Since the critics have tackled the topic of whether ''Miss Saigon'' is or isn't sexist and racist, It's a worthy debate. But I want to bring up another issue that Ben Brantley, Jesse Green and the other reviewers still don't fully understand and get wrong: the original ''yellowface'' casting controversy over Jonathan Pryce in 1990. It wasn't just a matter of whether a white actor could play an Asian/Eurasian character. The whole thing was predicated, in part, on a sham. As the reporter who broke this story in the N.Y. Daily News on July 11, 1990, I can tell you it was more complicated and misunderstood.
''Miss Saigon'' misrepresented its casting search for the Engineer, from the start. They claimed they had conducted a worldwide search for any Asian actor with the credentials or skill level to play the Engineer, and concluded that none could be found. Only AFTER Equity reversed itself and allowed Pryce to come to Broadway, on Aug. 16, a Mackintosh spokesman admitted that no such search was held and ''it is unfortunate and regrettable if any misunderstanding has arisen.'' And now, Mackintosh acknowledges: ''I threw [Pryce's name] in the hopper. The entire audition process, we never saw anyone else.'' Which is what Equity argued: that Mackintosh cast Pryce all along and wasn't interested in seeing any Asian actors for the Engineer. Equity was taking a principled stand on behalf of its actors of color and the concept of equal opportunity.
Frank Rich, in the new Times piece (''The Battle of 'Miss Saigon': Yellowface, Art and Opportunity,'' March 17, 2017), claims to be ''completely sympathetic'' to the plight of minority actors who get a ''raw deal.'' But Rich insists: ''I still feel a director has the right to do what he wants to do.'' I agree, and said as much in a commentary that ran with the Daily News' review of ''Miss Saigon'' (April 11, 1991): ''If Mackintosh wanted to cast Pryce for purely artistic reasons, fine. It's his prerogative to cast whomever he likes. It's his money; it's his show. But that doesn't give his company the right to mislead the public or write off an entire group of actors BEFORE it has even auditioned them.'' Also equally pertinent: If our society considers ''blackface'' to be racist and offensive, ''yellowface'' should be no different. In principle and in practice, they're both heinous.
A couple of years ago, Mackintosh admitted to the Telegraph something that's missing in the new Times piece: that he vastly underestimated the controversy in America, and wrongly laughed it off (''I was actually being stupid'' ). Though I'm sure he still believes casting Pryce was the right move, he now concedes that those who argued for an Asian actor had a valid point. And now, 25 years later, ''Miss Saigon'' stars Jon Jon Briones, a Filipino-American actor from L.A. ... Yes, it's progress, but let's not forget how we got here.
Updated On: 3/25/17 at 12:49 PM
. Among other pleasures, it offers lush melodies, spectacular performances by Mr. Pryce, Miss Salonga and the American actor Hinton Battle, and a good cry. Nor are its achievements divorced from its traumatic subject, as cynics might suspect. Without imparting one fresh or daring thought about the Vietnam War, the show still manages to plunge the audience back into the quagmire of a generation ago, stirring up feelings of anguish and rage that run even deeper than the controversies that attended "Miss Saigon" before its curtain went up."
