The primary monologue Daniel Dae Kim ever carried out was by David Henry Hwang.
He needed to do one for his faculty summer season program on the Nationwide Theater Institute in Connecticut. Kim selected a scene from “FOB,” Hwang’s play concerning the assimilation struggles of a Chinese language American. So, it is becoming that 35 years later Hwang — the primary Asian American to win the Tony Award for finest play — could be the one to carry Kim into the Tony highlight.
Recognized for TV sequence similar to “Lost” and “Hawaii Five-0,” Kim, 56, is the primary Asian nominee within the class of finest main actor in a play within the Tonys’ 78-year historical past for his work in a Broadway revival of Hwang’s “Yellow Face.”
“I can imagine a lot of things, but I did not imagine this scenario with David,” Kim mentioned. “That I would be in a play with him, that we would both be nominated for Tony Awards and we would be able to call each other friends.”
Within the semi-autobiographical present, which ran final fall on the Roundabout Theatre Firm, Kim performed a satirical model of Hwang. The present additionally scored nods for finest play revival and finest efficiency by a featured actor in a play for first-time nominee Francis Jue, an authentic 2007 forged member.
You may not have scripted a greater ending for a play that was written in response to the musical “Miss Saigon” casting white actors as Asian characters.
Kim’s efficiency was filmed in November and PBS will broadcast “Yellow Face” on Friday. The Tonys, airing on CBS on June 8, additionally will put a highlight on the play.
Asian illustration and the Tonys
This groundbreaking nomination looks like the right karmic reward for Kim, who has spent years advocating for higher Asian illustration. On the pandemic’s peak, the Korean American actor was a relentless media presence talking out towards anti-Asian hate. He additionally jump-started a marketing campaign for veteran actor James Hong, then 91, to get a Hollywood star.
He woke as much as the information of his nomination after folks had been in a position to get round his cellphone’s “do not disturb” mode. His competitors consists of George Clooney and Cole Escola.
“It’d be a huge surprise if I won, but I will say that even getting the nomination is a win especially when you put it in the context of our community and what this means for Asian Americans,” mentioned Kim, whose earlier Broadway credit embody “The King and I.”
He admits it is stunning and “a little sad” that no different Asian actor has been on this class. There’s nonetheless by no means been an Asian nominee for finest lead actress in a play.
“Of course, the barrier we really want to break is to actually have someone win, and hopefully that happens sooner rather than later, whether it’s me or not.”
Kim is considered one of seven Asian appearing nominees this 12 months. Solely three appearing trophy winners have been Asian. One was Lea Salonga for “Miss Saigon” and one other was Ruthie Ann Miles for “The King and I.” Coincidentally, the primary was BD Wong for finest featured actor in Hwang’s Tony-winning play, “M. Butterfly.” Hwang takes particular satisfaction in serving to actors break glass ceilings.
“I get to really feel like, ‘Oh, maybe I’m really in a position to make a distinction’ and alter the tradition in the best way that my little-kid-self would have beloved however wouldn’t have thought attainable,” mentioned Hwang, who now has his fourth profession Tony nomination. He was final nominated 22 years in the past.
Bringing Asian Individuals into the theater
For a very long time, Hwang felt the one option to get a play with Asian characters made was to set it outdoors America as a result of “Broadway audiences will not be serious about Asian Individuals.”
Traditionally, productions with Asian ensembles have been musicals set in “the exotic lands of Asia,” similar to “The King and I,” said Esther Kim Lee, a theater studies professor at Duke University and author of “The Theatre of David Henry Hwang.” “Flower Drum Song,” set in San Francisco, was an exception however the songs and e book had been by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. Hwang really revised the e book in 2002.
“It’s 2025. We finally see an actual Asian American play with an Asian American lead,” Lee mentioned. “You can have ‘The King and I’ and have great actors and they may get Tony Awards, but it’s really not about Asian Americans. That this has happened with ‘Yellow Face’ is just incredible.”
The present’s two-month run introduced the Roundabout a 50% enhance in first-time viewers members — “a strong assertion,” Kim mentioned.
“One of the nicest compliments I would hear after the show when I would go to the stage door is, ‘This is the first Broadway show I’ve ever seen,’” Kim said. “That meant a lot to me because bringing Asian Americans into the theater is important and bringing younger people into the theater is important just for the health of theater in general.”
‘Yellow Face’ has new relevance
Moreover discussing whitewash casting, “Yellow Face” examines the ache of the primary character’s immigrant father. The position relies on Hwang’s father’s expertise being wrongly accused of laundering cash for China. With the present anti-immigrant and anti-DEI local weather, the present’s airing on PBS feels particularly important to Hwang.
“Whenever there’s a conflict between America and any Asian country, Asian Americans are the first to get targeted,” Hwang mentioned.
PBS can also be the place in 2020 the five-episode historical past docuseries “Asian Individuals” aired for Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Kim was a narrator and remains “unequivocally proud” of the challenge.
5 years after the rise of anti-Asian hate crimes, Kim sees “Yellow Face” merely making it to Broadway as a victory.
“I don’t want to get preachy, but I will say that the goal with spotlighting and elevating people of color is not to threaten the establishment,” Kim mentioned. “The goal was really to say everyone can contribute to our society. Everyone can be a positive force for change.”
