Millie Banned from School district. What's Next?

[wcoyote]

Posted: 4/12/19 at 8:37pm

https://www.newsday.com/long-island/education/thoroughly-modern-millie-racist-chinese-protest-1.29687492

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 4/12/19 at 8:56pm

Those characters are extremely racist. I'm surprised there hasn't been a major rewrite. The creatives need to step in and revisit those sections because if they don't, I think this show will die off very quickly.

[SomethingPeculiar]

Posted: 4/12/19 at 9:38pm

GeorgeandDot said: "Those characters are extremely racist. I'm surprised there hasn't been a major rewrite. The creatives need to step in and revisit those sections because if they don't, I think this show will die off very quickly."

This.

Especially with Tesori's involvement, since she seems to be such a "woke" person. Partner with a reputable regional theatre, retool it, get some positive press, and I bet licensing revenue would go up because of it. Though there could very well be complications with the rightsholders and other people involved.

[trentsketch]

Posted: 4/12/19 at 9:46pm

I've worked with a few different schools who opted not to do Millie because of the racist content. It's close to the same level of recognition as, "Why don't we do Peter Pan?" Uggawug, that's why, and another show is chosen.

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 4/12/19 at 11:04pm

When I saw the reunion concert last year, I was shocked by how cringey the racism in this show is. It’s not funny or clever, just dated and uncomfortable.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 4/13/19 at 6:15pm

I saw the show in La Jolla, and as a Chinese American, it was kind of fun to hear my dad's dialect in a musical. And then everything I saw and heard about the show post-La Jolla was extremely off-putting to me. I'm glad this is getting pushback.

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 4/13/19 at 8:07pm

Is it the Chinese characters themselves that people are finding offensive or the Mrs. Meers character who disguises herself as an over the top stereotypical Chinese woman?

[YvanEhtNioj]

Posted: 4/13/19 at 8:31pm

I've never actually seen the show, and I never knew the story.. Only heard a couple songs.

But I think that is THE strangest plot I've ever heard.

[darquegk]

Posted: 4/13/19 at 8:50pm

It’s a weird musical for today: a frothy comedy about racism, human trafficking, prostitution and workplace sexual harassment.

[SweetLips22]

Posted: 4/14/19 at 3:09am

Loved the movie, loved Mrs Meers--esp-'you 2 are sooo dreary', played the soundtrack endlessly, never seen the stage version.

Am going down to Melbourne in August to see Millie by The Production Company.

[nasty_khakis]

Posted: 4/14/19 at 7:52pm

Different show, but my friend turned down directing a regional production of The Drowsy Chaperone based mostly on the "What is it about Caucasians?" number and also a bit with the Adolfo character. She called me to get a better perspective and context of the show since she'd never seen it before, but I ultimately just advised her to either do it and (illegally) cut the song, or write to the licensing company and/or Bob Martin for advice.

[HereAndThere2]

Posted: 4/14/19 at 8:05pm

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Updated On: 4/14/19 at 08:05 PM

[LuPita2]

Posted: 4/14/19 at 9:42pm

GeorgeandDot said: "Those characters are extremely racist. I'm surprised there hasn't been a major rewrite. The creatives need to step in and revisit those sections because if they don't, I think this show will die off very quickly."

I agree, I think it will die off because otherwise it would need to be completely changed, and I do not see that happening. 

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 4/15/19 at 3:59pm

I saw a high school production of Anything Goes that changed the two gambling Chinese missionaries into a pair of gambling nuns. Not ideal but it worked. Have those characters remained in subsequent licensed adaptations of the show? Were they in the Sutton Foster revival?

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 4/15/19 at 4:10pm

Mrs. Meers wasn't even in yellowface in La Jolla, and it still worked. It's just so off-putting to add it in there, even if there's a reason within the story.

[lida rose]

Posted: 4/15/19 at 5:16pm

MrsSallyAdams said: "I saw a high school production of Anything Goes that changed the two gambling Chinese missionaries into a pair of gambling nuns. Not ideal but it worked. Have those characters remained in subsequent licensed adaptations of the show? Were they in the Sutton Foster revival?"

they were in the sutton foster revival, and they were also in the arena stage production in DC this past winter. 

[Niles Silvers]

Posted: 4/15/19 at 9:07pm

"White slavery" was very much in vogue in the minds of the public during the time this story was set.  It's hard to believe that it would still be portrayed in this day and age.  

[Ravenclaw]

Posted: 4/15/19 at 9:32pm

nasty_khakis said: "Different show, but my friend turned down directing a regional production of The Drowsy Chaperone based mostly on the "What is it about Caucasians?" number and also a bit with the Adolfo character. She called me to get a better perspective and context of the show since she'd never seen it before,but I ultimately just advised her to either do it and (illegally) cut the song, or write to the licensing company and/or Bob Martin for advice."

Isn't that kind of totally different? That number from Drowsy Chaperone is meant to mock and acknowledge the racist attitudes in entertainment of the time. The characters in Millie ask the audience to enjoy watching racist caricatures. Drowsy adds a level of commentary that Millie does not.

[temms]

Posted: 4/15/19 at 10:19pm

I did an Anything Goes years ago (the LCT version) and the director had the Asians be white guys disguised as Chinese to hide from a gangster and would periodically take off their “disguises” for a moment when no was looking, give each other a look that said “I can’t believe we’re doing this” and then going right back into it. I don’t know if that made it better or worse. It was 1998 if that makes a difference.

And I’m glad that director turned down DROWSY because it’s clearly not a show they get. That moment was the funniest in the whole show for me, not because it was making fun of Asians, but of horribly offensive old shows from that same era.

[SweetLips22]

Posted: 4/15/19 at 10:27pm

I remember how shocked I was when I last saw MFL, probably 15 years ago That's how the play was written and continues in the musical---no changes--no outrage?

[nasty_khakis]

Posted: 4/15/19 at 11:13pm

Her point was more in her small town in the middle of Trump country she'd just be hiring a white man do give an exaggerated Latin-lover accent for laughs as well as an "asian" accent with makeup. We agreed the script was commenting on it but also wasn't quite sure if the audience in her town would see it as commentary or "hahaha that's how they talk" face value joke. 

[Ado Annie D'Ysquith]

Posted: 4/16/19 at 3:56pm

Regarding the nuns on the S.S. American, do they also change the "Plum Blossom" bit to break Evelyn and Hope's engagement? If so, what have they replaced that scene with?

[Kad]

Posted: 4/16/19 at 4:55pm

I’m surprised the white trafficking subplot in Millie hasn’t caused more issues for people. Even when I worked on the show in college ten years ago, it was evident it was a major cause of concern (the faculty had to repeatedly admonish the two Caucasian actors playing Chin Ho and Bun Foo for using make up to make their eyes look Asian).

Even stranger is that the subplot was also clearly a concern for Tesori and Scanlan in their adaptation, considering the effort made to flesh out Chin Ho and Bun Foo beyond being henchmen.

Updated On: 4/16/19 at 04:55 PM