The Fairy Princess realizes it has been a few weeks now since the replacement Casting at Maybe Happy Ending was announced, and the Broadway community- fans and professionals – is divided.
She has had several conversations with close friends, who do not share her lineage, who honestly do not see the issue with a character who is not a human being played by a Caucasian. Those comments were extremely frustrating for her.
Here is what she wants to point out to people- these robots, also known as HelperBots are humanoid-like robots. They look like Family members. The show is set in South Korea. If it was supposed to be a world that is intersectional, shouldn’t the show be set in Narnia or something?
Just as The Nightingale was set in ‘Mythic China’, apparently MHE is now set in ‘Mythic South Korea’. A place that doesn’t exist – EXCEPT IT DOES!
KPOP stars party on Jeju Isand! It is a real place.
Many people commenting have not seen the show, due to outrageous ticket prices., and TFP feels like they are picturing Rosie from the Jetsons.
This is not a Rosie situation.
By any means.
This is a Producer decision, and clearly the producer is digging their heels in. They have used their considerable influence and ability to sign checks and sent forth all manner of people of color – to advocate for a non-AANHPI HelperBot to become accepted as part of the shows’s Zeitgeist.
This is for several reasons, but ultimately it becomes clear that the reason for this change is not just Stunt Castng on Broadway- this is for the life of his investment in the show ad infinitum.
This is for the licensing of the show to regional theaters and high school schools who may not have an Asian population.
As many will have realized if one does not have an AANHPI population, it would be ludicrous to do this show in a regional theater or high school, however if the erasure starts on Broadway, TFP is sure the erasure will continue and expand to the entire company in regions where they do not have a population to serve the story.
Cue all the non-Asian Christmas Eve’s that have swept the nation in regional productions of Avenue Q.
Which yes, TFP, Ann Harada & Bobby Lopez have spoken out against.
To the high schools that produced Miss Saigon without an Asian Kim.
Cue professional, and non-professional and high school productions of Pacific Overtures, The King & I, South Pacific, & Flower Drum Song and…and…THE MIKADO!!!!
Thus, it is right for AANHPI actors to protest, to cry, to have these conversations, because at the end of the day, it is about respect. The conversations are about visibility, and claiming our place in America’s landscape.
This conversation just reiterates to many of us that ‘we’ only have a place in American theatre on white forbearance.
On white tolerance.
On white people viewing us as exotic and occasionally necessary.
Which, is painful.
As much as sometimes people rail against the chestnut shows, The King & I, Flower Drum Song, South Pacific, one of the greatest writers from musical theater, Oscar Hammerstein, tried to give us a place in American theater.
He was a man of his time, and so the portrayals reflect that, but they were never meant to be the only portrayals.
It was simply a building block, for Americans to realize that Asian performers are just as talented, just as adept, just as deserving of a place on our stages as anyone else. Hammerstein never meant that his shows would be the end of the conversation, they were supposed to be the beginning.
Oscar Hammerstein was not without personal motivation in this, because he had two grandchildren who were adopted who were Asian. As any good grandparent does, he looked to the future to make sure that they would be able to go to the theater and see themselves. Or at least see stories in which versions of themselves could be seen. He was looking to give them a place.
Which is why it remains painful to AANHPI’s, to realize what we have been ‘sold’ in terms of inclusion and presence by a small beautifully written musical, delicate and precise, set in Seoul, Korea – is still only allowing us ‘a place’ on White forbearance.
That our ability to participate in a story that seems to reflect us in our experiences, very much depends on who is producing.
By the way, TFP does not advocate for DNA Casting- a HelperBot could be anyone of the AANHPI diaspora- however she does believe that HelperBots are definitively Asian in origin.
Please don’t start with racist, intolerant ‘takes’ that allow the basic issue of respect to get lost in a word salad.
There is an issue on Broadway when a Actor of Color steps into a role that has until very recently, been played by a Caucasian.
We have seen this with the backlash against roles in Cabaret, Gypsy, Sunset Blvd– with people arguing false historical narratives that could be dispelled with a Google search as to time period and existence.
White theatergoers take every opportunity to downplay the contributions of Actors of Color, even if they haven’t seen the show- for example, TFP saw Cabaret this past Wednesday at the matinee, and it was absolutely brilliant.
Vocally, it was sound. She stands by that comment as a voice major from Carnegie Mellon. Some may call it bias, but she would not speak on this issue if there was even the slightest bit of doubt that notes were not being hit, or roles were not being fulfilled.
However, and she has stated this on TikTok, it was the best sung version of Cabaret that she has seen in literally years.
YEARS!
(She blames Sam Mendes for deciding Sally is a bad singer – great singers can wind up in poor circumstances, doesn’t affect the singing.)
However, white forbearance is quite tricky- if Actors of color do ‘too much’ people turn away in disgust from a ‘woke’ performance.
If Actors of color do not do the classic shows that they have long been seen in, and insist that they have a right to own these new roles, as with Maybe Happy Ending, we are again told we have overstepped, we are too much, and in advocating for ourselves, we have made white audiences and white producers, uncomfortable and that we are actively trying to close the show- which is not the case at all.
No one wants Maybe Happy Ending to close.
No one wants anyone to be worried about their job security or their ability to support their families.
What AANHPI actors want, what the world should want, is that the show will continue to highlight the vast diversity and talent that is available. We want to inhabit a show where ‘we’ would organically be accepted as being necessary.
TFP usually describes diversity and the breakdowns by using simple math – yes, ‘very Asian’, she knows.
If all the musicals in the world numbered 100- 85 would be able to be done using only white actors. Ten of them would be designated a specific towards the Black community and their experiences, 2.5 would be inclined to be Latinx experiences, and 2.5 would ‘go towards’ AANHPI experiences- there would be none that are representative of indigenous experiences.
Those are loose percentages- TFP simply wanted to show how tenuous the representation is– and it is.
When one starts to break down the demographics of body type and gender and age, the numbers become far more worrisome- and that is American Musical theater.
Older people are designated as wise sages that the ingenues only come to for counsel, there is almost no representation of disability- and indeed when Ali Stroker won her Tony, there was no ramp to get her to the stage from the audience.
No one saw that as a problem?
Musical theater is wonderful, but musical theater is troubled.
Some of this came organically – meaning the way it was it was developed. However, America has evolved, and while Broadway has tried to keep pace with it, the directors and producers that advocate for inclusion are few and far between.
It is getting slightly better, and TFP does not want to downplay the rise of female directors and producers, and what a large impact they have had on the conversation so far, and what they will do in the future.
There is hope, but not this round of this conversation.
However, what we have seen is that only certain people will stand with us on this matter, and that as much as we love to watch the rise of younger Talent, this particular elevation comes at a tremendous cost for community that has so little in the first place.
In the past several weeks, TFP has listened to her coworkers as they cried, not out of weakness, but out of frustration.
Some have announced their intention to leave the business, and these people include Broadway veterans who have long entertained you and made you smile.
They have told TFP that America does not want them, that American theatre does not care if they are there.
In fact, while she is not a violent person, if one more well meaning person tells her a robot has no ethnicity, she may punch them in the face.
You have been warned.
The AANHPI community, especially our males, have seen themselves devalued in this announcement, while TFP does not think it was intentional, there could have been a correction, and it was not taken.
If there is ‘no way’ of changing it, perhaps it is intentional.
It is also indicative of what this Administration is allowing in terms of understanding and tolerance.
There are workshops giving TFP hope right now, BD Wong’s letter is giving hope right now, Michael K. Lee’s social media posts all the way from South Korea, Drama Desk Winner and Korean adoptee Deborah S. Craig’s open letter, Award winning Alec Mapa’s social media posts, Telly Leung’s open letter, Conrad Ricamora’s scholarship for AANHPI males giving hope right now, Lauren Yee’s Community Night sponsored by Signature Theater, but there is a river of sadness running beneath all of that.
Even with over 2K signatures of support for BD Wong’s letter- we are sad.
TFP wanted to acknowledge that there is very little to be done, because in the theater we only vote with our tickets.
We do not attack actors, because they are our coworkers, we do not attack people of various religious groups, we do not dox anyone.
We are understanding of the fact that no Actor hires themselves.
We understand that this is a producing decision, and a producing decision only.
We do not wish any harm on anyone, no one should feel unsafe going to a Broadway show, either in the audience or working in the show.
We ‘only’ vote with our tickets.
The end.
She has heard people say ‘ it is only nine weeks’ – to those who would say that, she asked them if they would be OK being erased for nine weeks?
No one ‘wins’ here- AANHPIs are just reminded of a painful truth, and we will survive, because we always have.
However, as NEA grants dry up for small theaters that represent minority interests, like Pan Asian Rep, Ma-Yi Theater, The National Black Theater, Classic Theatre of Harlem, Silk Road Rising, Repertorío Español, INTAR Theater and others…limiting our ability to play roles that are representative of ‘us’, we must acknowledge that there is an element of our existence as professionals that is always at risk, because of what?
Guess.
Perhaps there will be hope going forward, perhaps the Town Hall that has been floated about will happen…who knows?
TFP will admit this is a rough patch coming off a super high from The Tony Awards.
Your feelings are valid and you are able to both mourn AND move forward- it is important you do both.
She is sending you love and a warm hug.
Sondheim wrote ‘No one is alone’, and Bobby Lopez & Jeff Marx wrote ‘Everything in life is only for now’
Whitney Houston sang, ‘It’s not right, but it’s ok’
(Sing the next line- go ahead- you know it. You will feel better)
Lin-Manuel Miranda told us to ‘Rise up’.
This is rough, but it will not sink us
It will be what it will be, we just cannot trust anyone on the production side again. Of course there will be exceptions to that – maybe.
Let us see what the future holds.
Hugs, TFP out.
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