MAYBE HAPPY ENDING Reviews- Page 26

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 7/26/25 at 1:18pm

The Engineer is half white. Can’t he be played as easily by a white man as he could an Asian man?

[pagereynolds]

Posted: 7/26/25 at 1:21pm

BorisTomashevsky said: "The Engineer is half white. Can’t he be played as easily by a white man as he could an Asian man?"

So we're just making stuff up now? The lyric literally says his father was a local tattoo artist and his mother was a sex worker.

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 7/26/25 at 1:32pm

pagereynolds said: "BorisTomashevsky said: "The Engineer is half white. Can’t he be played as easily by a white man as he could an Asian man?"

So we're just making stuff up now? The lyric literally says his father was a local tattoo artist and his mother was a sex worker."

He is told by his boss at one point, perhaps in the Bangkok scene, “Get to work, half-breed.”

It’s all over the internet. He’s French-Vietnamese.

But of course Filipinos have been playing the role for the last 30 years since Asian is Asian is Asian and there’s no racism about that, no sir!!! /s

[pagereynolds]

Posted: 7/26/25 at 1:34pm

BorisTomashevsky said: "pagereynolds said: "BorisTomashevsky said: "The Engineer is half white. Can’t he be played as easily by a white man as he could an Asian man?"

So we're just making stuff up now? The lyric literally says his father was a local tattoo artist and his mother was a sex worker."

He is told by his boss at one point, perhaps in the Bangkok scene, “Get to work, half-breed.”

It’s all over the internet. He’s French-Vietnamese.

But of course Filipinos have been playing the role for the last 30 years since Asian is Asian is Asian and there’s no racism about that, no sir!!! /s"

French doesn't mean white.

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 7/26/25 at 1:37pm

“French doesn't mean white.”

He’s described as Eurasian. Google Engineer Saigon Eurasian. 

Does it hurt when you bend yourself into a pretzel like that?

[Owen22]

Posted: 7/26/25 at 1:50pm

BorisTomashevsky said: "Jose and anyone who thinks like him can fuc right off."

You seem nice. 

 

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 7/26/25 at 1:58pm

Owen22 said: "BorisTomashevsky said: "Jose and anyone who thinks like him can fuc right off."

You seem nice."

More ad hominem. There’s a fatigue that comes when there is actually no barrier to entry but people keep screaming “there’s a barrier to entry!” No time for Jose or that instagram girl who wrote “Noah if you love Helen you’ll give up the role.” How DARE these people… 

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 7/26/25 at 2:42pm

Boris makes alot of good points, but he undermines it by being so harsh and nasty and dismissive of how Asian Americans might find pride/joy in roles championed as being groundbreaking Asian.

And the woke brigade has a good point re wanting lead roles for Asian Americans, but they remain incapable of making that point without calling everyone else racists and bigots.

Carry on America!

(Feldman will be perfect in the role, and I would love to go see him with Shen, his real life girlfriend.)

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 7/26/25 at 3:21pm

For the record, the Engineer is Eurasian, but he needs to look Asian because he tries to pass himself off as Kim's brother in the story. In the London production, Pryce wore prosthetics to make his eyes look more ''slanted'' (a practice dropped for Broadway). Ever since Pryce left the Broadway show, the Engineer has been played by actors of Asian ancestry. (Which still does not excuse ''Miss Saigon'' for initially lying about making a worldwide search to find a suitable Asian actor to play the Engineer, when it hadn't.) 

Also, in the 1989 London production, Thuy, the Vietnamese villain, was played by a Caucasian with taped eyelids: Keith Burns. For Broadway, he would be replaced by an Asian-American actor: Barry K. Bernal. On the 25th anniversary of ''Miss Saigon,'' Burns said he was proud to be part of the show: "I was devastated [that I didn't play Thuy on Broad-way], but now I look back, it was the right thing – a white guy playing an Asian role seems very old-fashioned now."

 

Updated On: 7/26/25 at 03:21 PM

[Ensemble1698878795]

Posted: 7/26/25 at 3:33pm

MB124 said: "I’m done trying to get anywhere with you, Ensemble.

Bye.

Auggie27 said: "To return to my earlier point about the show's sales after Criss leaves: I checked three more September dates, and found a handful of performances in which fewer than 75-100seats total had been sold at each. October is startling, the mezz completely unsold at many performances. I get that Broadway now operates with a different model insofar as advance ticket purchases are concerned. But the difference in summer sales and fall suggests two different shows commercially. The decision to bypass a star or star adjacent actor for two months is striking. (Sorry, arguably Mr. Feldman is no one's idea of box office; he's not even Montego Glover.) The show itself is expected to become the event, a lauded Tony winner, but it will need a brand new advertizing blitz with a new focus. And as I opined, it will need to sell a large number of seats daily at the TKTS booth.

For comparison, look at the ingenuous casting at Hadestown. Bringing in new stars from the recording world, indie/altrock iconoclasts and now the gifted young actor from the PBS televisedNext to Normal and several other known names has kept the show vital, ever renewable. These 9 weeks post-Criss presented a unique opportunity for genuinely creative casting of the same sort.Surely the goal wasn't to move the preponderance of sales to TKTS before the Best Musical 2025reaches a one-year anniversary."

I’m sorry, but on what planet is Jack Wolfe selling ANY tickets…?

HADESTOWN is selling on its name and it’s Tony wins. As will MHE.

There’s nothing to be concerned about as far as moving tickets. It may not run as long as HADESTOWN, but it’ll be fine. The fall is always a slower sales period, compared to the summer.

Additionally, appearing on TKTS is not the death knell it used to be. I went to the booth a few weeks back (prior to the Tonys) to ask about pricing for SUNSET and they were indeed selling tickets at half price - but they were prime orchestra seats, going for upwards of $200 (I’d imagine they’re normally about $400). Popping up on TKTS doesn’t correlate to worrisome ticket salesas blatantlyasit used to.
"

Sad to report. Not going anywhere. Sorry not sorry bout what I said. Don’t lose your head. 

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 7/26/25 at 3:43pm

Keith Burns, incidentally, passed away last year. In addition to Miss Saigon he was also in the original cast of Les Mis and played Judas on a 20th Anniversary recording of JCS.

Where do you stand, Wayman, on the “Asianwashing” of roles like in Miss Saigon, where one race is treated as interchangeable with another? If we’re talking about “lived experiences” being needed for authenticity, and allowing that “as long as they’re even part Asian, they can play anywhere in Asia”, then surely a Chinese actress born into billion dollar wealth should be unable to play the impoverished Kim in Miss Saigon due to the absence of a shared lived experience?

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 7/26/25 at 5:15pm

Owen22 said: "BorisTomashevsky said: "Jose and anyone who thinks like him can fuc right off."

You seem nice."

As someone who's had that right-wing shill blocked for a while now, thank you for letting me know I'm not missing anything. Anyone whose response to Jose Llana's relatively mild comment is...that is not worth wasting time on.

This has been an interesting and relatively peaceful discussion, presuming one has the worst people on the site blocked. Thanks to those who've contributed. Yesterday I read some of the original articles on the Miss Saigon controversy from 1990. So many of the same excuses and justifications that were trotted out then are being parroted now. 35 years later, how little has changed.

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 7/26/25 at 5:20pm

MemorableUserName said: "Owen22 said: "BorisTomashevsky said: "Jose and anyone who thinks like him can fuc right off."

You seem nice."

As someone who's had that right-wing shill blocked for a while now, thank you for letting me know I'm not missing anything. Anyone whose response to Jose Llana's relatively mild comment is...that is not worth wasting time on.

This has been an interesting and relatively peaceful discussion, presuming one has the worst people on the site blocked. Thanks to those who've contributed. Yesterday I read some of the original articles on the Miss Saigon controversy from 1990. So many of the same excuses and justifications that were trotted out then are being parroted now. 35 years later, how little has changed."

That’s okay ForgettableUserName, I don’t mind that you’re missing out on my insightful contributions if it means you don’t have to cry yourself to sleep because of who you think I am. 

All the same, I’d rather hang out with anyone on the right than this blonde psycho: https://www.reddit.com/r/Broadway/s/kRnRn4HYjn

Updated On: 7/26/25 at 05:20 PM

[RUkiddingme]

Posted: 7/26/25 at 5:24pm

Can we split this thread into 2 separate topics?

1 to debate race?

2 to debate if Andrew is a name?

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 7/26/25 at 5:26pm

^ He’s not just a name, he’s three names! 

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 7/26/25 at 6:22pm

Owen22 said: "BorisTomashevsky said: "Jose and anyone who thinks like him can fuc right off."

You seem nice.

That person has been on here nonstop and checking this thread every two minutes for over two days. He is a loser with no friends, no family, no job, absolutely nothing. He's in his sh*tty basement studio in Texas thinking he's winning. He is not. That's all you need to know about that proud MAGAt. Trust. 

 

Updated On: 7/27/25 at 06:22 PM

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 7/26/25 at 6:35pm

Sutton Ross said: "Owen22 said: "BorisTomashevsky said: "Jose and anyone who thinks like him can fuc right off."

You seem nice.

That person has been on here nonstop and checking this thread every two minutes for over two days. He is a loser with no friends, no family, no job, absolutely nothing. He's in his sh*tty basement studio in Texas thinking he's winning. He is not. That's all you need to know about that proud MAGat. Trust."

Texas doesn’t have basements 😘 

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 7/26/25 at 6:42pm

And....I rest my case. Guys, stop engaging 

[PipingHotPiccolo]

Posted: 7/26/25 at 7:00pm

Sutton Ross said: "Owen22 said: "BorisTomashevsky said: "Jose and anyone who thinks like him can fuc right off."

You seem nice.

That person has been on here nonstop and checking this thread every two minutes for over two days. He is a loser with no friends, no family, no job, absolutely nothing. He's in his sh*tty basement studio in Texas thinking he's winning. He is not. That's all you need to know about that proud MAGat. Trust.

"

See, the pushback to MAGA is always just the inverse of MAGA--cruel and always proudly ignorant. American is cooked.

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 7/26/25 at 11:47pm

PipingHotPiccolo said: "See, the pushback to MAGA is always just the inverse of MAGA--cruel and always proudly ignorant. American is cooked."

"Inverse": opposite in order, nature, or effect

Are you saying the pushback to MAGA is "cruel and always proudly ignorant," so you think MAGA is...kind and modestly knowledgeable? Or MAGA is "cruel and proudly ignorant" so the pushback you quoted is kind and modestly knowledgeable...so America is cooked?

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 7/27/25 at 3:26pm

OnStage Blog by Chris Peterson

Why Oliver in 'Maybe Happy Ending' Should Remain an Asian Role

Broadway has not yet earned the luxury of being race-blind when it comes to casting roles like Oliver. Asian American actors are still fighting for meaningful, romantic, leading roles on the Broadway stage. When a show comes along that not only gives them that opportunity, but celebrates them for it, and when that performance wins the highest honor in American theater, taking that role away and handing it to a white actor feels like a reversal, not an evolution.

This is not about gatekeeping. It is about honoring what was built. Darren Criss’s performance was not a one-time exception. It should have been the beginning of a standard.

Oliver should be played by an Asian performer. Not as a temporary gesture, but as an ongoing commitment to equity, consistency, and respect. For the culture that gave birth to this story. For the actor who brought it to Broadway. And for the audiences who finally saw themselves in a leading role and believed, for a moment, that things were changing.

We should not be moving on. We should be moving forward. And this casting choice moves us in the wrong direction.

https://www.onstageblog.com/editorials/2025/7/24/why-oliver-in-maybe-happy-ending-should-remain-an-asian-role

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 7/27/25 at 3:57pm

^ In the Facebook comments of that blog piece, an Asian woman said she didn’t think Andrew being cast was a big deal, and a white man then replied that she should check her own racism.

2025 man…

[GottaGetAGimmick420]

Posted: 7/27/25 at 4:09pm

Well, the r/Broadway subreddit currently has a filter on it blocking anyone from posting about Maybe Happy Ending and the words Asian American. I tried to post about Conrad Ricamora’s new scholarship and the post is blocked every time. So at least this board is better than that one in that regard.

 

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-conrad-ricamora-foster-future-asian-acting-talent?attribution_id=sl:146fa1cb-6251-408f-b6a3-432152a778eb&lang=en_US&ts=1753625026&utm_campaign=man_sharesheet_dash&utm_content=amp13_t1&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link&fbclid=PAQ0xDSwLzZctleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABp5Vi4z_Xty6_GXPlat1IyalZ5XziRCkEzAOqIVnjTTVk1OymGwRIQnrghzBu_aem_uH4xDTC_d279jDx_I-LojQ

[BorisTomashevsky]

Posted: 7/27/25 at 4:21pm

Wait for the Broadway subreddit to be called racist in 3…2…

Updated On: 7/27/25 at 04:21 PM

[MemorableUserName]

Posted: 7/27/25 at 9:56pm

GottaGetAGimmick420 said: "Well, the r/Broadway subreddit currently has a filter on it blocking anyone from posting about Maybe Happy Ending and the words Asian American. I tried to post about Conrad Ricamora’s new scholarship and the post is blocked every time. So at least this board is better than that one in that regard.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-conrad-ricamora-foster-future-asian-acting-talent

 

Thank you for sharing. This is wonderful. 

And there's his Instagram post, which Michael Arden commented on in support. Hmmm..

https://www.instagram.com/conradricamora/p/DMnSZ0-Mesb/