Is Broadway Really Diverse? Actors Created Their Own Data to Find Out

Quartz reports that following being passed over for a role in 2011, actor Pun Bandhu decided he wanted to know more about the racial breakup of performers on Broadway. Was Broadway really diverse?

As a result, the Asian American Performers Action Coalition (AAPAC) was formed. They then began collecting data about diversity on Broadway.

According to their report, Broadway performers are still predominantly white, accounting for about 80% of all roles on Broadway - and that number doesn't seem to fluctuate over time.

This data comes to light following what was hailed as the most diverse Broadway season which included performers of many ethnicities in productions such as HAMILTON, THE KING AND I, ON YOUR FEET, AMAZING GRACE, THE COLOR PURPLE, and ALLEGIANCE.

Photo via quartz.

There was a significant bump for Asian-American actors in the 2014-2015 season, though this can be attributed to the Broadway production of THE KING AND I. The following season, ALLEGIANCE would also open on Broadway, employing many Asian-American performers.

Photo via quartz.

Is Broadway really diverse? To read the full article and see all of the data, check out the Quartz article here.

About the AAPAC

AAPAC was started by a group of Asian American performers who came together in the summer of 2011 after this question was posted on Facebook: "Where are all the Asian actors in mainstream New York theatre?" The flood of comments elicited by this question could not be contained online; it quickly became clear that Asian American performers felt we were largely invisible in the mainstream, and that this was getting worse, not better. We at AAPAC took on the responsibilities of organizing forums for the artistic community to discuss minority representation in New York Theater, and of garnering statistics from the 2006-2011 theater seasons to see whether our feelings were validated by numbers.

In the fall of 2011 and early spring of 2012, AAPAC hosted two symposia and one roundtable discussion, examining why the worlds presented on New York City stages do not reflect the racial diversity of the world we live in, and challenging theater-makers to address these imbalances. To read and hear more, click on "Fordham Roundtable".

In July of 2012, AAPAC stretched its intentions outside the New York City borders when La Jolla Playhouse's Page to Stage production of "The Nightingale", based on a Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale taking place in China, hired only 2 Asian Americans for its 12-member cast. After issuing a public statement questioning this action, AAPAC was invited to participate in a panel hosted by La Jolla Playhouse to further discuss the issue, an event covered by several media outlets and attended by over 150 people.