The first monologue Naelel is not once done was for David Henry Hwang.
He had to do one for his university summer program at the National Theater Institute in Connecticut. Kim chose a “FOB” scene, Hwang’s work on the assimilation struggles of an American Chinese. Therefore, it is appropriate that 35 years later Hwang, the first American Asian to win the Tony Award for Best Game, would be the one that will bring Kim to the Tony Care Center.
Known for television series as “Lost” and “Hawaii Five-0”, Kim, 56, is the first Asian candidate in the category of best leading actor in a play in the history of the 78 years of Tonys for his work in a Broadway rebirth of the “yellow face” of Hwang.
“I imagine many things, but I didn’t imagine this stage with David,” Kim said. “That he would be in a play with him, that we would both be nominated for the Tony Awards and we could call the other friends.”
In the semi -autobiographical show, which was executed last autumn in Roundabout Theater Company, Kim interpreted a satirical version of Hwang. The program also scored Nods for Best Play Revival and Best Performance of an outstanding actor in a work for the first time Francis Jud, an original member of the 2007 cast.
I could not have written a better end for a work that was written in response to the musical “Miss Saigon” Castrating white actors as Asian characters.
Kim’s performance was filmed in November and PBS will transmit the “yellow face” on Friday. The Tonys, which are broadcast on CBS on June 8, will also stand out in the work.
This innovative nomination looks like the perfect karmic reward for Kim, who has spent years advocating a greater Asian representation. In the height of the pandemic, the American Korean actor was a constant presence of means that spoke against anti-Asian hatred. He also risked A campaign for veteran actor James Hong, then 91, to get a Hollywood star.
He woke up with the news of his nomination after people could move through the “not disturbing” mode of his phone. His competition includes George Clooney and Cole Escola.
“It would be a big surprise if I won, but I will say that even obtaining the nomination is a victory, especially when you put it in the context of our community and what this means for Asian Americans,” said Kim, whose previous Broadway credits include “The King and I”
He admits that he is surprising and “a little sad” that no other Asian actor has been in this category. There has never been an Asian candidate for the best main actress in a play.
“Of course, the barrier we really want to break is that someone wins, and I hope that happens sooner rather than later, whether I or not.”
Kim is one of the seven Asian active nominees this year. Only three winners of the interim trophy have been Asian. One was What slongament For “Miss Saigon” and another was Ruthie Ann thousands for “the king and me.” Coincidentally, the first was BD Wong for the best high actor in Hwang’s winning work, “M. Butterfly”. Hwang worship specially worships actors to break the glass roofs.
“I can feel that ‘Oh, maybe I am really able to make a difference’ and change the culture of the way my little I would have loved but I would not have believed possible,” said Hwang, who now has his fourth nomination in Tony’s career. He was last nominated 22 years ago.
For a long time, Hwang felt that the only way to play with the Asian characters made was to establish it outside the United States because “Broadway’s public is not interested in Asian Americans.”
Historically, productions with Asian sets have been musical set in “the exotic lands of Asia”, such as “the king and me,” he said Esther Kim Lee, Professor of Theater Studies at the University of Duke and author of “The Theater of David Henry Hwang”. “Flower Drum Song”, set in San Francisco, was an exception, but the songs and the book were Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Hwang really reviewed the book in 2002.
“It’s 2025. Finally we see an Asian game -Royal Station with an Asian -American protagonist,” Lee said. “You can have ‘King and I’ and having great actors and can obtain the Tony Awards, but it is not really about Asian Americans. This has happened with the ‘yellow face’ is simply incredible.”
The two -month career of the program brought the roundabout a 50% increase in the members of the audience for the first time: “A powerful statement,” Kim said.
“One of the best compliments I would hear after the show when I would go to the door of the stage is: ‘This is the first Broadway show I’ve seen,” Kim said. “That meant a lot for me because bringing Asian Americans to theater is important and bringing younger people to the theater is important only for the health of theater in general.”
In addition to discussing the whitish casting, the “yellow face” examines the pain of the immigrant father of the main character. The role is based on the fact that Hwang’s experience is erroneously accused of laundering money for China. With the current anti-immigrant and anti-dei climate, the show is transmitted in PBS especially vital for HWANG.
“Every time there is a conflict between the United States and any Asian country, Asian Americans are the first to be attacked,” said Hwang.
PBS is also where in 2020 the Docuseries of the history of five “Asian American” episodes Transmitted for the month of the inheritance of the Island of the Asian American Pacific. Kim was a narrator and remains “unequivocally proud” of the project.
Five years after the emergence of antia Asian hate crimesKim sees “yellow face” just get to Broadway as a victory.
“I do not want to be a preacher, but I will say that the goal with highlighting and raising people of color is not to threaten the establishment,” Kim said. “The objective was to really say that everyone can contribute to our society. Everyone can be a positive force for change.”
