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