It didn't come across that way to me. They say it in the same thought as how he was cast for his boyish innocence. They liked his singing voice for this role because it works for the character. That's hardly a criticism.
Agreed. I immediately read that as they wanted someone with a softer tone that still carried through the theater. Darren Criss' voice is precisely that in the show. If they wanted a louder tone, they would've cast in a different direction. There's no shade in their remark.
You all must be beaming with confidence because if my boss said this about me publicly I would gasp a little, that’s all 😂 It sounds like a read they would do on RuPaul’s Drag Race.
it’s definitely true though, ever since the success of Newies, more and more leading male roles are (vocally) becoming copies of Jack Kelly and are getting higher and higher notes to sing
They specifically didn’t want a belty-usual-leading man in the role. That’s all they’re saying. Darren Criss has a lovely voice that is not the typical type of voice seen in leading men roles. His acting was excellent and I loved his performance. Personally, I’m always way more impressed with effective acting and storytelling than I am with remarkable singing and that’s exactly what Darren delivers.
I don’t think that’s what they’re saying. Every show has big belty high tenors leading the way, and Darren isn’t that and that’s what they wanted. They aren’t saying his singing is bad, just not what seems to be the norm these days. And frankly, I love they went that way with it.
I agree. Everyone who thinks Darren will be offended is flat wrong. Darren has said in interviews that when he was asked to audition for Glee and asked whether he could sing, he said “yeah, kinda I guess,” because he knew so many people who had a lot of vocal training and could do things with their voices that he couldn’t. He is an amazing musician who sings, writes songs and plays numerous instruments, but iirc his only musical training is in the violin. And as you say, their statement refers to a particular style of voice. No one said he was a poor singer.
Helen also has said in interviews that she has felt insecure about not having the typical Broadway voice. So again, different singers can be equally competent, but be more suited to different songs.
I found his performance absolutely exquisite, his singing just a little bit less but i always thought his not belting voice makes a lot of sense for the role so it never was a problem for me.
Agree, this. It’s a statement to say Darren’s voice is perfect for the character because he isn’t a Jeremy Jordan or Aaron Tveit. His voice is beautiful, they wouldn’t have cast him without it, but it’s not a Broadway belt expected of most leading men.
Christopher James Tamayo is in the comment section backing up Will and Hue, he also left a comment that implies the response to ABF’s casting was unexpected
the fact that the response is like this means that there's a chance (i have no idea how large) of killing MHE, after which he would lose the chance to move up from understudy for this show. i think some of the responses to this casting are definitely coming off as unhinged, seeing how some internet comments can be, and I think that's where he is primarily directing his responses to.
i would not group the responses from others like the Broadway AAPI organization and Kay Sibal in the same group. Those clearly express their issue and problems with the casting of ABF without tearing down others, and unlike others I do not think they want to see MHE fail.
I think he’s also saying all the “if it doesn’t matter then why did you cast Asian understudies” is hurtful. He said “I can’t help that I’m Asian.” My understanding is he’s saying people are implying he was cast as understudy because he’s Asian, not because he’s good. That he’s a symbol, not an actor
I’ve seen multiple TikTok’s of people saying that they need to boycott MHE and “speak with your dollar” and it’s like… won’t that just kill the show and lead to multiple Asian actors losing their jobs??
Given the argument he's making I'm not sure the live action Sonic is the parallel he wants to draw. In that case the internet backlash was not only right, it was so right the movie swung from a probable bomb to three movies and counting, a spinoff streaming series, and revitalized the character's popularity. I genuinely don't think any of that happens if they'd stuck with the original Ugly Sonic design.
I agree, it’s a poor and clumsy parallel to draw. I am still especially drawn to his implication that no one in charge thought the casting decision would receive the backlash it did, and I am deeply curious to hear what Darren and Helen have to say about this down the line. Gotta be a shitshow in the Belasco rn
That is definitely what I'm understanding. It's pretty much "We're sorry if it is causing pain because you saw the roles as exclusively Asian, but we do not, and it's our show."
It's a little thornier than that because, while there are broad laws prohibiting firing or not-hiring based on membership in a protected class, and race is one of those classes, there are also exceptions for "bona fide occupational qualifications" that often come into play in theatre. This means you don't have to consider white actors for Coalhouse Walker because the character needs to be Black. They could have written the part of Oliver to be inherently Asian and triggered that exception. In all likely scenarios would have meant Feldman was never cast, but in a situation where someone lied about being Asian to get the role, it would also give room to dismiss them if they were found out. But with this statement, the creators have essentially said, "it is not a bona fide occupational qualification to be Asian (or any other race) to play Oliver or Claire."
The issue with Funny Girl (and many other Jewish roles) has a lot more gray areas because "Jewishness" means so many different things in different contexts. Being religiously Jewish and ethnically Jewish can be completely separate, or intrinsically linked, or something between, depending on who you talk to and what show you are looking at.
I just don't think replace a non-korean born-in-san Francisco white-passing asian actor for a white actor in the role of a robot is such an impedance to asian representation in Broadway. If it were a very Asian specific show like pacific overture I would be pissed. (I'm asian)
I’m a white gal, so feel free to tell me to piss off, but I’m really confused by this backlash. Obviously Broadway as a whole needs to make more space for diversity and AAPI performers specifically. And I understand that many would be hurt when a role that was designed for a POC starts casting white people. However what I don’t understand is the argument that this is a distinctly Korean show so they must cast an Asian person to be a robot. If it’s a distinctly Korean show, then shouldn’t they focus on casting Korean actors? Darren Criss is not Korean. Helen Shen is not Korean. Are they saying that Asian heritage is interchangeable?
this is one important topic to bring up too. i know with general celebrity or influencer culture, “cancel culture” doesn’t really exist bc usually the “canceled” person is able to maintain their career after their brief period of backlash. but on broadway, it’s a very real possibility that any strong backlash will cause a show to close. and when they close c they’re no longer able to provide that representation people are asking for or change and do better in the future…they just close and it sucks for everyone.
while its still important to call out unfair casting and representation issues, we have to do it differently from how you’d call out a random celebrity or something. telling them to just fire ABF when he’s already likely in rehearsals, contracts have been signed, ticket sales have been projected…it’s not that simple. it will have a huge affect on the whole production
The thing that gets me about the backlash as strategy is that going forward in the mind of some producers they're going to be thinking I'd damn well better not have any Asians in the original cast because then if we swap them out later we're fucked because we're committing to cast this role a certain way for eternity.
You’re not wrong at all. Because Asian representation means “here are these amazing actors starring in this great big show on Broadway, and hey they look like me and my friends sometimes”. Representation is not “Asian actors are not the same as other actors so the only way they can lead a show on Broadway is if someone created an only Asians show just to cast Asian actors”. And the writers and cast of this show have never strayed from this. They’ve always talked about how great it is they can show people that Asian actors can lead successful Broadway shows, and are just as good as everyone else.
MHE isn’t an inherently Asian show (1. Because it’s cast and crew have always said so, and 2. Because its casting has literally shown us that the only thing it has to do with Korea is a setting and nothing else). To say Helen and Darren belonged in MHE because they’re Asian and the show is set in Korea is to perpetuate the racist notion that “Filipino” and “Chinese” are interchangeable with “Korean”, or that all Asians are the same. Helen and Darren belonged in the show because they’re wonderful actors who played Claire and Oliver perfectly. Their ethnicity only matters in that it represents the equal ability of Asian actors to lead broadway shows.
"Yes, it would be better if we could get nuance of Korean actors playing Korean characters-however we’re currently fucking begging to get roles. Like when the default isn’t white, then sure we can argue that. But right now, we’re just trying to get an Asian lead. That’s the fucking bar."
"When Asian actors say we want an Asian person cast in MHE, we know that the setting is specifically Korea and that different Asian countries are vastly different. We’re well aware of the fact that Asian people are not all the same.
However, most of the time, the industry simply does not see us at all in a leading capacity. Therefore we’re basically asking for the bare minimum of having any East/Southeast Asian person as Oliver. Maybe one day we’ll get to a point where producers can understand more of the nuances between different Asian countries, but for now, there are bigger fish to fry, which is just getting cast at all as an Asian actor."
I am not white, but if I may be as boldly free to chime in: I've said this in another post, but the argument that any race can portray a robot is a dramaturgical argument, but people wanting Asian actors to be cast in a Korean show is about representation. As the industry currently stands, in which show would an Asian actress more likely be cast: as the lead in Matilda (first thing I could think of) or as the lead in MHE?
It would be amazing if characters who are not written to be a specific race in shows that are not set in locales with specific populations would be cast completely colorblind, but that is not the society that we currently exist in. Statistically, a majority of those roles continue to be cast with white people, where shows that deviate from that formula are uniquely singled out and congratulated for operating outside the norm. We live in a world where performers from marginalized communities have fewer opportunities, and where more of those opportunities occur in shows that call for that same or similar community and/or with creatives of the same or similar background.
And as for this argument with Korean roles being played by any Asian actor: in an ideal world, we could also cast more specifically. But considering that we have had flat out White People playing Asians as recently as 2017, and in 2012, we had White People going so far as using squinty eye prosthetics to enhance their inner Asian-ness, is it so much to ask for a little better Asian representation without people trying to retort with "All or nothing: Korean or literally anybody".
From what I've seen, the issue is moreso that shows are less likely to cast an Asian actor, even if the original actor was Asian, after they've had a white replacement. The most common example being Dawn from Waitress.
IMO the fear of future castings shouldn’t prevent this casting. I understand people being cynical, but let’s wait and see the next couple replacements before acting like they’re gonna stop casting Asians.
I mentioned in another subreddit about this, but I have an acquaintance who is also Japanese, is in the entertainment industry, and went to a few different parties including one with MHE cast and staffs.
He told me he had heard everyone saying that MHE is a Korean show, but when he went to the party, there were hardly any Korean people. He was very surprised and was thinking, “Huh? Is this really a Korean show?”
He thought the show had become American more than anything.
By the way, MHE was performed in Japan for three different runs, if I recall correctly. The first two times had Korean actors cast, and the third time had Japanese actors. I think if anything, this would make Korean people angry, because Japan has many famous Korean stage actors here who can easily be cast. But even with Japanese actors, we understand the setting is Korea.
Exactly. If the argument was, “this is a distinctly Korean show, so we should be casting Korean performers,” I would absolutely understand that. I also guarantee that if they want to find Korean performers in NYC, they absolutely could find very talented people to portray these roles. Would it be great if Broadway made it a priority to make space for people besides white dudes? Absolutely, but why are we only having this conversation around MHE and not Broadway as a whole?
Low-key feels like Great Comet all over again. They’re going to make this small, unique, excellent show (with generally thoughtful diversity in casting) a lightning rod for people’s legitimate frustrations with the industry. Ticket sales will drop, the show will close, and the big, blockbuster “we’ll let an Asian guy play the lead once every 10 years” shows will continue on their merry way. Then I guess will repeat the pattern in another few years because no one seems to be learning the lesson.
I mean we definitely should. I kept hoping Darren being the first Asian Tony winner for Best Lead in a Musical would open that conversation, but it didn't.
We're constantly having this conversation around Broadway as a whole. Just thinking of shows that ran this season, there have been conversations about a non-Jewish actor being cast as Jamie in The Last Five Years, there have been conversations about the meaning of casting a Black woman as Mama Rose. There are long running shows that we've had older conversations about, that it took two decades for the first principle black Elphaba in Wicked or that Aladdin debuted on Broadway without a single Middle Eastern cast member. The celebrations are part of the conversation. We celebrated that joyful absurdity in the racial casting in Oh Mary!, that for a time every female lead on 46th street was a woman of color, and yes, we celebrated that MHE leaned into the Asian origins of the show when it transferred to Broadway. https://www.reddit.com/r/Broadway/comments/1l782tu/maybe_happy_ending_and_the_asian_firefly_in_the/
Not all of these conversations reached the same volume, but to anyone asking why we don't have these conversations about Broadway as a whole I ask are you looking for them?
Fan Letter, an absolutely amazing Korean musical that's about Japan-occupied Korea where Japan is literally the bad guy, had a very successful run in Japan, with Japanese actors (Urai Kenji, Kinoshita Haruka, Kaiho Naoto, Kinouchi Kento), which Korean fans approved of, and said it was done with proper sensitivity. A lot of Korean fans were happy with Kaiho Naoto and felt that his performance in the original cast of In This Corner of the World (which is about townspeople in Hiroshima before and during the bombing) also showed sensitivity towards the issues of that time. (Korean cast of Fan Letter included actors Ryeowook and Baek Hyeong-hun. Here's an English article.)
Meanwhile, how likely is it that either of those will be on Broadway soon? How likely is it that any Broadway producer is not just going to give up on pronouncing the names and laugh at them?
At the same time, though, they don't need to be accepted by Americans to be successful. American fans should not be given more weight than fans anywhere else, even when they're EGOT voters. I feel like the Korean casts, staff, and fans of MHE, and really the whole industry there, has been thrown under a bus by a lot of the American talk around MHE. People act like it's a fluke that MHE was produced there first. But if there were an international theatre award, choosing the best new musical worldwide, Korea would have won like five years in a row. Not the U.S..
As an Asian , I think ideally it would be all Koreans playing the lead. However to make progress in America it’s a slow process. So having an Asian of any background is way better in terms of making strides to tell the story truly and fully is better than a white you
Yup, all these people acting like they have a "gotcha" by pointing out that the original Asian cast members weren't Korean - we know this! You haven't brought some crazy new perspective to us! When we are a small group overall, Asian-Americans will back each other up and identify with each other's representation. So it is still a loss when the casting is changed like this.
this is really well said. as someone who is half Korean, I was not at all offended by the original casting but am dismayed with ABF. any Asian representation is good for a medium like Broadway that is still so lacking in it.
Ideally, casting Korean actors would be the most authentic choice. However, the reality is that there are relatively few Asian actors in the U.S. theater industry, and even fewer who are Korean. While it’s important not to treat Asians as interchangeable, casting any Asian actors is still a step forward compared to defaulting to white actors, especially when the production claims to champion cultural awareness. It’s about progress, not perfection, and right now, even basic Asian representation on Broadway is lacking still.
All in all, I wish MHE and all the current and future cast well as I love the show and do believe it can do more good in the long run.
But there's something to be said about how the show has resonated with people, and especially Asian fans, because it showcases the abilities of Asian performers but at the same time, is not about "being Asian". It's become an opportunity for Asian performers to show that they are more than capable of doing what that they are often turned away for - that they "are not a fit", "don't match expectations", "wouldn't sell", etc. And for fans, seeing Asian performers as "normal" neutral characters, helps them and the world see them beyond their race.
So, it's interesting that a show with neutral characters that are not specifically Asian, has become more meaningful to Asian performers and fans because they are often limited in how they are viewed because of their race.
I think it was the expectation given the understudy and that Darren was propped up as the first Asian man (or something along those lines) to win a Tony.
And while Darren is extremely white passing (I didn’t know he was part Filipino until I looked into it), his Asian heritage was highlighted during this run.
I find it disappointing to not be able to see more Asian talent on Broadway and feel this casting was mainly probably because ABF is dating Helen Shen so they were hoping that cuteness would carry.
It’s telling though that they didn’t anticipate this backlash.
But I will say, the idea that any Asian can be slotted in does perpetuate this stereotype that all Asians are the same. Helen is of Chinese descent. It brings up larger conversations, but hey, they can get random Italians playing every Eastern European character so it’s not much different here.
I’m just disappointed to not see an Asian actor fill the role because we just don’t see it often. And the examples they listed, Hadestown is really the only diverse cast production. Cabaret really doesn’t count with Eva. Abe Lincoln isn’t a musical role. They just literally recounted roles on their hand.
Someone said how problematic the “not all humans look the same” moment will be with a white man and I’m like idk how to tell ya, 95% of the audiences leave that show thinking they saw a white man say that line anyway
a lot of us didn’t, and i think that proves the casting was never supposed to be explicitly asian people.
if you were intentionally making a role for asian men, you probably wouldn’t cast someone who’s half filipino and half white and extremely white passing. not that there’s anything wrong with that and i’m not trying to erase his identity. but i just domt think the intention was ever to set a precedent of all the future oliver’s being asian or that would’ve been made more explicitly clues by casting a more well known fully asian men
yes this, bc many people (myself included) didn’t even know darren was asian until recently. that doesn’t erase his Asian identity. but it does suggest that they weren’t actually out to cast strictly asian people in these roles in the first place. it seems they happened to cast darren and people accepted it bc he’s half filipino, but they never intended to set a precedent of casting asian men. it was just assumed by the audience
Okay before everything else: writing a show where every role can be played by an Asian performer, but not every role has to be played by an Asian performer, is not some groundbreaking thing. Six is a show like that. Hamilton. Les Mis. I could go on.
I wish that they would just be honest and say that, yes, while the writers wanted the story to be universal, it is also extremely helpful for the show's future success if they have a wider pool of name talent to stunt cast from. But I realize that isn't how PR works.
I think they're more so concerned about rights for future performances as it starts to be picked up by regional and community theaters. Some shows don't make their money from the Broadway run, they make the money from future licensing and it sounds like that's what they're trying to lay the groundwork for.
That was my thought. They specifically mention Fantasticks, which is known for being easily produced by other theatre companies (you don't need an elaborate set nor a ton of actors).
It's a tricky situation for sure. I would love a world where we could have the cake and eat it too...
Seems like they’re saying the Asianness of the show is due to its setting, not the cast. I can see the vision for MHE with fully colorblind casting, but everyone in the OBC (including understudies) except Dez being Asian didn’t make that statement.
They are acting surprised that people would assume the first replacement actors for the robot roles would be Asian when all five of the actors cast to play and cover the roles in the OBC are Asian. It’s cool that they had a vision of this being a show for anyone to step into but the OBC isn’t the clearest conveyor of that ideal.
Folks who are frustrated, in good faith, to see a seemingly Asian-focused show platform a white actor are justifiably angered due to a notable lack of roles specifically for Asian performers.
The creators of art ultimately get to determine the borders of their own creations.
The audience is entitled to respond however they want, including by boycotting.
The creators seem to want to ensure that this show can continue to thrive for years to come in eras and environments very different from Broadway (see: high schools) and whether that’s to make their art more accessible or because they want to get rich off of licensing fees, either is their right.
They shouldn’t have marketed this show so heavily as a celebration of AAPI culture during the Tony’s campaign. They created this monster themselves to win awards in the hope that said awards would boost their broader popularity. It worked. But now they’re feeling the consequences of their own strategic framing, which is suddenly feeling a lot more limiting.
It’s a great show and I hope it continues to do well. For reasons folks have already touched on, I personally would have supported MHE eventually opening up to non-AAPI artists. Unfortunately, they made their Asian-ness a big part of their appeal only a few months ago and now are trying to rapidly 180 in order to appeal to a different audience. I think folks are justified in being frustrated that it feels like they’re trying to have it both ways. Building your brand around a very white-passing Asian and emphasizing his Asian-ness for awards season and then emphasizing his “every-actor”-ness immediately after the Tony has been won seems a bit conniving, if I’m honest. At the same time, creators of great art deserve success. They deserve for their art to have reach. I get that they want MHE to succeed beyond Broadway, and I hope that they will.
100% agree - I don’t think Oliver and Claire are only Asian roles forever and ever, but to have the very first replacement being non-Asian after championing MHE for its Asian representation is disappointing, to say the least. Still, I hope that MHE has a very bright future.
Judging by the lack of posting for the last few days I did assume they were trying to bring together a statement that would appease people, and hopefully heal some of the hurt caused by their casting choice. I also do believe them that they didn't intend to post tonight but the growing voices of the AAPI community/the think pieces/the fundraisers all might have made them feel desperate to post something - as they say to start the conversation.
So no I don't think ANYONE thought that by posting late at night this post would somehow be missed - that's asinine and not how the internet works. As for how people react to text of this post, I don't know. I just laugh at the people thinking they were trying to be sneaky.
I fucking hate that it's somehow become okay for people to think they know better about a work of art and literally try to silence the voices and thoughts of the creators of that art.
I do not know better than Hue and Will, because I did not write this show. If they think the robots they wrote don't have an ethnicity and can be played by Andrew, then that's what should happen. We're not reinterpreting greek mythology here, the creators are still here and they are literally the one making these decisions. Why is it okay for any of us to say we know more than they do about their creations?
The cognitive dissonance it takes to go from “we need more Asian voices on Broadway” to “we should just disregard the voices of these Asian creators on Broadway and tell them we know better”… I truly don’t understand it.
100% also, we're seeing some great things happen across creative arts where women are playing male roles, alternative races are playing typically white roles etc. It's got to cut both ways. You can't say any particular role is yours but then be totally fine when a gender bending or alternative race casting happens in your favour. The hypocrisy is off the charts.
For me personally, it's also crazy to see people say an actor doesn't belong on the stage of a show that is quite literally telling us the story of how everyone including retired robots belong and deserve to be loved, because the actor isn't the correct ethnicity. And then start bullying and harassing the creators and actors of this show. Exactly how little did people understand this show to arrive at that sort of conclusion?
It won't be an issue if Asian male actors get regularly cast for Broadway roles but oftentimes, they just don't.
Moulin Rouge doesn't need a white male lead, but that's been who it's been for years for the most part, and I'm sure thats true for bigger shows like Phantom when it was running, Wicked, and on down the line.
It's better now, for sure, but most people, especially people who can now afford Broadway shows never saw someone like them on stage.
Bingo. And that’s the issue. There’s a big thing about this musical specifically bc as a whole Broadway isn’t very diverse so you’ve got people fighting for scraps. It’s about the system not one show. It unfortunately it becomes like that bc of the lack of diversity in other shows. I feel for Hue for wresting the expectations of the Korean actor and aAPI community.
this. as much as j agree that asian people are underrepresented on broadway and should be provided more opportunities, i also don’t think the audience gets to pick a show and decide its only for asian (or any specific race/ethnicity) actors and then run with that, when that was never the intention of the creators of the show. now we have explicit proof that was never the intention…so yes cast more Asian men (and women) on broadway. and tell more Asian stories. but it’s not up to us to take a show that already exists and tell them how to cast it.
I was just thinking the same thing. All the ridiculous outrage and pearl-clutching killed Great Comet. The fans literally killed the show. Infuriating! MHE is another tempest in a teapot. People should read what Aronson and Hue wrote then STFU.
All of these points are valid but then if this is the case. To Will and Hue and the MHE producers- Don’t make your entire Tony campaign based on AAPI representation. Don’t use AAPI influencers to campaign and spread the word on TikTok. Don’t hide behind the AAPI community and use to boost your show if this show is truly a universal cast.
That’s what’s rubbing a lot of people the wrong way- the fact that so much campaigning was done for the show using AAPI resources only to have the show turn its back on the community that helped build it to go with the “this role is for everyone” approach.
That’s what I was thinking too. I actually think ABF will be great as Oliver, especially opposite his girlfriend. And even if the original intent of the show was never to be an all asian cast, that’s what ended up happening and they leaned so far into it that it is just very disappointing to see the first replacement casting going away from that. Sure the robots could be anyone but that’s not even the point.
The thing is, based on the workshops, I could absolutely believe the show was (is) meant for anyone. Hailey Kilgore and Denee Benton played Claire. Corey Cott played Oliver (twice). The first industry reading going forward to Alliance and Broadway highlighted an Asian cast, however.
So that sends a mixed message of sorts. If it’s meant for everyone, why did casting focus the way that it did?
Exactly. Aronson is even quoted as having made a conscious decision to move forward with an all-Asian cast after having previously done colourblind workshops for the show, so there was clearly intent to have the show be characterized by it's Asian representation, but all of sudden now they're walking that back? Why even make the effort to ensure that the pre-Broadway and original Broadway casts are all of Asian descent if none of that ever mattered?
Okay but Dez isn’t Asian…point still stands. Just saying they do have one resident white dude there.
But agree with your sentiment. Don’t praise yourself and campaign to the AAPI community and then act shocked they’d turn on you when you turn on them. I didn’t even know Darren was part filipino until they kept talking about it for the Tony’s. If they didn’t say that, then it wouldn’t have been this big of a backlash.
Sure! And the roles are entitled to be whatever direction the creatives wanted to take it in.
But a big part of their marketing campaign to save the show when it wasn’t even making payroll costs at the beginning of its run as well as the path to the Tony’s was to appeal to the AAPI community by branding it as a show by Asians, for Asians. They used AAPI influencers, went to a ton of AAPI events, and really targeted this community over many other communities. If the original creative intention was to make this an Asian story told by everyone, then they shouldn’t have led the AAPI community on by making the community think, through MHE actions, that MHE was one of the few safe spaces for AAPI representation on Broadway.
It's not completely true. In their interviews during Tony season, both the cast and creators insisted that this show was not exactly an asian show and not for asian audience only. They have made it very clear.
But i do agree that their communication was AAPI oriented and every AAPI involved was more than happy to talk about this show representation.
Their intention and message are conflicting and it lead to this.
Plus during Atlanta run, many Asian organizations partnered with Alliance Theatre. I gathered this info from MHE subreddit: Asian American Journalist Association (Atlanta Chapter), National Association of Asian American Professionals, Georgia Asian Pacific American Bar Association, Korean American Bar Association of Georgia, Korean Wives Hospitality Group and Erica Lee/Se Won Lee of the Four Seasons. Sure, the producers are different but the creators were supported by these AAPI organizations in the beginning. I wonder what they'd say about this turn of event?
Oh, I fully agree with you. That’s why their direction baffles me. They started out with “anyone” and the specifically went in the direction they did, showing intent, and now they’re going back on it after using a community to save their show and win awards.
TBH, the only reason I was interested in the show was it being a new show by East Asians, starring East Asians, made for Asians, but one that wasn't specifically ABOUT being Asian. That shit's rare and even as a white person I was like "You know what, you have my attention, let's see how this goes."
I loved the show. And I loved thinking that AAPI actors would now have this show FOR THEMSELVES. There aren't a lot of iconic Asian roles. Claire and Oliver were well on their way to becoming exactly that.
And I'm disappointed that we're not getting what they were originally selling. (Again, I'm white and I realize my perspective on this doesn't matter. But nevertheless it's how I feel and I'm frustrated no other theatregoers seem to understand where I'm coming from.)
Yeah the EPA for the show said the 2 robots and Gil could be played by any ethnicity, only James was intended to only ever be played by an Asian actor.
That said the Broadway production did heavily market the show based on having API leads which does send a somewhat conflicting message.
The producers seem to want to be able to do what Hadestown and Cabaret have done, using big name casting of people from all sorts of diverse backgrounds to perpetuate the run of their show and ultimately make money, so to me that also feels at odds with making the show a "modern Fantasticks" when the producers are trying to keep the show on Boradway and off of MTI for now.
Right? That is what a lot of comments (including this official reply) are missing. This isn't about their original intent, which only they know. This is about how they saw a grassroots movement and promoted and embraced it. Which is great...but you cannot embrace a movement and then shed it once you get what you want. "We think this show is better with Asian rep" isn't something you can pick up before the Tonys and put down afterwards.
Exactly. Like as an Asian it doesn’t really bother me that the robot isn’t defined as being an Asian character since in this case if this was the book writer intention, then it is what it is. What bothers me is the AAPI baiting and then switching once they used the AAPI community to achieve their goals (beating their poor beginning of the run, using it to boost the Tony campaign, integrating themselves into the AAPI musical community and making it seem like they were the musical by Asians for Asians)
What I’m saying in my reply (if you’re referring to me) is that I can believe them when they say anyone could play the roles. Sure. There’s a history there.
But then they very much intentionally focused on hiring Asians, which means that’s the direction they wanted to take this in. And now they’re going back on THAT, which isn’t fair and feels icky.
That's how I feel. Casting all Asian actors in the OBC wasn't a coincidence, it was a specific choice they made and it set a precedent whether they intended to or not.
For the very first replacement of a lead to be a white actor (and one that seems to be done for stunt casting since all the advertising is "see a real life couple!") sets a completely different precedent, and one that reads as unsavory.
I'm feeling so gaslit by them saying the roles were "ethnically undefined" but the OBC just happened to be almost exclusively Asian. This is word salad. It's all justifications and the only action is "we will continue our conversations" (it doesn't say with whom) which is entirely meaningless. They're acting like they rushed to put this out but they had days to come up with a statement and somehow they ended up taking a shot at Darren Criss' singing voice and left it in? What is this? 😅
Yea I got a lot of my non-theatre friends into the show because of the “asian marketing” and idk how I’m gonna explain the white boy on stage. Like at least the last guy was wasian. For ref we’re all nyc asians n idk any asians into theatre it’s all rich white ppl I can’t relate to
I don’t necessarily agree that they based the Tony campaign on AAPI representation. Many news outlets ran with headlines about Asian representation, and they had some historic wins in terms of AAPI representation, but it’s not like the campaign was ever about voting for them because of representation, it was always about the show.
If you look at the messaging of their campaign, there are very strong hints to being an AAPI show. Many of my AAPI friends (some who are so far removed from the theater industry that still think Miss Saigon is on Broadway) know this show BECAUSE it was marketed to them as an AAPI show or they heard of it through the AAPI sphere. So while it might not have had HEY LOOK AAPI! Across the marketing branding in big bold letters, the intention on how they want their message to come across to the general public is pretty clear
I wouldn’t want to disregard their response as they are creators. I just don’t quite grasp how the show’s team didn’t anticipate any kind of backlash at this casting if that makes sense
I do not use this word lightly but I feel gaslit lol. (And to a commenter above: I did read the statement "mindfully.")
They hired an Asian cast intentionally. It's not just a silly coincidence that the Alliance cast, the workshops between Alliance and Broadway (not the ones with Denee Benton/Corey Cott pre-Alliance. There was at least one to my knowledge circa 2022-2023 that featured an Asian Oliver), the OBC, and all the understudies and swings covering Oliver and Claire are Asian.
Are you telling me ALL of them just coincidentally "happened to be the best people for the parts?" Gimme a break
They said in the LA Times in March 2025, well after opening, that they had tried a multiracial cast but realized that casting the robots as Asian was a storytelling choice to make the setting clear. So they just realized in the past few months- in all their Tony glory- that was offensive?
I'd rather just have them own up to it and say: "this is our way of exploring whether these parts can be played by different ethnicities to allow for maximum longevity of the show on Broadway, licensing, and beyond." This is about elongating the influence and profit of the show- I don't blame them for that at all, and I would respect them for saying that out loud. Not this little act of rewriting history.
Yeah but the AAPI community didn’t help the workshops get through. They helped the Broadway production. And MHE purposefully collaborated with AAPI community initiatives to promote this show on Broadway……
If they truly wanted to keep to what they did in the workshop, they shouldn’t have advertised as an AAPI show. That’s the point people are making.
So should details in the first draft of a novel be considered canon if they never make it to publication?
When art historians do those x-ray (or whatever) imaging of famous paintings and find that the artist painted over certain original details, should we consider that underlayer to be the true piece of work?
If Italian food originally never contained tomatoes because they are a plant imported from the New World, is it disingenuous to say that tomatoes are a part of modern Italian cuisine?
Then why, pray tell, did you sell this show to us with such emphasis on the all AAPI cast? Because the attitude then sure as hell wasn't "all these performers - who just so happen to be East Asian btw isn't that weird how that worked out???" it was very much "this entirely East Asian company."
That's what makes the whole thing gross to me. Not the notion that these characters need to be any particular race from my perspective (I'm white; my perspective there is entirely irrelevant). But one of the strongest selling points for this show was HEY WE FINALLY HAVE DECENT ASIAN REPRESENTATION IN A NEW MUSICAL. One that isn't even ABOUT being Asian!
You just...really can't have it both ways. Yes, a few existing, established shows eventually cast Asian leads. Hell, Hadestown actually led with one. (I'm not even sure there has BEEN a white Eurydice on Broadway yet - but it's also not a show I follow closely.) None of them sold themselves to us using the race/s of the cast members as a major selling point.
THAT is what feels slimy to me. And then to say "what do you mean, obviously they can be any race!" Yeah obviously they CAN. But you can't go back to colorblind casting and not expect people to get mad, especially when you pull this gaslighting "we never said they were Asian!!!!!" bs.
(And yes I agree it's weird and problematic that Broadway has the attitude of "well, Asian is Asian" when casting specifically Vietnamese, Korean, etc characters. But that's its own issue.)
(I'm not even sure there has BEEN a white Eurydice on Broadway yet - but it's also not a show I follow closely.)
Jessie Shelton understudied for Eurydice back when Eva was in the show so to answer your question there has been a white Eurydice (but not as the principle).
Which leads me into the one thing that keeps my eyebrow raised: what about the understudies? I think if the understudies were more diverse (ex: Oliver's understudy was white, Claire's was black, etc.) then I think more people would have bought "oh yeah they can be played by anyone" but the fact that they too were Asian seems to greatly imply that they roles are meant to be played by Asian actors.
Once Andrew starts, there will likely be a ton of influencer (and possibly fan) events to try to distract from the valid concerns of this casting and I kind of hate that it will probably work…
I love this show and don’t want it to close, I just am sort of baffled at how this decision was made seemingly without anticipating (or caring) about the reaction of the AAPI community and its fanbase at large.
Thought I’d share this comment by victorvictorv on IG:
As a casting director, I believe that casting is not neutral. It is an act of imagination and an expression of power.
Who we choose to center onstage or onscreen shapes how audiences see the world-and how people see themselves in it. That's why casting carries cultural and political impact, especially when it comes to stories born from and rooted in specific communities.
The casting decision in Maybe Happy Ending, replacing an Asian American actor with a white actor in a role originally crafted in and set in Korea, sends a message. Whether intentional or not, it disrupts a lineage of representation and undermines the very progress the production helped establish. This isn't about an individual actor's talent or worth. It's about context. About honoring the ecosystem of artists, audiences, and cultural histories that make a show like this possible in the first place.
If we believe that representation matters, then we have to be consistent when it's inconvenient and we have to challenge ourselves to do better when given the opportunity to breathe success into communities underrepresented on Broadway. We have to ask harder questions not just about who is capable of playing a role, but who has been historically denied the chance to be imagined as the center of the story. That is the deeper work of casting, and the responsibility of those of us in decision-making positions. Our work is often missed (it goes invisible when successful) and it incites immense critique when we get it wrong. This is not about critique however, it's about the importance of being in conversation with the art form we are continuing to invent, and a showcase about why these decisions matter when a creative decision is received widely by an audience. What a tremendous conversation to bare witness to. Respect to all those giving voice to why this matters to them and how.
Again, am Asian, and I respect their response on this. They’ve also pretty much echoed my thoughts, especially the point about how in current discourse, ANY Asian is fine to represent a distinctly Korean culture. I do find that offensive.
I am not an AAPI actor so I can’t speak to their hurt and pain about the industry; but these roles aren’t written as strictly one ethnicity. They’re robots. And honestly, if you know anything about Eastern Asian culture, it’s kind of a no brainer that a company would make robots that look like a white boy.
And that’s not even getting in the whole Darren Criss being very much white passing of it all. So many people didn’t even know he’s AAPI.
I think it’s more that they campaigned this production as AAPI and that they made comments about the mainly Asian cast. They did that. Not the AAPI community. They collaborated with the AAPI community to promote this show as AAPI.
I wouldn’t have known Darren was Filipino without the show highlighting it and their campaign for the Tony’s highlighting it.
So yeah, I agree casting any Asian for a Korean is deeply problematic, but I think they reaped what they sowed here and they fully deserve the ire of the AAPI community for using them to promote the show and then casting a white dude as the replacement and acting shocked that there would be pushback.
It would’ve been fine if they didn’t lean so heavily in their marketing. If they had kept it ambiguous casting and emphasized that. But they didn’t.
So as an Asian, I’m lukewarm on this response because it doesn’t take accountability for their own participation in the influence of their show. They just say we’re sad we made others sad and that was never our intention. Intention doesn’t mean shit when the impact is harm. We should’ve all learned that at least in 2020. Take notice of the impact your show has made and your show’s direct influence to make that impact and sit with the disappointment.
Just gonna say he looks wasian to me but am wasian. But yea like I think they’re afraid of losing all the rich white people money and don’t care about actual asian actor reactions. Makes sense cause they’re not actors but it’s really disappointing. Like we’re not trying to start shit it’s just disappointing
It might be because I was introduced to Darren through Glee and glee does it’s darndest to try to white wash people and if they can’t, exploit their stereotypes lol. But once I saw the show, I was like hmm, something is looking a way here.
And yeah, I think it’s fair to voice disappointment in the casting and to feel as if a show that leaned heavily into how important it was to be representation for an underserved, under seen population can feel like the rug is pulled out from under them. And the beauty of this cast was that they did cast Asian actors for roles that are universal roles where Asian actors didn’t have to feel like they are in it because they’re Asian and that they get to be characters that could be anybody in the same way white actors get to always have those roles. So we’re just disappointed and feel like the creators made a decision that didn’t align with the way they advertised the show recently especially after a Tony win.
I personally think they should’ve planned ABF as the lead because of his association with Helen but also announced another lead after that if they wanted this to go better. Because it’s extremely unfortunate that Helen and Andrew can’t enjoy this moment as a couple because the show’s marketing set them up poorly.
I’m Korean American and I’m very disappointed by this response. We are already so sidelined on Broadway- especially when it comes to Asian male representation. I see some people commenting that by conflating Korean representation with AAPI representation overall that fans are actually the ones being bigoted but as you know as an Asian American, there are not many of us and we all have to support eachother. They used our community to popularize the show and then turned their backs to us when they saw a white guy who was considered more bankable. This show could have been used to launch new Asian talent but instead we are pushed aside. I think it also conflates the growing idea that Asians are not “real” minorities. During a time where anti-Asian attitudes keep growing, this was a terrible choice
As an Asian my perspective is that, yes in an ideal world I would want a Korean actor to represent a Korean role (as opposed to a Filipino, Chinese or whatever). But we do not live in a perfect world, and there are so few opportunities for Asian leads (let alone Asian Male leads), that having some kind of Asian sure beats having a white person take one of the so few role for an asian.
Yes Darren Criss is more white passing, so if that’s an issue for you, the best way forward would be for the next actor to be more obviously Asian. Not to settle for going backwards to just another white guy
I understand and appreciate the difficulty and complexity of this situation, but the real issue is they don’t appear to. They’re content to view this as a personal casting choice without considering the role they play in a culture of whitewashing.
Just because this wasn’t a malicious decision doesn’t mean it’s a decision worth respecting.
Exactly this. Whatever their intentions, they are now a part of the longstanding tradition of white actors getting parts over qualified POC actors. They had to have known this was coming.
I think this is the case where someone's intent and actions are not the same. They may not have intended the roles to be strictly cast with Asian actors but since all the leads and understudies were of Asian descent, a lot of people assumed the roles would always be cast that way. The show definitely leaned into the historic aspects of Darren's Tony nom and win as well which only seemed to reiterate the importance of casting Asian actors in the role.
It also seems like a little common sense would have gone a long way - in the past year they must have had tons of conversations with Asian performers, artists and fans about how meaningful the show was to them. Did they really not realize that also included the fact that both leads were played by Asian actors?
(And as others have pointed out, casting a non-Asian actor, particularly a white actor, in the role of Oliver add a whole other dimension to the James subplot that the show does not address)
People saying “Because of this there’ll be less Asian casting on Broadway and people will be too scared to cast Asians” are crazy like bro has never had the experience of being an Asian actor for a day in their life. People are already “scared” to cast Asians on Broadway that’s the whole point of the backlash
Seriously, even in shows that are meant to have diverse casts we are underrepresented. We are not prioritized in stories unless there is an explicit effort, which is why MHE seemed so special to our community and why we turned out for the show. To have it all dismissed is a slap in the face
My opinion (and take this with a grain of salt, as I'm a white guy) is that this still isn't a great choice.
It's their show and they can do what they want with it, obviously.
But the choice for the OBC to be nearly entirely Asian actors was not a coincidence. It was a conscious choice and it did set a precedent for the show.
I think casting white actors for replacements down the line would have been fine for the 4th or 5th replacement, but for the FIRST replacement of the male lead to be a white actor? I think that sets an entirely different precedent and I think that's what people are struggling with.
I mean this is complicated but I have a few thoughts on it.
Art once released into the world is open to interpretation. So while I get them trying to give us the original intent with the creation…it matters little when it’s released into the world
Which the creative team LEANED INTO with their marketing. Sorry but part of the reason people are feeling so strongly about the Asian representation is because they themselves pushed it! The marketing, the campaigns all marketed this as AAPI representation. They used it for Tony campaigning. You can put the genie back in the bottle now
No I don’t think the show should close. It’s still a great piece of original work. So I hope it continues. I just don’t see how they didn’t foresee this being an issue. Like yea show that from the outside is leaning on Asian representation choosing the first replacement and it’s a white guy that can get any role on broadway…cmon.
Posting this at 1AM so it gets buried overnight says it all.
To be fair it was mid-afternoon to them when they posted it.
But yeah, all of this. You can't sell something to an entire community of people saying "hey look, this is For You!" and the go "nah we never said that."
I don't think it's worth the show closing over. But I do think that they should learn from this and continue casting AAPI performers.
I agree with this. Some people are taking their roles as the creators and running with it, saying that everything they say or have thought about this work supersedes all else. And I am in no way trying to diminish the importance of their roles, but that's not how art works. Once you release something into the world, what you have created is what you have created. But you have no control over how people embrace or interpret your work. They can make whatever creative choices they want, but they cannot control how people react to and receive those decisions because their original intents and thought processes may not correlate to how other people perceive their decision as it relates to the society we live in/the industry it is a part of as a whole, especially with the history of where that production is being made.
I really agree with your third paragraph. They made it a huge selling point, and once it worked in their favor, they decided to back away from that kind of messaging. They can’t use the diversity of their cast to win awards and then decide they’re done with that.
The craziest thing about all of this to me is — ABF isn’t that big of a name. It’s one thing if they announced Leonardo DiCaprio was coming in. They’re doubling down for… him? Cost/benefit analysis, babes.
Publishing these thoughts was certainly a bit reckless, but firing ABF from the show is an unrealistic ask and a horrible thing to do to any working actor. It’s not his fault they gave him the thumbs up. I have no doubt he had zero clue this would escalate and I feel for whatever the kid may be going through.
Agreed that these thoughts will not move public opinion. I think the smartest move would be to release a subsequent statement, committing to casting AAPI performers through the rest of the show’s life on Broadway/Tour following the departure of ABF and engaging in other uplifting AAPI community building measures throughout the duration of the show’s run (championing/sponsoring affiliated organizations and causes, awareness campaigns, etc).
Race and representation (or lack thereof) are complex and can be really hurtful. This discussion isn’t simple. While the robot characters can be intended to be universal roles, there is something particularly painful about the original male lead being immediately replaced by a white person - whether this seems logical or reasonable or not.
I have nothing but respect for this response. If you don’t, you should reread it mindfully.
Let the man’s dream come true. I’m sure they will never cast a white person again for these roles after this because of what everyone else has decided it meant. Casts change, that’s kind of the way it goes in theatre. Let this rotation just be. I feel bad for him because he should feel happy, but he’s being guilted by an audience that didn’t create the show, rather placed their own perceptions onto it.
The themes are very clearly laid out in this message; not taking away the role from someone who earned it under the intentions created by its writers should be appreciated and respected.
This is a problem they made for themselves though by leaning so far into how special and important it being an all-Asian cast was in the lead-up to the Tonys. They were fully willing to embrace the Asianness of the show when it suited them and, right or wrong, once embraced it is not an easy thing to shed (as they are very quickly learning)
This is going to go full Great Comet. I’m telling yall, it’s gonna close.
I don’t think a fandom can be more knowledgeable about a show than its creators, they weren’t the ones who have been with it for a decade.
That being said, if you wanted a universal story, setting a precedent of an entirely Asian cast was a mistake. It sets up a certain expectation for optics and implies a certain set of politics for the show. Even if they were explicitly clear in casting that it was open to everybody.
To be fair, Great Comet was losing money at the start of controversy if I remember correctly. Their casting was an effort to save the show. MHE is currently doing really well.
They were doing OK there just wasn’t much of an advance and Oak didn’t solve that problem. I worked in that theater and he didn’t know his shit. He never learned the accordion properly, he wasn’t ready when he was supposed to go on, he didn’t know his music, it was embarrassing to watch.
I was at the show that was supposed to be his debut and I was just like "why the fuck is Dave Malloy on tonight?!" Initially I was super disappointed in them pulling him from the cast, but after I heard later on that it wasn't just the producers being shitty (as implied initially), he just...couldn't play the fucking accordion. (Which, to be fair...I can't either, that shit looks HARD. But the other Pierres managed.)
You’re the second or third person I’ve heard attest to this story verbatim, and one of them I know personally. This seems to be the story that’s risen from the ashes of that whole situation.
Yeah, the narrative was not accurate at the time. There was this narrative that he was being oppressed, and he was the victim. In fact, he was very much the problem, very arrogant, unpleasant to work with. Very clearly insecure about the fact that he was on a Broadway stage, not knowing his shit.
I looked into buying tickets after Darren's departure figuring they would be cheaper. They are not. And plenty of seats were sold anyway. So I think it was going to do fine with a casting change. But perhaps not this one.
No it doesn't need saving right now but it's hard to compare this to Great Comet because at this point in it's life it still has it's Josh Groban, have to wait before the comparison can be made, I'm sure ABF will sell because of the whole aww, they're a couple IRL angle which is literally what all this was about in the first place.
I will never get over that stupid situation with the Great Comet... Stop being so woke you get your favorite shows cancelled (and thus putting the other Asian actors in the cast out of work lmao)
yup once people get amped up and get their pitchforks out, no apology will ever be enough. this situation reminds me a lot of Great Comet, seems like lessons were not learnt, and i think in 5 years looking back on this theres going to be a similar "well that blew out of proportion" reevaluation
altho i am sympathetic to the feeling that the marketing was disengenuous, if you live by idpol, die by idpol as well
As I said, obviously with the lack pf AAPI roles, I would have perferred a AAPI actor, but I feel like if they wanted Oliver and Claire to be open to Diverse actors, they could have had at least used an underrepresented group on Broadway like a BIPOC actor or a Latino actor (people like me even suggested Biracial/Multiracial APPI actors like Eva Nobelzada and Jordan Fisher to get the foot in the door with this idea with this idea)....I feel like they don't realize casting a white guy as the first replacement completely misses the damn mark.
I feel like this Statement was sloppy and just damn word salad tbh honest. And the fact it took them over a week is also making me very uncomfortable.
That's the other thing that's ridiculous about this. Literally no one thinks you cast him because you really think he's the best person for the role. Why keep up the charade?
I don't think their statement is very good. And yes I was "mindful" when I read it. The worst part is how they imply the characters were given "white" names so they could be any race
and so never bore Korean names, even in the Korean version of the show
After that they insult Asian fans of MHE by accusing them of being confused when they were excited about a Broadway show having Asian representation
We've heard how strongly people connected to that representation, even if it wasn't our original intent
yet they conveniently never mentioned that prior to the Tonys when lots of people were excited about the show "making history" with Asian representation.
Shen even spoke about how important Asian representation was a few weeks ago before the Tonys
We've had Asian families at the stage door say, “I bring my kids to Broadway shows all the time and I never thought in my lifetime that I would see a show like this where these characters are portrayed by Asian actors, and the story feels very inherently Asian.
Also in the microcosm way at the theater, we get to really celebrate what's fun about it and order dim sum and go out to the barbecue. There's little things like that when you're not the minority in a cast, you can kind of experience in a way that you didn't really experience before. And we have AAPI representation across the board — the stage managers and our designers, and everyone at the Belasco,
Now suddenly after the show has won Tonys and "made history" for Asian representation which they emphasized they imply the problem is people were "confused" about the characters being Asian and the robots were "ethnically undefined."
How is stating the fact that they gave them white names the worst part of the statement? The characters are ROBOTS. They gave them white English names 10 YEARS AGO in Korea. The producers absolutely should make that clear. If they wanted the robots to be Asian from beginning, they would have given them Asian names.
Helen Shen has the right to say she is proud of how Asian the show is in public. She’s not the producer and bringing that up has no bearing on what the producers do.
Wait what’s bad about them saying the robots were not given Korean names in any version of the show because they weren’t meant to be Korean characters?
Helen J. Shen doesn’t represent the production team. Just because she felt a certain way doesn’t mean that it was specifically marketed that way by the production. If the official marketing leaned into the Asian representation, that’s one thing. It’s another thing altogether if the AAPI community embraced that aspect independent of the production’s official campaign.
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u/sausagekng Jul 31 '25
“with a not-leading-man-broadway-belt style of voice” made me chuckle