No "happy ending" in sight for Broadway's casting controversy replacing Darren Criss in musical

Helen Shen and Darren Criss star as robots in 'Maybe Happy Ending.'

A casting change in a Broadway musical opened up a debate about representation of Asian Americans and the lack of opportunities for them.  

The decision by Maybe Happy Ending producers to replace Tony winner Darren Criss, a Filipino American, with Andrew Barth Feldman, who is white, has drawn justifiable backlash.

The musical set in Seoul, South Korea, was noteworthy for its majority-Asian cast, still a rarity in a field dominated by White artists. Criss made history in June when he became the first Asian American actor to win Best Lead Actor in a Musical at the Tony Awards.

BD Wong, best known for his roles in the Jurassic Park franchise and the TV series Law and Order SVU and also a previous Tony winner, wrote an essay expressing his disappointment and frustration regarding the casting change in the Broadway musical "Maybe Happy Ending". He posted the essay on Facebook, and stated that he would be submitting it to The New York Times. The essay garnered over 1,300 signatures from individuals who felt similarly frustrated by the situation.

In the essay, Wong highlighted the feelings of betrayal among some Asian American actors and the broader Asian American community due to the casting decision, emphasizing the long history of exclusion faced by this group in the entertainment industry. He emphasized that this casting change felt like a step backward, despite the show's initial celebration of Asian representation.

He acknowledged that casting decisions are not made lightly, but argued that this particular "pivot" unfortunately undermines the validation and celebration that "Maybe Happy Ending" previously offered to the Asian community.

The casting of a white actor in a role initially performed by an Asian American performer was a significant step backward for representation and equity in the theater, Wong wrote.

He said that the decision sends a negative signal about the commitment to showcase Asian talent even when a show has celebrated cultural specificity and achieved historic success with Asian representation. Wong stressed the importance of having an Asian person play the role, arguing that doing so would be part of the solution to a persistent problem of underrepresentation in the industry.

In response to the controversy, other figures in the theater community, the Asian American Performers Action Coalition issued a statement decrying the show's producers' casting decision:

"While our community celebrates a historical number of Tony nominations and awards for AANHPI theatre artists this season, it is also a time when our histories are being rampantly erased, censored, and banned, and our stories colonized. This is a time when we need more intentionality, not less. We are acutely aware of how much representation matters, as does intent vs. impact, and we implore the producers and creative team of Maybe Happy Ending to consider the damaging ramifications of their actions, no matter their intent." 

Conrad Ricamora, who himself was nominated for a Tony for his role as Abraham Lincold in Oh, Mary, have also spoken out against the casting change and initiated actions, such as establishing a scholarship fund  called "Right To Be There" for Asian American men pursuing acting degrees.

"I've been carrying a lot of grief lately. Grief from being told—implicitly and explicitly—that I don't belong. Grief from seeing others like me, Asian American men, pushed to the margins of the stage, or off it entirely. And grief from knowing that these patterns are old. Older than me. Older than this moment.

"Progress in our industry can be real and inspiring—but it's often fragile. Even after decades of work and some recent wins, Asian American men still face enormous barriers in the world of acting—especially in roles that are complex, leading, and human. And especially on stage," said Ricamora.

"I've decided to channel that grief into something generative. I'm launching a scholarship fund for Asian American male actors pursuing BFA or MFA acting degrees—to help plant seeds of hope for the next generation.

        FYI: Donate to the "Right To Be There" scholarship.

Maybe Happy Ending is musical set in South Korea about two helper robots who discover love and grapple with themes of connection and mortality. It was written by Will Aronson (music and book) and Hue Park (lyrics and book), both of whom met at New York University.

Yesterday (July 31), Aronson and Park used social media to explain their rationale behind their casting decision, saying they wanted their musical to be "comfortably performed by anyone, anywhere—yet distinctly set in Korea."

"At the same time, we understand that for many in the AAPI community, the makeup of our opening night cast became a meaningful and rare point of visibility.," their statement continued. "We’ve heard how strongly people connected to that representation, even if it wasn’t our original intent, and how this casting decision has re-opened old wounds."

"Throughout the American development, we tried various approaches to casting. At some points along the journey, we cast the roles explicitly as Asian, thinking that it might help make the setting more quickly apparent. However, on seeing that, we also were not satisfied. To say that seeing *any* Asian actor on stage 'quickly suggests Korea' seemed not only like a stretch, but regressive, or even offensive to the uniqueness of Korean culture." 

That explains why, the Broadway production with Criss, as well as previous productions Maybe Happy Ending, had always cast Asian actors in those lead roles.

BD Wong

The creative team continued by pointing out that several Asians had opportunities to play non-Asian roles, including RIcamora's role as Abe Lincoln in Oh, Mary.

"Leading roles for Asian performers have long been painfully scarce, and these shows excitingly made gestures toward universality with expansive casting, and rightly gave opportunities to actors from identity categories who previously had few options. With Maybe Happy Ending, we wanted to write a show in which every role could be played by an Asian performer, but without the intention that the robot roles always would be," said Aronson and Park.

The creators' justification that "anyone can play it" was seen as dismissive of the need for diverse casting and a lack of understanding of the historical context, say critics of the casting decision.

"There was a subtle attempt to characterize a non-Asian actor playing this role as an example of 'inclusion.' A 'now, anyone can play it!' spin, because 'anyone' sounds so 'expansive.' responded Wong. 

"This almost mocks the struggle for opportunities of the marginalized! It ignores the statistical dominance of white actors in musical leading roles (MHE was a glorious, rare exception to this). It undermines the effort to discuss yellowface and appropriation. It also seemed unaware of its potentially negative optics. I know nobody takes casting decisions lightly. This 'pivot' unfortunately retracts the validation and celebration that MHE lent the Asian community. This is agonizing to witness and to feel in my heart. Nobody is winning."

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