Theatre (and Asian Rep) Post-COVID?

Of course this time of self quarantine and COVID have been a time of reflection. For myself, a mix of good and bad since I'm a major over thinker anyway. But of course, because of all the Anti-Asian sentiment happening around the world right now, it's making me wonder: what is the future for Asian representation in theatre? Especially the US and Broadway.

If you follow musical theatre like me, you'll know that earlier this month the Pulitzer Prize for Drama went to the 10th musical ever. An Off Broadway musical (actually, the first musical to win a Pulitzer without a Broadway run), called A Strange Loop by Michael R. Jackson. A semi-autobiographical musical following a Black, queer writer.

One of the finalists for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama was David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tesori's Off Broadway musical that premiered at The Public Theater, Soft Power. Chinese-American playwright David Henry Hwang wrote book and lyrics, while Jeanine Tesori wrote music and additional lyrics. Oh! Also directed by female director Leigh Silverman. And choreographed by the lovely Sam Pinkleton (who also choreographed Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812). So to me, this sounds like a phenomenal team, and if we're trying to quantify success - I consider being a finalist for a Pulitzer success. Here is The Public Theater's write up for Soft Power: "SOFT POWER is an exploration of America's current place in the world, told through an East-West musical from China's point of view, in which a theater producer from Shanghai forges a powerful bond with Hillary Clinton. SOFT POWER is a fever dream of modern American politics amidst global conversations, asking us all – why do we love democracy? And should we?"

My very brief understanding, summary, and take aways of Soft Power (from the cast recording I've listened to and discussions and some things I've read) goes as follows: ASIAN CAST, CHINESE EXPERIENCE, DAVID HENRY HWANG, MUSICAL, FEVER DREAM, DEALING WITH THE STATES' POLITICAL SHIT, I LOVE IT. Not a comprehensive overview by any means, but my glowing endorsement.

Anyway, this brings me to a main question, and the main thing that has been rattling around in my head for a while: Post-COVID, what happens to the strides of representation and diversity and stories? Because from this Pulitzer Prize news, I feel like those are huge steps. But will these shows make it to Broadway when Broadway comes back? Will Soft Power make it to Broadway in a climate that is feeling pretty Anti-Asian right now? I want it to. I feel like it needs to. But then we look at how musical theatre is a business. So will producers feel more inclined to invest in a show like that, or less inclined? I don't know. Will we be able to create and produce more material representing Asians? I don't know.

I know there are bigger issues in the theatre community as a whole, like the big question of "when will we even be able to get back to doing what we love?"

But I think this time is also giving us a chance to look back at history and what the world has been for so long. It's a time for change. And I'm ready.

While/if you have some time off, go give the cast recordings of both A Strange Loop and Soft Power a listen. They're available on Spotify and Apple Music.

Sidenote: Another musical theatre related recording I've been loving is The Wrong Man. It also had an Off Broadway run featuring Joshua Henry, directed by Tommy Kail (of Hamilton and In The Heights fame), music supervised/orchestrated by Alex Lacamoire (of Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, In The Heights fame), and choreographed by Travis Wall (2 time Emmy Winner, SYTYCD, Shaping Sound). The recording itself is Ross Golan's concept album for the show, not the cast recording of the show itself, but it is still beautiful and I'm loving it.

ALSO! On the topic of Theatre Post-COVID: there's a discussion forum on my blog if you wanna share a thought or ask a question. I'm just curious. (I think it'll work. Tbh I'm still new to using this blog thing).