There’s been a bit of hoopla about Darren Criss’ replacement in the Broadway musical Maybe Happy Ending.  The show takes place in Seoul, Korea, and the new guy, Andrew Barth Feldman, isn’t Korean.  I know what you’re thinking – neither is Criss.  True.  But his mother is Chinese, Filipino and Spanish, which I suppose makes him Asian-ish.  Still, I’d think we can agree that all Asians don’t look the same.  I’m calling Bullshit on this story for one big reason – the character in the show is a robot!  Would Koreans have Korean-looking robots?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  But if Criss could play it and he’s not Korean (or a robot), why can’t Feldman?  This got me thinking – Darren’s biggest success has been playing gay roles.  But I don’t believe he’s ever sucked a dick (although rumors abound).  Still, he’s convinced enough producers out there that he could – or at least looks like he could.

Let’s move onto Cabaret.  Billy Porter is going into the Broadway revival playing the Emcee, a role he has coveted for years.  He lobbied hard to play it in the 1998 revival.  He says he was denied the opportunity to even audition.  “I was told, ‘That’s not the story we’re telling.’  I found that odd, and I did some research, and I found a book called Destined to Witness: Growing Up Black in Nazi Germany.  I sent it to the entire creative team, signed, ‘We were there.  We were always there.’”  Needless to say, that didn’t get him an audition – ‘cause who wants some actor telling producers what to do.  Still, I’m going to say Bullshit because the people who played the Emcee in that production were Alan Cumming, Neil Patrick Harris, Jon Secada, John Stamos, Raúl Esparza, Michael C. Hall, Matt McGrath, and Adam Pascal.  You know what they had in common?  They were all more famous than Billy Porter – who was fifteen years away from winning a Tony for Kinky Boots!