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re: Philly High School drops MILLIE after complaints of racism
Posted by: BruceinIthaca 05:43 pm EST 12/26/15
In reply to: re: Philly High School drops MILLIE after complaints of racism - simbo 05:16 pm EST 12/26/15
Except that I think "The Music Man" has now become such a staple of Americana that I would assume any educational institution would use "color-blind" casting (i.e. an Asian Harold Hill, a black Marian, and maybe an Inuit Winthrop would live in this world of River City--and only the most narrowminded audience members, especially those there for what is an extension of the classroom, which is what educational theatre should be about), and it would be little cause for comment.

I do understand your point about the roles of the Asians as non-walk-ons in TMM, and I will confess I have not seen it, only listened to it and read the plot summary. I gather there is an attempt to broaden the scope of the Asian characters (doesn't one end up with Miss Dorothy), so I don't assume any malice on their parts nor even necessarily ignorance. But I also wonder if the revision played better on Broadway than it might across the country for this reason. And I don't know what I think about casting non-Asians in Asian roles in such plays as "The King and I" or "Flower Drum Song" (I know, neither Juanita Hall nor Larry Blyden were Asian and Miyoshi Umeki, among others, no doubt were Asian but not Chinese or Chinese-American). I do know that until there are more roles written for non-white performers, we need, especially in educational settings, to imagine beyond the literal, but to also balance this with how younger generations of non-white (and white) young people see people who share their heritage portrayed onstage (and where they can fit in onstage). Does this mean I want a ban on productions of "Othello," because Shakespeare MAY have played on images of the black man as bestial and violent--no, "Othello" is about so much more than that IMO. But, as a wise Asian character once said (in words written for him by a Jewish American), it is "a puzzlement."
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