The Fairy Princess’s wings are fluttering a bit slower today, because, MANAA (Media Action Network for Asian Americans) via their founder, Guy Aoki, have taken it upon themselves to decide whether or not “Hapas” count.
Old Rafu (Randall, no last name listed) read Mr. Aoki’s column of bombastic bullshit and decided he would conduct his own very scientific experiment, with his vast knowledge of mixed race people and try and decide whether or not Actress, Chloe Bennett of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. ‘counted’ as Asian American – he asked his wife.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – Chloe Bennett
She said no.
Who get’s to decide? THEY do.(?)
Apparently, Hapas – of which the Fairy Princess is one,
we are the unwanted of the Asian American Community. Oh, what IS that word that they use so frequently with derision? What IS it?
Well, yes – the Asian American population IS growing, but the numbers are not those of the “Purebloods’ to use Harry Potter terminology, it’s us Half-Breed Muggles that are cause for concern. According to Bloomberg, mixed race people identifying as Asian and Caucasian has INCREASED by 87 per cent in the last decade.
Oh my goodness, whatever WILL those “Purebloods” do if we get out of our cages? Although 87 per cent.…guess we are out.
WHY would we, the Asian American community, allow this kind of destructive thinking?
Everyone would rather protest MISS SAIGON, instead of looking at the intrinsic racism of the Asian American community and it’s way of having to put everyone in a box? Oh, wait of COURSE you would rather protest MISS SAIGON, it has a number where it addresses the issue of mixed race children.
Are ‘we’ really NOT going to reach out and slap MANAA and Rafu Shimpo for what is, actually, hate speech. It’s not any different than what Hitler used to say – are we going to, now as they did in Nazi Germany, start measuring our features for the purity of our traits? And if we, the Hapas, do not measure up to ‘their’ standards, we have to, forever after, be banished from the Asian American community?
No more noodles for us Hapas? That’s it?
It seems harsh. It seems….misguided.
What THINKING person would DO or SAY this? Who could endorse this way of thinking?
Norah Jones, you are mixed race – thoughts?
What IF….our hair is just a bit lighter?
Maggie Q – Go Ahead, tell HER she’s not Asian
What IF….our eyes are different?
Actress Vanessa Hudgens
What IF, we wind up on TV with millions of people dreaming of us at night?
Ian Anthony Dale – Hawaii 5.0
But perhaps, perhaps Hapas are not just focused on the small screen? Perhaps our plans of decimation of the Asian American Community go BEYOND the television, BEYOND the Broadway….maybe we are thinking BIGGER! Oh NO!
Wait a MINUTE, wait a MINUTE – what IF some of us become film stars?
Keanu Reeves – Matrix star
Nancy Kwan, from World of Suzie Wong & Flower Drum Song fame
Hailee Steinfeld, Oscar Nominee, True Grit
Korean film sensation, Daniel Henney
WHAT IF….Hapa Actors take an even BOLDER STEP and change their look FOR A ROLE?
David Lee McInnis in IRIS
What IF….we decide to celebrate the OTHER side of our heritage and take a role THAT way?
Sharon Leal – Dreamgirls Movie – incidentally, she is the recipient of an Asian Excellence Award, which I know, because I was AT that ceremony – uh HUH
What IF we become SUPERMODELS?
Naomi Campbell – DUCK!
I want to be there when you tell Tyson Beckford that he ‘doesn’t count’ as being part Asian….tell his abs first, I’m sure his fist will answer
WHAT IF…we go into MUSIC and have the WHOLE WORLD dancing and singing along with US?
Bruno Mars, he wins GRAMMYS
WHAT IF WE ARE CROWNED QUEEN OF THE UNIVERSE???????????
Miss Universe 1997, Brook Mahealani Lee
What’s that? The Fairy Princess is being too sensitive over SOMEONE ELSE deciding if she, AS A HUMAN, counts?
Maybe I should lighten up? Watch some TV?
To sum up what MANAA and Rafu are saying – Hapas do not count UNLESS a storyline is provided to fully expand upon the Asian-ness of their character on a show, which should be done the very FIRST time they hit the screen and repeated each and EVERY time they are seen.
What do they want, for the character to say, “Well, as my Chinese Mom said….” when they begin a scene?
When they begin EVERY scene?
Hello “Number One Son” part Deux.
So that the Asian Americans at home can feel comfortable. So that the Asian Americans at home – sitting on their tukus, – can point to the screen and feel better about the fact that if they find the Actor or Actress ‘hot’ that it is ONLY because the Actor/Actress is Asian? Because why? You are afraid of finding people attractive who are not Asian?
Wow.
So as a Hapa Actor, we need to have a full array of t-shirts with our Mom or Dad’s photo emblazoned across them in order to ‘count’? And we need to appear IN them every time we are in public?
So me, I do not count – and the people above do not ‘count’.
But my son, who is 1/2 Korean, Chinese, Irish, & Welsh, would count – but only if he stands with his Korean American Dad, but not with his Eurasian Mom. And they would totally not count my adorable nieces because they are Hapa but have blue eyes?
I should have Russell Wong kick each and every one of your asses – twice!
Romeo must kick your asses!
Dear Purebloods – let me tell you something straight – the ONLY people that need to ‘count’ Hapas, is the US Census. Hapa actors are under NO obligation to wave an Asian banner every time they appear.
The fact that you cannot tell what a Hapa person looks like means, actually, that you are cloistered in a limited world, where you do not get the full benefit of what it means to be an American, what it means to be a World Citizen, and what it means to be a Human.
If you are a mixed race person of a certain age, it is because two people came together despite what society told them, and celebrated their differences and their mutual humanity. And if you are a mixed race person of a certain age, you have been THROUGH IT. So have your Parents. Your entire Family.
I salute you. I SEE you.
We are mixed race people, and we get to reap ALL, repeat ALL, the benefits of ALL our Heritages. We do not CARE if you are not comfortable with US, because you have made it your LIFE’S WORK to deny that we exist. Hapa Children have LONG been shunned – historically – by Asian Communities, so it is with GREAT humor that I tell you why you are so worried…
Because WE are Asian America 4.0, and we, like ALL upgrades, are making the Asian American community faster, and more efficient.
This makes you afraid? Well go ahead then, go ahead and be VERY afraid.
In closing, I want to address the Network Angle – that they count Hapa actors on their Diversity ‘report card’. They have every right to do so.
I say that as a former Vice Chair of the Asian American Subcommittee of SCREEN ACTORS GUILD, and as a former SAG National EEOC member.
Heritage is Heritage. If you declare yourself, if you ‘come out’ as Asian American, then you ARE Asian American. You ‘get’ to count, and you are counted. I count you, and so should the Networks.
Period.
Drop the mic and take us home, Audra McDonald….
MANAA and Rafu Shimpo can Kiss my Hapa Fan Tan Fannie!
(And BTW, I worked with MANAA Member, Aki Aleong years ago – and Mr. Aoki – HIS name was changed. So if you are going to go after Chloe Bennett for the same thing, why don’t you ask Aki why he changed his)
The Fairy Princess’s had a Birthday, so she wanted to blog a bit about KINDNESS.
I know, I know, you are all ‘WHAT, but she is SOOOOOO Snarky!”and while that is true, you may notice that my tone tends to be more one of flabbergasted disbelief at innate stupidity, rather than horrible statements that are taking more personal jabs. Also, my last few posts have been trying to focus on GOOD things that have been happening in the Asian American theater community AND…good things for Diversity in general.
So NOW I want to talk about KINDNESS, because I have noticed particularly that it seems to be missing.
It seems to be missing MOST in the Asian American Arts community at the moment, and I want to know why.
Here is the thing with the Asian American community – we eat our own.
A small band of people cannot hold the larger group hostage to their particular ideals and spew hatred simply because they choose not to acknowledge what the other side is saying!
Oh, wait a minute….
Huh.
Maybe some parts of the Asian American community are taking our historical alliance with tea too seriously as they bag on some of our Artists.
In the long tradition of Tiger Moms, Tiger Children, Tiger Men, Tiger Pets who are actual Tigers, and of course – Tigerfish…nothing is ever good enough for Asian America.
Now, that is great if you are trying to become a world class speller,
but the people who take the biggest risks as Asian Americans are the Asian American Artists.
We are laughed at because we do not have a ‘regular job’.
We are considered less intelligent (unless we play the piano – playing the piano is the great equalizer until someone says, “well, my son is a Doctor AND a concert pianist“, so then even IF you are a pianist you are ‘lazy’ because you did not also happen to cure cancer at the same time as practicing scales.).
Our Families apologize for us, “Uh, well…that is my Cousin she’s a…a…(whisper)….painter“.
It’s a rocky, rocky road.
Which is why WE as a COMMUNITY of Asian American Artists need to BE KIND to one another.
We do NOT have to agree, but we DO have to RESPECT that the people in the show are all highly trained members of a Professional Performers Union, and as such, we should respect the skill they have made it their life’s work to attain – even IF you do not agree with how they display it.
Name calling is not professional. It is not compassionate. It is not respectful.
We do NOT have to attend a show, but the audience who paid for tickets deserves respect for supporting the Arts, and journeying out for a night of entertainment. They should not have to sit through loud screaming during the show. They made their choice, they voted in the only way that counts in theater – THEY BOUGHT A TICKET.
In other words – YOU ARE NOT THE BOSS OF THEM.
You can of course, choose to protest anything in America, but if you are going to do that, be consistent.
So what is the issue, exactly? Why are there protests?
I mean, if you are going to protest based on the perception that the show in question portrays women in a negative light, you can feel free to do that, but picking just ONE show to protest based on women’s issues is…you know, discriminatory.
What are you saying? Asian prostitutes in a show are ‘bad’, but you have no opinion on Caucasian Prostitutes or Latin Prostitutes or African American Prostitutes?
Go right ahead and stand up for women (?), but show equality to ALL musicals who have lead roles where women play “working girls” or “whores‘ or “ladies of the evening“- but if you are starting on this madcap ride, you better be prepared, because you are are going to be BUSY.
WHICH shows in American Musical Theater feature “Ladies who have a lot of sex and enjoy it and occasionally get paid, but not by the guy they fall for’, or ‘maybe they do NOT get paid but they get branded ‘loose’ by the other characters in the show”? Or just have good old fashioned brothel workers?”
Off the top of my head…what is the first one I think of…oh right, RENT:
OKLAHOMA:
TWO BY TWO
A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM:
I could go ON and ON like Sondheim on an arpeggio in a key with five sharps, but here are a ‘few’ musicals that are just, you know – top of my head, that you could get ready to protest based on main characters being women of ‘low moral fiber’: You can always tell who they are, because they always get the best songs…..here goes:
Oklahoma, RENT, Les Miserables, Two by Two, Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The Life, Best Little Whorehouse, Whorehouse Goes Public, Showboat, Pal Joey, Steel Pier, Annie, Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Little Shop of Horrors, TOMMY, Oliver, Chicago, Jekyll & Hyde, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Tenderloin, Gigi, Carmen Jones, Porgy & Bess, Cabaret, Little Night Music, Gypsy, Pacific Overtures…ok that is just off the top of my head….and what ELSE?
I’ve got a little list, I’ve got a little list…. MISS SAIGON is on it.
Now….there WAS, yes, a protest at the beginning of MISS SAIGON‘s journey in the United States and it was not over subject matter, or roles for women, or that the rake on the stage of the theater was one of the highest and all the dancers wound up with back problems…no, the protest was over one guy who was playing a part and he was not Eurasian, as the script called for. He was 100 per cent Caucasian and in London, he used prosthetic eye makeup to make himself look ‘more Asian”.
Jonathan Pryce, the original Engineer in Miss Saigon
It was a HUGE fail on the part of Actors Equity (who initially blocked the show and then caved like a souffle after you clap your hands near the oven), on the Broadway Community (who should have supported the Asian Americans protesting), and actually, on the people who awarded Jonathan Pryce the TONY Award – the HIGHEST honor Broadway has – which rewarded his “Yellowface’.
It was super not cool. Not that JP was bad, he is an excellent performer, but it was a slap in the face, truly.
But, see…People liked Miss Saigon.
Because Miss Saigon is a love story.
It is a musical about a girl, standing in front of a war, asking a boy to love her. And, he DOES.
In fact, he loves her SOOOO much, he gets extreme PTSD and spends a very long time in a mental ward recovering from the devastation of losing the girl he loves when he is forced into a helicopter by his friend, unable to get her to the copter to go with him, due to a whacky misunderstanding.
(Ok, it’s not whacky, I just threw that in there, there’s got to be some sense of fun, Folks!)
While Chris has been in the mental ward, Kim has had to resort to prostitution to feed her Eurasian child because the country she is from is rocked with devastation from war. When she realizes that Chris and his new wife will not take her child to America, she kills herself so that they have no choice BUT to take her child to America and give him a ‘better life’.
So at the heart of it, it is two love stories. It is about love between two people, and about the love of a mother for her child.
AND….it HAS been done before – the Puccini Opera, Madame Butterfly.
CONSISTENCY!
I mean, if you are going to protest Miss Saigon, you have to be gearing to take on MADAME BUTTERFLY too, right? I will expect to see you protesting at each and every performance of MADAME BUTTERFLY that you are capable of getting to.
And if you are going to protest MADAME BUTTERFLY, well then FOR SURE you are going to protest any and every showing of the brilliant play by David Henry Hwang, M.BUTTERFLY, because the BUTTEFLY myth is so much a part of the storyline – and you know, you have to be equal.
Isn’t that what you want. Mr. Joe Protestor?
You do not want a show where there are characters that represent prostitutes and pimps, and, perhaps no musicals about soldiers…that last one I’m just throwing in, it is equally as valid. Perhaps you are protesting the impression that soldiers get PTSD – Post Traumatic Stress Disorder? And it seems you definitely, but definitely do not want shows that have interracial love. Nope, that does not sound bigoted at all. Carry on. I know, I know, you ARE protesting, and YOU are right. Nothing good has come from Miss Saigon, according to YOU.
Strictly speaking, Mr. Joe Protestor, you are WRONG.
Just for historical accuracy, they ALSO awarded the TONY Award that year to a young woman, perhaps you have heard of her….oh right, Lea Salonga. That Lea Salonga is a pretty good thing. So are all the other women that have gone on and made careers that began in Miss Saigon. They are Asian American faces on Broadway – that IS a good thing.
Here is another something to keep in mind – since Jonathan Pryce left the Broadway production – both on Broadway and Regionally, the character of The Engineer has been played by people of Asian descent, and they do a great job with it. It is a role which is, in the pantheon of ‘the musical theater’, one of the GREAT, great roles for men – and due to our current sensibilities, it can ONLY be played by men of Asian descent.
I should hear a cheer about that. BECAUSE there are ONLY a few:
1. The King in The King & I
2. Sammy Fong in the DHH revised version of FLOWER DRUM SONG
3. The Reciter in Pacfic Overtures
But you are right, let’s take that part away from the literally hundreds of THREE major roles for Asian American males – we should all protest because in all of the world, there has never been an Asian Pimp.
I think world sex trafficking statistics would prove you wrong there.
Not that The Engineer is representative of all Eurasian men everywhere, but there have, actually, been Asian men who have been Pimps. Possibly some of them have been Eurasian. As a Eurasian myself, I am not offended by that notion.
How do I know that? I read. The Fairy Princess does not just sit around flapping her wings getting confused by Mr. Joe Protestor, she pushes her Tiara to the side and surfs the world wide internet thingy.
According to the UN Sexual Trafficking Report of 2012, in Asian countries such as Maylasia, Thailand, and the Philippines, those convicted of sexually trafficking women, were 89%, 74% and 77% male, the rest were female- so…yes, Virginia, there are Asian Pimps.
(Seriously, only 102 pages, go ahead and read it, and THEN we can have a talk about Pimps)
I know what you are going to say now, it’s the perception. You want to protect all of America from the perception of all Asian American women being prostitutes.
I think, actually, we are safe. Because there are quite a few Asian American women on major television shows none of whom are playing prostitutes.
Sandra Oh – Grey’s Anatomy – Heart Surgeon
Lucy Liu – Elementary – Sobriety Coach and former Doctor
Ming Na Wen – Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – Super Secret Agent
Chloe Bennet – Agents of S.H.I.E.D. – Civilian recruit & Super Hacker
Jenna Ushkowitz – Glee – High school student
Hettiene Park – Hannibal – Investigator
Grace Park – Hawaii 5.0 – Investigator
Deborah S. Craig – The Blacklist – Bodyguard & Genius Programmer
Olivia Munn – The Newsroom – Journalist
Parminder Nagra – The Blacklist – CIA Operative & Torture Expert
Archie Panjabi – The Good Wife – Investigator
Maggie Q – Nikita – Spy
Well of course that list could be LONGER, don’t we all wish it was, but ya know….none of them are playing hookers. So the perception ‘issue’ is not really a issue, given that more people watch television in America than go to the theater. Thus the overall representation Americans are getting of Asian American women, via the Entertainment industry, looking at the roles listed above, is that Asian American women are smart -if not completely brilliant- and physically competent enough to kick anyone’s ass.
So relax.
Hey, can we break it down for a second? Fairy Princess style – and btw, you can ‘come’ for me all you like, it’s not going to make a difference in my daily life, and LEST YOU FORGET – without tooting my own horn TOO much, but it MUST be cited here like a friggin’ term paper – I AM THE ONE WHO FIRST GOT YOU ALL RILED UP ABOUT THE NIGHTINGALE AT LA JOLLA.
I gave THIS speech at LA Stage Day about NO MORE YELLOW FACE
I have a few ‘legs’ on this issue.
I am standing WITH the Cast of MISS SAIGON.
No one goes into a MUSICAL thinking that it is historically accurate. Who does? Oh yeah – NO ONE.
Because it is a MUSICAL! No one walks down the street and bursts into song with a live band playing and instantly appearing backup dancers in matching outfits with giant flags. (But if you hear of someplace like that, let me know, ok?) Hence, it is not real. It is not reality. The very premise of it is it’s UNreality. Because it is, say it with me now, A MUSICAL.
Protesting MISS SAIGON is something that The Fairy Princess does not understand. And to my Asian American Blogger pals that jumped right on this clown car ride without actually looking at what you were doing, you sadden me. I thought we were known for being good at homework.
1. Most of the protestors have not seen the show. Not this version. Not only that, they have ADMITTED they have not seen the show, and they are NOT going to see the show because they think they know better.
That is like calling yourself a Doctor and not going to medical school “Oh, I can totally do a mitral valve replacement because I have used the ‘think system’ from The Music Man”
2. The Protestors were offered tickets, they were offered opportunities to come meet the Cast and discuss it, they were offered a lot of things by the Producers, in order that they educate themselves – THEY REFUSED.
So that is like getting a full ride TO medical school, and telling them you prefer the ‘think system’ from The Music Man.
3. No musical represents ‘all women’ – it only represents characters in a story. It’s a fable. Do not all lands use fables to teach? To inspire? To frighten children into good behavior? This one just happens to have a giant helicopter as a set piece. The moral of the story is, to me, “No one will ever love you more than your Mommy”
Actually, The Moral could also be “Don’t get caught in a land war in Asia“, as Vizzini said, “one of the classic blunders”
4. The American Dream is a kick ass number. Anyone would and should be proud to do it.
So….Asian American Bloggers….you highlighted the efforts of a few admitted uneducated (on this particular show) people, and you have given them a nice, big forum to spew about their ‘rights’ as a non-musical performers over what jobs musical performers are allowed to be in. Isn’t that like letting someone cheat off your term paper when you KNOW they did not study?
Whilst repeating that I do not understand this whole protest, I wonder at the motives, are they just trying to draw attention to their own work, rather than having touring companies come in? Are they launching an alternate piece, with the same benefits and paycheck to the actors that they would so easily un-employ?
Are they prepared to become the Tea Party of Asian American theater?
Can they imitate Robert Preston?
Let me tell you something- and this is as straight as I can say it – Asian American Actors can take ANY part they choose. Period. The End. Asian American Actors are under NO obligation to make Asian America ‘comfortable’ with their personal choices. We do not stand over your shoulder at your job and tell you that you cannot do it, merely because it is our opinion that it should not be done.
Re-read that sentence, it’s accurate, but it’s kind of insane.
We are Actors. First and FOREMOST we are Actors and WE tell stories. We do not have a group check in to get Asian American Community approval, and we do not have to have it. Because this is AMERICA.
Asian American Actors can use accents. Asian American Actors can play Pimps, Doctors, Prostitutes, Deli Owners, Thieves, Kings, and whatever else there is out there. We audition and people hire us. And if we can perform, on Broadway, or on a Television show, or in a Feature film, where it is so competitive even to get a a callback – then YOU, Mr. Joe Protestor, are not allowed to rob us of our right to do it to the highest possible level we can.
THAT is what Equality means TO US. That our choices are unlimited.
YOU are NOT the BOSS of US.
The Fairy Princess is sick as hell of this ‘issue’, which is not really an ‘issue’.
You don’t like MISS SAIGON? Fine. Do not go see it. End of story.
And Mr. Joe Protestor? You can kiss my Fan, Tan Fannie!
PS: Feel free to post comments, but do us all a favor, make them readable – check your grammar, check your spelling, and do not use profanity. If I can refrain, so can you
The Fairy Princess has been doing a lot of reading lately….for example she is absolutely obsessed with this book
SO obsessed with it that she has done her OWN Casting Breakdown for it, in case, you know, big Hollywood Producers who changed Katniss into a Caucasian should get confused and need some help remembering that ASIAN in in the title of the book, and that it is not supposed to be a book about whatever K-Pop star is hot right now, it is supposed to be a book about 30-somethings and their Parents, in SINGAPORE!
Dear Hollywood Producers should you get STUCK and think this would be a way better film called CRAZY, RICH because you think it is going to be too hard to cast – I double dog dare you to call The Fairy Princess -she will have the Casting Breakdown and options at the ready!
(OMG Hollywood Producers, you should TOTALLY call me – I would knock that Casting OUT OF THE PARK!)
(And when I say PARK, I’m not saying it in a “that is one of the very popular surnames for Korean Americans, way)
Crazy, Rich Asians has provided COPIOUS amounts of hilarity for The Fairy Princess, and she is pretty sure that she and Kevin Kwan should have Kiki’s on a regular basis, because HER OWN GRANDMA was actually a part of this kind of Social Circle in China, and actually gave The Fairy Princess her middle name, after one of the SOONG Sisters. (Kevin Kwan will know what that means).
The Fairy Princess and Kevin Kwan could totes be BFF’s! Or at LEAST we could go some piano bar in the Village and have too many drinks and sing too many showtunes – he mentioned karaoke in the book, Dear Mr. Kwan…The Fairy Princess will ROCK your WORLD with her MAD Karaoke skillz….
But that was not the ONLY thing that she read this week – and now, we are going to get into what is putting a dent in her wand….let’s digress…
As you may know, The Fairy Princess has done the show, FLOWER DRUM SONG.
Now, in FLOWER DRUM SONG there is a nightclub and it is based on a real nightclub that was in San Francisco where the only performers were Asian and the Customers were…well, they were mainly Caucasian. It was called…The Forbidden City, and it was owned by a businessman, Charlie Low.
And they had ‘Superstars”
And they had Fan Dancers….like Noel Toy
And in general, they were kind of kick ass….and once The Fairy Princess found out about The Forbidden City when she was younger, she found out it was like the Chinese West Coast version of The Cotton Club, she became equally obsessed with both nightclubs. But the Asian performers from The Forbidden City could never seem to jump to any sort of mainstream recognition – even though the novel about the nightclub by C.Y. Lee did very well – the performers themselves did not seem to continue on and get work or recognition in mainstream America.
The Forbidden City was not The Cotton Club.
The Cotton Club began in 1923, during The Harlem Renaissance. (Oh sure, I know ALL about it, I told you I was obsessed!) It was where, as my great friend who has now passed, Anderson Jones, used to tell me, “The 1920’s was where Black Men invented Men’s Fashion, Erin Quill”
Zoot suits and jazz and well…The Cotton Club.
It predated The Forbidden City and actually launched a heck of a lot of performers whose work we still, to this day, sing, hum, and generally think of when we see a beaded gown. People like…well….
And who can forget….Ms. Lena Horne? Or Cab Calloway? Or any of the other breathtaking performers that got their start, or made their careers bigger, by singing in The Cotton Club?
Now, The Fairy Princess does not condone the segregation that either The Forbidden City or The Cotton Club practiced, in terms of it’s audience being Caucasian and it’s performers being…ummmm…non-Caucasian. Because…let’s face it, it was racist. It was clearly racism, and it was clearly…not kosher. Not by today’s standards, but it is part of the history of America, and part of the history of the music of that era.
The best thing that came out of The Cotton Club was the music and the launching of careers for people who became the “game changers’. They became trailblazers – being on stage at The Cotton Club is what helped a lot of people become the legends they are today.
So The Fairy Princess was really, really excited to hear about the NEW Broadway show – AFTER MIDNIGHT – which IS, according to it’s website..
“This thrilling experience puts you at the center of one of Harlem’s legendary nightclubs, in a hotbed of Jazz–its intoxicating rhythms, its innovative style, its unpredictable danger and fun. Award-winning fashion designer Isabel Toledo reinvents the distinctive looks of the era with dazzling, one-of-a-kind costumes. And, as directed and choreographed by Warren Carlyle, AFTER MIDNIGHT blurs the line between past and present to prove that Jazz is more than music–it’s a state of mind.”
Well…I mean, they are talking about THE COTTON CLUB! The music OF The Cotton Club!
Oh. Mah. Goodness, The Fairy Princess is BEYOND excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Because the Cotton Club was a launching pad for all kinds of talented folks, and she is hoping that After Midnight will give us a whole new bunch of folks to sing along with and look up to….some we have been missing a bit on The Broadway….like Adriane Lenox…
Or people we might know more from television at this point in their careers…like Dule Hill
He’s going to be The Host
And, as The Fairy Princess said….people whose work she is excited to get to know, like…let’s look at the cast list:
This is Monique Smith, she seems nice. Actually there is a whole BUNCH of people in this show whose work The Fairy Princess does not know, and THAT is exciting, because THAT is Broadway…it’s discovering new people!
AND in KEEPING with the tradition OF The Cotton Club, they are going to rotate ‘Celebrities!” What a great gimmick. OK, so the FIRST Celebrity is….
Awesome! How great was she in The Color Purple, the musical?
But of course, Fantasia has other commitments too, she can’t be the “Celebrity” all the time! I wonder WHO they are going to get to replace her, you know in case she goes on vacation….Who, could it be? Oh you KNOW who would be GREAT?
Who doesn’t love a legend?
Who else could they get? Wait….Toni Braxton has done Broadway –
Who else…who ELSE is like, SUPER Famous and has done Broadway…..
Ushh Usshhh USHER – and he would bring the Kids
Or you…oh WAIT A MINUTE, THIS would be RIDICULOUS!!!!!!!!!
She’s even PLAYED Billie Holiday!!!!!!!
But here’s what was just announced….
Is this when The Fairy Princess yells “Stop the world, I want to get off?”
But it was only for a night….it was never, you know….an extended run in a show that celebrates the music of The Harlem Renaissance.
So that is not, technically, in the tradition of “The Celebrity Guest” night now, is it?
I don’t know, I’m guessing The Nicholas Brothers are probably breaking a hip in Heaven about this one….
What would Billie Holiday sing about this particular choice, I wonder –
You know that The Fairy Princess is all for Equality in Casting, but this seems wrong.
It seems wrong to put a Caucasian in this show and here’s why…because it is a celebration of the music and the people of The Cotton Club.
We can all agree to disagree, but WHO WERE the people OF The Cotton Club…..NOT THE AUDIENCE...THE PEOPLE?
I see.
Of course there WERE Caucasians IN The Cotton Club….you can see them RIGHT THERE….
Mary Lou Williams on the ivories
But since I cannot find any photos from those Celebrity Guest Nights….I’m guessing that Caucasians on the stage was not actually the draw AT The Cotton Club.
I’m guessing.
The Fairy Princess finds it….an odd choice.She also finds it a bit insensitive and well…while she respects that KD Lang is a wonderful performer, she is not the type of performer who would have been seen regularly in The Cotton Club.
I mean, it would be different if the entire cast was mixed and it was all peoples performing the music of The Cotton Club – but it’s not.
As The Fairy Princess has said before, multi-racial casting is not supposed to be used because people do not want to expend the effort to cast it in the manner which is most respectful of the struggle and the time period and the tone of the show.
Choosing KD Lang for some reason, (not her talent), is, to me, a ‘low-percentage choice”.
The Fairy Princess is not African American….and she’s not trying to co-opt that experience, but IF I WERE, I would take a video clip that I like to use a lot and tell the Producers of this show that casting KD Lang to represent the music and times of The Cotton Club is wrong and that they should….KISS MY FAN TAN FANNIE!!!!!!!!!!!
The Fairy Princess is a trained singer – some people may not know that, but it’s true. She attended a classical voice program, and was thrown, kicking and screaming into 24 Italian Art Songs & Arias by her Professors with nary a backward glance. That was just the beginning….
Classical training was not easy for The Fairy Princess, because she likes to be ‘instantly good’ at what she attempts, and Classical Music – whichever instrument one studies, is not a sprint…it is a marathon.
We were in class from 8:30am studying sight singing, eurythmics, theory, choir, dance, acting, music history, English Diction, Italian Diction, French Diction, German Diction, the languages themselves, our ‘private’ lessons, our coaching sessions, rehearsals…it seemed at times endless. We usually got out of class at 10PM. So…yeah – 8:30am start, usually a 10PM finish. Perhaps a few hours to yourself midday to eat, but you usually grabbed something to go, in order to get back to the practice room.
Typical Conservatory life.
It was work.
But to quote Chris Kutcher, “Opportunities look a lot like work”
The Fairy Princess had an opportunity to study.
She remembers walking through campus when she was absolutely slammed with work, thinking “wouldn’t it be great if I could just….have time to do nothing but practice’, and that is when it hit her that a four year classical music program is EXACTLY that – four years to do nothing but practice.
You may well shake your head at her foolishness…but let’s face it, Freshmen are not known for deep thoughts.
The Fairy Princess readjusted her thinking, and she was grateful for the opportunities that her teachers, her fellow students, and most of all, her Family helped provide her.
And…as she wandered up and down this show business life – big highs, big lows – as one does…. her classical voice skills were rarely called upon. She honed her Musical Theater chops, and frankly- that was where her heart was. As the man who founded her University said, “My Heart Is In The Work”, which she has always taken to mean ‘if you love your work, it doesn’t become work, it becomes your heart”.
Musical Theater has always had her heart, thus Musical Theater became the focus and the concentration. She’s added a few more arrows to her quiver of performance skills – writing, comedy, improv, on camera commentary – but if she had to choose ONE thing to do, and only one – it would be to perform in musicals, on Broadway and it’s regions, for her life’s work. She’s happy with the choices, she’s content with the focus and where it lead her journey.
However today the classical chops were required. It happens every once in a while.
Not to audition with, not to compete with, but to give comfort, she had to sing at a funeral.
As she does not always flex the high notes unless a King & I audition is nigh, she always has momentary panic.
Sometimes she requires a bit of a pep talk…
Or a surf on YouTube….
However, as she looked over the crowd in the church this morning, (little over a year from when her own Father had passed) quite large, because a rather remarkable lady had passed away, she realized that the opportunities that she had been given – to study, to grow – were not about auditions and booking work – they were about helping people in situations where they need comfort.
Artists – musicians, painters, writers, etc – are who people look to when their grief is so strong, they can barely stand. Somehow, Artists are supposed to make sense of that which can render one insensible.
Singing at a funeral is a privilege that we do not always value. We should – because the Family trusts us with sending their loved one onward. We sing because everyone deserves beautiful music as they go on their ultimate journey.
So I wanted to take the time to thank the Universe for reminding me that, ultimately, what our work should provide, is respite from grief – if only for a brief moment, joy to share the gifts that we have been given, and humility that our talents are needed in the darkest of times.
The Fairy Princess has been trying quite hard to remain positive these last few posts…because the ‘real’ news has been fairly hideous – whether you are concerned about riots in Egypt, or Child Trafficking, or Russia hating LGBT people….(Which is ludicrous, because of course, Russia is like…the Gayest Country on Earth…if you are famous for BALLET….that’s pretty Gay, Russia…pretty Gay), so she has not been posting about theater, because, well…she thought everyone learned their lesson.
I mean, she gave a speech at LA Stage Day about the death of Yellowface, and she was totally encouraged by the fact that the audience at LA Stage Day was receptive. Not only were they receptive, the wider, Internet audience that technology makes possible was ALSO accepting of the fact that it’s not cool to put on makeup and bad accents and make fun of Asian people simply because you are too lazy or stupid to do an actual and thoughtful portrayal of Asian culture WITH Asian actors in those roles.
I mean, weren’t we all clear on this? GEORGE? What do you think?
I mean, any educated person would have to take note that demeaning a heritage you know nothing about would be…well… stupid. Any educated person would know that. Educated people, for example, who have just received an Ivy League education at an institution that is known for having high artistic standards….a place like, well…let’s just say it….YALE.
Wow…that is gorgeous…yep, that’s Yale
Yale is a pretty fancy place – it’s graduates include Presidents, Physicians, Performers, Playwrights, in fact, the Fairy Princess’s own cousin holds a PhD from Yale….so she’s been there, and yeah…pretty fancy.
(In case you are reading this post in say….Scotland…or more specifically Edinburgh, it may be worth sharing that Yale Drama School – which is a Masters Program of Study, has some pretty famous Alumni to boast of….much like my own alma mater, Carnegie Mellon….which was founded by a Scot – Andrew Carnegie. GO SCOTS! )
Now, when you think “Yale Drama”, who comes to mind?
So…as you can see, Yale School of Drama has some fairly distinguished Asian American alumni who are gracing our stages and screens, large & small, today. And Yale School of Drama is NOT what this post is about – because obviously they are forward thinking and embrace diversity in it’s students and alumni. And Bravo to that!
However, there are a LOT of people who attend Yale and they are entitled to pursue Acting, Writing, and Directing just the same as anyone else. Their resumes still say….Yale. The word entitledis a very big one here, and it explains the reason for this post.
Though these bright minded individuals do hold degrees from Yale University, they do NOT hold Degrees from Yale School of Drama.
They do not have the training, they do not have the sensitivity, and they do not have, perhaps, their pulse on the beat of the cultural landscape of American Theater to know that there is a…and well…given the subject matter, The Fairy Princess hesitates to use the word, but it is applicable…a REVOLUTION in American Theater in regards to portrayals of Asian peoples.
Nobody binds our feet and leaves us in a corner ANY more….
The definitive answer, in many respects, to cultural misunderstandings
Which is why it was all the more shocking to hear about THIS
A play currently playing at Edinburgh Fringe Festival written & Performed by YALE Alum
You see…this is the Cast of BEIJING CAKE currently playing at Edinburgh Fringe, and….it’s a play about China….do they look Chinese to you? I see….
Cassie DaCosta, Nathaniel Moore, Sara Rosen, Gabriel Christian the cast of BEIJING CAKE
And HERE is a map of CHINA…real, actual, China….it’s not made up, it does not exist only in pure imagination…it’s right THERE…you see?
Wait! Wait a MINUTE you say that CHINA is a REAL and ACTUAL place?
And here is a…well…a Chinese person…one who is actually, supposedly portrayed IN this play:
The Chairman…and no, not a fan as he put my Great Aunt into a concentration camp…but he was a real and actual person of which there are MANY images
Yeah…not so much. Although the repeated GONGS throughout the kickstarter video are a nice touch….
The Fairy Princess has hit a wall….
She has hit a wall because this is a project that is coming from young people! In their twenties! And Whitney Houston always told us that Children were the future!
Whitney lied. These children are as whack as crack.
OK here is the deal….this show at The Fringe is billed as a comedy, it’s billed as hilarious…and apparently, those who have done the billing are the playwright, director and Cast themselves, because when core members of the British East Asians attended the show this is what they saw….
Ummmmm…..
You know who should be upset about this? More than The Fairy Princess, more than the British East Asian Artists?
Man if I went there, I would be SO pissed!
And here is why...they make Yale Alumni look like culturally insensitive a**holes.
Cuz ya wanna see how they bill themselves….?
Wow…yeah, YALE is all over those bios….huh?
Yale, Yale, Yale…and you know what – Yale is actually a very sophisticated school with quite an international reputation. And now this bunch is going around the world to spread Yellowface makeup, made up Chinese and…well…racism. I mean, they do not even seem to be aware that Chinese can be broken down into various dialects like Mandarin and Cantonese!
REALLY? Because even ELMO knows what Mandarin is!
THIS is what they came out of YALE with? An entitled sense of being able to make fun of Asian people…an entitled opinion that they are able to portray us, to speak on our issues, to mock a language that is thousands of years old?
OMG Yale – you failed. You were supposed to educate them to take their place in the world and hold forth the tradition of excellence that you are known for. They ran off waving their sheepskin and decided it was a great idea to mock the Country that holds America’s dollar by the proverbial balls.
What a great endorsement for a Yale Education! I’m sure their Parents will be thrilled that they PAID for their kids to learn that you can step all over Chinese people at tens of thousands of dollars per semester! The one who will be absolutely the MOST proud?
The Director’s FATHER….
Because EVERYONE knows that Oscar Winning Screenwriters really want to be known for having Daughters who perpetuate stereotype utilizing Yellowface and made up Chinese adjacent languages! What a shame, when you, yourself, are so meticulous in your brilliant work. But perhaps, she is a late bloomer. You have faith in her.
The Fairy Princess….not so much.
Let’s break it down people, these Actors and this Playwright and this Director are from groups that have ‘Minority’ written all over their names and faces and gender…possibly even their sexual preferences, who knows or who cares, but it’s possible. So if you are, yourself, a member of a Minority group, how DARE you mock another one? Forget what you obviously did NOT learn at YALE about cultural sensitivity, what the heck were you learning at home that makes this in ANY way ok?
Well now, they are probably upset….they are saying HOW DARE I call them on this racist play that they love doing. Who am I to expect them to strive for excellence and artistic bravery? Ok Kids…fine, but let’s turn this around….because turnabout is fair play, yes?
Foghorn Leghorn says Yes, Turnabout is fair play
Now…if Asian American actors were to go over to Edinburgh, slap on some Blackface make up and talk like Amos & Andy – would that be ok?
Yeah, remember when people thought THIS was ok? (TOTALLY NOT OK!)
No.
If Asian American Directors and Writers got together a made up a mockery of the Hebrew language which they THEN set it to the tune of “Yiddishe Mama” would that be ok?
No.
Cuz The Bottle Dance from Fiddler On The Roof is just Jerome Robbin’s choreo…we could learn it
Tradition my ASS!
(BTW, The Fairy Princess knows every damn word to Fiddler On The Roof and made her Mom take her to see it 5 times in a row when she was six years old and then she memorized the Cast recording…but she ALWAYS knew that it was a show she would NEVER do)
But we are not going to. Because we have standards.
I would have thought that you would have them too…being that you know….you went to Yale and all….so many whacks with the wand…you need to grab a mirror and take a good look at yourselves and HONESTLY wonder how you EVER thought that this was in ANY way ok….. OH….and BY THE WAY….
The Fairy Princess has watched the news in abject horror the past few weeks – I mean, I know ‘Haters gonna hate‘ but they seem to be going for the Gold Medal.
Hold on a minute, Russia….just so we are clear….this is what you are famous for….(Artistically famous, not, you know, bombs and torture, killing the Tsar & his family, and cold war ‘cross my line and I blow crap up‘ famous)
Dear Russia – wake up and smell the caviar…you stink. And if you don’t take my word for it – you have been condemned by GERMANY! (Article)
GERMANY is looking down on you!
Germany, who is never ever going to be able to stop apologizing for THIS guy….
Ain’t NOBODY got time for that – Right, Sweet Brown?
The Fairy Princess can no longer indulge in a dirty martini! She could, yes, switch to gin – but she has seen the crazed orgy scene in The Wild Party too many times for that!
Oh well….back to whiskey….grrr.
This whole thing is ridiculous and tilted her tiara.
So The Fairy Princess is going to write about some GOOD THINGS that happened the last few weeks….get ready!
1. AVENUE Q celebrated it’s 10th year of running on a stage in Manhattan. It should be stated that from an Asian American perspective, Avenue Q provided the only ‘new’ Asian American character our Broadway stages have seen since…ummmm…Throughly Modern Millie in 2002 and since then there has been….ummmm….NEVERMIND – GOOD THINGS!
HERE are some of the lovelies that have played the part of Christmas Eve –
L-R: Lisa Helmi Johansen, Sala Iwamatsu, Ann Harada, Erin Quill, Hazel Anne Raymundo, Ruthie Anne Miles
And…as Creator Bobby Lopez said about this photo “The scary thing is that there are so many more”
So Congrats to the Creators, Producers, Crew and Cast Members of Avenue Q – The Fairy Princess was very proud to ‘live’ there as part of the Original Broadway Company and just so’s ya know…July 31st was declared AVENUE Q DAY by the City of New York!
2. The FuManchu Complex which will run in London at The Oval House from Oct 1-19th, 2013 has been fully funded through Kickstarter!
Normally, The Fairy Princess DOES NOT give to Kickstarter – and here is why – and ARTISTS, I want you to pay special attention to WHY I normally do NOT give to Kickstarter and why I DID give to this one.
The Fairy Princess believes that if you want her to invest in a film, or play, or project of any sort, then present me with an investment package. I want to see that if I am an investor in your project, then there is some small hope of return on said investment. (The Fairy Princess is not DELUSIONAL, she KNOWS that there is little to no hope of return on investments in Artistic projects, but let’s have RESPECT for the investor)
I do not believe in, in general, asking people to just give money for artistic endeavors because, in the olden days, when I started – if you wanted to fund your own work….you got a job and saved money.
You produced your show yourself, you saved, you borrowed, however you wanted to do it, but you did not expect your friends to pony up money so that you could be saved the hassle of saving.
Then you invited people to buy tickets to your show.
THAT was how friends showed support. They bought tickets. They bought CDs. They came to see the project when completed.
The Fairy Princess is NOT a fan of ‘oh this will be good for my career, and I have fans or friends…I’m just going to ASK them for it, but I will reap any and all benefits and then I will not have to pay back anyone“.
NOT a fan.
I have seen too many Kickstarter funded projects that wound up not actually coming to fruition, and the money – which has no ‘if the project is not completed this money is returned to you‘ clause – went to pay someone’s credit card bill or for a fancy trip abroad.
Now that celebrities are using the fans to pay for projects that they could have found funding for on their own, because they ARE Celebrities with fans…The Fairy Princess was ‘stick a fork in Zach Braff done‘ DONE with Kickstarter.
The NY Times agrees with The Fairy Princess – celebrities using Kickstarter is not quite ethical…(Article)
EXCEPT for FuManchu Complex and HERE is why –
They needed two thousand pounds.
To put up a PLAY.
For 19 days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I gave them money because I know – I KNOW that they are not going to run and pay an old bill, they are not going to go on a fancy trip – they are renting a space and they are building a set. Obviously, no one is getting paid- they are doing it for themselves but they are ALSO doing it to help keep alive the British East Asian Theater presence and so…I chose to give them money, even AFTER they reached their goal…because you know what?
The Fairy Princess is unable to attend the show due to it being in another country – so she cannot buy a ticket – Kickstarter, in this instance, was the way she chose to raise a glass and salute them. Bon chance, you feisty British East Asians!
And if anyone reading this would like to also send them some $$$ so they can perhaps go to the pub after opening night – here is the link:
And Bless your hearts if you do! All Hail Daniel York and his buddies for continuing to rail against the dying of the light…it’s a damn hard thing to do.
UPDATE FROM DANIEL YORK:
‘One thing I should point out though is that the actors (five East Asians) WILL get paid the Equity rate and that’s one of the things we needed the money for because the Arts Council would only fund us if we raised a certain amount ourselves, the £2000 is barely 5% of the budget but it’s crucial in that sense. I have, however, waived my writer’s fee completely because I want the play to go on and I want East Asian actors on stage in work by an East Asian writer because I want us to have our own foundation rather be relying on the mainstream to chuck us a bone when they wanna put on a China play PLUS the cast we have is just about the most diverse group of Asians ever and we need to be seen as that. Diverse.’
OK – ACTORS GET PAID!!!!!!!!!!! That is even MORE awesome! Well then I’m glad I gave money to such a great cause and The Fairy Princess wishes she could be there to see it. BRAVO ahead of time, you British East Asians!
3. Kristina Wong is the next great thing that happened in the past couple of weeks, because she took on that hideous offensive mess that was the video Asian Girlz and she answered it back with a witty video of her own:
Kristina Wong is a Performance Artist that The Fairy Princess is glad to see on the great wide Interweb. How wonderful that a strong Asian American Woman took a stand against racism, sexism, and stupidity- this is a fabulous thing.
Let’s all get excited about this and watch the video more than a few times and tweet it etc, so that she might get paid the literally hundred of dollars (no, not a typo) that you can make on YouTube if your video is viral.
She is a Performance Artist….she needs the $$$!
4. Kevin Burrows is the next great thing to happen in the past week.
You might not know Kevin and his work if you are not a Broadway afficianado, but Playbill.com certainly should have when they decided to highlight Broadway ‘show-mances’ that lasted and lasted. You see, Playbill.com decided to highlight more than a few of them, but failed to include any LGBT Broadway couples. (Article)
Say what?
Ummmmm, is Playbill.com under the misapprehension that theater in New York City is only inhabited by ‘straight’ people?
One assumes that Playbill.com has actually BEEN to a Broadway show or two or twenty and has done only approximately thousands of interviews WITH Broadway people…where they may have noticed some LGBT couples.
But…when you assume…oh FELIX UNGER…..
Anyway, Kevin read the article, got fired up, and responded with his OWN article entitled “Till There Was US” on The Huffington Post. (Article)
Here is why this is awesome – because Mr. Burrows took on what is, really, institutional prejudice, and won with placement of his own article in the NATIONAL press.
Well played, Mr. Burrows, well played. A righteous parry & thrust!
Playbill.com is, of course, designed to help sell Broadway shows – therefore, they may have decided that the people reading Playbill.com tended to be consumers more than theater practitioners. They may even be right.
However, just because facts may upset someone who has an ability to buy a ticket, but an inability to acknowledge the right to live and love whom you want, as any consenting adult should be able to do – does not make it right to leave out couples who are part of the very reason there are tickets to sell in the FIRST place!
THIS. IS. NEW. YORK. CITY. and to leave OUT LGBT Couples who make UP a huge part of the Broadway Community is flat out, dead WRONG to do.
‘Mad props’ to Kevin Burrows for standing up for his own relationship, and the visibility of LGBT relationships in the Broadway community!
Encore! Encore!
5. HERE LIES LOVE is looking to transfer to Broadway! (Article)
The Fairy Princess saw this musical by David Byrne & Fat Boy Slim down at The Public Theater and truly, truly enjoyed it. This may be the first ‘new’ All Asian American musical to make it to Broadway in the next year, so this blog in particular, wishes the show well
And THOSE are FIVE things that were kinda awesome the past few weeks….and they are a reminder that even though you can feel like you are stuck in a Sh*t storm without an umbrella……
For some, the murder of Treyvon Martin is a story on the news to decry but one you will move on from- but for The Fairy Princess, it hits a bit closer to home, because she has had Great Grandfathers, on both the Irish and Chinese sides of her family, murdered.
Not many people know that about me, but it’s true.
My Great Grandfather, William Fang Yuen, was murdered in 1922 in Innisfail, Australia. He was killed by a Caucasian man who was his Foreman. The Foreman was stealing, and he had been caught, there was an argument, the Foreman left. Later, my Great Grandfather was shot as he prepared the payroll.
The different reasons given for the murder are similar to reading RASHOMAN, the play. There were rumors of infidelity, of embezzlement, of jealousy….no one bothered to get the story straight, least of all the Authorities. What I was told as a child only grew more complicated as I became an adult, but it remains a blot on the history of The Chinese in North Queensland. My Cousin, William Yang, actually does a show called “Sadness’ on this very subject.
There was a trial, but it was superficial – much like the Zimmerman case, it allowed someone who was the acknowledged killer to go free, because, essentially Australia’s treatment at the time of their ethnic minorities and other immigrants was shockingly biased. I mean, if one could go to prison for killing “A Chinaman“, then what would happen if people were examined for their treatment of the Aboriginals! One of the reasons that the defense said that the fellow did not murder my Great Grandfather, was because my Great Grandfather had a very distinct large gold ring that had gone missing when he was killed – and they could not find the ring in the Foreman’s possession, ergo it had to be someone else. This was part of the case they made, and, he was acquitted.
When my Grandfather was a young man, he went walking in the town of his Father’s murder and he saw the son of the Foreman wearing his Father’s ring. A ring so distinct, that he would remember it from childhood. And, apparently, this was a ring that had been worn frequently in that town, once the trial was over – so everyone ‘knew’ that he was guilty, but nothing was done about it.
My Great Grandfather was a very wealthy man – he owned all the sugarcane farms in the area. He was ‘the bank’ for the Chinese community there, as none of the regular financial institutions would loan money to local Chinese who wanted to start a business. My Great Grandfather built the church and helped found that town. He was murdered, leaving behind a young wife and four children…and he was not accorded the dignity of his murderer being incarcerated. His wealth did not protect him. Money cannot protect against racism.
This changed the Family in many ways, perhaps, had his Father been around, my Grandfather and his Brothers would have made different choices – in careers, in who they married, perhaps they would still own the majority of the sugar cane in North Queensland, perhaps I would not even be here – but my life is a legacy of that murder.
On the Irish side, My Great Grandfather O’Shea was set upon by British soldiers as he made his way home from the pub in Kerry, Ireland. They beat him near to death because he was a member, in some fashion, of the Resistance. When he did not come home as expected, his sons set out looking for him – he had seven children. They found him and brought him home, and he lingered for three days, dying slowly of internal injuries.
During that time, as he faded in and out, he told his children that they were all to leave Ireland, immediately. After he was gone, they all stole away in the night and everyone took a different ship leaving Ireland – and they did not tell each other where they were going in case they were captured.
Some were never heard from again. At least one ended up in Australia, married, coincidentally, to an Auntie of my Mother. My Grandmother found out, after about 30 years in America, that she had a sister living but two towns over from where she eventually wound up.
Again, the legacy that I have inherited was based on the murder of someone who was not going to be given justice by any legal system. I have to, as a Parent, consider that my Child’s heritage is based on murder, and now I have to consider that, should he wear the wrong piece of clothing and venture out after seven p.m., it could be his future.
There is 90 years between the murders of my Great Grandfather and Treyvon Martin, but nothing seems to have changed. The statement of a Caucasian is valued higher than the evidence of a crime, the eyewitness testimony, and the presence of a dead body. A dead body who is…was…a minority.
The Fairy Princess has a child. I am the Mother of a Son. I am the Mother of a Son who is, in the United States, considered a minority.
My Son is many things that I can see right now, at the age of one – he is smart, he is quick, he is physically advanced for his age, and he has a wicked sense of humor that in the future is definitely going to be an issue. That, he gets from me – the humor. Otherwise, he looks like his Dad.
There are many things about my Son that I cannot tell yet, but his being viewed as a Minority in the United States is something that I know right now, will follow him his whole life. Being viewed as a Minority is an issue that both his Father and I have dealt with on a personal basis.
Growing up for my Husband, as an immigrant from South Korea who was then transplanted abruptly to a small town in Virginia, was difficult. To say ‘difficult’ is an understatement. However, my Husband survived.
Growing up as a multi-ethnic female in New York was not without it’s own problems. Add to that a tendency to be chunky and like musical theater, and you can see that I was in for some stressful moments. However, I survived. (Power ballads are particularly useful under duress)
One day – much sooner than either his Parents, his Immediate Family, and his extended LGBT Family will like – my son will be a teenager.
Yesterday, with the verdict in the Zimmerman trial, what it means to be the parent of a teenager who falls into ‘the minority’ changed how we are able to feel when our children leave the house.
They could be leaving to go to sports practice, or to play computer games with a friend. They could be leaving to go and sketch a particularly interesting tree they saw on their way to school. They could be leaving for a million creative and interesting reasons, or they could just be going to get some candy and a drink, and they might wear a sweatshirt.
But they will, we now know for certainty, never really be safe – even if they walk the streets they grew up in. Because someone who lives in fear, or in hate, or in combination of the two will see my Son, your Son, our Sons, as ‘the other’. They will see our Sons and they will see opportunities that they feel they missed out on, or they will see someone to focus their anger on, and they will take a shot, or take a knife, or use their hands – and they will attack our Sons. Perhaps they will maim them and our Sons will recover. Perhaps they will kill them, and our Sons will become another news story.
Should such a horrific thing happen, our Legal System will then allow the Murderer to gather a Jury ‘of their peers’ who will let them go. Because their Peers will understand and make excuses for their racism, fear, and hate – because they too, have it as part of their makeup – even if they do not think so.
My Son is not African American – I am not trying to co-opt that experience. But one need only to look at the news this past week to view how America views Asians in this country.
It seems it is perfectly acceptable to many to mock the names of people who have just been through a horrific airplane crash where people died. It was blamed on ‘an intern’, but think about how many channels and levels those ‘approvals’ had to go before they wound up being reported as fact, on the nightly news. It was not ‘just a mistake’, it was racism.
This past week on a television show, Big Brother 15, some of the “Houseguests’ told the Asian American contestant to ‘go make some rice’ and were shown degrading the other contestants on the live feeds. They were not ‘jests’ or ‘all in fun’ comments – it was racism.
Remembering Vincent Chin
The name, Vincent Chin, may not be as familiar to mainstream America, but to Asian Americans it is ‘our’ Treyvon Martin story – it vibrates with the reminders that every time we hear someone yell “Chink” or “Jap” or “Gook” from a car, from an alley, in a bar….. we could be moments away from be bludgeoned to death simply because we exist in this country. This is a fear that is shared, in some respect by every person in this country who is a minority – either due to their race, gender, or sexual preference.
Apparently we, the pesky ‘minorities’, are only in this country on very specific terms, which can be challenged at any time by a man – usually a Caucasian man – who has been somewhat of a failure in his own life. So of course, instead of working hard, or studying, or taking responsibility for his own actions, it’s much better to ‘blame’ the minority for his own shortcomings.
“That chick is a BITCH” because she will not date you, “That Gook took my job” because you stopped your education at High School, “That Fag wants to touch me” because you have latent attractions you are unable to deal with in a constructive way. We, the minorities, are cluttering up ‘their Country‘, so we better ‘watch ourselves‘.
This country, which so many seem content to claim, but which was stolen from Native Americans by men whose Napoleon complexes resulted in Manifest Destiny.
This is America. Lest we forget, us ‘minorities’.
Ok, Angry Undereducated White Guy, you sure told me!
What do we, as minorities in America, take away from this horrible lesson? What is our next step?
I will tell you what I am going to do….
I am going to hold my Son tonight – as I do every night – and I am going to worry more now. I will probably go to the ‘dark place’ quite a bit – but I will teach him how to grow and achieve to his fullest potential.
We must empower our Sons to live full lives filled with achievement, education, and art.
We must teach our Daughters that they are shining examples of courage, education, and self-sufficiency with the right to control their own bodies.
We must teach, in spite of all the terrible things that we are being taught right now, about America through this case, we must teach our Children that in America, we expect them to treat people equally regardless of their race, sexual preferences, or gender.
America, as a country, is not ‘there’ yet – but Our Children may get the chance to make it so, as long as we, The Parents, do not give up. We need to work to change laws, we need to empower our educational system, we need to continue to invest in our communities through the Arts and through Social Programs. We need to show one another respect and tolerance and understanding.
We all must do this, because if we do not….the shitheads win.
Sometimes when blogging, the world seems to be a negative place, filled with Monsters from your closet who would like nothing better than to ruin your day, consistently with some nasty stuff.
Whether you are trying to sell a cereal,
or sing the National Anthem,
or star in a tv show in a role traditionally given to a man – haters gonna hate.
Lucy Liu as Dr. Watson in Elementary
Sometimes it seems, that no matter HOW you are trying to spin it, it’s gonna be a bad day….wait a minute, WAIT A MINUTE!
To Quote James Thunder Early from DREAMGIRLS“THERE HAVE GOT TO BE SOME GOOD TIMES!!!!”
Let’s shake it off –
(Who DOESN’T love to tell people what they really, REALLY want?)
READY – DANCE BREAK!!!!!!!!!!!!
I feel better. How do you feel? Some things lately have been awesome…and I’m going to tell you some of them RIGHT NOW!!!!!
(I KNOW, THIS IS TOTALLY DIFFERENT, RIGHT?) (Don’t be scared)
It was TOTALLY AWESOME that several days ago THIShappened:
2013 TONY Winners – BEST PERFORMANCE IN A MUSICAL – PATINA MILLER (Pippin) and BILLY PORTER (Kinky Boots)
How was it awesome? Let me count the ways….ok, I hate math, nevermind counting – and don’t judge my math. Several weeks ago, I gave a speech at LA Stage Day.
They had a Graphic Artist do a rendering of my speech as it was occurring, isn’t it fabulous?
In it, I stated that Diversity means Awards and Dollars that make you holler! So let us just take a gander at what kind of musical KINKY BOOTS is – It is a musical written by a Heterosexual woman and a Gay Man, where the story involves a friendship and a mutual respect between a Straight man and a Gay man, who also happens to be a Drag Queen.
(In a nutshell….. In a nutshell enclosed in six inch stiletto thigh high boots)
Diversity, Diversity, Diversity.
This show makes me cheer – it did in the audience and it still does now – because it is the personification of what I was talking about. You can say similar things about PIPPIN – it’s a diverse cast, it has a female Director who took the role of “Lead Player” and changed the space time compendium and made the part that had traditionally gone to a man, go to a woman. BAM – TONY AWARDS!
Diversity, Diversity, Diversity!
Congrats to the three Carnegie Mellon grads who garnered TONY Awards – (in the order in which they were received) Judith Light, Billy Porter, and Patina Miller. Bravo!
Now you MAY ask yourself…HOW did the Fairy Princess get here – and you may ask yourself….nevermind, this is getting long and I have some things to say….
When watching the TONY Awards, I was asked a question by my Mother “Do you think there will ever be an Asian American winners for Best Lead Performance in a Musical, both a man and a woman in the same year?”
Proving indeed that she is MY Mother…and my answer was….drumroll please….
“I don’t know.”
Seriously, I have no idea.
Because there are a LOT of things that go into winning an award like that as a performer and the first rule is – YOU NEED A PART. Yes, you need a role that you can play to the best of your ability that helps people see past the color of your skin. So that answer begins with the writers out there – the composers, the lyricists – but who knows? Maybe it will happen. It has happened…once before in a musical..
But let’s see what OTHER good things happened this week:
Joel Grey selected Raymond J. Lee for the 2013 Theater Hall of Fame Fellowship for Emerging Artists! That is VERY cool! Ray has been on Broadway in Mamma Mia and Anything Goes, he just finished ACT’s production of Stuck Elevator in San Francisco and he is heading off to do a show that will be at The Papermill Playhouse – Honeymoon in Vegas, by composer Jason Robert Brown, but anyway THAT is TOTALLY AWESOME THING NUMBER 2
Back to Mom’s question and my answer – it begins with the writers – so I was very ‘chuffed’ to hear that Chicago Actor/Writer, Danny Bernardo, has written a new play that is being mounted at The Baliwick Theater,MAHAL – a story about a Filipino family trying to come to grips with the loss of it’s Matriarch. It deals with cultural identity, assimilation, homophobia, inter-racial relationships, and inter-generational relationships which leads to realizing what it means to be an American Family.
TOTALLY AWESOME THING 3!!!!!!!! (Look, my math is holding up!) And there is my pal from Flower Drum Song, Joseph Anthony Foronda playing the Patriarch! That is pretty awesome too! Congratulations to Danny, who wrote this play, in part, to come to terms with the loss of his own Father – having dealt with that the last year, and tomorrow being Father’s Day, I think it is a wonderful tribute and one his Dad would be very proud of, on so many levels.
AND….in terms of Diversity, Diversity, Diversity – it’s a WIN!
Speaking of plays…and I do, often – I wanted to share a HUGE Diversity Win with everyone – the FIRST PLAY ON THE INTERNET – specifically, YouTube and it is David Henry Hwang’s play Yellowface. Many congratulations to the YOMYOMF on this huge accomplishment!!!! Particular ‘shout out’ to Philip Chung, Jeff Liu, Justin Lin and my fellow cast member from The Mikado Project, Ryun Yu who stars at DHH
AWESOME THING NUMBER 4!!!!!!
Finally – again in Chicago – there was a kerfuffle this last week, in regards to The Jungle Book – which is being adapted by the Goodman Theater – here is a piece of what they are going for:
In a nutshell, Mary Zimmerman gave an interview in which her answers seem…well, they don’t seem cool. Here is the Chicago Tribune article about the situation, HERE. And here is the interview with Chicago Magazine that started this situation –HERE.
Which prompted THIS response from Silk Road Rising Theatre Company‘s AD, Jamil Khoury to take to his blog about the situation. (Read his first post HERE)
This was exciting to The Fairy Princess, because Mr. Khoury’s blog post began with “For years I have bit my tongue…” and that, to The Fairy Princess meant “Some SHIZ is going down…and you are gonna be sari…” because nothing says ‘prepare for total domination…’ like starting with how long you have held it in!
How long? YEARS! Grab an umbrella, ella, ella! There’s a fight coming and for ONCE…I didn’t have to start it. The Fairy Princess’s tiara was starting to get dented from all the knocks she had taken in this whole thing, and thank heavens Mr. Khoury was going to go fight the windmill.
Right, Mapa?
“GURL….and THEN what?”
Anyway, Mr. Khoury – who no, I do not know – spoke up! He said what he had to say, and YEAH, he said it like THAT and you know what it led to?
A conversation. A conversation with Mary Zimmerman. (Read about it HERE) and there came a meeting of the minds, and there came…peace. And just like that, an understanding bloomed in Chicago – and things are going to change.
Things are going to change because Silk Road Rising had had enough, and they demanded clarity and they demanded response – AND THEY GOT IT.
So the next time someone tells you to just suck it up and go about your business, when you know you should say something, when you KNOW in your GUT that something is not kosher – I want you to think about the tremendous risk that Mr. Khoury took, and that it led to resolution.
And THAT is AWESOME THING NUMBER 5 ABOUT THE PAST TWO WEEKS….
Which means that my answer to my Mother will perhaps change to “Absolutely’
Drop the Mic, Ms. Audra McDonald – and take us home…..
The Fairy Princess is delighted to note that her speech for LA Stage Day is up and avail on the world wide Interweb, and she thanks Terence McFarland and his crew for having her. Because they were so focused on getting a clear image of The Fairy Princess, the power point photos did not make it to the video – so sometimes there are laughs or sighs or whatnot that did not make it there…
Therefore The Fairy Princess is now going to post the text of her speech WITH inserted photos and you can choose to either watch the speech first HERE, and then re-read it with photos, or you can just read it, and choose for yourself if you think it’s funny.
“I told Alec Mapa…(Oh, he’s on SHOWVILLE on AMC – Thursdays at 10pm – watch!)
that I was asked to speak today on Diversity, and he said to me,
“What are you going to say after you yell “Kill Whitey”?
My name is Erin Quill
I am a graduate of Carnegie Mellon, an Original Broadway Cast Member of a show that won a Tony with dirty puppets, and I also told famed Director, Moises Kaufman that he could kiss my ass almost a year ago today .
Over 25,000 people read that post within a few weeks, and the resulting uproar caused La Jolla Playhouse to have a ‘talkback’ on the subject, which prompted East West Players to have a conference on the subject which lead to Chicago’s Silk Road Theater Company also having a conference on the subject. After which, I wrote about what was happening in London at the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Orphan of Zhao helping out the East Asians in England – which led to a conference, and then I wrote about the Brownface makeup in the Broadway Revival of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, which lead to a closed door meeting. Oh I wasn’t invited to any of them, so I am very grateful to be here at LA Stage Day.
Some might say I am blogging my way to unemployment, I say…..
Call me Tiger Blogger.
I wanted to talk a bit about theatrical ethnic cleansing, because it has been a shocking year for Asians in theater and everyone seems to be tip toeing around it. Well, I don’t got time for that, so call me Hurricane Erin, and buckle up – cuz I have got a Little List.
Let’s start at the very beginning because Julie Andrews said to, and I always do what she says….this is where you acknowledge that there are no Asians in the production, but it doesn’t really matter that there are Caucasians in heavy makeup portraying them
…I call this ‘neglectful’ racism, or, in the words of a country singer, “accidental racism’….because you are going to now tell us, you didn’t KNOW you were being offensive, because everyone has done The Mikado THAT WAY forever, and thus…it’s just tradition.
Ummm, excuse me, are you trying to convince me that Tevye is going to come out and do the bottle dance now? I was born and raised in New York? Fugeddaboutdit!
I know that YELLOWFACE is fun – I totally get it. Asian people have great hair, we have gorgeous eyes, kimonos are comfortable and who doesn’t love their way around some noodles – I get it – we are blessed. Our women are gorgeous and our men can kill you wearing a cloth belt and their bare hands.
We’re a sexy bunch – but that is no excuse to culturally skin us and wear us like a coat.
Or let me put it another way – eyeliner is not supposed to extend all the way to your ear!
No matter how much makeup you put on, no matter what kind of cheong sam you choose to wear….it’s not going to work, you are still not going to wake up and be Tamlyn Tomita….
– I get that you are frustrated by this. I mean everyone wants to change something about themselves – I mean, I would like to be 5 foot ten and have Scarlett O’Hara’s pre-partum waist line, but that is not going to happen either. We all have to be ok with that.
There I go being too polite, damn those genes – OK– White People – and let me say now, I am White myself – just like serial killers, most movie stars, and Sarah Palin – you are now officially on notice that YELLOWFACE or BROWNFACE is not sexy, smart OR fun – it’s wrong.
It’s offensive
It’s culturally irresponsible…
and you look like idiots.
ROWR….TIGER BLOGGER!
So now that I have taken YELLOWFACE off the table, permanently, how can we change? Well where does most theater begin?
Casting…this is where the excuses start – this is where you tell us that you would love to cast us, but there are just none of us available, which is why The Emperor of China was played by a blue eyed blonde
.
According to Equity, there are 763 members identifying themselves as Asian American as of 2012. There are only 3% of the Broadway roles available going to Asian Americans, according to a study by AAPAC, so someone was available.
Unless every regional theater in the country simultaneously decided to do Miss Saigon, King and I, South Pacific, Bombay Dreams and Flower Drum Song all at once in a mass extravaganza titled The “Praise to Buddha Oscar Hammerstein had the Yellow Fever” Cherry Blossom Festival.
You can’t find us? You’re not looking. 763 Equity Members identifying as Asian American – that’s right, I brought in math, booyah!
Oh, that 3% of Broadway drops to 2% when it goes to Non Profit world – but you know, that is NY and this is LA, however we don’t even have a study like that for LA because….no one cares about Asian presence on the Los Angeles stages…and that is a blot on the great Theater City that Los Angeles is. Why are you not utilizing us? You can’t say training – we have grads here from Julliard, Yale, Carnegie Mellon, Northwestern, NYU, etc, etc, etc…so no, you can’t say training.
You COULD say it’s because you do not even think about it. It’s neglect. It’s choosing to not see us. We live in LOS ANGELES! One of the most diverse cities in the United States – don’t be lazy.
What if your play or musical is set somewhere in America, but you do not choose to have Asian people in it – you don’t call for them in the breakdowns, even if you see them, you don’t cast them simply because….“if I have Asians in it, people won’t understand because they were not in the country at that time”
Just because there is not a TONG or a TRIAD or a BROTHEL in Chinatown reference in your play does not mean we do not fit in America.
Folks – You do not have to keep trying to ‘explain’ our presence in this country – we have been here since the 1800’s. No, we didn’t land on Plymouth Rock, but Gold Mountain has surely landed on us. Oooh, You know what happens when a Chinese person throws dynamite? A transcontinental railroad, that’s what.
Ok, so here I am yelling about Diversity and you are all ‘blah, blah, blah what can it matter anyway?”
After the big blowup on The Nightingale, La Jolla Playhouse cast it’s next big show, Glengarry Glenn Ross with a multi-ethnic, multi-aged cast – that dirty talking real estate office looked like any and every real estate office in this country today.
The Old Globe chose to do the new Asian American musical, Allegiance. It broke box office records.
Both shows were nominated in several categories for San Diego Critic Circle Awards – and the individuals nominated for their performances included the names Manu Narayan, Lea Salonga, Michael K. Lee, Stafford Arima … Currently the disco musical about Imelda Marcos HERE LIES LOVE is selling out at NY Public Theater
and has been extended and also picked up several Drama Desk nominations – .I think you get my point, Diversity is Awards and Dollars that make you holler, Honey Boo Boo child…..
Here is a thought – Put in the breakdowns that you are looking for Asian Americans in your cast, see what happens. You don’t have to hire us, but invite us to the party. Do the outreach because we have so long been pushed aside, we don’t believe you when you use the word ‘multi-cultural’ casting.
Let’s talk about the Art for just a second…why do people go to the theater? Yes, beyond being entertained? They go to see themselves. Well, they go to see themselves suffer, choose foolish love, and sing ballads, but what they are connecting to is reflections of themselves. That is the power of theater. Theater is affirmation.
Why would Asian American audiences, which have the highest disposable income of any group in America – why would they go to theater If they cannot even go to a play set in China or Japan and see Asian America performers? As theater artists, we need them IN the building. We need butts in seats. If people see themselves, they will buy a ticket – and if Asian people see their relatives in shows – they will buy all the damn tickets! And probably cater opening! Trust!
Finally, let’s address our biggest issue in the last year – exclusion from plays and musicals where the shows were set in China –- I am speaking about La Jolla Playhouse, to the Royal Shakespeare Company, The Roundabout, and anyone who has ever staged The Mikado
– except Eric Idle, his was great.
Here is the thing about CHINA –– there are Chinese people in it. Oh and Japan has people – people who need people…people who are in fact, Japanese people. Same goes for Thailand and Korea and India and Sri Lanka.
If you can go to a map – and PLEASE, please go TO a map
– if you can go to a map and see where your show is set, you should know enough to not erase our faces from our history! We can help!
You cannot erase us because you didn’t like that in your last workshop, your Asian American cast told you that a song about a Geisha in a play set in China was inaccurate.
You cannot grab all the beautiful costumes and colors and fabrics of India, and leave out South Asians who can tell you that the colors you picked for the saris are those of mourning.
And you definitely cannot go TO China, grab their oldest play, their best loved work, their “Hamlet’, keep the Chinese names, costumes and then cast everyone except British East Asians, because you say in a repertory season of ‘classic’ plays, no one would ‘buy into’ their faces in a Brecht piece.
When you do that not only do you lose all artistic integrity, but everyone who leaves your show has turned into FogHorn LegHorn….
“What, I say What, What, What was that?”
Diversity, the rallying cry of Diversity is supposed to make us all smarter. It is supposed to make us look at our world and see each other. it is not a stick to beat us with when you would rather Caucasian faces in an Asian story.
And to have it done out of neglect, out of indifference, by several members of a community who we have stood alongside in their fight for recognition, for marriage equality, for health care?
That was not just a slap in the face, that was a Joan Collins/Linda Evans tumble into the fish pond bitch slap! Grab me some shoulder pads, because I was PISSED OFF!
This is the theater! We don’t do that to each other.
There are positive things happening for Asian Americans in theater – ACT in San Francisco is staging The Orphan of Zhao
ACT just finished another original production with an Asian American creative team and cast- Stuck Elevator.
New workshops are going forward for Allegiance
and Heading East,but you don’t want other folks to get all the awards, do you? What are you going to do?
I asked my API pals who are Actors what were their best and worse moments – best was hands down, being on stage, doing the thing they do best and love – their worst moments were always, always when people had an idea of ‘what’ they were, but no idea ‘who’ they were. We had all been told at certain points to ‘act more Asian’ , “be more submissive’ , ‘be less bold’, ‘change their base to gray so they would look less yellow, less Asian’ and it was never, ever from another Asian American.
Because you never tell people how to act more like people, do you? We’re just people.
My dear friend who is long gone now, Anderson Jones,
used to say to me, when we would have these conversations – conversations about invisibility, about non –representation, he would say, “IF THEY KNEW BETTER, THEY WOULD DO BETTER”
My wish for Los Angeles theater is simple – now that you KNOW, I challenge you to be more inclusive. It will make us all better.”
NOTE: The Fairy Princess did not stick to her text – she did ‘improv’ in certain moments, and therefore did not want to ‘let it stand’ in regards to The Nightingale, that the Actress pictured, was the only Asian American in the production – there were 2 out of 12 in that production. One played a Spoiled Princess and the other was a bird.
Last Saturday, The Fairy Princess took a coach and four horses (of the theatrical Apocalypse) to LA Stage Day, which was hosted by LA Stage Alliance, and she just wanted to reflect on a few thoughts from the day.
The Fairy Princess was extraordinarily touched to have been asked to be a Keynote Speaker – particularly because no one has ever asked her to comment on what she, in fact, wrote about…nor has she been asked to be on Panel Discussions or anything of that nature in regards to her thoughts on Diversity in theater.
She needs to thank the CEO of the LA Stage Alliance, Mr. Terence McFarland, someone that she has known for a long time, and admired, for inviting her to attend and be provocative.
The Fairy Princess knew exactly what she was going to say, and how she was going to say it, which was why she had hoped that there would be more Asian American faces in the audience…to say that my blood pressure was under control as I watched the audience file in, would be a lie. When she did not see that many API faces attending, it just resonated how far removed most API Actors and Actresses feel from the mainstream Los Angeles theater crowd, I hope most of them missed it because they had a matinee to attend.
However, I was grateful to see Michael Seel, Exec. Dir of The Boston Court Theater,
Drama Desk Winner (The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) Deborah S. Craig,
Andy Lowe, Production Manager at East West Players,
and of course, Chil Kong of The Ovation Awards Nominating Committee,
out in the audience, looking at their faces calmed me down.
There was a comment made in a review of the day by Don Shirley, that I was ‘visibly choked by her fervor’, and The Fairy Princess just wanted to comment on that – it was not the ‘fervor’, it was looking out at the crowd and seeing Deborah S. Craig tearing up and Andy Lowe nodding yes, yes, yes at what I was saying, that had her a bit shaken.
Because she knew that they were representative of the friends who had gone through similar experiences that were named towards the end of the talk – being asked to be ‘more submissive’, told that they were ‘too bold’, told to “act more Asian”, and finally, one friend was told to change her makeup’s base color to gray, so that she would appear less ‘yellow’, and seeing them nod and agree, made her very emotional.
The Fairy Princess has been told all those things – well, not the makeup thing, but the other stuff for sure – and when you are repeatedly told those kind of negative things, it takes a toll on you. So as she looked at Deborah and Andy, and by their reactions ‘knew’ that they too, had had those experiences, the emotional response was overwhelming. Through her mind ran all the messages from friends who, throughout their careers, had had some really amazingly awful things said and done to them, in an attempt to ‘make them more Asian’ for theatrical purposes…and a moment had to be taken.
So…’fervor’…I don’t know…maybe?
The Fairy Princess could take a huge professional ‘hit’ for her comments, but if this was the one and only time she was to speak – she wanted it to count. Many people, after reading the blog, will tell her that “you are just saying what everyone else is thinking’, but it is one thing to blog, and it is quite another to stand in front of a few hundred people who may or may not choose to hear what you are saying with an open mind.
The Fairy Princess came to LA Stage Day a bundle of nerves, a bit nauseated, and she was truly humbled by the reception that she received. So many hugs, so many well wishes, so much was overwhelming…who would have thought?
The other Keynote Speakers were engaging and all spoke in their own way, about changing the way theater and the practitioners of theater, think. On inclusion, on fundraising, on innovation, on staying true to their own mission – it was a great group of speakers and I congratulate them all.
The text of the speech has not yet been posted – yes, it was recorded, perhaps it will be released in parts, at this point, The Fairy Princess is waiting to hear about it.
Thank you to all who contacted The Fairy Princess via Twitter and otherwise to let me know you were still thinking about what was said the next day – hope it will keep us all thinking the day after that. And the day after the day after that….
Thank you for listening. The most overwhelming part of the day was being able to say what I have thought in the past – and have it seemed to have been heard, it is an extraordinary feeling.
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