ARTS
10 | FEBRUARY 1, 2023
What Broadway’s first Asian-American Elphaba says about diversity in theater BELLA JAVIER Arts Editor
“Wicked” is a prequel to “The Wizard of Oz” that highlights the life of Elphaba–a green-skinned girl with undeniable talent. The show follows Elphaba through her adolescence as an underdog, giving an explanation to why she later becomes the Wicked Witch of the West. On Friday, Jan. 27, it was announced that Alyssa Fox will be taking up the part of Elphaba Thropp in “Wicked” on Broadway this coming March, making her the very first Asian-American to be the principal actress for the role in nearly 20 years. Is this a classic case of tokenism or a genuine step in the right direction? Tokenism is a practice of making a miniscule effort to increase the diversity within a workplace or piece of media usually for the sake of face. While diversity and inclusion is important, tokenism is usually not the best form of progress. The role of Elphaba has been played on Broadway by a total of two other actors of color prior to Fox stepping up to the plate. To put things into perspective, once Fox takes the stage, only three out of 25 actresses who played Elphaba fulltime are people of color (POC). Even though the numbers seem telling, it’s hard to imagine a show like “Wicked” being a culprit of tokenism. In my personal experience, being Asian in an anglo-centric art form is taxing and, in some ways, alienating. In the specific case of theater, the lack
of representation on stage in non-race-specific literature feels as though we’re not the ones allowed to tell the story, like our perspective is not of the consensus. Although it’s entirely possible for us to be the storytellers, it’s rare we ever are. The disparity gets worse considering how Asian actors don’t exactly have a wide selection of racespecific literature to start. Things are especially marginalized in the world of musical theater. “There aren’t that many Asian-centric shows: ‘South Pacific,’ ‘Miss Saigon,’ ‘King and I’. And that’s just the cast. You don’t ever see a composer who’s Asian or even a person of color—that was very hard to find back then. Even now Asian composers are rare,” Helen Park, composer and lyricist of “KPOP,” said in an interview with Vogue. From what Park is saying, the issue of diversity on Broadway is not an issue of tokenism, but one that is deeply ingrained in western theatrical history. On stage diversity is a systemic issue. Despite the odds, Park and Fox are among numerous successful Asian artists in and around Broadway. From the legendary Lea Salonga to “Dear Evan Hansen” former principal actor Zachary Noah Piser, Asians have been making names for themselves on the Great White Way for decades. Luckily, in shows like “Wicked,” where the world is fantastical and imaginative, there is room for diverse casting choices. Over the course of its run, “Wicked” has featured numerous talented POC in every principal role. Most recently, Brittney Johnson is the very first POC to take up the role of Glinda–18 years into the show’s run.
PHOTO BY IMDB
Fox, the newest full-time Elphaba, first auditioned for the role 15 years ago. While she was not cast on Broadway, Fox understudied Elphaba for the San Francisco cast in 2010, was a standby for the role on national tour in 2012 and assumed the same position on Broadway in 2021. Now, Fox gets to relish in the fruits of her labor this spring. It is clear that Fox is not just a token-POC in the Great White Way, but a well-accomplished actress who is more than deserving of the role she is undertaking.
Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week: A breakdown OLIVIA CHIAPPELLI Arts Reporter
Monday, Jan. 23 to Thursday, Jan. 26 marked one of my most highly anticipated weeks of the fashion calendar: Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week. Unlike other fashion seasons, Haute Couture Week showcases the highest quality of fashion. It is a time for fashion houses to create custom-fitted, handmade, extremely detailed and oftentimes avant-garde looks. Personally, the show I was looking forward to the most was Schiaparelli — coincidentally, the very first show of the week. Daniel Roseberry took over as creative director of the house in 2019 and has since become known for pulling inspiration from founder Elsa Schiaparelli’s archives — an investigative game I am always up for. This year’s collection was entitled “Inferno” — directly inspired by the first part of 14th century Italian poet Dante Alighieri’s epic poem collection “Divine Comedy.” Roseberry created three looks for each of the nine circles of hell depicted in Dante’s “Inferno” by playing with the concept of Surrealism. Molded leather, wooden beads, pearls, gold accents and hand patinated copper allowed Roseberry to play into that feeling of Surrealism Schiaparelli is known for. There were earrings that resembled casts of faces, shoes that seemingly
molded around the models’ toes and golden keyhole motifs scattered on almost every garment. The most eye-catching looks, however, were the hyper-realistic faux-taxidermy representations of Dante’s lion, leopard and she-wolf. The animals were constructed by hand with entirely manmade materials, but took the internet by storm,
PHOTO BY VOGUE RUNWAY The Schiaparelli collection was entitled “Inferno” — directly inspired by the first part of 14th century Italian poet Dante Alighieri’s epic poem collection “Divine Comedy.”
nonetheless. Kylie Jenner even wore her own lion dress while sitting in the front row. Another fashion house that played with the unconventional was Viktor & Rolf. While they released an entire collection of nearly identical pastel ball gowns, their presentation is what moved the collection into the absurd. While the first garments appeared completely normal, the surprise came when gowns started to seemingly float next to the models, extend directly through the models at 90 degree angles and even hang completely upside down. The show evoked a nostalgic feeling of those magnetic dress up dolls from my childhood in a shockingly elevated way. The final collection I feel needs to be mentioned is Robert Wun’s couture debut, as it truly showcased the mastery of a craft. The collection — entitled “Fear” — played off of typical “fashion accidents,” with wine-stained and scorched dresses, rainy umbrellas and broken heels. The impressive twist, however, was Wun’s intricate use of beading and embroidery to depict these situations. Hanging beads resembled dripping water and hundreds of lightly placed sprigs of feathers gently bounced as the models moved down the runway. The show felt like a genuine performance, rather than a boring display of materialism, which was a welcomed breath of fresh air compared to so many highly-revered fashion houses that failed to deliver this year — I’m looking at you, Chanel.