Broadway Shoes: From Blond Wigs To Here Lies Love And Ruthie Ann Miles

Thursday, June 26, 2014



I was reading this article in the NY Times and while I haven't seen the show "Here Lies Love", they do call it a game changer, and while they also do invoke the crapalaptic show that is "Miss Saigon" (and the controversies that surround it too) - maybe things do change after all.

The biggest game-changer is “Here Lies Love,” one of those rare musicals that become critically acclaimed commercial hits Off Broadway and have an open-ended run. Even more uncommon, it’s all about an Asian character. The subject is Imelda Marcos, the former first lady of the Philippines. With a cast of 17, the show is the first in years to offer the prospect of steady employment to Asian-American actors. Productions of “Here Lies Love” are also in the works for San Francisco and London this fall, with Los Angeles, Seattle, Denver and Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, under consideration [...] “Asians are used to being the third actress to the right of the star,” said Ruthie Ann Miles, a Korean-American who spent 10 months in a blond wig on the road in “Annie” before landing the role of Mrs. Marcos. “The wig,” she added, “was supposed to make me fit in with my two white sisters. Those were the things a lot of us did to get work.”

I wonder if there's a musical number dedicated to shoes...

Check out more about the show here.