<p>Coming from a white girl, being a minority seems to be "what's hot" right now-- for lack of better words. This especially seems true with the college process. Then again, I could be completely wrong, but that's what my perception was. </p>
<p>Personally, I'm pretty "average" which can be a curse and a blessing. I'm 5'3'', slim, blue eyes, blonde curly hair. I can pass for many roles, but on the other hand, I don't really stand out because there's a million other girls with the same features. </p>
<p>Ann Saunders who is an incredibly beautiful asian woman and now understudies in Avenue Q, played Belle in beauty of the beast on broadway a few years ago. She was perfect for the role! So hopefully there will be many more opportunities for asians in the future!</p>
<p>Oh my - I'm 5'1 and 95 lbs on very small bones! And I just finished a 9 week professional theatre run of 42 Street in the ensemble! Tell your daughter you never know!! I even got featured a few times b/c of my "little-ness".=) It's a gimmick - and according to the song, you've gotta get one! hehee :) (and can we please discuss the reserved spot in the front row for we "Wee" ones? LoL! A nice trade off for never being the seductress!)</p>
<p>Funny you should mention the ""Front row". I'm getting off track here, but I wish that theaters had a short person section. Seriously!! Everytime I spend top $$ for a show ticket, the biggest, hulking NFL football player type sits right in front of me or my D. It's kind of laughable, because it seems to always happen.</p>
<p>I second the motion to have a "short people row"!!!!! It doesn't matter what venue I go to.....Mr. NFL and his gigantic buxom, overweight wife sit DIRECTLY in front of me. It must be Murphy's law.</p>
<p>Thanks for your encouraging words regarding short ensemble people. Since my dd spent so much time training in ballet and knowing she'd never be a swan in the corps, she just always assumed her height was going to kill her. Your post put smiles on our faces. :)</p>
<p>lauren sometimes gets a little feature out of the chorus because she has cheerleading training which included a lot of tumbling. so sometimes they want a series of flip-flops or something. also in the chorus of Oklahoma!, she got to be a "kid" which was a little more special than just one of the townspeople. j</p>
<p>Another shorty here. My resume says 5' even but I'm definitely closer to 4'11". I'm also blonde, so I'm often confined to playing the young, doe-eyed and naive. </p>
<p>While this career path definitely seems easier for the 5'6", skinny leading lady, there are some amazing actors who are smaller. Some of the theatre ones have already been mentioned, so moving towards film... look at Renee Zellweger, Sarah Jessica Parker and others who have all had great success on film! </p>
<p>I agree with the poster above who saw a surge in more "ethnic" roles. Many of the most recent musicals to hit Broadway either have ethnic looking casts (take Brooklyn, for instance) or roles that are not racially dependent (Bare: A Pop Opera, is an excellent example). Broadway always seems to reflect pop culture, and with the extreme popularity of hip hop/r&b, etc, it seems as though it will only be a short time before those sounds increasingly influence what we hear onstage. </p>
<p>And as for us little ones... well... there ARE the Wicked Munchkins and the soon-to-be Lord of the Rings hobbits :0)</p>
<p>Bottom line: it's a monumentally tough business no matter what your look is. Some "types" have a greater number of roles written for them -- but then, there are probably more of those types competing for the roles. It may seem that "ethnic" roles are hot these days, but if you looked at every cast member of every show on Broadway...not so much. And re. Asian female roles in particular (again, I'm one of the moms with an Asian D) -- I think that despite some progress and opening up, they're still more pigeonholed and stereotyped. Asian women still have a very different and more narrow cultural/show-biz image than African American or Latino women. And their status won't automatically be lifted by the rising tide of hip-hop/r&b.</p>