By Chris S. Nishiwaki
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY

Home of the classic American art form, the musical, Broadway was dubbed “The Great White Way” at the turn of the 20th century for its bright white lights that illuminated the streets, primarily for safety reasons.

For decades, it might as well have referred to the lack of diversity.

But Puerto Rican actor, writer, director Lin-Manuel Miranda set out to turn the musical on its head when he wrote and produced what would become the 11-time Tony Award-winning show “Hamilton.”

“The thesis of this story was always this story of America then told by America now,” Miranda told The Undefeated in 2020. “And people of color are the future of this country. They are the present. They are the future. On the other level. This was always a hip hop musical in my head. If this had been cast with all white people, wouldn’t you think I messed up?”

Since its debut in 2015, the female lead role of Eliza Hamilton has been performed by Asian American actresses multiple times, including its current traveling show. The show closes its month-long run at the Paramount Theatre this weekend.

In the current traveling show, Japanese American actress Kendyl Sayuri Yokoyama delivers a resounding rendition of Eliza Hamilton, a role challenging for both its broad lyrical range and intricate choreography.

Phillipa Soo, a mixed-race actress whose father is Chinese American, was the first AANHPI woman to perform the role in the show’s 2015 inaugural run at New York City’s Public Theater. She was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance.

Korean American actress Stephanie Jae Park has also reprised the role on Broadway, performing as Eliza Hamilton for five years.

Kathy Hsieh, the racial equity in grantmaking strategist for Seattle’s Office of Arts & Culture and a Seattle-based award-winning actor, producer, writer, director, and art administrator, has been following Hamilton since before its debut in 2015 in Lower Manhattan’s Public Theater. She delights in the diverse cast, including Asian actors in leading roles.

“My bias is that I love this musical to death,” Hsieh said. “I’ve been following it, even before most people knew about it. They sent out casting calls all over the country, especially to BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) communities. It takes years to produce a show of this magnitude. They had been workshopped and casted long before the Public Theater debut.”

Hsieh said that the call for actors of color was intentional, as Miranda wanted to remind audience members that the people who wrote the Constitution and founded the United States were immigrants and descendents of immigrants. He wanted to steer clear of typecasting by race, Hsieh said, even as he worked to emphasize that artists of color have a place in the play.

“It’s exciting because it mixes it up,” Hsieh said. “They try to cast the actors on affinity, on the role, instead of boxing in on race.”

Hsieh has long been an advocate for diversity in the arts in that role, as well as her performing and producing roles, co-founding SIS Productions with a “special focus on work that creates visibility and opportunities for and highlights the talent and contributions of artists of color.”

“Even when people cast diversely, they typecast us on race and not affinity and which role we are suited for,” Hsieh said of her commitment to diversity in the arts. “My philosophy is when people make it challenging, I look at it as an artist, is how to work creatively around it. How can we make it work despite that? When, as an actor, if there were periods in my life when I wasn’t tasked with as much as I’d like to, I would take more classes,” Hsieh continued. “I would see it as an opportunity to direct and produce and create opportunities for other actors who are not cast as much as they should.”

SIS Productions and Pork Filled Productions will be co-producing Instant Noodles, a 24-hour Asian play festival running from March 8–9 at the Theater Off Jackson. More than 50 artists will gather on Friday, March 7 to be randomly paired to write and produce new works that will be performed on Saturday evening and the Sunday matinee. 

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