Although diversity has improved on Broadway, Asian Americans saw a drop in representation on stage.
NBC reports that Asian Americans were the only minority to experience a drop in representation on Broadway between 2015 and 2016.
Almost 2 in 5 roles were given to minority actors, which is a record high over the past 10 years.
Volunteer advocacy group Asian American Performers Action Coalition found that actors of colour received 35% of all roles on New York City stages – an increase of 5% from the previous year. Broadway musicals casted even more minorities with 43% of actors being minorities.
The group’s study accounted for 1,149 actors between 2015 and 2016.
“It’s a very positive outlook for the industry,” said Pun Bandhu, a member of the steering committee for the Asian American Performers Action Coalition. “However, Latinos and Asians are very removed out of the diversity conversation still.”
Asians only accounted for 4% of all roles – 5% lower than the previous year.
Within the entire industry, Asians accounted for just 4 percent of all roles, falling 5 percentage points from the previous season, according to the report. It was the steepest drop among all minority groups.
The study revealed that Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton had the most diverse cast across 10 years.
Allegiance, which featured a predominantly Asian cast with the first Asian-American composer and lyricist, Jay Kuo, premiered during the period but failed increase overall representation.
Over the last 10 years, 76% of roles went to caucasians, 15% to African Americans, 4% to Latinos and 4% to Asian Americans. Middle Eastern/North African, American Indian and disabled actors made up only 1% of all roles.
“Caucasians continue to be the only ethnicity to over-represent compared to their respective population size in New York City,” the report concluded.
Bandhu also believes there is not a shortage of Asian Americans within the industry to chose from. “There are so many strong Asian-American playwrights, and it’s an exciting time actually amongst Asian-American theater makers,” he said. “But that’s not necessarily being reflected in mainstream theater.”
In other news, a report recently found that Asian Americans are not being represented at executive level in Silicon Valley, whilst another concluded the same for Wall Street.
