Playbill.com's Olivia Clement reported a few months ago that ''Shoba Narayan is the first South Asian female in a principal role since 'Bombay Dreams' over 10 years ago, and she is currently the only South Asian female in a Broadway musical.
Narayan: “Someone like me, of my ethnic background, playing a leading lady on Broadway, is something I’ve never seen and is really meaningful.''
Speaking of the last South Asian leading lady since ''Bombay Dreams,'' that was Anisha Nagarajan. And she's now in Mira Nair's ''Monsoon Wedding'' (with Michael Maliakel and Kuhoo Verma, thru July 16, at Berkeley Rep), and that hopes to be the 2nd Indian musical to hit Broadway.
I wonder if Shoba Narayan is related to Manu Narayan, the leading man of ''Bombay Dreams.'' Or is Narayan a common Indian surname? |
