Look at that photo – while TFP does not know who are interns or Associate CDs she does know there is an absence of Color for all of us to see. Mirror, mirror.

Gleefully posted. They want to get back to work – we all want to find the joy that comes from working and yet, to TFP, the door to that office is resoundingly shut, and she is likely not the only one feeling that way. They hire us when they ‘have’ to- when the story requires us to be there- on occasion it does not- so we are hired to prove a point – but if we are never behind the table…contributing to overall change? Nothing will change.

Casting Offices should look like New York – TFP knows at least one that absolutely does, and are actively bringing POC along to succeed, and she believes that should be instituted in every Casting Office around the country.

Immediately – from local networks, to major streamers, to theater – a diversity statement means nothing if you do not show us you are serious.

People of the Global Majority need to start putting our money where our power should be. We also need to do it TOGETHER.

We need all our glorious alphabet to pull this off – and we must be careful about building alliances and supporting one another. Row together. Diversity equals dollars.

If nothing else, lean into the fact that AAPAC will soon be dropping it’s study for the previous season – and what it tells us, is that POC are not repped behind the table. Almost at all.

If you do not believe TFP, you can believe TONY Winner, Clint Ramos – who is fired up, and honestly it is a joy to see.

Just sit with that information a moment – 153 Design Contracts available on Broadway.

13 People of Color hired. Out of 153 possibilities. You cannot explain that away – you cannot reason that it is equitable or fair or in any way inclusive.

We are eating ***t sandwiches every day and we are always telling ourselves to be ‘grateful to be there’.

TFP does not think you need to be grateful for a ***T sandwich.

Stop attacking one another -start attacking the issues at hand, which are not having any agency in the stories told of us – stories that we are hired to tell, but cannot contribute to.

We have stories. We have agents. There have been lists after lists of available talent, glorious in all it’s technicolor and stereophonic sound, and yet we are relegated to fighting for scraps, and being told to be grateful to be there at all.

It’s enough. TFP is tired. This has to change – and if you are reading it and thinking ‘Well, I don’t do that‘ –

YOU DO! You DO.

If you have no one to call on in your immediate professional circle who you can include behind the table, who has a different skin tone from yourself…either in stage management, design, or the producers office, or in casting – YOU DO, DO THAT.

If you are seriously bewildered by the need to ‘do that’ – then YES, you are contributing to the issue.

Make it a mission. Provide opportunity. Don’t hire your nephew. Don’t hire your neighbor’s kid – hire someone who is dying to be there. Hire someone who is motivated for change – and then LISTEN TO THEM.

TFP also wants to say…there are allies and there are places that can be lifted up and held as examples.

She was brought in during the pandemic via Zoom by more than one office to talk about representation and how things can be better. It is not even hard, that is the kicker. It is literally sticking your head out of the door, looking at the street and what it looks like, and then trying to make that world come to life in your production.

As a matter of fact, one of the companies that has instituted a new policy that she is in love with, which she has nothing to do with in the slightest – is ADVENTURE THEATER in the DMV area – and what she was told is that they have a company policy – no Person of Color shall be the ONLY Person of Color in a Creative Space.

Yes, their AD is a Person of the Global Majority – but he does not count as one of the ‘two’.

Imagine the thrill and the support you would feel by not being ‘the only’. When you contribute to the discussion in a Creative way, you are backed up and do not feel undermined.

That, in itself, would alleviate so many things we, as minorities, feel when we go into spaces that are deemed ‘safe spaces’ but are, in fact, white spaces, where we are gaslite and made to feel our presence is conditional, and can be taken away at any time.

If nothing else will convince you – please read this article about what Actress, Jean Yoon, from Kim’s Convenience had to say about her experience about working on the show after Creator, Ins Choi, de facto left.

TFP has rarely felt as angry as she did when reading Ms. Yoon’s words about cultural misunderstanding and the undermining of the Cast, which was left to fester given that they had no Korean Canadians nor Women in the Writer’s Room, and which eventually led to the cancellation of the show.

You all proclaimed so loudly that the world should change and thanked people for pointing it out – so the ball is in your court.

We are tired of volleying for serve.

It is damn exhausting.

Just do what you SAID you intended to do.

Or TFP is going cabbage shopping.

Got it?

TFP out.