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."

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news, views and chismis from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X or at the blog Views From the Edge. Now on BlueSky.

Nicole Scherzinger, Darren Criss and Daniel Dae Kim lead record number of AANHPI Tony nominees

On the verge of history, from left, Darren Criss, Daniel Dae Kim and Nicole Scherzinger.

This year could be the watershed moment artists of Asian, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander descent have been waiting for with a record number of AANHPI nominated for Tony awards, announced May 1 by Tony Award winners Sarah Paulson and Wendell Pierce.

Filipino Americans Nicole Scherzinger, Darren Criss and Conrad Ricamora were nominated for their roles in their respective musicals. Korean American Daniel Dae Kim became the first Asian American to be nominateed for his lead dramatic role.

If Scherzinger, Criss or Kim win in their categories, it will be the first time an Asian American artist has won a Tony for a lead role in over 30 years. The last time an Asian American won a Tony in a lead role was 1991 when Lea Salonga won for her history-making role in Miss Saigon.

The American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League announced the nominees for the 78th Annual Tony Awards, celebrating excellence in Broadway theatre for the 2024–2025 season. The nominations, revealed by Tony winners Sarah Paulson and Wendell Pierce, reflect both artistic range and growing cultural diversity on the Great White Way.

        FYI: Complete list of 2025 Tony nominees.

Former Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger earned a nomination in Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical. Her role as an aging actress in Sunset Blvd. garnered rave reviews and has made her as one of the favorites to win in this category. She has already won an Oliver Award, Great Britain's equivalent to the Tony, for the role in the same category, Scherzinger is a strong contender in this category.

“I have worked many, many years to build up to this moment, and it’s changed my life,” said Scherzinger.

Darren Criss, a past Emmy and Golden Globe winner is a double nominee for his show Maybe Happy Ending. Criss, who got his breakout role in TV's musical drama Glee, got nods for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role and as one of the show's producers, he could possibly win another Tony for Best Musical. 

Maybe Happy Ending, based on a South Korean TV drama,  earned 10 nominations,  including one for Filipino American Clint Ramos for Best Costume Design of a Musical. With so many nominations, some critics were surprised that Helen Shen was overlooked as a lead actress.

Daniel Dae Kim, best known for his television roles in Lost and Hawaii Five-O, has been an outspoken advocate for more AANHPI representation in the performing arts, was nominated for his first Broadway role in David Henry Hwang's revival ofYellow Face, which questions the role of race in media and politics. Kim's nomination for Best Performance By a Leading Actor in a Play was the first for an Asian actor.

Yellow Face also won a nomination in the Best Featured in a Play Actor category for Francis Jue, Kim's costar, who played the main character when the play debuted on Broadway 20 years earlier.

Filipino American actor Conrad Ricamora -- who most people will recognize for his role in the TV drama, Murder She Wrote -- will also compete against Jue in the Best Performance by an Best Featured Actor in a Play category for his portrayal of Abe Lincoln in Oh, Mary!

Middle easter performer,Tala Ashe, who most people know for her role in the soap opera As the World Turns, garnered a nomination in the Best Featured Actress in a Play category for her role in English. She'll be joined by her costar Marjan Neshat in the same category. Playwright Sanaz Toossi became the first Iranian-American to be nominated in this category. 

Surprisingly, Broadway favorite Salonga wasn't nominated for her performance in Old Friends, a revue of Stephen Sondheim songs that also starred fellow veteran stage artist Bernadette Peters. In fact, despite its sentimental star power, Old Friends didn't garner a single nomination.

The 78th Annual Tony Awards will return to the legendary Radio City Music Hall in New York City next month. Hosted by Tony, Emmy, and Grammy Award-winner and three-time Oscar nominee Cynthia Erivo, the Tony Awards will broadcas live to both coasts on Sunday, June 8, 2025 (8 – 11 PM ET/5 – 8 PM PT) on the CBS Television Network, and streaming on Paramount+ in the US.*

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me on Threads, on X or at the blog Views From the Edge.

'Here Lies Love' brings Imelda Marcos to Broadway but not without controversy

In the beginning of 'Here Lies Love,' Imelda  (Jaygee Macupugay),  dancing in the
disco sequence, captures the adoration of the audience.

One of the most innovative and exciting musicals featuring the conjugal dictatorship of Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos is making its long awaited Broadway debut after it was first produced off-Broadway a decade ago. 

Here Lies Love, a musical featuring a score by Oscar and Grammy winner David Byrne with music by Byrne and Grammy winner Fatboy Slim, will come to Broadway this summer and with it, a simmering debate about appropriation and a concern that it would trivialize a dark era of the Philippines.

The musical centers on the rise and fall of Imelda Marcos, the former first lady of the Philippines, who was known for her lavish lifestyle amid civil unrest in the country.

To tell the story, the iconic Broadway Theatre will be reconfigured from a traditional proscenium stage into a “dance club environment,” which will allow audience members to become part of the production, interacting with the actors: disco dancers at times, fawning fans and protestors at other points of the story.

The show has had rave reviews everywhere it was presented starting with its world premiere Off-Broadway at the Public Theater in 2013, followed by a return engagement there from 2014 to 2015, a run at London’s Royal National Theatre in 2014 and a run at Seattle Repertory Theatre in 2017.

Preview performances will begin June 17, with the show’s official opening night set for July 20.

Clint Ramos, a Filipino American Tony winner will serve as designer and a creative director. He'll be joined by immigration activist and Pulitzer Prize-winner Jose Antonio Vargas as the first-ever Filipino lead producers on Broadway.

Although a cast hasn't been announced yet, all the principle roles are Filipino and will be cast accordingly, assure the producers.

“Filipinos are among the largest immigrant groups in America –– and also among the most invisible culturally, despite the two nations’ shared colonial histories," said Vargas, himself an outspoken undocumented immigrant who founded Define American, an agency promoting immigration reform 

"While the Asian diaspora can no longer be denied in American popular culture, Filipinas and Filipinos remain woefully outside the spotlight. I’m thrilled to help break barriers on what has historically been an exclusive stage: Broadway.”

Some of the actors who took part in the early productions of Here Lies Love, have moved on in their careers on Broadway and in television, including Tony winner Ruthie Ann Miles (The King and I), Jaygee Macapugay (School of Rock), Jose Llana (King and I) and Conrad  Ricamora (How to Get Away With Murder).

Much of the team that has been involved with the show in prior productions will return, including Tony-winning director Alex Timbers and choreographer Annie-B Parson.

The announcement notes that the show has four Filipino co-producers — Miranda Gohh, Celia Kaleialoha Kenney, Rob Laqui and Giselle “G” Töngi — while Filipino creative team members include music director J. Oconer Navarro, costume designer Clint Ramos, casting director Gail Quintos, assistant director Billy Bustamante, assistant stage manager Sheryl Polancos and aforementioned producer Töngi also serving as cultural and community liaison.

Since this article was first published in January 2023, more producers have joined the production, including: Jo Koy, Lea Salonga, Jose Antonio Vargas, Apl de Ap and H.E.R, also known as Gabrielle Sarmiento Wilson. 

One of the reasons it took so long for the musical to move from off-Broadway to Broadway is the production logistics. 

The announcement for this production says that “will transform the venue’s traditional proscenium floor space into a dance club environment, where audiences will stand and move with the actors. A wide variety of standing and seating options will be available throughout the theater’s reconstructed space, with more details to be announced soon.”

It was the difficulty in finding and funding a venue with those production requirements  is why the musical didn't find its way to California, where a majority of Filipino Americans live and was the center for the anti-Marcos movement in the US and would have almost guaranteed a sold-out audience.

In 201i6, American Conservatory Theater artistic director Carey Perloff said they've been working for two years to bring the piece to San Francisco but "Ultimately the logistics and cost proved insurmountable," he said in a press release.

The actors interact with the audience, who become part of the performance and by the end come
to realization  how easy to fall prey to manipulation.

Since the announcement of the Broadway premiere, some Filipinos have voiced concern than the production would glamorize Imelda, also known as the Iron Butterfly." Critics worry that the regime of the brutal Marcos dictatorship, one that   stole billlions of dollars from the Filipino people, imprisoned, tortured and killed over 30,000 who would question the legitimacy of the dictatorship.

One thing the musical is not: It is not a celebration of the Marcos dictatorship. As the audience becomes part of the performance. Like the people of the Philippines, they are seduced by the glamor of Imelda and her husband, only to become the victims of oppression and greed. The audience  transforms from celebrating disco-dancers to Marcos worshippers to angry People Power protestors. 

Since Here Lies Love was first presented in 2013, the Marcos son, Bong Bong has become the Philippines President. The reviewer of the Seattle production makes the musical relevant to our present times in the Philippines and the US: "It also reminds us, right up to the meaningful folk ballad near the end, how dangerous political celebrity, fake populism and ostentatious greed can be for a nation, and how captivating."

It is true that Filipinos need to tell their own stories, but  without David Byrne and Fatboy Slim attracting the financial support, it is doubtful that the production would ever be staged. I seriously doubt that someone with the reputation of Vargas would allow the show to trivialize a dark chapter of Philippine history. 

What Here Lies Love does opens the door for producers and audiences to seek out more information about a period in Philippine history that has been sanitized or recast as a time of benevolence and peace.The rewriting of Philippine history was so effective that Marcos' son, Bongbong, was elected President last year.  

For non-Filipinos, the show raises awareness of the US foreign policty that that propped up authoritarian governments, not only in the Philippines but around the world. The might even make them see the consequences of an unquestioning cult-like worship of so-called populist leaders, a worldwide trend best exemplified by Donald Trump's anti-democracy administration.

Art in its various mediums can be contemplative, cause one to question the status quo, spark the imagination, release the restraints of society, transcend boundaries or record historical events. It can also do all of that and more, no matter who creates it.

Nothing is stopping a Filipino composer from creating a more "authentic" musical about the Marcoses. I hope it gets rave reviews.

Yes, a Filipino song writer could have composed the songs or written the production, but the fact is, Here Lies Love is largely a creation of Byrne and Slim. As an artistic expression, it should be judged, experienced and enjoyed -- or not enjoyed -- on its own terms.

“Exciting lessons are often learned through uniquely surprising works of art," said Filipino American producer Ramos, who first became involved in working on the project in 2006. "And nothing is more surprising than the way Here Lies Love vibrantly and creatively sheds light on a crucial part of Philippine history.”

EDITOR'S NOTE: For additional commentary, news and views from an AANHPI perspective, follow me at Threads.net/eduardodiok, @DioknoEd on Twitter or at the  blog Views From the Edge.

Dear White American Theater: Open letter says racism mutes POC plays, musicals

'Soft Power' by David Henry Hwang is one of the few Broadway productions with a largely Asian cast.

ASAM NEWS

In the aftermath of the George Floyd killing, America takes a good hard look at itself in addressing systemic racism in institutions, the glare of the spotlight has turned to the theater industry.

Hundreds of theater industry workers published an open letter Monday condemning racism in the theater industry. Among the signers are dozens of AAPI artists including Sandra Oh (Killing Eve), Conrad Ricamora (How to Get Away With Murder, Soft Power) and playwright David Henry Hwang (Soft Power).

The letter comes as protests condemning the killing and mistreatment of Black people continue around the world heightening racial inequities throughout US society, including Broadway.

The open letter was addressed to “White American Theater,” according to TIME Magazine. It called out the theater industry for systemic racism and demanded that changes be made.

“We have watched you exploit us, shame us, diminish us, and exclude us. We see you. We have always seen you,” the letter reads. “And now you will see us.

The letter slams the theater for its acts of racism, patriarchy and white privilege. It accuses theater executives of whitewashing BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) stories to satisfy white audiences. It also discusses the theater’s history of tokenism, saying that the theater would promote BIPOC stories and work only when it was convenient for them.

“We have watched you amplify our voices when we are heralded by the press, but refuse to defend our aesthetic when we are not, allowing our livelihoods to be destroyed by a monolithic and racist culture,” the letter reads.

According to an annual study from the Asian American Performers Action Coalition (AAPAC) found that in the 2016-17 theatrical season, 86.8 percent of shows were written by white playwrights. Around 66.8 percent of roles were held by White performers.

The AAPAC study found that 7.3 percent of roles were held by Asian American performers and 1.5 percent of shows were written by Asian American playwrights.

The letter also specifically called out anti-blackness in theater.

“We have watched you promote anti-Blackness again and again. We see you,” the letter reads.

There is also a website called “We See You White American Theater” which details how the letter began as a small private discussion and evolved into a much larger one. The website has a link to a petition that demands change for BIPOC theatremakers.

“This ends TODAY,” the letter concludes.

Views From the Edge contributed to this report.

Sunday Read: David Hwang's new play 'Soft Power' tells story from an Asian perspective

 Craig Schwartz Photography

Conrad Ricamora and Alyse Alan Louis in David Henry Hwang and Jeanine Tosori's 'Soft Power.'

By Jim Gladstone

Reprinted with Permission from the Bay Area Reporter 
Originally published June 7, 2018

"When I first went in to audition for How To Get Away with Murder, it wasn't a part written for an Asian actor," says Conrad Ricamora, the gay actor who plays Oliver Hampton, a gay HIV+ lawyer on the hit CBS series. Ricamora will be in San Francisco through July 8 as part of the cast of the new musical Soft Power at the Curran Theatre.

"The guy who auditioned right before me was white, and the guy after me was black. To me, casting like that is an important breakthrough in American pop culture," says the 39-year-old. "The character's story has nothing to do with his Asian-ness. It's felt good to be a part of this kind of representation. When I was a kid, I saw all of these demeaning stereotypes, like Long Duk Dong in 16 Candles."

Along with the progress indicated by an increase in colorblind casting, Ricamora is also pleased to be part of a major production like Soft Power, by playwright David Henry Hwang and fellow Tony winner, composer Jean Tesori, that is addressing Asian and Asian American perspectives in a far more nuanced manner than past works of musical theater.

"This is very different than being in 'Miss Saigon' or 'The King and I,'" both of which Ricamora has done. "Soft Power is written from the perspective of an Asian person. When you watch The King & I, you're looking at the Asian characters through the eyes of white people. They represent 'the other' to the white characters. Soft Power actually gets the audience to look through Asian eyes and see the otherness of the white world of the U.S."

Craig Schwartz Photography

Francis Jue is featured in 'Soft Power.'

Among the show's almost indescribable interwoven plotlines, set in the present and 100 years in the future, is the story of China becoming the world's dominant power in the wake of the 2016 election. An actress playing Hilary Clinton sings and dances. The majority of the cast is Asian American, but many of the characters they play are citizens of China. Ricamora recognizes some deeply embedded ironies in that fact.

"I was called 'chink' all the time growing up," says Ricamora, whose father, an adoptee, is assumed to be of Filipino descent. His mother has Irish and German bloodlines. "The cast of this play includes actors with Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Korean and Hawaiian backgrounds," he says. "White America tends to lump all Asians together.

"In Soft Power, I play a Chinese character," Ricamora explains. "But the play doesn't try to explore the Chinese psyche; it focuses on what it's like to encounter the racism and stereotypes that are traditionally placed on all Asians and Asian Americans."

Ricamora was raised by his father, who worked for the U.S. Air Force, after being abandoned by his mother when he was seven months old. Growing up in the macho environment of military bases, he never imagined he would be an actor.

"If you were artistic, you were ridiculed and shamed," Ricamora recalls. He channeled his restless energy playing competitive tennis. "I grew up idolizing tennis players. Being an athlete was a way to avoid having my ass kicked all the time."

It was not until his junior year of college, where he was a psychology major, that Ricamora took an elective theater class and had an epiphany.

"We had to do monologues, and I chose a piece from Lanford Wilson's 'Lemon Sky.' The character is talking about being estranged from his biological father, and I connected with that, thinking about first meeting my mother when I was 8 years old.

"I stood on that stage with a sense of authority and just ripped into it. There was this huge electricity. The whole room went dead silent. And I was like 'Holy shit! This is for me.'"

It was also not until his junior year that Ricamora began to open up to his own sexuality.

"Allowing myself to do theater and to come out were related," he says. "I was paying my own tuition. I wasn't dependent on my family. And I thought, if I'm paying for myself I really should be myself. Ultimately, I don't really think it's possible to make genuine connections with other people unless we're true to ourselves."

Today, while Ricamora sees progress being made in portrayals of gay men and Asian Americans in theater and film, he is painfully aware that the two are rarely seen in a single character.

"The experience of gay Asian men just hasn't been shown in mainstream media," he says. "It's incredibly important to me. There were years of online dating where I'd get messages and blocks from white guys who wanted to totally rule me out of their world just because I was Asian."

Ricamora and two friends from the theater world are currently working to assure that the gay Asian American experience doesn't remain hidden. They're four episodes into the writing of a serial called "No Rice."

Soft Power plays the Curran Theatre in San Francisco June 20-July 8. sfcurran.com.

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TGIF FEATURE: Conrad Ricamora joins Hamilton challenge

YOUTUBE

Conrad Ricamora

CONRAD RICAMORA, one of the series regulars on television's How To Get Away With Murder, joined the online challenge launched by Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of Hamilton.

The Filipino American actor challenged Lea Salonga and Ashley Park to join the challenge to sing their favorite numbers from the musical Hamilton.

RELATED: Filipino American wins Human Rights Campaign award

Ricamora, a veteran of Broadway having appeared in Tony-award winning Here Lies Love and The King and I, posted:

Taking a timeout from my social media break to accept your challenge .@mattmcgorry!!! I just donated to support the 'Immigrants: We Get the Job Done Coalition' - an amazing group of nonprofits working to better the lives of immigrants. Your donation of $10 at prizeo.com/Hamilton will give you a chance to win 2 tickets to the LA Opening of Hamilton with flight and hotel! I challenge @ashleyparklady @iammarkbautista and @msleasalonga and anyone who can afford it, to make a donation and sing their favorite song from Hamilton! Don't forget to hashtag #Ham4All ;)

The donations coming from the challenge benefit the Immigrants: We Get The Job Done Coalition, a group of agencies providing legal assistance to immigrants. 

Awards season means the return of the Anna Awards

Best Picture goes to Rogue One: A Star Wars Story by casting three Asian actors in prominent roles. Above, the Rogue One crew didn't include a single white male (See below).

IT'S AWARDS SEASON for the entertainment industry and once again, Asian/Americans and Pacific Islanders have mostly been overlooked for the best known awards for the Oscars, Emmy's and Tony's. 

Hence, the Anna Awards returns for its third installment. The awards below are named after Anna May Wong, a pioneer Asian/American actress who - even back then in the start of the motion picture industry - was conscious of the stereotypes Hollywood was perpetuating with its portrayal of Asian men and women and turned down roles that would reinforce those stereotypes.

This is the third year of the awards given to the performances on stage, the silver screen and on television. The categories are whimsical ones that I just made up which I get to do since I'm judge, jury and the majority vote in determining who is deserving based on their performance in 2016.

Drumroll, please ...

From left: Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen and Riz Ahmed.

Best Asian/American motion picture
For this category, we had to stretch a bit because so few movies prominently feature AAPI characters. Even though they were not in the lead, three Asian/American actors formed the core rebel team in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen and Riz Ahmed had key roles in the sci-fi storyline started by George Lucas. Outside of the fact they formed the majority of the rebel team -- they were were gay, bad ass and non-stereotypical. Although they were not the lead actors, they managed to lend unusual depth and conflict to their characters that we rarely see in these space swashbucklers. Rounding out the team of five was the lead character Jyn Ersois (British actress Felicity Jones) and Cassian Andor (Latino actor Diego Luna). A lesson to Hollywood: The fact there wasn't a white male among them did not hurt the box-office appeal as audiences flocked to the theaters to watch the latest installment of the Star Wars franchise.


Best Director

Taika Waititi on the set of The Hunt for the Wilderpeople.

Taika Waititi is a Maori whose offbeat sense of humor is well-known in his native New Zealand. He used that sense of humor with an overlay of poignancy to make a small film about human beings and relationships, The Hunt for the Wilderpeople. It is a movie that wasn't widely seen but it should be seen by any minority director who doesn't want to slip into the basketfull of ethnic stereotypes. His next film moves him from the small human drama category into the superhero realm of big budgets and big action. He'll direct Aquaman, starring fellow Polynesian actor Jason Mamoa (Game of Thrones), who is half-Hawaiian.

Best Actor
Dev Patel in the motion picture Lion. Dev was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in the Golden Globes, which he didn't win because of the super-strong competition and he faces the same hurdles for Best Supporting Actor in the Academy Awards. I wondered about those nominations because anyone seeing the movie can clearly see that Patel was the main actor and if we were to get strict with the rules, he should have been entered in the Best Actor category. The studio, seeing the competition in that category, thought he stood a better chance (albeit, a slim one) in the supporting actor category. 

Best Actress
Lucy Liu in the TV series Elementary. She plays a smart, sassy and deep Dr. Watson to the erratic Sherlock Holmes played by Johnny Lee Hammer. Liu could have just been just another sidekick, but her Watson holds her own against Holmes and the long-running show gives Liu and the show's writers the time to portray a character with a depth rarely given to any character played by an Asian. 

Best Breakout Performance
2016 was quite a year for Riz Ahmed with roles on TV and movies it seemed that the British actor was everywhere. But it was his role in The Night Of, where he starts out as a frightened victimized student who is transformed into a tough, prison-hardened tattooed character. For his performance, he was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild award and may still get an Emmy nod for making us believe in his character as a student and as an ex-con.

Bad-ass Woman of the Year
With the presidential campaigns in 2016, along with the surge of #OscarsSoWhite in the entertainment field, actress Constance Wu stepped up and said all the things we were thinking, even, some say, it might hurt her growing career beyond her Fresh Off the Boat success. She decried the practice of white-washing that saw non-Asian actress cast in obviously Asian roles such as Scarlett Johansson in the upcoming Ghost in a Shell motion picture and Tilda Swinton in the Dr. Strange film. She was in the thick of Hillary Clinton's failed campaign for President and joining the Women's March in Washington, D.C. She is currently in negotiations for the lead role in the all-Asian cast for Crazy Rich Asians directed by John Chu.



Bad-ass Man of the Year
You would have to come up with something really spectacular to give this to anybody but Daniel Wu for his portrayal of martial artist Sunny in Into the Badlands. The Berkeley-born actor made his fame in Asia and came back to this actioned that takes place in a future dystopian America where guns don't work so inhabitants have to resort to various forms of martial arts, swords and fisticuffs.


Best Fight Scene of the Year

It stands to reason that the best fight sequence involves one of our Bad-ass winners. Since Constance Wu won on the basis of her efforts off-camera, that means Daniel Wu (no relation to Constance) was involved. The opening sequence in the premiere of Into the Badlands has one of the best choreographed fights we've since in a long time. It's not quite the breathtaking fight between Michele Yeo's and Zhang Ziyi's characters in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; or the  sword fight in Akira Kurosawa's Sanjuro when Toshiro Mifune's samurai character, Sanjuro, found himself surrounded by about a dozen other swordsmen; but, it's a really, really good fight for TV. Fight choreographer used a lot of the fantastic Kung Fu acrobatics that made him so much in demand in China and Hong Kong flicks.

Promising newcomer(s)
For the first time, we have a tie in this category with three new actors who bear watching. Brandon Perea who plays the smart student in Netflix's surprise sci-fi hit "The OA,"  is half-Puerto Rican and half-Filipino, but all American. His character is named French, who is smart, head on right, the kind of guy who could be voted Mr. Popularity on campus, everybody likes him. Despite all that could lead to being the stereotypical social snob, it turns out he's a nice, sensitive guy. He's a leader-type that doesn't have to show his abs. This unusual show kind of sneaked up on everybody and Bang!, everybody got hooked. It just got renewed for a second season.

Auli’i Cravalho, for her voice-over portrayal of Moana in the animated musical feature of the same name. We might never have seen her in person in the movie, but despite that, she gave a life and energy to the lead character who, in fact, did look a little like the Hawaiian-born actress. Look for her to sing the Oscar-nominated title song "How Far I'll Go," written by Hamilton's Lin Manuel Miranda, during the Academy Awards.

Hayden Szeto who played the unrequited love interest in the movie, Edge of 17, opposite Filipina/American Hailee Steinfeld. The role could just have been of any race but Szeto won over the director and producer. He avoided the nerdy stereotype and played his character as an all-American guy who has a crush on Hailee. Kudos to him and to the director to not succumbing to the way-too-easy portrayal of the stereotype.

Best Stage Performance
This was a tough one. There were some very good performances by a number of artists on stage this year but if I had to narrow it to just one, ... I can't ... this will have to be another tie for the duet of Darren Criss and Lena Hall for their roles in Hedwig and the Angry Inch musical traveling show. Both of the Asian/American performers received rave reviews for the lead roles in that musical about a transexual glam rocker. While Criss played the lead role most of the time, Hall had the next most important male role of Itzak, and at times, took over Criss' role during his days off. Honorable Mentions go to Daniel Dae Kim in the King and I, Ali Ewoldt in Phantom of the Opera and Philiippa Soo in Hamilton.

Best Portrayal of an Asian by a non-Asian

From left: Scarlett Johansson, Tilda Swinton and Matt Damon don't deserve this award.

Hmmm. Lots of nominations here including Scarlett Johansson as Major in Ghost In A Shell, Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One in Dr. Strange, one can even make an argument that Matt Damon's role in The Great Wall should have been an Asian savior. Problem is, none of them deserve the "best" anything so we're leaving this category empty.

Is She, or Isn't She?
This award goes to the actor who no one would have guessed was AAPI. This year's award goes to Sharon Leal, who at first glance one would perceive to be African/American, but, it turns out, she is half Filipino. She loves her Filipino food, adobo and dinaguan, cooked by her mother. Unfortunately, her role on the CW's Supergirl is that of a Martian (Filipinos from Mars?) so she won't be able to draw on her ethnic heritage for her character.


TV show missing an Asian cast member

Asians are too rare in a setting that should have more Asian staff  since Sandra Oh, 2nd from left, exited the show.

ABC's long-running Grey's Anatomy hasn't been the same since Sandra Oh's Dr. Christina Yang left the cast. Not only did a favorite character leave a void, any urban hospital in America always has a strong presence of Asian staff as med-techs, nurses and doctors. The show is set in Seattle with a large AAPI population but you wouldn't know that watching the show. Produced by Shonda Rhimes, who has been outspoken about diversity in casting, should have an Asian character in a recurring role beyond the masked surgical nurse in the operating room.

Best Musical Performance in the Super Bowl

Well, since there is only one Super Bowl per year, it's pretty obvious the award for 2016 goes, hands down, to Bruno Mars for his performance when he and his dancers faced off with Beyonce and her Formation army of women. Mars more than held his own as the trio belted out Mars' hit "Uptown Funk." The dance-off sequence between Mars' and Beyonce's dancers was a hair-raising thriller, perhaps equalling the gym sequence between the Jets and Sharks in West Side Story. Here's a replay incase you missed it the first time.

Best Stereotype Buster
Conrad Ricamora as Oliver Hampton in How To Get Away With Murder. Well, he is a computer expert, but that's not the stereotype we're talking about. Ricamora recently won the Visibility Award for his portrayal of a gay character. Oliver is an interesting and multi-dimensional LGBTQ person of color -- a great role for the actor but also great visibility for the Asian/American and LGBTQ communities. “I will say that it’s a little ironic to be getting the Visibility Award because so much of growing up as a kid was spent trying to be invisible,” said Ricamora. “It was rough, not only being gay, but having the colored skin that I have. I was terrified that someone would see me as gay and I was also terrified that I would see myself for what I naturally was.”

Best Farewell Performance
We would be remiss if we didn't mention Steven Yeun's portrayal of Glenn Rhee as played in TV's The Walking Dead. Glenn's brutal demise at the hands of Negan and his baseball bat Lucille, was one of the most shocking and dreadful end to one of television's best Asian/American characters. Through seven seasons, Yeun was able to transform Glenn from the pizza-delivery guy to a heroic zombie killer without ever resorting to anything that hinted at the Asian male stereotype. The character of Glenn was perhaps the best nuanced, AAPI characters television has ever presented.

RELATED:

• The first awards was called the Eddies
• The 2nd awards became the Anna's because the Eddies Awards were already taken

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