Unlike almost any other musical (or play - very few were diverse, they were all white or all black by and large)... ACL had main characters who were *WRITTEN* to be Asian, black, and Latina - and she had two of the standout songs, and no other character gets two songs in that show. I think this is different and in many ways better than just non-traditional casting where the part is basically written as white and is playing by a person of color.
Yes, it almost meant that they didn't think about non-traditional casting for the white roles, but I think it deserves credit for writing in layered people of color as main character, whose roles and dialogue and songs aren't *just* about how they are a person of color and aren't defined in the show only by their race. |
