Not even in her wildest dreams, Shelby Acosta would have imagined that one day she would play the role of Cinderella in a play.
“Obviously, [fue extraño] because I come from a culture where you don’t see non-white Cinderellas,” Shelby said. “It was the first time I recognized that I could be more than just the sassy Latina you see on TV.”
This happened in his native Texas, in the city of Austin, where he participated in the piece Into the Woods. Shelby, a petite girl with brown skin and dark hair, played one of the most beautiful princesses in fairy tales, who, according to her illustrations, is tall, delicate, skinny and blonde.
However, that has not been the only time that the young actress has been chosen to play a role usually exclusive to white actors. For a few months she has been part of the cast of 1776, the remake of a Broadway musical that will begin a multi-city tour across the country, beginning this week at the Ahmanson Theater in downtown Los Angeles.
And guess what. Shelby will play secretary Charles Thomson, because in this 1776 version —a musical that premiered on Broadway in 1969— the cast is made up of women, transsexuals and people who do not identify with either of the two sexes.
The show is inspired by the events leading up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence, which recounts the efforts of John Adams—one of the founding fathers—to persuade his colleagues to vote for independence from the United States and to sign the document. .
This new version puts that part of the story in the hands of the characters who were left out of that event. And hence the producers toyed with the idea of what would the founding fathers of the United States of today think?
“This show has a very important context because [en el elenco] you see bodies of all colors and shapes and all genders,” said Shelby, who made her Broadway debut in this production. “I have never been in a rehearsal room where we are all so different. […] There are transgender people, black people, I am indigenous Mexican, and that for me, playing this role that is usually for white people, is very satisfying.”
In detail
That: 1776
Where: Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles
When: on billboard until May 7; at various times
As: tickets from $40
Reports: centertheatregroup.org