Broadway’s ‘Aladdin’ Star Shoba Narayan: You Don’t Need to Change Your Name

The following Career Dispatch essay was written by Shoba Narayan, who is currently starring as Jasmine in “Aladdin” on Broadway. 

My parents emigrated from India to build a life and family in the U.S. They settled in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia, which is where I grew up. My heritage has always been important to me, even as I grew up as the sole Indian American girl in a non-diverse town. 

The culture of the town, at the time, was not one of celebrating differences. My name was constantly mispronounced, mocked, and turned into nicknames. Or worse, sometimes no one would even bother saying it. For those who did, it was “Shoe-ba Naranayana” and other variations.

When I was in eighth grade, my school announced “The Wizard of Oz” as our spring musical. Naturally, since I was already deeply in love with theater, I desperately wanted to play Dorothy. I had been waiting my whole life to step into her ruby slippers! 

“Dorothy isn’t brown!” my classmates said. “Dorothy needs to be white. It’s never going to be you, Narayananana.” 

It was white noise that my mom told me to tune out. She said, “Shoba, let the others think what they want. If you want this role, go get it.” So I tried. I practiced “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” more times than you can imagine. I prepared an excerpt from the Polichinelle dance I had done in “The Nutcracker” that year. I did everything in my little eighth grade power I could to change people’s minds and to prove I was worthy. 

I had to try hard—harder than anyone else—but I got the role. I couldn’t believe it, but at the same time, I could. I knew I deserved it, no matter what my name was or how I looked.

Years later, I tried to take that pride and spirit into a predominantly white conservatory program. But I sometimes struggled to envision someone who looked like me in the broader musical theater landscape. It was tough. When I emerged from the program, I debated changing my name to something more “familiar.”

Anglicizing ethnic names was and remains common among performers of color, as they strive to become more palatable to industry folks. The question weighed on me: Am I going to have to do that? I sought advice from established colleagues who had changed their own names: “How about Shoba Ryan? That’s super easy for white people.”

Shoba Ryan. I cringed, but decided to take the idea to my agents. “What do you think?” I asked, not fully on board myself. To my surprise, they vehemently opposed it. “People will learn to say your name. We can say it. Why can’t others? If people can say ‘Kim Kardashian,’ they can certainly say your name!” 

It was at that moment I remembered something my parents told me a lot when I was a child: “Your name is your power, Shoba.” And they sat me down to explain the meaning and origin of mine. Shoba means “beautiful, auspicious, and glorious” in Sanskrit. My last name, Narayan, is another name for the Hindu god Vishnu, who “rests on the waters of creation.”

I kept my name, cast away my doubts, and never looked back. My name is an homage to my lineage, my history, and my dreams for the future. I wear it with pride every day. 

Sure, there are still times when my name is mispronounced; but when it happens, I offer assistance with patience, grace, and dignity. “It’s Narayan, with the musicality of ‘O’Brian.’ ”

Your name, and everything that makes you unique, is your power. Stand tall and be proud of that. Throughout life, and in show business especially, there may be times you feel pressure to hide or change parts of yourself. I encourage you to embrace it, celebrate it, and invite others to understand its importance to you.