So Engineer in Miss Saigon doesn't have to be (traditionally) Asian?

Don't get me wrong. I was bored, so I figured to read the synopsis of Miss Saigon on Wikipedia just to kill time. To my surprise, I found the Engineer is actually a French-Vietnamese (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miss_Saigon) . Does this give a free pass for them to cast white Engineer replacements in the revival?

Updated On: 3/25/16 at 04:25 AM

Did you check the controversies section of that wiki article?

It was cameron mackintosh, not ALW.

In "The American Dream" the Engineer says he's half French, but a half french half asian person would still have asian features. The ideal Engineer should be someone like Kevin Gray.

imeldasturn said: "It was cameron mackintosh, not ALW.

In "The American Dream" the Engineer says he's half French, but a half french half asian person would still have asian features. The ideal Engineer should be someone like Kevin Gray.



"

I'm thinking of Darren Criss. Not that he could pull off this character, or who knows, but his ethnic background could fit the role well.

Half french, half Vietnamese. That means every white or asian male can be considered.



I'm glad that Cameron always chose the best person. Regardless of skin color or country of origin.

Andrew Lloyd Webber also produces under the mantle of his company, Really Useful Group.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Really_Useful_Group

Alw does produce via his company RUG, which is half the problem with him. Interesting that his most successful shows have been produced by cameron. I think Cameron has only produced Cats and Phantom of AlWs. But that's just off the top of my head, there may have been others

The role of the engineer doesn't really have to be played by vietnamese actor as the show makes his background clear. I think part o the controversy with pryce was (from memory) they altered the shape of his eyes to look more Asian

Dave19 said: "Half french, half Vietnamese. That means every white or asian male can be considered.



I'm glad that Cameron always chose the best person. Regardless of skin color or country of origin.



"



Where in the script does it say he's half-French?



All that we know of his parentage is that his father was from Haiphong and that his mother was a prostitute. The only reference to the French is the line "selling your mom is a wrench / perfume can cover the stench / that's what I learned from the French" which while about his mother doesn't say that his mother is French, it's just referencing French control of the region (much like the lesson he learned from the Yanks in the next verse).

And I do interpret from his line "that's what I learned from the French" -- that his mother was a French prostitute; apparently common in the Indochine in the 1950s"



Well from my vantage point that line refers to the French customers of his mother and not his mother directly. He refers to the customers as "monsieurs" who covered the stench of his mother with perfume.

Either way, there's no direct evidence in the script that he's Eurasian. I'm also no expert on citizenship laws, but if his mother was French that may have given him immigration rights without the need of an American visa.

"would've" or "would have"



"would of" literally has no meaning

Doesn't his new Bangkok boss say "get to work, half-breed!"?

It seems clear to me that, because of where the story is set, the Engineer should look like he's indigenous to the region as opposed to, say, from Milwaukee. But I'm kind of spinning on the Margaret Cho idea. I think she actually sings well enough to get through the vocals.

Darren Criss is Asian?