The Asian reporter. (Portland, Or.) 1991-current, September 04, 2023, Page 8, Image 8

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    U.S.A.
Page 8 n THE ASIAN REPORTER
September 4, 2023
Vina Morales replaces Lea Salonga in Broadway’s
Here Lies Love to spotlight Filipino stars
By Terry Tang
A
s Tony Award winner Lea Salonga prepared to
depart the first ever all-Filipino Broadway cast,
her role became a revolving door to showcase other
well-known talent from the Philippines.
Actor and singer Vina Morales, also beloved in the
Philippines, will take over as Aurora Aquino in Here Lies
Love for a monthlong engagement starting September 22.
Producers say they are committed to highlighting the
country’s “abundance of talent,” allowing guest
performers a Broadway debut.
“To be able to perform on Broadway is a dream come
true for any artist,” Morales said in a statement. “I am
grateful to ‘Coach Lea’ Salonga for guiding me along the
way.”
Salonga, who has been with the show since previews in
June, called her friend Morales “a wonderful addition to
our cast.”
Her final show was the matinee on August 19. Another
cast member is filling in until Morales’ arrival.
Salonga next co-stars with Bernadette Peters in
Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends at London’s Gielgud
Theatre starting September 16.
Here Lies Love chronicles the rise to power of
Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos and wife Imelda
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File
The Associated Press
FILIPINO SPOTLIGHT. As Tony Award winner Lea Salonga, right, prepared to depart the first ever all-Filipino Broadway cast, her role became
a revolving door to showcase other well-known talent from the Philippines. Actor and singer Vina Morales, left, also beloved in the Philippines, will take
over as Aurora Aquino in Here Lies Love for a monthlong engagement starting September 22.
during the 1960s and ’70s and the civil unrest that ensued.
Musicians David Byrne and Fat Boy Slim wrote the music
for the production, which takes on a night club setting for
most of the 90-minute show. The cast also includes Arielle
Jacobs, Jose Llana, and Conrad Ricamora.
The production marked Salonga’s first time playing an
actual Filipino character on Broadway. She has led other
all-Asian ensembles such as Allegiance, Flower Drum
Song, and Miss Saigon, which won her the Tony for best
actress in a musical. In a funny coincidence, Here Lies
Love is in the same theater where Miss Saigon ran from
1991 to 2001.
This has also been Salonga’s first time as a Broadway
producer. Her co-producers include other entertainers of
Filipino descent — singer H.E.R., comedian Jo Koy, and
Black Eyed Peas’ Apl.de.Ap. Outside of the stage, Salonga
is widely known for her vocals in the Disney animated
features Aladdin and Mulan.
Tang, who reported from Phoenix, is a member of
The Associated Press’ Race and Ethnicity team.
U.S. regulators might change how they classify
marijuana. Here’s what that would mean.
By Jennifer Peltz
The Associated Press
N
K-POP CELEBRATION. Hours before the doors to KCON opened, thousands of K-pop fans lined up in
downtown Los Angeles, stretching long city blocks in the warm August sun. In pleated skirts and platform shoes,
toting the clear bags that have become arena staples, they danced and traded homemade stickers, banners,
bracelets, and photocards. Inside was their paradise: an IRL space to commune over their URL passions.
Pictured are fans attending KCON last month at the Los Angeles Convention Center. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
Inside KCON LA 2023 — an extravagant
microcosm of K-pop’s macro influence
Continued from page 7
pulling heavily from the current liquid
drum-and-bass/U.K. garage trend in
global
pop
music,
a
welcomed
retro-futuristic sound from a group and
convention with eyes set on the future.
Notably, these concerts placed a lot of
emphasis on K-pop girl groups, reflecting a
recent trend in listenership. Historically,
boy bands were thought to be more
lucrative — but girl groups like IVE, ITZY,
NMIXX,
Kep1er,
(G)I-DLE,
and
EVERGLOW proved that’s vintage
thinking in their explosive KCON sets.
A particularly unique and effective
moment during the concert was called the
“Dream Stage,” where a few dozen fans
who auditioned to perform a dance with a
K-pop group earlier in the day were
brought out to do exactly that.
On the second day of the convention,
iHeartRadio’s KIIS-FM set up a new,
open-to-the-public “K-pop Village,” where
the K-pop-curious could experience free
performances from newer acts — like LEO,
who made his U.S. debut on the outdoor
stage.
“2023 is like a crossover event. The last
10 years has been about sort of serving the
endemic fanbase of people who already
know K-pop and who love K-pop,” Chung
says. “As evidenced by the iHeartMedia
partnership, it’s really like a crossover
moment where K-pop goes mainstream.”
On the last day of the convention, not
even Tropical Storm Hilary could stop the
most devoted fans from lining up in the
rain to see their favorite acts. On the train
the night before, The AP asked a K-pop fan
from Massachusetts, who publishes fan
cam videos on YouTube under the name
Toadcola, if he was worried about the
weather. Not so much.
But, if the weather cancelled his flight
home, he thought that wouldn’t be so bad:
maybe, just maybe, the idols would be
stuck at the airport with him.
The Asian Reporter is published on the first Monday each month.
News page advertising deadlines for our next three issues are:
October 2, 2023 edition:
Space reservations due: Wednesday, September 27 at 1:00pm
Artwork due: Thursday, September 28 at 1:00pm
November 6, 2023 edition:
Space reservations due: Wednesday, November 1 at 1:00pm
Artwork due: Thursday, November 2 at 1:00pm
December 4, 2023 edition:
Space reservations due: Wednesday, November 29 at 1:00pm
Artwork due: Thursday, November 30 at 1:00pm
EW YORK — The news lit up the
world of weed: U.S. health
regulators are suggesting that the
federal government loosen restrictions on
marijuana.
Specifically, the federal Health and
Human Services (HHS) Department has
recommended taking marijuana out of a
category of drugs deemed to have “no
currently accepted medical use and a high
potential for abuse.” The agency advised
moving pot from that “Schedule I” group to
the less tightly regulated “Schedule III.”
So what does that mean, and what are
the implications? Read on.
First of all, what has actually
changed? What happens next?
Technically, nothing yet. Any decision
on reclassifying — or “rescheduling,” in
government lingo — is up to the Drug
Enforcement
Administration
(DEA),
which says it will take up the issue. The
review process is lengthy and involves
taking public comment.
Still, the HHS recommendation is “para-
digm-shifting, and it’s very exciting,” said
Vince Sliwoski, a Portland, Oregon-based
cannabis and psychedelics attorney who
runs well-known legal blogs on those topics.
“I can’t emphasize enough how big of
news it is,” he said.
It came after President Joe Biden asked
both HHS and the attorney general, who
oversees the DEA, last year to review how
marijuana was classified. Schedule I put it
on par, legally, with heroin, LSD,
quaaludes, and ecstasy, among others.
Biden, a Democrat, supports legalizing
medical marijuana for use “where
appropriate, consistent with medical and
scientific evidence,” White House press
secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. “That
is why it is important for this independent
review to go through.”
So if marijuana gets
reclassified, would it legalize
recreational pot nationwide?
No. Schedule III drugs — which include
ketamine, anabolic steroids, and some
acetaminophen-codeine combinations —
are still controlled substances.
They’re subject to various rules that
allow for some medical uses, and for
federal criminal prosecution of anyone
who traffics in the drugs without
permission. (Even under marijuana’s
current Schedule I status, federal
prosecutions for simply possessing it are
few: There were 145 federal sentencings in
fiscal year 2021 for that crime, and as of
2022, no defendants were in prison for it.)
It’s unlikely that the medical marijuana
programs now licensed in 38 states — to
say nothing of the legal recreational pot
markets in 23 states — would meet the
production, record-keeping, prescribing,
and other requirements for Schedule III
drugs.
But rescheduling in itself would have
some impact, particularly on research and
on pot business taxes.
What would this mean for research?
Because marijuana is on Schedule I, it’s
been very difficult to conduct authorized
clinical studies that involve administering
the drug. That has created something of a
Catch-22: calls for more research, but
barriers to doing it. (Scientists sometimes
rely instead on people’s own reports of
their marijuana use.)
Schedule III drugs are easier to study.
In the meantime, a 2022 federal law
aimed to ease marijuana research.
What about taxes (and banking)?
Under the federal tax code, businesses
involved in “trafficking” in marijuana or
any other Schedule I or II drug can’t
deduct rent, payroll, or various other
expenses that other businesses can write
off. (Yes, at least some cannabis busi-
nesses, particularly state-licensed ones, do
pay taxes to the federal government,
despite its prohibition on marijuana.)
Industry groups say the tax rate often ends
up at 70% or more.
The deduction rule doesn’t apply to
Schedule III drugs, so the proposed change
would
cut
pot
companies’
taxes
substantially.
They say it would treat them like other
industries and help them compete against
illegal competitors that are frustrating
licensees and officials in places such as
New York.
“You’re going to make these state-legal
programs stronger,” says Adam Goers, an
executive at medical and recreational pot
giant Columbia Care. He co-chairs a
coalition of corporate and other players
pushing for rescheduling.
Rescheduling wouldn’t directly affect
another pot business problem: difficulty
accessing banks, particularly for loans,
because
the
federally
regulated
institutions are wary of the drug’s legal
status. The industry has been looking
instead to a measure called the SAFE
Banking Act. It has repeatedly passed the
House but stalled in the Senate.
Continued on page 20