Overview

• Tony Award winner B.D. Wong’s open letter opposing the replacement of an Asian-identifying lead with a white actor has been signed by over 2,400 theatre artists.
• Producers confirmed that Andrew Barth Feldman will succeed Darren Criss as Oliver in a nine-week engagement from September 2 to November 1, 2025.
• Creators Hue Park and Will Aronson maintain that the show’s robot characters were conceived as ethnically neutral and open to any race.
• Advocacy groups including the Asian American Performers Action Coalition and prominent artists such as Telly Leung have issued statements criticizing the decision.
• In response to the controversy, actor Conrad Ricamora launched a scholarship for male actors of Asian descent pursuing performance degrees.