Last night at the Tony Awards, all four actor/actress awards for a musical went to people of color. All were black, though Daveed Diggs is half black.
Please don't misunderstand; I am absolutely thrilled about this. However, I disagree with calling these results "diverse." Only one race is represented in this win, and while it's extraordinary that this happened, it still is only one race. A diverse win would include people of different races. For instance, it would have been diverse if the winners were a black person, a white person, an Asian person, and a Latinx person. Instead of saying that these results are diverse, I would say that these results are colorful. The wins are filled with people of color.
If we were going to put this statement in terms of diversity, we would say that these results increase the diversity of the pool of winners in these categories. Because Leslie Odom Jr won best actor in a musical, the pool of winners of this award (within the history of the Tonys) is now more diverse.
If we are going to talk about diversity, we need to acknowledge what it means. We need to know what is diverse and what is not diverse. Diverse does not mean "not white."
So are we fighting for diversity or against the domination of white?
Monday, June 13, 2016
Friday, June 10, 2016
Mmmmmm ://
So this is literally just because I want to get this out, but can't find it in myself to say it to an actual person, cause that would be with bad judgment.
You know that show I auditioned for at the very beginning of the year? Yeah let's just say it was Cabaret (it definitely was not Cabaret, I'm just saying that cause I don't really know who's reading this - no one hah - but I still have that weird feeling where I don't rest well with telling people my auditioning business). We're gonna pretend it was Cabaret, just for these purposes.
Okay I'm interning at the theatre, I don't know if I mentioned that. But I am, and we get lots of things attached to it, like tickets to opening night of the new mainstage show last night. And all of us went and it was a fun time and it was a total blast. Cabaret opens while our internship is still going on, and we really most likely will be invited to opening night again, and, if not, another show of it for sure. There's this (pretty big) part of me that wishes I was in Cabaret... I know that I would probably physically crumble under the schedule of doing camps all day (that's my internship) - which is almost too much for me all on its own - and THEN going to hours of rehearsal afterwards. Though I would have a couple of hours in between to recharge. Anyways, you know me, I would never complain about that. I would mentally be over the moon, high on theatre, but sometimes mentality isn't enough, physicality has to agree. I don't think it was a mistake that I didn't get Cabaret, but I really still wish I did get it. I just can't stop thinking about how incredible it would be to be on stage the next time the interns go to see opening night. I'd come out of stage door and they'd swamp me (let me dream, okay? though that's really realistic, I don't think they wouldn't) and I would be up on stage knowing that - ok this makes me sound awful - that I'm just a little more accomplished than them. Okay I'm the worst. But I'm being honest. And I want to stick with honestly, cause I don't want to deny my wishes. I would just absolutely love if I was in Cabaret.
ASIDE FROM THE FACT THAT so many people that I know and love are working on it. Like one prominent staff member, whom all the interns adore but are afraid of... how cool would it be to be in a show with her and have that much more of a connection with her than the other interns? Well, I would say that I'm closest to her than any other intern because I was here last summer as a counselor and we kinda bonded then. So, like, she's known me.
I think that I just want the other interns to respect me. I think that's what it is. Not that they don't respect me, they totally do, but I mean respect in the way that, like... ugh I'll just say it, I want to be better than them. That's me. I always want to be better, it's a competition always. But only sometimes. What am I saying. Some things I just want to be the best at. I'm competitive. I guess that's what I mean.
You know that show I auditioned for at the very beginning of the year? Yeah let's just say it was Cabaret (it definitely was not Cabaret, I'm just saying that cause I don't really know who's reading this - no one hah - but I still have that weird feeling where I don't rest well with telling people my auditioning business). We're gonna pretend it was Cabaret, just for these purposes.
Okay I'm interning at the theatre, I don't know if I mentioned that. But I am, and we get lots of things attached to it, like tickets to opening night of the new mainstage show last night. And all of us went and it was a fun time and it was a total blast. Cabaret opens while our internship is still going on, and we really most likely will be invited to opening night again, and, if not, another show of it for sure. There's this (pretty big) part of me that wishes I was in Cabaret... I know that I would probably physically crumble under the schedule of doing camps all day (that's my internship) - which is almost too much for me all on its own - and THEN going to hours of rehearsal afterwards. Though I would have a couple of hours in between to recharge. Anyways, you know me, I would never complain about that. I would mentally be over the moon, high on theatre, but sometimes mentality isn't enough, physicality has to agree. I don't think it was a mistake that I didn't get Cabaret, but I really still wish I did get it. I just can't stop thinking about how incredible it would be to be on stage the next time the interns go to see opening night. I'd come out of stage door and they'd swamp me (let me dream, okay? though that's really realistic, I don't think they wouldn't) and I would be up on stage knowing that - ok this makes me sound awful - that I'm just a little more accomplished than them. Okay I'm the worst. But I'm being honest. And I want to stick with honestly, cause I don't want to deny my wishes. I would just absolutely love if I was in Cabaret.
ASIDE FROM THE FACT THAT so many people that I know and love are working on it. Like one prominent staff member, whom all the interns adore but are afraid of... how cool would it be to be in a show with her and have that much more of a connection with her than the other interns? Well, I would say that I'm closest to her than any other intern because I was here last summer as a counselor and we kinda bonded then. So, like, she's known me.
I think that I just want the other interns to respect me. I think that's what it is. Not that they don't respect me, they totally do, but I mean respect in the way that, like... ugh I'll just say it, I want to be better than them. That's me. I always want to be better, it's a competition always. But only sometimes. What am I saying. Some things I just want to be the best at. I'm competitive. I guess that's what I mean.
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
About Ambitions....
So many people are driven by their ambitions. Actually, ambition is what drives people. I guess that's a fact. But it's dangerous if your ambition is too far.
College kids often study for their classes with an idea along the line of, "I need to get a good GPA so that I can graduate with honors and go to grad school and find a good job and be a stable and employed adult by the time I am in my thirties."
Okay. Yeah, that's what everyone thinks. That guy who just got laid off by his company? That's what he thought when he was in college.
The thing is, it doesn't work out for everyone. Things might go wrong, and if you're focused on the big picture, you could very easily miss the cues that lead you in a different and better direction.
Here's an alternative: know your big picture ambition, but focus on a smaller milestone. If everything is destined to work out, it will, and you'll get to your big picture anyways. But if your path starts to turn a different way, your next milestone will alter accordingly, and you will know that your path has moved.
In the end, don't work towards your "pie in the sky"; you will never be satisfied. Even if you get there, by that time, you'll be worn out and you'll feel like you deserved it anyways. Don't do that to yourself. Live by the little. Run the marathon of life by the mile, not by the bulk.
College kids often study for their classes with an idea along the line of, "I need to get a good GPA so that I can graduate with honors and go to grad school and find a good job and be a stable and employed adult by the time I am in my thirties."
Okay. Yeah, that's what everyone thinks. That guy who just got laid off by his company? That's what he thought when he was in college.
The thing is, it doesn't work out for everyone. Things might go wrong, and if you're focused on the big picture, you could very easily miss the cues that lead you in a different and better direction.
Here's an alternative: know your big picture ambition, but focus on a smaller milestone. If everything is destined to work out, it will, and you'll get to your big picture anyways. But if your path starts to turn a different way, your next milestone will alter accordingly, and you will know that your path has moved.
In the end, don't work towards your "pie in the sky"; you will never be satisfied. Even if you get there, by that time, you'll be worn out and you'll feel like you deserved it anyways. Don't do that to yourself. Live by the little. Run the marathon of life by the mile, not by the bulk.
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