Karl Josef Co, Diane Phelan, and Cindy Cheung chat about the all-Asian American production, which streams on July 15.
Seeing your favorite Broadway stars live on a Broadway stage may not be a reality for a while, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy them live from your screen. BroadwayWorld's Richard Ridge is keeping up with all of their latest projects on Backstage Live, bringing you in-depth interviews twice weekly.
watch as he chats with Karl Josef Co, Diane Phelan, and Cindy Cheung- three of the cast members and creators of CollaborAzian's A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, which will stream on July 15th (7pm ET) benefitting StopAAPIHate.org. Tickets are available now: http://bit.ly/collaborazian-ggtlm.
Hosted by Tony Award Winner and Disney Legend Lea Salonga, CollaborAzian's A Gentelman's Guide to Love and Murder will be helmed by theatre and television director Alan Muraoka and also stars Ali Ewoldt (The Phantom of the Opera), and Thom Sesma (Sweeney Todd). Steven Cuevas (Once On This Island) serves as music director.
How did the idea come about? "Honestly, I love Gentleman's Guide. I had a lot of friends in it and I saw it and loved it... but I was disappointed that it was an all-white cast," explained Co. "In 2014, the conversation about race wasn't as open as it is now. Now here we are in this pandemic, where a lot of Asians were being targeted and a lot of that was because of representation. So for a long time, I thought, 'We could do this show! We can show the world that Asian American actors have been here and we can play any of these roles.' It's been something that I've really wanted to show the world- how diverse our community is."
"Access is an incredible thing," added Phelan. "I think there is something very special about being able to bring theatre to the intimacy of your own home. I think that nothing will ever replace live theatre, because there is something magical about the feeling of being around one another, but the fact that a kid in North Carolina... or southern Texas... can see this show with an all-Asian cast, whether that kid is Asian or not, is an important thing."
Find out even more about what to expect from A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, plus check out a special sneak peek below!
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