My twisty history with 'Miss Saigon' and 'Yellow Face'

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 11/14/24 at 1:47pm

I have a one-of-a-kind history with Claude-Michel Schönberg, Alain Boublil and Richard Maltby's Miss Saigon and David Henry Hwang's Yellow Face, now playing at Roundabout Theatre Company. In 1990, I was the New York Daily News reporter who broke the historic story about the casting controversy over Jonathan Pryce in Miss Saigon. That led to protests and a dramatic showdown between Actors' Equity and producer Cameron Mackintosh. And I had a run-in with Pryce at the 1991 Tony Awards. David Henry Hwang, the Tony-winning playwright of M. Butterfly, was one of Miss Saigon's biggest critics: "I thought the yellow-face days of Charlie Chan and Fu Manchu were dead. It's absurd." And in 2006, he wrote Yellow Face, a comedy that was inspired by that casting controversy, and it even included me as a character. Here's how my tale, and its twists, all began ...

https://www.talkinbroadway.com/page/rialto/past/2024/yellowface.html

[spicemonkey]

Posted: 11/14/24 at 2:42pm

Wow thanks for sharing! How fascinating is it to be part of a historical event!

 

I have never been and will never be a fan of Miss Saigon. And I love Yellow Face. Going to see it for the third time on the weekend

[Wayman_Wong]

Posted: 11/16/24 at 1:21pm

Spicemonkey, thanks so much for your kind comments! I've been waiting years to finally share my journey with ''Miss Saigon'' and ''Yellow Face'' and set the record straight.

For the record, I didn't include ''Face Value,'' Hwang's first effort at a farce about racial identity in 1993, because it closed after only 8 previews. I never even got to see it.

At the risk of running too long, I also left out the story of Keith Burns. It's often forgotten that Pryce wasn't the only one who used prosthetics, wigs and makeup to play Asian in the 1989 London production of ''Miss Saigon.'' Burns, a Caucasian, originated the role of Thuy, the show's Vietnamese villain. On Broadway, that role was recast with an Asian-American: Barry K. Bernal. In the wake of ''Miss Saigon's'' 25th anniversary, Burns recalled being ''very proud'' of being in the show and hoped to reprise his role on Broadway. He said: ''I was devastated [when I didn't get to], but now I look back: It was the right thing - a white guy playing an Asian seems so old-fashioned now.'' (Below is a 2016 interview with Burns, plus a photo of him as Thuy, meeting Princess Diana!)

https://www.warringtonguardian.co.uk/leisure/interviews/14797235.original-cast-member-of-miss-saigon-to-be-seen-by-millions-when-25th-anniversary-show-airs-in-cinemas-worldwide-this-sunday/

Updated On: 11/16/24 at 01:21 PM

[Wick3]

Posted: 11/17/24 at 9:47am

Thanks for sharing! I finally watched Yellow Face yesterday where they had a talkback afterwards. It was cool to see the playwright there and answer questions on the development of the play through the years.

i didn’t know much about the play beforehand and will admit was tempted to google some things like Marcus Gee to see what was real and what was fiction.

I vaguely remember Yul Brynner from King and I was from Far East Russia but wasn’t sure if that was part of Siberia or not.