2,400 Sign BD Wong's Letter Denouncing MAYBE HAPPY ENDING Casting Choice

As backlash continues over Maybe Happy Ending's decision to cast Andrew Barth Feldman in the role of 'Oliver,' replacing Darren Criss, actor BD Wong has penned an open letter about the matter, which has been signed by 2,400 theatre artists. Aaron J. Albano, Ali Ewoldt, Ann Harada, Anthony Rapp, Conrad Ricamora, the Broadway Body Positivity Project, Joaquina Kalukango, Jon Jon Briones, Telly Leung, and many more.

The musical is set in South Korea, and the role of Oliver was originally played by Darren Criss, an actor of Filipino descent. Many believe that the casting of Feldman, who is white, was wrong, as the character should be played by an Asian actor.

Wong's letter can be read below.

"This deserves attention. To put it simply: Asian Actors and the Asian Theatergoing Community are fiercely wrestling over a non-Asian actor replacing the Asian male lead in the Broadway musical Maybe Happy Ending. Please google this responsibly. It's a real, eternal outcry about race and representation, not an irrational rant about robots.
I posted this longform essay about it, casually asking my followers and friends (and theirs etc.) to attach their names for support. The essay makes no demands, it's a detailed articulation of our POV.

Here are the 2400+ current names. They're useless unless shared. We're basically begging to be heard. Many in our community are valiantly articulating their feelings about this. That part's wonderful.

The response to such things is always dismissive, I've seen it many times. There's been no authentic counter that encourages progress. It's easy to "clap back" in today's Tweetculture but it helps nobody. We want an AUTHENTIC, productive conversation about this, not one line "gotchas" without having digested what we're saying, not doubling down and overexplaining your "creative intention." You can try to undercut or diminish the gravity of this; but I'm here to tell you it's bigger than you want it to be and it isn't going away. Also, your privilege is showing and overdue for a pedicure.

It goes way beyond the back and forth about this particular casting decision and the "ownership" that much of the Asian Community seems to feel over this particular character in this particular musical. At the root of this outcry is a profound lack of us being both seen and heard. This "invisibility" started on the beforementioned Broadway stage (hence unseen) and has since insidiously bled into this debate (unheard). The response hasn't been worthy of the issues so far, but The Beef is authentic.

Here are the thousands of united names, in defiance of every obnoxious attempt at our erasure we've faced this week. I'm proud to present them. Anyone can still add their "signature." If you lent your name and can't find it or it's misspelled, please accept my apology and comment with it again. This grass roots community effort has been wonderfully human."

Feldman is set to join the cast beginning on Tuesday, September 2, 2025 for a special limited 9-week run through Saturday, November 1, 2025. The cast also includes Helen J Shen, Dez Duron, Marcus Choi as well as Steven Huynh, Hannah Kevitt, Daniel May, Christopher James Tamayo and Claire Kwon rounding out the production as the understudies.

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