“I’m grateful Broadway is on pause because our voices as Black performers can actually be heard.”
By: Signs Of Life
Tags: Broadway, Dance, New York, Covid 19, BlackLivesMatter

The first person who inspired me was Audra McDonald. There was something unique about her on Broadway. She was playing a role that is often cast as white, likely through colorblind casting. Just seeing her have this opportunity inspired me a lot.

It’s very different now that I’ve entered the Broadway world in the ensemble. It feels like a quota system is being filled, which is sad and hard to face. I’ve been navigating through audition experiences realizing, Oh, they may only have one slot for someone who looks like me. I’m up against all the other Black women in the room.

Now a lot of performers are speaking up about their experiences of racism in Broadway spaces. Our union is even having discussions. Personally, I’m grateful Broadway is on pause right now, because our voices as black performers can actually be heard.

When the pause happened, it felt like a shutting down of all my energy. We as performers want to be on the big stage. So a lot of the conversations I had with my friends were, How do we create other stages for ourselves? Do we use Instagram to stay relevant? I think the fear of obscurity caused a lot of angst.

I have a niece who I started teaching hip hop class over Zoom weekly, and it’s been the most glorious thing. It’s made me realize, there’s something so beautiful about giving my creative energy to someone closer to me, who won’t write a review. No one else is invited. It’s a smaller stage, but it’s a relief not to have to worry about outside critique. And it’s an opportunity to have an impact on the younger generation.

The biggest thing I’ve learned is that I have value even when I’m doing nothing.

One thing I have thought about is, what if when Broadway comes back, we as Black performers make a statement by not returning? That would be very bold, to say, We’ve been talking about how important our presence is. Now we’ll show you.

I think an insidious aspect is many Black performers, myself included, just play the game instead of being the one voice that points out the problems. Because we want to be on those stages. But now, because there’s no game to play, I think enough people are fed up to demand, When we get back to the game, can the rules be different?

I would love to see the hiring of more Black decision makers in the Broadway community, meaning the producers and the casting directors. So that on the side of the table where decisions are made, our voice is more welcome and heard. That’s the biggest disparity I’ve seen.

I decided to participate in a protest for the first time in my life. It was in Harlem and with the beautiful mixture of people who came out, there was just a sense of belonging. As I looked around, it was so incredible, the multi-ethnicity. It was healing for me, and so empowering.

In this particular protest, we stopped at different locations, and someone spoke and prayed over us at each stop. There was so much insight from the different types of people who spoke. It was like, there was an outcry of what needs to change, but there was also a beautiful sense that something larger than us has control over this moment, that we’re not going to just rail against one another.