It feels very full circle to step into that role and also see the impact that this casting has made on so many South Asian women. "We didn't have a lot of that kind of a portrayal of brown-skinned women from that part of the world while we were growing up. She had the guts to question authority at a time when that was not normal," Narayan said. "She's an animated character, she's not even real, but she means so much to me, just in the way she was portrayed as strong and smart. It's part of the reason why she was "elated" at the chance to play Princess Jasmine. Since the movement for racial justice in the summer of 2020, she added, there have been even more conversations on representation when it comes to casting. "An effort was made to put a diverse cast on stage, no matter what the role was," Narayan said of Hamilton. AAPAC's 2018-2019 data, the most recent available, shows 93.6% of producers are white, 93.8% of directors are white and 89% of writers are white.Īsian American And Pacific Islander Heritage Month Movies Bypass Asian And Pacific Islander Actors And Directors, Study Findsįor Narayan, shows like Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812, and Hamilton were especially big wins because her roles were not specifically for Asian actors. When it comes to writers, producers and directors on Broadway, the lack of diversity is particularly acute. With the Asian American community in particular, that progress has sometimes been slow.ĭata from the Asian American Performers Action Coalition, which tracks representation on all New York city stages, shows that Broadway actors are still overwhelmingly white. Narayan's rise to the role of Princess Jasmine comes at a time when there's been a heightened commitment from decision makers on Broadway to expand diversity and representation both on and off the stage. Asian American representation on Broadway has been slow "As someone who grew up as a minority in this very specific culture and then wanted to be a part of this very specific community, to kind of bring the two parts of myself together was a very emotional thing for me to do," she said. "Things like that, I wanted to make sure while I'm in the show, how can I help audiences who may be from our background feel a little bit more like they're being represented properly," Narayan said. Narayan said she also tweaked some of the choreography that was inspired by Bollywood dance to make it more specific. But the cities and places in the Middle East and South Asia that inspired the name have a certain pronunciation, Narayan said - and she wanted that reflected in the show. In the show, it was often pronounced with an "a" sound like "apple," rather than an "ah" sound like "olive." Agrabah, of course, is a fictional city. aladdin on broadway Join the celebration with Disney on Broadway for Pride Nights Disneys 1992 Aladdin movie turns 30 The Museum of Broadway opens in NYC. They're small shifts, but I think it will make broader audiences feel welcomed," she said.įor example, Aladdin is set in a kingdom named Agrabah. "I spoke to Disney about some lines that could be shifted to be made a little bit more sensitive to the audience that may come in. But Narayan has brought certain changes to the show that reflect her South Asian background. The two actresses who were cast in the role prior to Narayan, Courtney Reed and Arielle Jacobs, are both of partial Asian descent. Since being cast as Princess Jasmine, Narayan has committed to bringing her culture and perspective as a South Asian woman to the role. The production has won a number of awards, including a Tony for James Monroe Iglehart, who played the Genie.Bringing specificity and cultural awareness to 'Aladdin' It includes crowd favorite songs such as A Whole New World, Prince Ali, and Friend Like Me, alongside songs that were cut from the film and restored to the stage production, such as Proud Of Your Boy, one of the last songs that songwriter Howard Ashman contributed before his death.īoth critics and audiences have celebrated the musical as magical, exhilarating, and infectious, with extravagant staging and glittering costumes. The musical opened on Broadway in March 2014 and has since launched in Germany, Japan, and London. Broadway brings back the much-loved story both for people who adored the original film and also for brand new audiences ready to be wowed by Aladdin’s magic all over again. The film was a smash hit with audiences and boasted music by Alan Menken with lyrics by Howard Ashman, Tim Rice, and Chad Beguelin, who also wrote the book. The Broadway version of Aladdin is based on the 1992 Disney animated movie of the same name.
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