The Fairy Princess is busy, Folks – so this has to be short – which all but guarantees she is going to run on and on, but one can dream, can’t one?
Not even going to sugar coat it – we could definitely discuss the Asian Americans who have landed pilots and so forth, but again, TFP has lines to memorize to go in front of a Nemesis, so…quickly then, on we go.
In the past few days, she has been sent quite a few things this week that should be commented on…first up...North Shore Musical Theater.
Yes, AGAIN…
What have they done? Well, not content with making sure their EVITA in no way resembled Argentina, as they did a few months ago – they are busy keeping hold of their Rosetta LeNoire Award for Casting by advertising for an Asian American Male Performer thusly:
(ITO) Asian male, 20-40 – Chinese accent. Ito is employed as a houseboy by Mame Dennis.
Only one problem – ITO is a Japanese Immigrant character.
From Japan.
Not China.
Which is an entirely different country.
Which, btw, did NOT host the most recent Winter Olympics.
That was South Korea.
You see, TFP would love to believe that this is a honest mistake, except for the fact that once again, North Shore Musical Theater is getting it absolutely wrong when it comes to what they are even going for in regards to casting People of Color.
They neither know nor care that Ito is Japanese, and therefore should not be asked for a Chinese accent.
They only chose to do MAME because they have not bothered to do any research whatsoever, and wow – what a great, methodical choice it IS!
Producer Bill Haney of the “Patti LuPone played Evita in the original production so it is acceptable to not have a Latina in the show” Haney’s. No one caught this description – not even Director, Charles Repole or Musical Director, Milton Granger nor even the Casting Director, Matthew Chappell.
To them, Asian is Asian – no one cares, all look same dot com, up at North Shore Musical Theater.
They do not care.
They do not care about People of Color in the slightest.
They are not pretending, they are not ‘mistaken’, they simply do not give a…
WHEN IS ACTOR’S EQUITY GOING TO TAKE AWAY THAT ROSETTA LENOIRE AWARD FROM THESE DAMN PEOPLE WHO NEVER EARNED IT IN THE FIRST PLACE?
You know how we have a white washing T-shirt with all the names of the film stars?
Perhaps we should have one for theaters that casually ‘lose’ any reference to People of Color in roles where they should be, or when they disregard the kind of specific person that they are, even when the role calls for it.
(Now, TFP is not saying that Koreans cannot play Japanese or anything like that. She did her DNA and you know what came back? Just East Asian. No actual definable difference between the East Asians, although they are able to differentiate Southeast Asian, Central Asian, South Asian and Central Asian etc.
So if a Japanese American is playing a Chinese American, as a Chinese descended American she will personally roll her eyes a bit, but there is NOTHING WRONG WITH IT, it is more like a Austrian person playing a German person, in terms of genes. We all have to grow up a bit about this issue. Cousins, we are all cousins.)
On to the next bit of hideous news – there is an Acting Teacher, if you can call her that. Anyway, her name is Lesly Kahn and she is a LA Acting Teacher, with studios in Hollywood and Santa Monica.
She calls herself a teacher.
Here is a sample of what she teaches…this was taped and sent to TFP by Lexi Alexander via Twitter
Lesly: …That you’re Latin
Student: Fernanda?
Lesly: I can’t be the first person that suggested this.
Student: Yeah you are. I mean, I get ethnically ambiguous all the time, I mean, I did 23 and Me and I am 100% Ashkenazi Jewish. But yeah, no one’s ever told me to change my name.
Lesly: I 100% thought you were Latin.
Then they go on a bit, she is a young actress she has not done professional work and here is the kicker, if you will….
Lesly: …Go to Headshot Shop, tell them you are Latin. Wear something f*ucking red. Wear some f*cking sparkly earrings. Change your goddamn name, and let’s just do an experiment.
Lesly holds a BFA from NYU and an MFA from Yale – and she is one thousand per cent teaching super damaging and racist practices that have little to do with acting, and everything to do with stereotyping.
Basically, she is acting like a bigot.
Although, TFP does not believe Ms. K is a good actor, given various feedback she has read from past students who had nothing good to say about her in FB posts of Actors who are regularly seen on our televisions and stages, she is acting like she has many, many racist and sexist things to say.
If she is not a good actor – then TFP has to take that lesson from Maya Angelou, you know the one….
the one about believing someone the first time they show you what they are?
Ms. Kahn has shown bigotry, she is de facto, a bigot.
TFP is showing Ms. Kahn the respect of believing her the first time she shows herself to be a bigot.
We have to, in show business, be comfortable with who we are. Professional actors who have an unusual look or a look that is not able to be ‘pinned down’ by narrow minded Casting professionals, does not mean that actors who are professionals or who want to be professionals should be told to ‘paint themselves’, using stereotypical tropes to portray ethnicity that they are not familiar with.
Now we do turn to Hollywood and basically, we need to start using the sleeves of the shirt – because Natalie Portman is playing a Hapa and Jennifer Jason Leigh is playing a Native American – and in the same film.
Yup.
This is the film, Annihilation – and yes, there are People of Color in the film – and if you want to support the film because of that reason – that’s fine. TFP will not be going.
Now, the argument from the Director is that this film is based on the first of a trio of books and he had not read the second book, which identifies more clearly, that the characters have an ethnic heritage.
Except the first two books came out the same year. Just months apart.
Ms. Portman was signed the following year to the project.
Now, this is an Actress who starved herself and learned ballet for that dance movie she did, but in this case, she did no homework and did not read the second book that was available by the time she signed on to the picture.
We are supposed to believe that?
Another thing we are supposed to buy, is that the Yakuza was doing crime all wrong until Jared Leto got there to show them all how it is done.
Hmmmm…..
So the shirt adds two names – three if we want to include Jennifer Jason Leigh on the ice bridge theory of evolution that has Native Americans and Asians distantly related….TFP is feeling…she has MANY feels right now…
Lines to learn. Gotta go.
Everyone mentioned gets fifty smacks of the wand and a tiara up the tush – this is simply not acceptable in any way, shape or form.
TFP out.
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