Friday, April 29, 2016
George Takei Salutes “Diverse” Broadway Vs Hollywood “Stereotypes”
Deadline: The Star Trek icon Mr. Sulu and the real-life social activist who played him will mark the eve of the cut-off date for Tony eligibility by saluting Broadway’s most diverse season ever. George Takei adds, in this year of #OscarsSoWhite, a Bronx cheer to Hollywood in general and the treatment of Asian Americans at February’s Academy Awards show in particular.
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I think it's really important here to applaud certain productions for their inclusion and celebration of minority characters and actors, but at the same time not to let theater off the hook. While this years Broadway season was definitely more diverse and the Tonys will be more diverse than the Oscars (thanks Hamilton) there were still only like, five plays that he named. And we still are reading constant articles about how "Eclipsed is the only new play going to Bway next year that is written by a woman" and "White people shocked that there could be a role not for them". Theater is definitely moving in the right direction, but we still see yellowface productions of the Mikado and the King and I. We still see productions of Hairspray with a white Seaweed (seriously??) We can't let theater off the hook just yet - that leads to the mentality that "we're done!" And inhibits progress. Maybe once Hamilton sells its rights, every regional theater in the country will put it on for one season and then say "alright, now back to the real theater, The Importance of Being Earnest". (I tried to think of the whitest play I know). That would be bad! Produce Hamilton AND The Color Purple!
I completely agree with Cassidy in that we have to be careful to not give Broadway too much praise for diversity. This season has been an amazing one in terms of diversity both onstage and backstage, however it's only been one season. I would argue that both because of how diverse this season has been, and due to #OscarsSoWhite people have this warped view of Broadway as a place that has solved the problem of discriminating. We have to be mindful that yes, there has been so much for progress this season, but we must see if it sticks. Even on this blog stories of how diverse Hamilton was were accompanied by articles of white people demanding to be let into the auditions. Stories of all female production teams were accompanied by women speaking about all of condescending and discriminatory things they've heard while loading in a show. I'm not trying to discount this year's accomplishments by any means, but we have to be careful to not suddenly believe that theatre is now perfect.
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