A Post-Script Thank You for Broadway's Diversity
Wednesday, June 15, 2016 at 10:13AM 
I'm finally seeing Hamilton tonight so allow me this theater diversion before we get back to the Emmys and summer movies!
Though the Tony Awards were celebrated for their diversity Sunday night, I knew this sort of thing would crop up afterwards. A site called The Conversation wonders if the diversity of Broadway is overstated. It's an interesting piece with valuable stats even if it seems odd to pursue that impulse in such a strong year for theatrical diversity. Leading up to the Tony Awards I saw a few other articles suggesting that Hamilton was distorting the public perspective about this as well. It's true that Shuffle Along, Hamilton, The Color Purple, and Eclipsed, all nominated popular shows featuring all black casts (and in Hamilton's case latina, black, and asian actors), happened to fall in the same season which is not entirely usual. And, as with cinema, we still have the issue of people thinking of diversity in a binary way (black & white) which is a problem.
But before we give in to negative thoughts (wayyyy too easy), let's give Broadway its due. It is far more diverse than other showbiz mediums and not just this season. Let's take Best Actress in a Play/Musical as an example. One leading actress winner in the 89 year history of the Oscars has been a woman of color - Halle Berry in Monster's Ball (2001) and three leading actress winners in the 67 year history of the Emmys (regular series awards): Viola Davis in How To Get Away with Murder (drama), Isabel Sanford for The Jeffersons (comedy) and America Ferrera in Ugly Betty (comedy).
Viola has an Emmy and two Tony Awards. How soon until the Triple Crown is hers? C'mon Oscar!
There is a lot more diversity in Tony's 70 year history of celebrating talented women. Plus it's not only black women, but Latinas and even an Asian woman (Asian actors have the hardest time getting roles in any medium within American showbiz for reasons we'll never quite fathom.)
Leading Actresses of Color who have won Tonys.
- Diahann Carroll, No Strings (1962)
- Leslie Uggams, Hallelujah Baby (1968)
- Virginia Capers, Raisin (1974)
- Jennifer Holliday, Dreamgirls (1982)
- Chita Rivera, The Rink (1984)
- Ruth Brown, Black and Blue (1989)
- Lea Salonga, Miss Saigon (1991)
- Chita Rivera, The Kiss of the Spider-Woman (1993)
- Heather Hedley, Aida (2000)
- Phyllica Rashad, A Raisin in the Sun (2004)
- LaChanze, The Color Purple (2006)
- Viola Davis, Fences (2010)
- Audra McDonald, Porgy & Bess (2012)
- Patina Miller, Pippin (2013)
- Cicely Tyson, The Trip to Bountiful (2013)
- Audra McDonald, Lady Day (2014)
- Cynthia Erivo, The Color Purple (2016)
(In this decade it's been especially noticeable -- 6 of the 14 Best Actress winners from 2010-2016 have been women of color.)
As for Best Actor Tony winner Leslie Odom, Jr's claim that the roles are just not out there for him and his white counterparts would have been receiving "three or four offers a week" in his situation... how to respond? While the frustration is understandable if he hasn't seen as much interest as he hoped for, that seems an unrealistic expectation. There are only so many Broadway shows produced a year to fill the 30ish theaters. 3 or 4 offers a week seems like an unrealistic proposition for ANY popular actor, of any color, outside of film and television (where there are hundreds and hundreds of productions that might support multiple competing offers). History does not suggest that black male actors can't have long steady careers on Broadway: Brian Stokes Mitchell, Norm Lewis, and James Earl Jones to name just three examples off the top of the head have been at it for years in both leading and supporting roles, multiple shows, and Tony nominations or statues. Plus, the theater is open to color blind casting in a way TV and movies aren't yet. I've personally seen James Earl Jones and Phyllica Rashad play parents to white children in different shows and Audra McDonald play the child of a white man and few people bat an eye -- and that's just in the last handful of years. Hopefully Leslie Odom Jr finds his follow up soon.
The longwinded point: some times it's healthy to be celebratory and important to recognize and honor mediums that are historically progressive, like the theater. Well done, Broadway!
P.S. The ratings were way way up this year for the Tony Broadcast, too, so expect James Corden to become a hot commodity as "Host". People are already suggesting him for Oscar's host but one word of caution. Neil Patrick Harris seemed like a good idea at one time, too, didn't he? How about we get a funny female host at the Oscars? That's far too rare.
Reader Comments (19)
I'm not critical of the theater community. Nonwhite talent has a chance to actually succeed and become staples of said community. Where one time success in TV and Film has no lasting impact for the nonwhite talent penetrating their ironclad agenda. TV does have space for diversity because the money involve is less of a gamble and the medium like theater has a space for diversity because most programming is ensemble driven.
Asian people are their own conversation. I would almost group them with trans people because their visibility is damn near equivalent. And the negative response to both aesthetics are deeply rooted.
By the way learn more about American history and the systematic and still long standing prejudice against black people in this country so you're not confused by the conversation being almost strictly black and white. Polarity is the key word not binary.
I know it's super rude to ask but how much are you paying for the Hamilton tickets?
In a minor counterpoint to your complaint about the diversity of this broadway season focusing on the black-white conversation at the expense of other forms of diversity, I would also include On Your Feet! which opened this season with a mostly (if not entirely) Latin@ cast and a significant Latin@ creative team. Not to mention the failed show Allegiance with a largely asian/pacific islander cast and the Spring Awakening revival that featured performers with various disabilities. I agree with you though, that its sad that the diversity conversation so often gets reduced to just being about black and white when there's so much more nuance to discuss.
Also, I'm super excited for you to finally see Hamilton (with the original cast, no less)! I luckily got to see it during previews before the hype machine spiraled out of control, and I really hope that its enormous public profile doesn't spoil the experience for you at all. It really is a monumental piece of theatre.
Oh, lucky you, Nathaniel! I enter that damned lottery every day, calculating the best mode of transport to get to NYC in less than 4 hours if I win.
Re diversity, seems to me that current UK television producers do a pretty good job of color-blind casting for all sorts of parts, but I don't know the BAFTA record for wins in this area. Certainly, TV as a medium is becoming more representative of the demographics in this country, and musical theater, as you've highlighted in this post, is as well. I recently saw a production of Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 (coming to Broadway next season) and the lead actress (in the part originated by Phillipa Soo, who is half Chinese) was black. In fact, a third of the cast were non-white--all playing Russians in the early 1800s.
And yay! In other theater news, She Loves Me will be streamed live for home viewing. Wondering when they were gonna do this....
@ Pam
It was Daveed. ;-) Details in August probably.
Paul -- yay. congrats. can't wait to hear more.
/3rtful -- do you ever stop being condescending / rude? I know plenty. and if you think black people are the only minority who have had to face long systemic pain / problems / prejudices in American culture you need to do some studying yourself.
Pam -- i have been trying the lottery to no avail. I owe my chance to see it entirely to this here blog and its love of musicals and so on and so on (long story). The new "King George" helped set it up for me. Thanks, Rory!
Jonny - i always forget about "On Your Feet" cuz i hate jukebox musicals but yeah. It really was an unusually diverse season. But my point is -- not *so* unusual that we can pretend that Broadway isn't diverse in general.
You need Fran Lebowitz. She explained very clearly there is a difference between oppressed (black people) and marginalized (gay people).
Stop seeing me through a villain filter. I have real insight to offer and all you ever focus on is what is opposite from you personality and point of view wise.
This post offers me the perfect opportunity to mention that Violda Davis confirmed via her Instagram profile that the Fences big-screen adaptation wrapped filming earlier this week, which means that it most likely will be ready for release before the end of the year. My apologies for the derailment of the conversation, but I'm nearly bursting at the news.
^^^http://shadowandact.com/2016/06/14/filming-has-wrapped-on-denzel-washingtons-fences-film-adaptation-viola-davis-shares-set-pics-oscar-potential/
That's very cool news about Fences. I still want to see the Tony Kushner-scripted Barbara Jordan biopic come into being, though.
/3rtful
You have no insight .. you just ramble on making very little sense most times. Nat has been extremely kind to you ... you have and will continue to set back your cause of the black nation... there are many peoples that are being persecuted in the U.S. You are not exclusive....
.."we still have the issue of people thinking of diversity in a binary way (black & white) which is a problem."
This is really true, Nat. The world has a lot of Asian and Latino actors, yet they seem to be ignored in the conversation when it comes to diversity. In my opinion, the Asians are the most neglected talents in Hollywood and I don't know why as well. There are so many excellent Asian actors and yet we don't get the chance to see them.
It also surprises me that the Tonys, seemingly the most diverse when it comes to handing awards, has only one Asian winner in Lea Salonga. She was great in Allegiance btw.
/3rtful, stop trolling Nathaniel's blog, create your own, and go there enjoying being a pain to your own blog.
The thing that Broadway and theatre in general is doing so much more strongly is combining both story-telling about marginalized/minority voices AND letting minority voices exist in stories that aren't strictly about them. I think this is hugely important because while the diversity this year is profound, it's not as if it's so much an outlier that we can dismiss it.
I think when it comes to theatre, racial diversity will always be stronger on the stage if for no other reason than audiences in the big cities have a more diverse population and a more tolerant population, too. Also, most people when paying anywhere from $50 a ticket to however much Hamilton is these days, just want to see some really good singers who will give them value for money. Truly, who has time to be racist when they're shelling out $100 for a single show?
Ruthie Ann Miles is another Asian actor who won a Tony last year for The King and I, but in featured actress.
Paul--very cool. Can't wait to hear the details.
Looking at the Manhattan Theatre Club's next season, one of the plays I'm most eager to see is Vietgone, by Qui Nguyen. That, plus Sarah Jones' new show, another August Wilson play, and the added bonus of Little Foxes with Linney and Nixon, I'm tempted to buy a subscription.
There are only so many Broadway shows produced a year to fill the 30ish theaters. 3 or 4 offers a week seems like an unrealistic proposition for ANY popular actor, of any color, outside of film and television " It felt pretty clear he wasn't speaking about just theatre? He's done television and a bit of film, and like 99% of actors probably isn't looking to confine himself to any one branch in particular-- that man is a classically trained actor, can sing and dance to perfection, and the offers should be raining from the sky. Compare him to Jonathan Groff, who got launched into a film and tv career fresh off his turn in SA, which was nowhere as huge of a deal as Hamilton. (And dare I say, Groff was also nowhere as good as LOJ was.) I think it's a salient point and reiterates what actors of color usually say -- they have to fight for their careers to stay alive after huge successes while their white counterparts soar.