The Problem with Theater and Race

I remember dreaming when I was a young kid of the shining bright lights of the theater stage, enraptured in a trance by the performers’ emotional, spirited portrayals. But all that is just a dream. I’ve never gone to see a Broadway show, and although I’ve brought it up to my parents multiple times, there’s always an excuse, whether it be that tickets are too expensive, or we just don’t have the time to spare. Studying for the next big test always came first.

Later on, in middle school, I remember distinctly when I overheard a conversation between two kids. One was Asian, the other, white. The Asian kid was saying how she wanted to be a famous actress in the future, and the other responded, “But you’re Asian.” I gasped in shock at the time. The harsh realities of who could and couldn’t pursue theater hadn’t really sunk into my mind up to then, and I couldn’t quite put into words the reason why being Asian meant you couldn’t be an actress.

My parents have always told me that I have no future in the arts. Instead, I should focus on the four core subjects: English, math, science, and history. Some of my friends’ parents, however, are even more strict, limiting their child’s future to two subjects: math or science. The emphasis on these subjects is not without reason. It’s very true people from minority backgrounds are economically disadvantaged, and math and science is very in demand in today’s job market. Thus, our parents want us to be better than them, and to escape the endless cycle of poverty by doing something math or science related.

Eventually, it becomes part of an overarching theme; many parents from minority backgrounds and poor socioeconomic classes seemingly place a weaker emphasis on the arts, exposing their children to fewer enriching cultural experiences (such as going to Broadway shows) that kids from higher socioeconomic classes (a demographic which is predominantly white) would be able to have.

This means that kids from minority backgrounds not only lack exposure to theater, but are also discouraged from pursuing careers in the entertainment industry. It is evident that there is a racial stereotype of who can and who can’t pursue a career in the theater or acting. White people have always dominated the acting industry with over 80 percent of Oscar winners being white in 2000. Meanwhile, there have been less than 20 nominations for Asian-Americans in the four main categories in the entire history of the Oscars. And only four have gone on to win in their respective categories, with the most recent being in the 80s. The art industry as a whole is also reflective of this. 78 percent of all people employed in the art industry are white, while only 6 percent are African-American, 3 percent Asian-American, and 7 percent Latino(a). As a proud Asian-American, it’s disheartening to me to see that I would have to work twice as hard as someone else to pursue a career in the theater.

As confirmation, I created a survey to ask kids at Stuy about their opinion on whether or not they’ve gone to a Broadway show and why. Overwhelmingly, the responses seemed to reinforce my claim: Sophomore Debi Saha, who identifies as Asian-American, said that “a lot of Asian households just don’t put emphasis on theater and thus, their kids just don’t get into it.”

According to the survey, many Stuyvesant students have also observed a jarring racial disparity in the audience of the Broadway shows they’ve gone to, regardless of their race. One student’s answer puts it very concisely: “The predominant demographic is higher-class white people.” Not only is that disparity a result of the blatant stereotypes put in place, but it also encourages a whole new generation, creating somewhat of a never-ending cycle. Some respondents went on to say that they were discouraged by not seeing many people of their race in the audience. One anonymous responder said that they “feel out of place” when in a Broadway show because of their background. This shows that the demographic of the audience at a show certainly does have an impact on who goes to watch these theater shows in the future.

Thankfully, there have been many strides toward progress. The hit show “Hamilton” has definitely taken strides forward in trying to create a diverse cast. The directors established a bold precedent by casting people of color in historically white roles. Initiative has also been taken by many in the theater industry to diversify the audience of those who can attend a Broadway show.

Many shows have turned to a new concept of “ticket lotteries.” If you manage to win these lotteries, you receive one or two relatively cheap tickets. But this initiative really hasn’t made the dire change necessary, because the chances are just too slim. On a small blog, Data Scientist Dana Mastropole concluded that there was a just under 2.5 percent chance of winning each “Hamilton” lottery around its release. To put that in perspective, that’s a 1:40 chance, which really is too small to be significant.

It’s true that we’ve come far in the past few decades in terms of diversifying the theater experience, whether it be casting POC in historically white roles, or creating ticket lotteries, but ultimately, there’s still a lot of progress to be made, and we can do this by addressing the problem at its roots. It’s time to make theater not only accessible, but also an encouraged field to POC so we can diminish the stereotype of who can be in theater and who can’t.