Using just charcoal and paper, I created a triptych of three portraits of actresses of Asian descent who are currently starring in leading roles on Broadway to open up a discussion about the representation and lack of roles for Asian women in theatre. Asian women are aming the most underrepresented groups in theatre. As someone who is a person of color, specifically of Asian descent, and also heavily involved in theatre, I feel very strongly about the importance of diversity and representation in the media. In the last sixty-eight years, there have been only five Asians to win Tony Awards, three being actors, and out of these, two (Salonga and Miles, featured below) have been women.

 

Lea Salonga (b. 1971) is a Filipina singer and actress. She made her Broadway debut in 1991, originating the role of Kim in Miss Saigon, for which she became the first Asian woman to win a Tony Award. She has also starred as both Éponine and Fantine in Les Misérables and Mei-Li in a revival of Flower Drum Song. She is currently originating the role of Kei Kimura in the new musical Allegiance, about a family being forced into a Japanese Internment Camp during World War II.

 

Ruthie Ann Miles (b. 1983) is a Korean-American actress and singer. She has previously starred in Off-Broadway productions of Avenue Q and the original cast of Here Lies Love, in which she portrayed the life of former Filipina First Lady Imelda Marcos. She is currently making her Broadway debut in the newest revival of The King and I as Lady Thiang, the eldest wife of the King of Siam, for which she, after twenty-four years, became the second actress of Asian descent to win a Tony Award.

 

Phillipa Soo (b. 1990) is a Chinese-American actress. She starred in the original Off-Broadway production of Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812. She made her Broadway debut in 2015 as Eliza Schuyler Hamilton, wife of Alexander Hamilton, in the new hit musical Hamilton, which tells the story of the Founding Fathers using primarily actors of color and modern hip-hop and R&B-inspired music to tell the story of America then through the eyes of American now.