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

[Dancingthrulife2]

Posted: 3/25/16 at 4:25am

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

[laughingplace]

Posted: 3/25/16 at 4:42am

The first one was White and won a tony for it

"

 

[Sondheimite]

Posted: 3/25/16 at 4:57am

Did you check the controversies section of that wiki article?

[laughingplace]

Posted: 3/25/16 at 5:04am

Yes, I heard that the ALW would of pulled the show if the  unions had his way.

Updated On: 3/25/16 at 05:04 AM

[imeldasturn]

Posted: 3/25/16 at 5:36am

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.

[antonijan]

Posted: 3/25/16 at 5:45am

the engineer at the Broadway by the Bay productions is pretty good

[Dancingthrulife2]

Posted: 3/25/16 at 5:48am

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.

[10086sunset]

Posted: 3/25/16 at 6:06am

Pryce killed in the role.

 

[Dave19]

Posted: 3/25/16 at 8:06am

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.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 3/25/16 at 8:44am

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

Wow, ALW is not a producer, cam Mac produces ALW's phantom and I think all ALW shows. Cam Mac produced miss Saigon, but the writers were the people from Les miz

[Smaxie]

Posted: 3/25/16 at 8:53am

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

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

[madbrian]

Posted: 3/25/16 at 8:56am

Does the Engineer have to be male?  I was thinking about Margaret Cho.

[Princeton Returns]

Posted: 3/25/16 at 8:58am

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 

[mailhandler777]

Posted: 3/25/16 at 9:31am

I saw an Irish-Japanese guy as the Engineer back in 1993. 

[Jallenc32]

Posted: 3/25/16 at 11:04am

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).

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 3/25/16 at 11:11am

Kevin Gray, God Bless him was such a wonderful talent and amazing in the role.  He probably did physically best resemble the description of the character as French-Vietmanese.

 

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

[Jallenc32]

Posted: 3/25/16 at 11:37am

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.

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 3/25/16 at 11:44am

To be perfectly honest, I think the point that the character was "Eur-asian" was likely invented later to justify the casting of the non Asian Jonathan Pryce.  But it has since become the story of the creative team that the character is 'bi-racial' and they are sticking to it.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 3/25/16 at 12:05pm

"would've" or "would have"

 

"would of" literally has no meaning

[SomethingPeculiar]

Posted: 3/25/16 at 12:27pm

Here we go again on this topic........

[jpbran]

Posted: 3/25/16 at 1:40pm

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

[PalJoey]

Posted: 3/25/16 at 2:35pm

 

Is this a troll post?

 

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 3/25/16 at 2:54pm

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.

[Wildcard]

Posted: 3/25/16 at 3:56pm

The Engineer is a Bui-Doi, hence he is considered an outcast. Mixed race people can look like more of one than the other but physical characteristics of both still show through.

[CurtainPullDowner]

Posted: 3/25/16 at 4:02pm

Darren Criss is Asian?