With 'Here Lies Love' Closing, Do Broadway Producers Still Have Faith in Asian Stories?

by Chris Peterson, OnStage Blog Founder

News broke this week that the Broadway musical ‘Here Lies Love’ will be closing later this month. The musical, which is based on the life of former Philippine first lady Imelda Marcos, opened to positive reviews and was praised for its catchy score(by Fatboy Slim and David Bryne) as well as its eventual Tony-winning design by David Korins.

The show was also notable for its all-Asian cast led by icons in the AAPI(Asian American Pacific Islander) community such as Arielle Jacobs, Jose Ilana and Lea Salonga(who departed the show in August). Sadly, even with all of this, the show is closing after less than 200 performances on Broadway.

After seeing other shows that tell Asian stories with all-Asian casts close due to low ticket sales such as KPOP and Allegiance, I’m starting to become fearful that producers are losing faith that investing in such projects. I’m worried that unless it’s The King and I or Miss Saigon revivals, the chances of seeing all-Asian casts accurately tell Asian stories are going to become slimmer and slimmer.

So why is it hard for these shows to be successful enough to last on Broadway? Well first of all, financially succeeding on Broadway is hard to do in the first place and few shows last long enough to recoup their investment. But shows centered on Asian stories with all-Asian casts struggle because they generally don’t connect with the majority of folks who come to see these shows. Even Flower Drum Song, a Rodgers & Hammerstein musical, flopped on Broadway when it was revived 20 years ago.

According to the last audience demographic reports by The Broadway League, over 80% of Broadway audiences were Caucasian. Those numbers were surveyed pre-COVID but I’m willing to bet they haven’t changed much in the last couple of years.

So why do shows like The King and I, South Pacific and Miss Saigon succeed and other all or predominately Asian cast shows don’t? Well I would say both those shows rely more on the their legacies as opposed to the actual material. It also doesn’t hurt having Caucasian leads in the show as well. But I wouldn’t call either show, despite the many improvements they’ve made, authentic in their portrayal of Asian stories or people. I would equate them to eating a meal by a white chef whose trying their hand at making Vietnamese food.

Now Allegiance? KPOP? Soft Power? Cambodian Rock Band? Comfort Women? The authenticity is at the core of all of them. But will the latter three shows that I mentioned ever see a Broadway stage?

As a Korean-American myself, I can only hope so. But I’m worried that Broadway producers and investors, who are mostly white, are losing interest.