AT25: An Eye on the Future
Anika Noni Rose, actor, New York City
I wish I could envision the future with certainty. It may be tougher than ever being a theatre artist, due to the changes in the scope of entertainment—or maybe toughness will have shifted like a kaleidoscope, showing a different tone, tint or shape.
What do I hope will happen? I hope producers will get brave again and decide that it's all right to use an actual stage actor or "theatre star" for their next show—that it will be okay to use someone who's not a household name, but instead to make one. I hope there'll be no more casting of Celestial Beings (who've maybe never seen the boards before, forget sending a voice to the back row) so they can work near their spouse or their vet. I know people in this city (people without health insurance) who are so talented that if they let out on stage an inkling of what they had, it might cause a Times Square brownout or a government investigation into hidden WMDs! Twenty weeks of work, one year of coverage—for many, accomplishing that is rare. I hope that changes. I hope Broadway stops being a reality-show consolation prize.
I love medical shows where you get to watch surgery and track scientific progressions. Anyone game to let me do a quick craniotomy? I've got some free time. Okay, acting isn't brain surgery, but it is a craft. I hope that we go back to recognizing people who've studied it and worked at it by giving them jobs; that I continue to meet producers who aren't afraid to shake up preconceived notions of casting; that they continue to say, "Why not do a Latino slice of hip-hop musicalized life? A show with white folks sitting at a table cussing each other allllll the way out? A black woman playing what had only been thought of as a white woman's role (thank you)? Or a show with black and white folks rocking out in such a way that you just want to run up someone's back and stand on their head yelling, 'It's alllll righhht!!!?'" It could work, and it does. If it's good, people come. May the critics that tell truths continue to do so, and may regional theatres continue doing inspiring, innovative work (cheers to American Conservatory Theater and Berkeley Repertory Theatre!). May our First Family inspire us to show less homogenous family settings without comment. That's America. I hope that in 25 years I won't still be hoping.