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The current Broadway revival of1776is a ticking time bomb.
Then, 20 minutes before the show ends, the bomb explodes with Rutledges Molasses to Rum.
To me, the play is a relic, she says.
I admire Jeffrey and Diane for taking this on as directors.
Would you describe1776s casting as color-blind?My role came to me very uniquely.
Diane saw me inDragon Lady, loved me, said, Im doing this revival.
What do you think?
I said I wanted to be Edward Rutledge and she said, Cool.
So I guess my role was color-blind.
The casting was a color-conscious puzzle.
They said, We want to have a diverse cast.
I also think that they cast the best people for the roles.
What do you think is the effect of that casting?The casting is providing resources.
In terms of visibility, it is showing our audiences all of these faces that wouldnt typically be seen.
Those are the three things I think its doing successfully.
After that it gets a little complicated … a lot complicated, I should say.
What do you mean?1776was written in the 1960s by two dudes.
It won the Best Musical Tony overHair.
Its like,Look at these good ole boys.
They were just guys doing thisstuff.
To me, the play is a relic.
It is a dusty, old thing.
Your song Molasses to Rum doesnt feel like a relic.
Its critiquing Northern complicity, something we still dont hear a lot.
It did throw me off given that your production seems to be critiquing American exceptionalism.
The protests that were happening on Capitol Hill in January.
Those people were literally chanting 1776.
How does it feel to be in the back seat of decision making?Its horrible.
Im privileged that Diane Paulus came to me through theDragon Cycle.
She and Jeffrey had a lot of respect for me as a collaborator, not just as an actor.
But its hard because Im not the director.
If I dont agree with something, I have to say,Oh, not today.
What I want to do with my time is make new works with collaborators.
So is1776a career move?Yes.
The first choice would be to move here by introducing my original work.
Im living the second-best choice, which is coming into New York already cast in a Broadway musical.
Its a career move for sure.
Are you artistically fulfilled being in1776?No, Im not.
The salary is good.
My favorite thing in the whole process is my cast.
So the social aspect and the salary aspect are fulfilling.
The creative aspect, not so much.
I feel like Im going to work.
I approached this character from my perspective first, not his.
I came to it as Sara Porkalob.
I truly believe that white supremacy hurts all of us, including white people.
I am portraying the logic and the rhetoric of neoconservatives.
It makes me think about how assimilation into whiteness is violence too.
America still sees race as a binary issue.
Theres a lot of anti-Black racism within Asian communities.
So when I was approaching Rutledge, I couldnt remove my race from myself onstage.
My grandmother hates Japanese people.
I felt myself separate from the ones that assimilated more into whiteness.
Im thinking about those things as Im playing him.
Early in1776, Ben Franklin says, as a positive, that the American identity is violent.
How did you think about pacing Rutledges arc?Thats how racial violence manifests.
Hes smart, hes observant, hes watchful.
Im probably playing him smarter than he actually was I know I am.
In that song, the lyrics are logical.
It moves like a ritual through all of us.
Then, at the end, we all have to be called back to the Congress.
I love busting through the fourth wall.
Im like,You came here because you wanted to be here.
You came here, you consented to being in this space.
Im like,Its okay.
Its the most humanizing text in this play, and were standing there looking at the audience.
No, it doesnt.
It drives me crazy.
I think,Youve already achieved that goal, directors, by casting us in this show.
People are going to interpret the text, first and foremost.
I have to gird my loins for that moment.
Gender identity, sexual identity those we werent talking about.
Were you directed to play men?Yes, but in a very specific way.
We were directed in the beginning of our Boston run to playatbeing men.
It was in the posturing and the gestural work that we were doing in the choreography.
According to our choreographer and directors, it had a masculine energy.
I think honestly, in that Boston run, that approach did a huge disservice to us as actors.
A lot of people were caught up in wondering,Am I a man?
I had to change some things on my end to make it better for me.
I do a lot of things with my nails, Im always smiling onstage.
In reality, what does being a man even mean?
But there werent those discussions in rehearsal, unfortunately.
What did ART learn or not learn from past experiences?They learned that they messed up.
A blind spot was revealed to them.
But often that first step of education ends when the workshop is done, which I think is unfortunate.
What should be done?When something like that happens, there has to be accountability first and foremost.
They need to practice it as a cultural principle.
Then theres investigation and restructuring.
Theyre afraid to make changes.
The third step is institutional and community collaboration.
But those institutions wouldnt be alive without the community.
The fear of getting something wrong and not having a clear-cut five-year plan is why people wait.
Do you feel conflicted when youre performing your own work at ART?Yes and no.
The part of me that doesnt feel the conflict exists for two reasons.
The first is because the resources are great.
The second is because the people internal to ART really love my work and I really love them.
They were fucking cool.
But at the end of the day, I cant control what people think about me.
Im ready to learn and ready to be accountable.
Im not idealistic about this relationship.
Thats what it is?Yeah.
Ive made peace with not being the person in a position of power.
Ive made peace with the fact that our play cant do everything that we wanted it to.
I saw that and I was like,That makes a lot of sense.
Then we had a conversation at the beginning of the Broadway run to articulate the harm that was done.
What happens if you dont give consent?Then the song would have changed.
I was ready for that.
But there are going to be people who do.
Also, I guess more Instagram followers and more community here in New York.
I dont want just a career.
I could make a career just being in commercial Broadway musicals.
I guess the money would be fine.
The money would be better!It would be better!
But I dont want that to be my life.
If Im compromising, Id better be getting paid a lot more money, honey.
Theyre gonna get 75 percent, but that 75 percent will be great.
I grew up in a family that has supported me as an artist.
I just have a lot of respect and love and care in my family.
Giving 100 percent of myself to everything all the time is a recipe for disaster.
How am I going to have time for myself, for my partner, or for my family?
I want to choose when I do that.
What percentage are you giving1776?Im giving 75 percent.
When I do Molasses to Rum, Im giving 90 percent.
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