Over the past few months, the masterminds behind the scenes of some of Broadway’s biggest productions have been making some questionable and harmful casting decisions. These choices have sparked negative discourse within the respective fan bases of these shows, as well as within the broader Broadway community. While “Cabaret” and “Maybe Happy Ending” both made headlines recently for their controversial castings of Billy Porter and Andrew Barth Feldman, respectively, insufficient attention has been paid to the recasting of Ponyboy Curtis in “The Outsiders.”
In early July of this year, it was announced that the show’s leading man, Brody Grant, would be making his departure on Sept. 21, necessitating a search for a replacement. For the fans who had already been mourning their star, the news of Grant’s successor only made things worse.
Prior to Grant leaving “The Outsiders,” there were two understudies for the role of Ponyboy. One of them was Josh Strobl, winner of the 2016 Jimmy Awards and a former universal understudy for “Dear Evan Hansen.” Instead of Strobl, the casting crew chose to promote Trevor Wayne, the main understudy for Ponyboy. Considering the team behind the show had announced that they were searching for future Broadway replacements earlier this year, it came as a shock that Grant’s replacement was not a new performer.
When word got out that Wayne was taking over on July 24, the response was immediate and critical, and rightfully so. One Instagram user, @trlponyboy, made a call-out post about the actor, which included several screenshots of Instagram posts Wayne had liked. While it is unknown when he liked them, the likes still remained on the posts. Every one of them was disturbing, with many of them targeting the transgender community, the Black community, women and children. The images were framed as memes from an account full of “dark humor.” One of the posts depicted three coffins draped in American flags, with the caption, “Which one is Trans?” The meme included a screenshot of a reply that read, “Hopefully all of them.” Another grotesquely joked about preying on underage girls, disturbingly framing it as “early access” and “beta testing.”
Landing the lead role in a Broadway musical is the kind of milestone many theatre performers dream about, but alongside the excitement came a wave of negative comments on promotional posts from the official Instagram account for “The Outsiders.”
Despite these posts masquerading as humor, they all touched on extremely sensitive topics that I, as well as many others, believe should not be dismissed as jokes. It’s one thing if someone liked the posts in the past and owned up to that, or if there is any indication that the person liking the posts does not actually agree with their content. In the case of Wayne, however, neither of these things seemed to be true.
The post exposing Wayne spread like wildfire throughout the fandom, sparking widespread reposts and commentary. In the comments of @trlponyboy’s post, one user wrote, “This needs to be addressed ASAP.” Another said, “Guys, he shouldn’t be our new Ponyboy, he shouldn’t be allowed to perform let alone be the lead role on stage … personally, I’d be very uncomfortable if I see him on stage considering he’ll be performing with young women and in front of young women.” I myself was one of the people who reposted the call-out on my Instagram story, stating that I was disappointed in the decision and urging the team to take action.
Despite all of this outrage from fans, the show’s team upheld their decision, and Wayne began performances as the new principal actor for Ponyboy on Sept. 23. Seven days before this, on Sept. 16, @trlponyboy shared another post as a last-ditch effort to spread awareness about the actor. Unlike the previous post, this one included screenshots of comments from people who claimed they attended college with Wayne. One of these users wrote that he “never actually got a degree from (the University of Florida) for a reason,” while another flat out stated that he had assaulted one of their friends. For that reason, they were just as surprised by the news of the casting as fans were, if not more.
Much like before, the team behind “The Outsiders” seemed to completely ignore the commotion, hiding or deleting comments that went against their new golden boy.
Wayne’s first day as Ponyboy was likely unforgettable for the young actor in more ways than one. Landing the lead role in a Broadway musical is the kind of milestone many theatre performers dream about, but alongside the excitement came a wave of negative comments on promotional posts from the official Instagram account for “The Outsiders.”
Numerous fans of the production rallied together in an attempt to raise awareness of the actor’s behavior yet again. Users such as myself took to their Instagram stories yet again, publishing paragraphs expressing their concerns and even proposing organized boycotts of the show.
@trlponyboy began compiling people’s disturbing interactions with Wayne at the show’s stagedoor as well, keeping them anonymous, but spreading the general message that the actor should not be trusted as the lead in a show that so many young women attend. Much like before, the team behind “The Outsiders” seemed to completely ignore the commotion, hiding or deleting comments that went against their new golden boy.
Another recent incident involving the recasting of a role came about when the team behind “Maybe Happy Ending,” a musical that is centered around helper bots in Seoul, announced that Andrew Barth Feldman would be taking over as their male lead. Feldman, who is a white man, began performances as helper bot Oliver at the beginning of September, taking over for Darren Criss, who is Filipino.
Audiences took issue with the fact that, by having a white man portray a main character in a production set in Korea, the team was minimizing the Asian representation of the musical that had won them Tony Awards and earned them support from Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.
Actor Constance Wu called Feldman out on her Instagram for taking the part. She said that they had spoken about it over the phone, but that ultimately she was “so disappointed with him.”
“It’s hard to keep speaking up when it feels like no one is listening anymore in this new era,” she said in the Instagram post.
When an actor or actress who is problematic and harmful is cast as a lead in a popular musical, it makes those within the communities the person has harmed feel unsafe and unsupported.
Despite the outrage from fans, the Instagram account for “Maybe Happy Ending” posted in defense of their casting decision.
“We wanted to write a show in which every role could be played by an Asian performer, but without the intention that the robot roles always would be,” the production said in an Instagram post.
In situations like these, where it seems as though all grievances are being overlooked by the people who have the most influence, I believe separating the art from the artist becomes complex. In my opinion, it is difficult to do so, especially in cases like the recast of “The Outsiders.”
When an actor or actress who is problematic and harmful is cast as a lead in a popular musical, it makes those within the communities the person has harmed feel unsafe and unsupported. I personally have decided to stop buying tickets to and listening to the album from “The Outsiders” until the Wayne situation is addressed.
It’s disheartening considering I was a diehard fan for over a year, but as a woman and a member of a community Wayne has actively targeted with his Instagram likes, I no longer feel the connection I once did to the show. This sort of behavior should not be tolerated in any production, which would mean conducting more extensive background checks. If something is not found initially, but is eventually brought up to those working on a production, there should be a plan in place on how to deal with these sorts of instances.
Whether this be the removal of a problematic performer or a thought-out acknowledgment of concerns, something should be done. All I can hope right now is that the cast and crew of “The Outsiders” come up with a satisfactory solution to their wrongdoings. Until then, unfortunately, they have lost me completely.