The eighth annual fan event will host a variety of discussions about how to diversify stages, songs and scripts. Here are six to look out for.
It’s the most musical time of the year, the weekend when thousands of fans from around the world descend on Midtown Manhattan for costume contests, Playbill swaps and theater idol meet-and-greets.
This year’s BroadwayCon, which takes place July 21-23 at the Marriott Marquis hotel, gives fans the chance to preview new Broadway shows like the “Back to the Future” musical and the “Jaws” comedy “The Shark Is Broken,” catch up with original cast members from the not-exactly-family-friendly puppet musical “Avenue Q” and the storied rock opera “The Who’s Tommy.”
The schedule also features thoughtful panels, many focused on issues of representation on Broadway, such as a planned discussion on roles for disabled actors, featuring the “Cost of Living” Tony Award nominee Katy Sullivan.
Here are six you won’t want to miss.
Celebrating Female and Nonbinary Voices
A group of female and nonbinary songwriters, among them Kristen Anderson-Lopez, the Oscar, Grammy and Emmy Award-winning co-writer of Disney’s “Frozen” (both the film and Broadway musical) and “Remember Me” from Pixar’s “Coco,” will spotlight recent achievements by female, nonbinary and gender-expansive composers and lyricists and discuss how the industry might open more doors to them.
“Spotlight on Women and Nonbinary Musical Theater Writers,” Friday, 10 a.m.
Diversifying Stages
A panel of playwrights, composers and actors of color will discuss how to bring more work to Broadway that represents perspectives from beyond white American culture. Among them will be Jordan E. Cooper, who was recently nominated for two Tonys for writing and starring in the biting race comedy “Ain’t No Mo’” on Broadway; Helen Park, the first Asian female composer on Broadway, who earned a Tony nomination for “KPOP”; and Kristoffer Diaz, whose new musical, “Hell’s Kitchen,” written with the singer Alicia Keys, is slated to open at the Public Theater in November.
“What Is the Future of Broadway? A Dream Session with Global Majority Playwrights and Musical Theater Writers,” Friday, 11:15 a.m.
Restaging Problematic Classics
A panel of directors, writers and producers will discuss how to revive musicals like “Miss Saigon,” “South Pacific” and “The King and I” with troublesome structural or political elements (or both). Participants will include Lear deBessonet, the artistic director of Encores!, a longstanding, popular New York City Center series that stages short-run productions of decades-old musicals, and Schele Williams, who is directing the upcoming Broadway revival of “The Wiz.”
“That Wouldn’t Fly Today: The Art of Revising Revivals,” Friday, 3:45 p.m.
Discussing Disability on Broadway
Performers with disabilities have become a more common sight on Broadway stages lately, appearing in productions including “Cost of Living,” “A Doll’s House” and “Grey House.” For Katy Sullivan, who was recently nominated for a Tony for her performance in “Cost of Living” as the feisty wheelchair user Ani, it’s not just the presence of disabled actors in recent productions that is encouraging — it’s the types of roles they’re being cast in.
“I would love to see a world where even more performers with disabilities are utilized within characters who aren’t necessarily written as disabled,” Sullivan said. The panel also includes Gregg Mozgala, her “Cost of Living” co-star; Madison Ferris, who became the first wheelchair user to play a lead role on Broadway when she starred in a 2017 revival of “The Glass Menagerie” opposite Sally Field; and David Connolly, who became the first amputee to perform on Broadway in a 1989 revival of the Civil War musical “Shenandoah.”
“Ready, Willing and Very Abled,” Saturday, 3:45 p.m.
Applauding Asian American Stories
The New York theater landscape has changed radically since Ali Ewoldt made her Broadway debut as Cosette in a revival of “Les Misérables” in 2006.
“We for a long time had a very homogeneous way of telling stories,” said Ewoldt, who in 2016 became the first Asian American actress to play Christine in “The Phantom of the Opera” on Broadway. “So it’s exciting to me when Broadway and theater and TV reflect the world we live in, in all its complexity and diversity.”
She and five actors of Asian American and Pacific Islander descent — among them Zachary Noah Piser, who in 2019 became the first Asian American actor to play Evan Hansen on Broadway — will celebrate recent representation in shows like “Here Lies Love,” “Camelot” and “Life of Pi” and discuss how to see even more of their communities’ stories portrayed onstage.
“Telling Our Stories — Breaking the A.A.P.I. Box on Broadway,” Sunday, 11:15 a.m.
Building a Latino Future
Six songwriters, playwrights, directors and actors, including Luis Salgado from “In the Heights” and the playwright Christin Eve Cato, will discuss the importance of creating, sharing and producing Latino-written works of musical theater, as well as the challenges they faced on their journeys to Broadway and the strategies that helped them break through.
“El Futuro es Latiné: Dreaming of A More Diverse Theater Industry,” Sunday, 11:15 a.m.
Source: Theater - nytimes.com
