For Diana Huey, starring as Ariel touring stage production of The Little Mermaid was a chance to share her talent and passion to audiences around the country. But some people -- too many -- apparently have a problem with the fact that the musical's title role is being played by an Asian American actress.
In a recent interview with The Buffalo News, Huey says she's been dealing with negative social media comments about her casting since the tour began in Seattle in November. Outraged Disney fans say the production, a stage adaptation of the 1989 animated Disney movie, should have cast a white woman as Ariel.
First of all: never read the comments. But may I remind everyone that Ariel is a friggin' animated mermaid.
While she's brushed off most of the criticism, Huey admits it was hard not to take it personally. And the tone and frequency of the comments only intensified when the tour made its way to the South.
"It's never easy being up on a stage in front of thousands of people everyday baring your soul, pushing through exhaustion and just hoping that they'll like you," Huey wrote in a Facebook post on Saturday. "For me personally with this show, I've often also felt the added pressure of feeling like I have to work even harder to get the audience to like me or be with me because I'm not what they might have expected to see as an Asian American actor."
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