After decades of inching toward center stage, Asian-American theater actors are facing something that they’ve rarely enjoyed in New York: demand.
几十年来，亚裔美国戏剧演员在缓慢地向舞台中央靠近，如今他们得到了过去在纽约极少能享受的东西：需求。
An unusual bonanza of jobs is in the offing from new shows as well as two anticipated Broadway revivals, “The King and I” and “Miss Saigon.” More plays and musicals are also telling stories from Asian viewpoints, a long-held goal of Asian-American artists. And increasingly, Asians are landing roles that traditionally go to non-Asian actors.
他们罕见地得到了大量工作机会，包括一些新剧以及两部备受期待的百老汇复排剧——《国王与我》(The King and I)和《西贡小姐》(Miss Saigon)。现在越来越多的戏剧和音乐剧也从亚洲的角度讲述故事，这是亚裔美国艺术家们一直以来的梦想。越来越多的亚裔得到了过去由非亚裔演员饰演的角色。
The biggest game-changer is “Here Lies Love,” one of those rare musicals that become critically acclaimed commercial hits Off Broadway and have an open-ended run. Even more uncommon, it’s all about an Asian character. The subject is Imelda Marcos, the former first lady of the Philippines. With a cast of 17, the show is the first in years to offer the prospect of steady employment to Asian-American actors. Productions of “Here Lies Love” are also in the works for San Francisco and London this fall, with Los Angeles, Seattle, Denver and Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, under consideration.
对局势影响最大的是《爱在这里》(Here Lies Love)，它是少数几部叫好又叫座的外百老汇音乐剧，而且它的演出计划尚无结束时间。更不同寻常的是，它完全是一部关于亚洲人物的戏剧。女主人公是菲律宾的前第一夫人伊梅尔达·马科斯(Imelda Marcos)。该剧有17位演员，是多年来第一部可以保证亚裔美国演员有稳定工作的音乐剧。《爱在这里》今年秋天在旧金山和伦敦的演出正在筹备中。同时有望在洛杉矶、西雅图、丹佛以及澳大利亚的悉尼和墨尔本上演。
“Asians are used to being the third actress to the right of the star,” said Ruthie Ann Miles, a Korean-American who spent 10 months in a blond wig on the road in “Annie” before landing the role of Mrs. Marcos. “The wig,” she added, “was supposed to make me fit in with my two white sisters. Those were the things a lot of us did to get work.”
“亚裔过去是明星右边的第三位女演员，”韩裔美国女演员露西·安·迈尔斯(Ruthie Ann Miles)说。在得到马科斯这个角色之前，她在《安妮》(Annie)巡演期间戴了十个月金色假发。她补充说，“那个假发是为了让我和两个白人姐妹外形一致。我们很多人为了得到工作都这样做过。”
Actors say they are also making steady gains in smaller theaters, landing more roles that they describe as “nontraditional.” In recent months a Japanese-born actor played Romeo opposite a white Juliet at the Classic Stage Company and a Filipino-American actor was Bill Sikes in “Oliver!” More Asian-Americans have also been creating characters named Heather and Claire who were not written specifically as Asian.
演员们说他们在较小规模的剧院也不断取得了进步，得到了更多他们描述为“非传统”的角色。最近几个月，一位日本出生的演员在经典舞台公司(Classic Stage Company)的戏剧中饰演罗密欧，饰演朱丽叶的是个白人女演员；一个菲律宾裔美国男演员在《奥利弗！》(Oliver!)中饰演比尔·塞克斯(Bill Sikes)。更多亚裔美国演员在饰演名叫希瑟(Heather)或克莱尔(Claire)这样的人物，剧本中没有明确说明这些人物是亚洲人。
“Casting directors are starting to take Asian diversity seriously, after focusing mostly on black and Hispanic actors,” said Pun Bandhu, an actor who was cast as several minor characters in the 2012 Broadway revival of “Wit.”
“在演员多样化方面，选角导演们在主要关注黑人和拉美裔演员后开始认真考虑亚裔演员了，”演员潘之友(Pun Bandhu)说。他在2013年的百老汇复排剧《智慧》(Wit)中出演了几个小角色。
For the 2014-15 season, at least three new plays written by Asian-Americans will open Off Broadway — including one, “Straight White Men,” in which the female playwright, Young Jean Lee, is offering her take on white characters. Such new works are rarer on Broadway; while there have been African-American productions of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” and “A Streetcar Named Desire,” there has yet to be an Asian-American Big Daddy or Stanley Kowalski.
对2014-15演出季来说，至少有三部亚裔美国人写的新剧本将在外百老汇上演，包括女剧作家李永珍（Young Jean Lee，音译）的《正直的白人》(Straight White Men)，她在该剧中表达了自己对白人的看法。这样的新剧在百老汇更少见：虽然那里有非裔美国人演的《热铁皮屋顶上的猫》(Cat on a Hot Tin Roof)和《欲望号街车》(A Streetcar Named Desire)，但是还没有亚裔美国人演的《冒牌爸爸》(Big Daddy)或《斯坦利·科瓦尔斯基》(Stanley Kowalski)。
Yet casting does begin next week for “The King and I,” which will start performances in March at Lincoln Center Theater and feature about 30 Asian characters. “Miss Saigon,” which reopened in London last month with Asian-American actors in lead roles, is expected to return to Broadway during the 2015-16 season; the show has more than a dozen Asian characters and originally ran 10 years on Broadway.
不过，《国王与我》下周将开始选角，明年3月将在林肯中心剧院上演，其中有大约30个亚洲人物。《西贡小姐》上个月在伦敦重演，由亚裔美国演员饰演主要角色，它有望在2015-16演出季返回百老汇。这部戏剧有十多个亚洲人物，最初在百老汇演了十年。
But compared to “The King and I” and “Miss Saigon,” which have been criticized for recycling some Asian stereotypes, the Filipino-centric story of “Here Lies Love” represents both an artistic breakthrough and an emotional high point.
但是，《国王与我》(The King and I)和《西贡小姐》被批评为重复对亚洲的刻板印象。而《爱在这里》的故事则是以菲律宾人为中心，代表了一种艺术突破和情感上的高点。
“For years I’ve mentored Asian actors to prepare themselves for the lack of Asian parts out there,” said Jose Llana, a Filipino-American actor who plays Ferdinand Marcos in “Here Lies Love.” “Until now my best strategy was auditioning for Hispanic roles as well, because I can look the part,” he added, noting that he played El Gato in the Broadway musical “Wonderland.”
“多年来，我一直让亚裔演员做好亚洲人物角色不多的心理准备，”菲律宾裔美国演员约瑟·利亚纳(Jose Llana)说。他在《爱在这里》中饰演费迪南德·马科斯(Ferdinand Marcos)。“之前我的最佳策略是参加拉美裔角色的试演，因为我的外貌跟他们相像，”他补充说。他提到自己曾在百老汇音乐剧《爱丽丝漫游仙境》(Wonderland)中扮演笑面柴郡猫(El Gato)。
Still, he has slowly started winning roles that traditionally went to white actors. He was cast as Bill Sikes in “Oliver!” last fall at Paper Mill Playhouse — a decision that surprised him so much that he asked executives if the audience would accept him in the role. (“No one batted an eye,” he recalled.) It was a far cry from his experience in the lead role of Melchior in a Sundance Institute workshop of the musical “Spring Awakening” in 2000. By the time the show reached Off Broadway and then Broadway in 2006, the role had gone to Jonathan Groff, who is white.
不过，他慢慢开始获得一些以前通常由白人演员饰演的角色。去年秋季他被选中，在造纸厂剧院(Paper Mill Playhouse)的《奥利弗！》中扮演比尔·塞克斯。这个决定让他感到十分意外，他甚至向主管们询问观众能否接受他饰演这个角色（“没有一个人表示惊讶，”他回忆说）。这跟2000年他在圣丹斯学院讲习班饰演音乐剧《春之觉醒》(Spring Awakening)主角梅尔基奥(Melchior)时的经历大相径庭。该剧2006年先后在外百老汇和百老汇上演时，这个角色改由白人演员乔纳森·格罗夫(Jonathan Groff)饰演。
Trip Cullman, a director who mostly works Off Broadway, has cast several Asian-American actors, including Sue Jean Kim and Maureen Sebastian, in roles that were not explicitly Asian.
导演特里普·卡尔曼(Trip Cullman)大部分时间在外百老汇工作，他选了几位亚裔美国演员——包括金素珍（Sue Jean Kim，音译）和莫林·塞巴斯蒂安(Maureen Sebastian)——饰演一些没有明确说明是亚洲人的角色。
“I like it when the casting of a play reflects my experience of the world around me,” said Mr. Cullman, who is white. “Expanding my collaborators’ notions of who could be ‘right for a role’ seems to me to be a moral and political duty.”
“我喜欢让一部戏剧的选角反映我对周围世界的体验，”卡尔曼说。他是白人。“在我看来，让我的合作者们在谁能‘胜任这个角色’的理念方面放开思路是一种道德和政治责任。”
The numbers of Asian-Americans in New York theater roles have been stubbornly low for years. Between the 2006-07 and 2012-13 theater seasons, Asian-Americans filled about 3 percent of the roles on Broadway and at major Off Broadway theaters, according to a new study by Asian American Performers Action Coalition, an advocacy group. Hispanics had roughly the same numbers of roles, while black actors had 14 percent and white actors had 79 percent.
多年来，亚裔美国演员在纽约剧场担任角色的比例一直很低。亚裔美国演员行动联合会（Asian American Performers Action Coalition，它是一个倡议组织）最新的一次研究表明，在2006-2007和2012-13演出季，亚裔美国人在百老汇和主要的外百老汇剧院出演角色的比例约为3%。拉美裔的比例跟亚裔差不多，黑人占14%，白人占79%。
On Broadway, where producers tend to cast Hollywood names to help sell tickets, Asian-Americans actors are still more likely to be the wise adult or the best friend. In “Matilda,” Celia Mei Rubin is in the ensemble and understudies the role of Mrs. Phelps, the kindly librarian who has been played so far by black actresses. In another musical, “Mamma Mia!,” Ashley Park is in the chorus and understudies the character of a best friend, usually played by white actress.
在百老汇，制作人们喜欢选用好莱坞名演员来帮助提高票房，亚裔美国演员仍然主要是扮演智慧的大人或最好的朋友。西莉亚·梅·鲁宾(Celia Mei Rubin)在《玛蒂尔达》(Matilda)的演员名单中，候补饰演亲切的图书管理员费尔普斯夫人(Mrs. Phelps)，此前该角色都是黑人女演员扮演的。在另一部音乐剧《妈妈咪呀！》(Mamma Mia!)中，阿什莉·帕克(Ashley Park)是合唱队的一员，同时候补饰演一个最好的朋友，这个角色通常是白人女演员饰演的。
Some shows with Asian-related story lines and characters, like recent revivals of “Flower Drum Song” and “Pacific Overtures” and David Henry Hwang’s play “Chinglish,” have struggled to find audiences on Broadway. A new musical, “Allegiance,” about a Japanese-American family in a World War II internment camp, starring George Takei and the Tony Award winner Lea Salonga (from the original “Miss Saigon”), has waited a year so far to get an offer from one of Broadway’s theater owners.
一些故事或人物与亚洲相关的戏剧，比如最近的复排剧《花鼓歌》(Flower Drum Song)和《太平洋序曲》(Pacific Overtures)以及黄哲伦的《中式英语》(Chinglish)，在努力吸引百老汇观众的兴趣。新音乐剧《效忠》(Allegiance)讲述的是“二战”拘留营中的一个日裔美国家庭的故事，由乔治·竹井和托尼奖获得者莉亚·莎隆嘉（Lea Salonga，曾出演原版《西贡小姐》）主演。该剧在争取百老汇某位剧院老板的同意，到目前为止已经等了一年。
“You need Lucy Liu to have a hit on Broadway,” said Tisa Chang, who in 1977 founded the Pan Asian Repertory Theater, which significantly expanded opportunities for Asian-American performers. “But ideas like an Asian-American production of an American classic are absolutely workable.”
“要想在百老汇引起轰动，你需要请刘玉玲出演，”张瑜说。她在1977年成立了泛亚剧场(Pan Asian Repertory Theater)，为亚裔美国演员增加了很多表演机会。“但是让亚裔美国演员主演美国经典剧目是完全可行的。”
If it’s Off Off Broadway, that is. A new “Death of a Salesman” is running in a 99-seat theater through June 29 starring South Asian actors as the Loman family, including the show’s producer, Saima Huq, as the matriarch Linda. She put up $25,000 from savings and credit cards to mount the show.
在外外百老汇，情况的确如此。新排的《推销员之死》(Death of a Salesman)正在一个有99个座位的剧场上演，持续到6月29日，由几位南亚演员扮演洛曼(Loman)一家，该剧的制作人塞马·胡(Saima Huq)饰演女家长琳达(Linda)。她用自己的积蓄和信用卡凑了2.5万美元来制作该剧。
“There was no way I could ever imagine playing an iconic role like Linda unless I put on the show myself,” she said.
“除非我自己制作，我想不出还有其他办法来扮演琳达这样的标志性角色，”她说。
But “Here Lies Love” did not rely on Asian-American creators or producers; most of them are white.
但是《爱在这里》的创作者或制作人大部分是白人，不是亚裔美国人。
“It shows that white and Asian artists can create really great work together,” said Ms. Miles, who was born in Arizona and spent much of her childhood in South Korea. “You get to tell the ultimate story — a person’s whole life story — and that person is a very complicated, very human, stereotype-free Asian who is surrounded by other Asian characters. It’s a dream come true for me.”
“它表明白人和亚裔艺术家们能够一起创作出真正的好作品，”迈尔斯说。她出生在亚利桑那州，童年的大部分时间在韩国度过。“你能够讲述一个终极故事——一个人一生的故事——那个人非常复杂，非常人性化，不是固有的亚洲人形象，她周围的人也是亚洲人。对我来说，它是美梦成真。”