A New Sound of Music
By Sherz Aletaha
So let’s start this whole thing off with one big confession: this post was going to be about a completely different topic, but then something happened last night that made me throw it all away and start over. But before we get to that, hi! I’m Sherz (it sounds like more than one Cher). It’s short for Sharzad which is also a version of the name Scheherazade like the great Persian storyteller, and somewhere deep in a storage unit in Orange County, California there’s a video of the day I was born where my uncle is on camera saying they spelled my name wrong on my birth certificate. It was an elegant introduction to the world…
Anyway! Back to the point of this post. When the folks at Live & In Color first asked me to write this blog, I had a million ideas of what I wanted to write about. Should I write a passive article dedicated to white actors who say things like “They went diverse with the role?” Should I write about the casting directors who have asked me to do a “light Middle Eastern accent” in auditions as if the millions of people from the numerous countries that make up the Middle East all have the same accent? Should I write about how even though I’m 100% Iranian, I have green eyes and light skin and I’m a genetic conundrum for all who come in contact with me? All were possibilities but last night, I had the pleasure of seeing a show that made me throw away any and all ideas I had about this post. Live & In Color’s artistic director, Dev Janki, was directing a concert called “I Won’t Grow Up,” which looked at the depiction of children in the world of musical theater. “Cute!” I ignorantly thought. I’ve known Dev for years and I should’ve known that he would assemble a cast that was not only wildly talented but also incredibly diverse and inclusive.
When I sat in my seat and opened my program, I was so excited to see all of these songs that I’ve loved since I was a kid listed. What I was not expecting was to openly weep while I heard “So Long, Farewell” from The Sound of Music for the millionth time in my life. Please trust that I am not exaggerating when I use the word weep. The stranger sitting to my left asked if one of the kids was mine because why else would a creepy stranger be crying during this very sweet and upbeat number? But for the first time in [insert age…] years, I saw this song sung by children of all different ethnicities and it BLEW ME AWAY. My sister and I were obsessed with The Sound of Music when we were little. So much so, that it was a game we would play. We would watch the VHS and reenact the whole thing in front of the tv or until we inevitably would get in a fight over who got to be Liesl during “I Am Sixteen, Going on Seventeen” because what five year old doesn’t want to spend their play time, singing, dancing, and falling in love with a teenage Nazi? Our parents even made sure to take us to see the tour starring Marie Osmond when it came to Orange County. I remember being truly outraged that the Liesl was blonde. The one thing I had in common with the girl from the movie, gone!
At that age, I couldn’t pinpoint the feeling of how important and impactful representation and inclusivity are, but it was something that looking back, I clearly craved. Honestly, I still crave it! I’m a curvy, Persian female who, according to the powers that be, doesn’t look Middle Eastern enough to be cast in the Middle Eastern roles and I don’t look white enough to play the white girl roles. So what do I do? I find inspiration and comfort in the groundbreakers who came before me, and I keep going. Like all people who are other or marginalized or different, not only do we have to be good, we have to be so good that we shatter the mold and completely shift people’s perception of what they thought they wanted. Over time, I’ve embraced the legacy of my namesake, Scheherazade. As I navigate this ever changing industry, I try to lure people in with my storytelling hoping that I’m entertaining and intriguing enough to last another day and more importantly open eyes and change minds.
Sherz which is pronounced like more than one Cher just finished her run as Aldonza in Man of La Mancha (Triad Stage). She has had the pleasure of performing at The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Ars Nova, in Prospect Theater Company's Archetypes, Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway’s Disaster! and at Dixon Place in Spring Alive (cast album available). On Camera work includes “The Detour,” “The First Wives Club,” “Three Trembling Cities,” “Wing Women,” "Insomnia," and numerous commercials. Follow her at @morethanonecher.