The news is official and the withdrawal is confirmed. It has been a long and draining road to reach this point but the right choice finally prevailed. Stay vigilant as we move forward.
May 31, 2018
Final supporters
UPDATE: SIERRA BOGGESS HAS ANNOUNCED SHE IS WITHDRAWING
THANK YOU, SIERRA!
Dear Tim Sage of Paradigm Agency,
I don't know if you saw the story a little while back about casting in the upcoming Hellboy reboot. British actor Ed Skrein was announced in a role that was originally written as a person of Asian descent. After a couple of days of backlash on social media, Ed published an open letter about dropping out of the project. It's been hailed as a watershed moment for representation and actor responsibility and strength in standing up to whitewashing in Hollywood. Gratitude and support continues to erupt around Ed. It's been truly beautiful to see. He is seeing myriad unexpected benefits from turning down a huge payday and breaking a contract. I like to imagine he thinks it is worth it and that the overwhelmingly good publicity will mean that all of that risk will pay off with incredible karma for his career.
Sierra Boggess is already a hero to so many. She's a Disney Princess. Little girls and young singers all over the world already look up to her. She now has the chance to make a lasting legacy on the theater world by standing up for those whose voices have been ignored for too long. She has a chance to be a hero not just because of her talent, grace, and beauty. She has a chance to be a hero because of her integrity, bravery, and selflessness.
This isn't "just a concert." Video will circulate and last forever. I'm heartbroken that this means that a whole new generation of young singers will grow up with an even more recent legitimized example of one of the few iconic roles written as Latinx being whitewashed. People still use Natalie Wood as an excuse to cast white women as Maria. And that film was decades ago. Sierra will be a fresh new example to use for decades more. Or, Sierra will be a hero who stood up and changed the way the world thinks about casting Maria, providing improved conditions for young singers whose voices we never hear.
She can be their voice. She can be a hero.
I hope she will choose to be the hero that she can be.
Thank you for your time,
Lauren Villegas
Founder, Project Am I Right
Updates
April 22, 2018
The momentum behind this effort has grown beyond what I initially thought possible. It has been exhausting to keep pushing against this wall but knowing so many of you are right here with me keeps me going. We are proving that this oversight cannot simply be ignored.
Reached 100 supporters
April 22, 2018
52 Comments
New Yoricans are already portrayed terribly in West Side Story. The least you could do to bring dignity to the role of Maria is to hire a Latina!
I am a white Puerto Rican. I'm so tired of non-Latinx people playing Maria. You said you were wrong for the part once and that hasn't changed. Do the right thing and step away from this. Representation matters. Stop erasing us.
Lets be as true and as genuine to the character as possible and have a Puerto Rican women play a Puerto Rican women.
It can be very difficult to do the right thing, especially when the wrong thing would mean a lot to you. Maria in West Side Story belongs to people who are not white, not redheads, not like us. She is a beautiful Puerto Rican, and should be cast accordingly. Be a hero.
As a Latinx member of the theatre community this is disheartening. As an artist who has many young fans, Sierra is telling them that white washing is ok. That if you have a “name” than you can play whatever you want. We need to start equivocating white washing Latinx characters as the same as casting white actors in Black roles. You would never cast a white Effie so you should not cast a white Maria.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news Jeanine,but there are no such things as Latinx people.I'm mean seriously,do you really think that anyone from Latin America would be identifying themselves using this absurd and identity-politic contrived term(Which as a friend of mine said,sounds like the name of some sort of medication to relieve constipation)?
As if people from Latin America can't be White?Tell me Marisela where are you getting your insights regarding the racial demographics of that ethnolingustic region from?The grafitti spray painted on the back of the dumpster of your local Del Taco or Daddy Yankee's latest album perhaps?PS:The only problem are anthropologically illiterate individuals like yourself that are clueless enough to believe that La Tee Noh is a race.Do yourself a favor Marisela and conduct some cursory research online and maybe then you'll learn about all the Europeans(Spaniards,French,Corsicans,Irish etc.)that immigrated to Puerto Rico(As well as Cuba,the Dominican Republic and South and Central America) and won't make such laughably ignorant statements in the future! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Latin_Americans https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Puerto_Ricans
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The news is official and the withdrawal is confirmed. It has been a long and draining road to reach this point but the right choice finally prevailed. Stay vigilant as we move forward.
May 31, 2018
Final supporters
UPDATE: SIERRA BOGGESS HAS ANNOUNCED SHE IS WITHDRAWING
THANK YOU, SIERRA!
Dear Tim Sage of Paradigm Agency,
I don't know if you saw the story a little while back about casting in the upcoming Hellboy reboot. British actor Ed Skrein was announced in a role that was originally written as a person of Asian descent. After a couple of days of backlash on social media, Ed published an open letter about dropping out of the project. It's been hailed as a watershed moment for representation and actor responsibility and strength in standing up to whitewashing in Hollywood. Gratitude and support continues to erupt around Ed. It's been truly beautiful to see. He is seeing myriad unexpected benefits from turning down a huge payday and breaking a contract. I like to imagine he thinks it is worth it and that the overwhelmingly good publicity will mean that all of that risk will pay off with incredible karma for his career.
Sierra Boggess is already a hero to so many. She's a Disney Princess. Little girls and young singers all over the world already look up to her. She now has the chance to make a lasting legacy on the theater world by standing up for those whose voices have been ignored for too long. She has a chance to be a hero not just because of her talent, grace, and beauty. She has a chance to be a hero because of her integrity, bravery, and selflessness.
This isn't "just a concert." Video will circulate and last forever. I'm heartbroken that this means that a whole new generation of young singers will grow up with an even more recent legitimized example of one of the few iconic roles written as Latinx being whitewashed. People still use Natalie Wood as an excuse to cast white women as Maria. And that film was decades ago. Sierra will be a fresh new example to use for decades more. Or, Sierra will be a hero who stood up and changed the way the world thinks about casting Maria, providing improved conditions for young singers whose voices we never hear.
She can be their voice. She can be a hero.
I hope she will choose to be the hero that she can be.
Thank you for your time,
Lauren Villegas
Founder, Project Am I Right
Updates
April 22, 2018
The momentum behind this effort has grown beyond what I initially thought possible. It has been exhausting to keep pushing against this wall but knowing so many of you are right here with me keeps me going. We are proving that this oversight cannot simply be ignored.
Reached 100 supporters
April 22, 2018
52 Comments
Lady. You are talented. We know this. But. This isn’t just a concert. It’s a statement. Back down and let a talented actress of PR background properly represent this story of love.
New Yoricans are already portrayed terribly in West Side Story. The least you could do to bring dignity to the role of Maria is to hire a Latina!
I am a white Puerto Rican. I'm so tired of non-Latinx people playing Maria. You said you were wrong for the part once and that hasn't changed. Do the right thing and step away from this. Representation matters. Stop erasing us.
Lets be as true and as genuine to the character as possible and have a Puerto Rican women play a Puerto Rican women.
It can be very difficult to do the right thing, especially when the wrong thing would mean a lot to you. Maria in West Side Story belongs to people who are not white, not redheads, not like us. She is a beautiful Puerto Rican, and should be cast accordingly. Be a hero.
As a Latinx member of the theatre community this is disheartening. As an artist who has many young fans, Sierra is telling them that white washing is ok. That if you have a “name” than you can play whatever you want. We need to start equivocating white washing Latinx characters as the same as casting white actors in Black roles. You would never cast a white Effie so you should not cast a white Maria.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news Jeanine,but there are no such things as Latinx people.I'm mean seriously,do you really think that anyone from Latin America would be identifying themselves using this absurd and identity-politic contrived term(Which as a friend of mine said,sounds like the name of some sort of medication to relieve constipation)?
As if people from Latin America can't be White?Tell me Marisela where are you getting your insights regarding the racial demographics of that ethnolingustic region from?The grafitti spray painted on the back of the dumpster of your local Del Taco or Daddy Yankee's latest album perhaps?PS:The only problem are anthropologically illiterate individuals like yourself that are clueless enough to believe that La Tee Noh is a race.Do yourself a favor Marisela and conduct some cursory research online and maybe then you'll learn about all the Europeans(Spaniards,French,Corsicans,Irish etc.)that immigrated to Puerto Rico(As well as Cuba,the Dominican Republic and South and Central America) and won't make such laughably ignorant statements in the future! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Latin_Americans https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Puerto_Ricans
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Lady. You are talented. We know this. But. This isn’t just a concert. It’s a statement. Back down and let a talented actress of PR background properly represent this story of love.