Saturday 30 April 2022 The Guardian •National^13
▲ Wallace said the new ‘sexy’
Oklahoma! was a reimagination of
the musical for the 21st century
PHOTOGRAPH: SARAH LEE/THE GUARDIANNadia Khomami
Arts and culture correspondentA
professional career
in theatre wasn’t
always on the cards
for Marisha Wallace.
The Broadway and
West End star, who
was born and raised on a pig farm
in North Carolina, rarely saw actors
that looked like her on stage.
Which is why, as she takes on the
coveted role of Ado Annie in the
revival of Oklahoma! at London’s
Young Vic theatre, Wallace is on a
singular mission to call out the lack
of plus-sized, black actors on stage,
to inspire people like her.
“It’s a role I never thought I could
play because it’s usually played by
very thin white women,” Wallace
told the Guardian. “Ado Annie is the
town’s object of love and aff ection.
So to have a plus-sized black
woman playing her is incredible,
I’d never seen it on stage before.
“I know it’s going to inspire a lot
of women out there who may feel
their body type or how they look
isn’t accepted or worthy of love.”
Wallace, 36, fi rst played Ado
Annie in an all-black production of
Oklahoma! in the US, marking the
fi rst time she was cast in a lead role.
“I remember it changed my whole
life. It was like : ‘Wow, I don’t have
to be the random black girl who
sings and then leaves and no oneever knows what ever happened
to her’.”
The actor and singer, who has
starred in stage hits including
Aladdin, Dreamgirls and Hairspray,
as well as onscreen in Netfl ix’s
Feel Good, said the new “sexy”
Oklahoma! was a reimagination
of the show for the 21st century.
“When we walk outside we don’t
see all the same race, gender, or
body type,” Wallace said. “So why
does our theatre and our art not
refl ect that? I think that’s what’s
key to keeping theatre alive. As a
little black kid, I was never like : ‘I’mFor Wallace, it’s serendipitous
that she ended up in Oklahoma!
The show, she said, is close to her
heart. “I was the granddaughter of
a hog farmer. We raised pigs and
then they would be sent off , it was
like Charlotte’s Web.”
While her family were musical- they owned a church in her small
town where her dad played every
instrument, her mum was a choir
director, her sister played drum,
and her brother played piano – they
never pursued it professionally.
“I was the fi rst one to ever take
it out of the church and into the
world. I had this amazing teacher
who trained me on weekends.
She even took me on her own
teacher’s salary to see a Broadway
show. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t
have gotten into this at all.”
Wallace’s work to inspire others
doesn’t begin and end on stage.
During lockdown, she released a
cover of Annie’s Tomorrow to raise
funds for performers out of work
during the pandemic. The song
went viral, reaching No 2 in the
UK download charts, with Michael
Ball playing it regularly on his BBC
radio show.
Decca Records off ered her a
record deal, and she spent last
September touring her album.
“I know what it’s like when you
don’t have a job for two weeks, let
alone two years,” she said. “I did
the recording of Tomorrow in my
living room while I was at one of
my lowest times.
“I was feeling like I was getting
some headway in my career and it
all came to a halt. And I just needed
something to give me some hope.”
Oklahoma! I’m on a mission to
inspire, says West End pioneer
gonna go to theatre.’ It didn’t feel
like it belonged to me. So I want to
grant accessibility to everyone.”
That accessibility is refl ected in
Wallace’s Instagram, which is full
of funny videos of her rehearsing,
trying on outfi ts or messing around
in the gym. It’s a rare insight into
the life of theatre stars, who might
feel more removed from younger,
online audiences.
“Everyone gets to see us on stage
and they don’t see how the sausage
is made,” she said. “ I thought it
was really important to have a
presence on social media because
there’s other people out there that
are like me and maybe come from
small town. Maybe they don’t really
know that they can have a job as a
professional actress full-time .”Corden to leave
Late Late Show
in 2023 after
eight-year run
ReutersThe British comedian and chatshow
host James Corden will leave The Late
Late Show on CBS television in 2023
after eight years in the job, a network
spokesperson said on Thursday , in
a departure that may signal a larger
shift in the direction of US late-night
television.
Corden began hosting the U S week-
night show in 2015 and generated
buzz with his viral carpool karaoke
segments in which he sang along with
stars including Adele and Lady Gaga.
The comedian’s contract was due
to expire in August, but he has agreed
to stay on for one more season. He
announced the decision during a
taping of the show’s Thursday night
episode in Los Angeles, the spokes-
person said.
Corden ha d signalled that he might
be considering a move, including
telling Variety in December that he
“honestly” did not know if he would
renew his contract, and that he “never
really saw this job as a fi nal destina-
tion. I saw it as a stop on a journey ”.
Viewership for shows such as
Corden’s have dropped steeply in
recent years, the New York Times
reported , and several other prom-
inent late-night hosts, including
Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert,
also have contracts due to end soon ,
a situation that raises larger ques-
tions about the direction of late-night
shows built around the personalities
of middle-aged male comedians.
CBS did not respond for a request
for comment about who might
replace Corden on The Late Late
Show, or if the programme would
continue after his departure.
In 2020 Corden said that he and his
family missed England, telling the
Sun that he was “homesick,” and that
the pandemic had heightened that
feeling, the New York Times reported.
Several American TV critics sug-
gested that Amber Ruffi n, a comedian
and writer who has her own late-night
show on NBC’s streaming service,
Peacock, would be a good replace-
ment for Corden.
▲ Wallace with fellow actors James
Davis, left, and Arthur Darvill in
rehearsal for Oklahoma!
PHOTOGRAPH: ANNE TETZLAFF▲ The singer Adele takes part in
James Corden’s carpool karaoke‘Ado Annie is the
town’s object of love
and aff ection ... to
have a plus-sized
black woman play
her is incredible’Marisha Wallace