2015-2016: The Season of Diversity on Broadway

While Broadway is nowhere near perfect as I have stated in previous posts, I do need to give time to cheer. 2015 could be called one of the most diverse years on Broadway in a very long time.

Shows like The Color Purple, On Your Feet, and Allegiance have opened audience's eyes up to different cultures all while uniting people through song and dance. I think that it is great that so much diversity, in its different shapes and forms, is on Broadway now.

The Color Purple tells the story of a battered African-American woman who finds independence. This musical features many African-American actresses as well as the hardships African-Americans faced in the 1930s. Audiences can see a story that many are not familiar with, told by strong African-American women.

On Your Feet is the story of Emilio and Gloria Estefan. The show is about how the Estefans met and how they combined their Cuban culture with American music and dance to become worldwide sensations. On Your Feet, like The Color Purple, introduces audiences to the struggles different cultures had to face in America, only, this time, it is about Hispanic-Americans.

Allegiance was inspired by George Takei's childhood during the Japanese-American internment during World War II. It follows a family who is relocated from California to Wyoming following Pearl Harbor. Once again, audiences can watch the hardships from the perspective of Japanese-Americans as they go through this horrible segregation. This production stars Takei as well as beloved Broadway actress Lea Salonga.

"Whether it's providential, coincidence, or meant to be, the fact is what's happening on Broadway is so diverse it is almost utopian," Salonga said in an interview with The New York Times.

The president of Broadway League, Charlotte St. Martin, also told The New York Times that this was the most diverse Broadway season in the last ten years.

As someone who believes that the theater can and should be used to educate and inform, the diversity on Broadway during the 2015-2016 season is doing just that. Audiences are exposed to different cultures and the varying hardships and struggles that will make them think and hopefully leave the theater wanting to know more.

I believe that Broadway definitely took a step in the right direction with the current season.

To read the full New York Times article featuring the stars of The Color Purple, On Your Feet and Allegiance, click here.






 

The Secret Wage Gap on Broadway

Sienna Miller starred as Sally Bowles
in Cabaret on Broadway in 2015.
Photo Credit: People Magazine

The Broadway community was shocked when actress Sienna Miller, who had just starred in Cabaret, announced that she quit a show aimed for Broadway because she learned that she would be paid less than her male co-star. As a big Broadway supporter, I was shocked and angered. How could a community that preaches acceptance and inclusion support something awful like the wage gap?

Miller was going to be in a two-person play that included her and just one male actor. They would have done the same exact work and have the same size role. As someone who once dreamed of a career on the stage and is now minoring in women and gender studies, I am very irritated.

It seems as if the wage gap is nothing shocking to anyone anymore although it is still a very big and current issue. I think it is ridiculous that I, a woman, have to worry about not getting paid the same a as man in my future career. How can anyone think that this is fair? The fact that this has most likely been occurring on Broadway for a while now is also heartbreaking.

In an interview with Playbill, Miller said that she "was offered less than half of what [her male costar] was going to paid."

Miller went on to say that it would have been a completely different situation had two men been in the show, rather than one man and one woman.

I have to agree with Miller. If the show starred two men, they would most likely be paid the same amount. For some reason, a woman is not allowed to share the stage with a man and be paid as equals.

When I was in high school, I was planning on making a career onstage and hopefully land on Broadway one day. I never for once thought that I could be paid less than a man onstage for doing the same amount of work. It makes me fear that no woman is safe from this act. It needs to change.

There is only one solution to this problem and it is not a hard one to put into motion. Pay all women the same as men for doing the same work. This applies to all careers, but maybe Broadway can fix the mistake first and set off a chain reaction.

To read the full Playbill article, click here.

Hamilton and Diversity

Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote and
stars in Broadway's Hamilton.Photo Credit: Denver Center

Hamilton is Broadway's biggest hit with tickets sold out from now until October. This show tells the story of one of America's Founding Fathers, Alexander Hamilton.

Hamilton has already changed the way audiences view history in that the casting directors used colorblind casting. They looked past an actor or actress' race or ethnicity that would have hindered them in portraying a character. For example, Lin-Manuel Miranda, who is Hispanic, plays Alexander Hamilton and Leslie Odom Jr., who is African-American, portrays Aaron Burr.

The show has garnered much success with ticket sales already reaching $40 million, according to Playbill Vault. If a show can tell a traditionally "white" story with mixed races and still be successful then why aren't other show following suit?

Broadway has been upheld as a community that accepts everyone, but for some reason there has been a high number of shows in the past where there is little to no diversity in the cast. It is hard for me, who has followed theatre for years, to think of more than one live Broadway show that used colorblind casting.

 The Little Mermaid swam onto Broadway in 2008 and was a smash hit. Families flocked to its theatre to see one of their children's favorite movies. Everyone enjoyed the hit songs, colorful sets and elaborate costumes.  But no one ever mentioned how diverse the cast was which I believe was another reason the show did so well. Many of the lead characters, who were portrayed as white in the movie, were played by African-American actors and actresses. Many people, including me, can appreciate showing the diversity and how it added an extra element to the production.

Not only has Hamilton taken strides to create a diverse show and experience, its writer, Lin-Manuel Miranda, announced that he would love to have women portray the male roles in his show, according to USA Today.

I feel that as long as the story gets told and its impact is felt, it should not matter if the traditionally and historically white and/or male roles are played by actors of that race or gender.

I have the feeling that Hamilton has paved the way for many more shows and productions to use colorblind and gender-blind casting.