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In a recent viral video, a middle school bully is heard asking: “Where did that little ching chong go?”

The bully’s target is a five-year-old son of Chinese immigrants, seen and heard in the video trying to hide and asking to be saved.

Yes, kids can say nasty or mean things all the time, words and phrases they learn and pick up from somewhere, but this felt different. As I watched the video, I kept thinking, this kid is a mere “Yellowface” to the bully.

In Hollywood terms, Yellowface is to Asian people, particularly of East Asian descent, what Blackface is to Black people: an offensive practice of performance and mimicry. Examples abound, in varying degrees, from Jonathan Pryce, a white Welsh actor, wearing prosthetics to play a Eurasian character in the musical Miss Saigon, to the white British actor Tilda Swinton, who in the Marvel movie Doctor Strange...

David Henry Hwang’s Yellow Face debuted Off Broadway 17 years ago, spinning a farcical tale about a real-life Broadway controversy that had taken place some 17 years before that. How it manages to be relevant, insightful and very funny as it makes its Broadway debut tonight, all these years later, is anyone’s guess, but it does.

We can start by thanking Hwang’s terrific play – cut by a half-hour since its overlong Off Broadway version – and crackerjack direction by Leigh Silverman. Perhaps most of all, the production’s appeal rests with a cast led by an excellent Daniel Dae Kim, the Lost and Avatar: The Last Airbender star making a seamless transition to the Broadway stage.

The plot is, on its surface – but only on its surface – one big inside joke for Broadway aficionados. Inspired by real events – with liberty taken – Yellow Face recounts an event that found Hwang embroiled...

A new Broadway season has begun, and there are currently nine productions of plays set to open this fall. Could we see any of them contend at next year’s Tony Awards? Below, find the plot of each play as well as the awards histories of its author, cast and creative team, plus the opening and (where applicable) closing dates.

“The Roommate” (opens September 12; closes December 15)

In this new play by Jen Silverman, Sharon has never had a roommate before. But after her divorce she needs a housemate to pay the bills. That’s when Robyn arrives. The story follows an unexpected, life-changing friendship that’s both funny and deeply moving between two very different middle-aged women as they navigate the complexities of identity, morality and the dream of reinvention.

The production stars Golden Globe winner Mia Farrow and three-time Tony winner Patti LuPone. It is directed by three-time Tony winner Jack O’Brien.

New Amsterdam star Ryan Eggold and Tony Award-nominated Kevin Del Aguila will join the previously announced Daniel Dae Kim on Broadway this fall in David Henry Hwang’s much anticipated Yellow Face.

Eggold will be making his Broadway debut.

Complete casting for the production was announced today by the Roundabout Theatre Company, and also includes Francis Jue, Marinda Anderson, Greg Keller and Shannon Tyo.

Yellow Face, directed by Leigh Silverman, will begin previews on Friday, September 13, 2024, at Roundabout’s at Todd Haimes Theatre, with opening night on Friday, October 1, 2024, 227 West 42nd Street) on Broadway. The limited engagement runs through Sunday, November 24.

The synopsis: Inspired by real events, the playwright’s fictionalized doppelgänger protests yellowface casting in Miss Saigon, only to mistakenly cast a white actor as the Asian lead in his own play. This Obie Award-winning and Pulitzer finalist play is a laugh-out-loud farce about the complexities of race.

Kim,...

Exclusive: Nat Faxon, Kevin Dunn, Marquise Vilsón, Marinda Anderson, Don Fanelli and Nancy Lenehan are set for major recurring roles opposite lead Abbi Jacobson in Amazon’s A League of Their Own, a reimagining of Penny Marshall’s 1992 film, from co-creators Jacobson (Broad City) and Will Graham (Mozart in the Jungle) and Sony Pictures TV.

The hourlong series, described as a fresh approach to Marshall’s classic about the real-life All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, will follow new characters who embody the spirit of a generation of women who dreamed to play professional baseball. “The show takes a deeper look at race and sexuality, following the journey of a whole new ensemble of characters as they carve their own paths towards the field, both in the league and outside of it,” according to the streamer.

Faxon will play Marshall, the Rockford Peaches’ team manager who works for league owner...