Sherine Ahmed is the first Arab woman to star in Broadway

Farida Ahmed

She managed to break the stereotypical presence of Arabs in American drama, and she became the first Arab woman to embody a non-Arab character, and even lead the starring role on Broadway in New York, as she even contributed to creating a new reality for Arab artists in America.

Sherine Ahmed - of Egyptian origins - is the new heroine of the international lyrical play "My Beautiful Lady", and Sherine performs the character "Elisa Doolittle" that was previously presented by artists such as Christine Andreas, Liz Robertson, Nancy Ringham, Melissa Erico, Martine Macocheon, Lauren Ambrose and Laura Banti .

An old dream comes true
"My beautiful lady's play was the main ingredient in our evenings when I wanted to watch movies, every time I played the video, and I would immediately move to London at the beginning of the twentieth century," Sherine says in an article I wrote for "The Ensemblist" in my home. The sound of the orchestra in my room, which also turns into a part of the play, was dancing and I was running non-stop to the rhythm of a song, I could dance all night. "

She never dreamed of playing Princess Yasmine in the story of Aladdin, although she is one of her favorite princesses, and commented in the "Washington Post" saying "I think it does not represent my identity, I do not want to perpetuate this type of stereotype."

Half an Arab
It appears that her fear of stereotyping was due to the Americans dealing with her, as a semi-Egyptian half-American, after the attacks of September 11, 2001.

Sherine was exposed to stereotyping after the attacks, she did not know which team she belonged to, as she was not Arab enough, she was not American enough, and she fought a long identity battle that continued to this day.

Chasing a dream
Sherine is the eldest daughter of an Egyptian immigrant father who owns a jewelry store in Maryland, and her mother Sandra is of American origin, and works as an English teacher.

Her artistic talent appeared since she was a child, but her parents did not care to polish her by enrolling in singing or dancing lessons, as her mother believed that all children also can sing and dance, but despite that - during her school years - she knew her way to New York City alone, she was She wakes up too early to take the bus to New York, to take a talent test or take acting lessons, and return at the end of the day to home, without telling anyone what happened on her day.

The 26-year-old actress is a graduate of Towson University in the US in social justice. Sherine did not wait long after college until the doors began to open to her insistence, she participated in many acting tests for lyrical and show plays, and in December 2017 she was accepted to play the role of Eliza Doolittle, in a new presentation of the play "My Lady Beautiful" produced by "Lincoln Theater" Center "directed by Bartlett Sher, and appointed the alternative to the artist, Laura Bintani. After the last exit of the play, Sherine finally got the role.

Insistence is its strength
Sherine believes that it is best to play the role of Elisa Doolittle, because there are many similarities between them, especially the insistence that is the secret of her strength.

Sherine faced many difficulties, which she did not know anything about in her childhood, because of her Arabic name, and no one saw her - when she began chasing her passion for acting and art - as Elisa, but was seen only in Arab roles, which gave her a feeling of frustration, However, she did not give up, and turned her frustration into a momentum even if in an open performance experience on Broadway to speak of the miracle. Sherine Ahmed enters history as the first actress and singer of Egyptian and Middle Eastern origins to star in Broadway in New York.

The play My Beautiful Lady was borrowed from the Pygmalion play by Bernard Shaw, and it was presented for the first time on Broadway in 1956, then it was reproduced several times on the Broadway, London and Berlin theaters. The late Fouad the engineer and artist Shwikar.