Arts/Review Miss Saigon’ brings ‘yellow-face’ into focus The U.S. actors union, Actors Equity, reversed a decision to oppose the casting of a white actor, Jonathan Pryce, in an Asian role in the British hit musical, Miss Saigon. The union’s executive council, meeting on Aug. 16, voted to reverse its earlier decision which had led British pro- ducer Cameron Mackyintosh to cancel the musical’s planned U.S. staging. The reversal came after a massive media campaign led by the New York Times, which sharply criticized Equity’s position both in front-page stories and in editorials. Other major newspapers also criticized the union’s effort to open a major role for an Asian actor. The media campaign, along with Broadway producers whose profits were threatened by the show’s cancellation, helped generate a petition signed by 300 Equity members who requested that the union’s board reconsider its action. Next April’s New York production of Miss Saigon had already racked up $25 million in advance ticket sales. Meanwhile, Tony Award winners B.D. Wong (star of Madame Butterfly) and playwright David Hénry Hwang maintain their stand that “colourblind casting” is impossible in the United States today, given past and still-current stereotypes of Asian-Americans. The opening volley in the dispute was a letter Wong sent to Equity on June 18. “Miss Saigon was originally cast in Lon- don with some visibly Caucasian actors in visibly Asian roles,” she wrote. “This is a practice I thought was dying, but it ob- viously continues to exist even today. The African-American community has vio- lently voiced oppo- sition to ‘blackface’ over the years, and ... It is time for me and the Asian- American commu- nity to stand in the way of ‘yellow- face.’” Miss Saigon is a modern interpretation of the Madame But- terfly romance, set in Vietnam during the later years of the war. “There are two issues here: one is equal opportunity, the other is negative stereo- typing,” Tisa Chang told the People’s Daily World. Chang, artistic producing dir- ector of the Pan Asian Repertory Theatre in New York City, said: “Traditionally, people of colour have been kept from full participation in the American theatre and by extension from American society at large. “PRYCE — “When characters are racially: specific and crudely caricatured they “do irre- vocable damage. The Asian-American will not tolerate the ‘yellowface’ performances that have been so common on the U.S. Stage. We can’t tolerate that here, even though in the UK it’s more acceptable. Such characterizations should be aban- doned as much as ‘blackface.’ “Tn an ideal world any actor can play any role,” Chang said, but, “you can’t have full artistic expression at the expense and exploitation of minorities.” Asked about the argument that cancell- ing Miss Saigon would sacrifice numerous ~ theatre jobs, she said: “Those 35 jobs are minor, stereotypical. The female roles are mostly bikini-clad prostitutes. They’re not even written roles. The male roles are sim- ilar, carrying swords. The loss of these jobs isn’t any big deal. In any case the principal of morality has to prevail. The Asian- American community is united behind this and Asian-Americans are willing to forgo such roles.” Hwang said in the New York Times on Aug. 9: “It has certainly never been my intention to see a show cancelled. I simply felt that an important point had been made, and this clearly has been achieved.” Inan effort to rationalize casting a white actor in an Asian role, Mackintosh said in a statement Aug. 8: “We passionately dis- approve of stereotype casting, which is why we continue to champion freedom of artistic choice. Racial barriers can only undermine the very foundations of our pro- fession ... By choosing to discriminate against Mr. Pryce on the basis of his race, Equity has further violated ... federal and state human rights laws, as well as federal labour laws.” But in the present milieu, casting whites in African-American or Asian roles is too reminiscent of the days of blackface min- - strel shows and “inscrutable Oriental” movies. Just imagine, for example, how outrageous it would be for a white actor to play Bigger Thomas in Native Son or any black role in A Raisin in the Sun. “At this point, non-traditional casting isn’t a two-way street,” San Francisco Bay Area actor Ken Narasaki told the San Fran- cisco Examiner recently. “One of the goals is to improve the employment opportun- ities for minority actors. The crux of the matter in this case is the right of minority actors to portray themselves on stage.” Alice Sunshine People’s Daily World Vancouver film fest; Chile film Film: Chile is in the spotlight in an upcoming showing of One Hundred Children Waiting for a Train (Cien Ninos Esperando un Tren), pre- sented by IDERA and La Quena Coffeehouse. It’s at La Quena, 1111 Commercial Dr., Sunday Sept. 23, 8 p-m. Admission is $3. Meanwhile, they’re warming up the projectors for the ninth annual Vancouver International Film Fes- tival. There are more than 50- films, including several former “banned” entries from East European countries. Canadian entries confirmed include Falling Over Backwards, White Room, Perfectly Normal and Arch- angel. An interesting looking contri- bution is the West German-USSR co- production, Leningrad November. The festival takes place at numerous venues throughout Vancouver, and runs Sept. 28-Oct. 14. Tickets are $6 per showing, $3 for seniors and dis- abled, $4 for matinees. Gold Passes cost $125, daytime passes $40, dis- count passes $50. Phone 685-0260. TV: Seattle public television, KCTS, has several offerings this month. Included are Bernstein in East Berlin, featuring noted conduc- tor Leonard Bernstein conducting Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony to celebrate the opening of the Berlin Wall; features musicians from East and West Germany, the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain and France; on Monday, Sept. 17, 8 p.m. for two hours. Given the current situa- tion in the Middle East, viewers might want to check Blue Helmets: The Story of United Nations Peacekeep- ing for an alternative way of settling crises. It airs Saturday, Sept. 22, 10 a.m. 10 « Pacific Tribune, September 10, 1990 Only the bones of the novel remain PRESUMED INNOCENT. Starring Har- rison Ford, Bonnie Bedelia, Raul Julia. Directed by Alan Pakula. Based on the novel by Scott Turow. At Famous Players theatres. Scott Turow’s best seller, Presumed In- nocent, was a taut mystery centred on the disassembling of a rigid, conservative pro- secutor, Rusty Sabich, assigned to inves- tigate, and who then becomes the accused, in the murder of a colleague with whom he was having an extramarital affair. Sabich’s moral torment in the book was ably played off against the pervasive corruption of the criminal justice system. Confronting the de- bauchment of the system, on which his own morals were founded, aggravated and ac- celerated his anguish. Though it retains the skeleton of an in- triguing plot and strong performances by Harrison Ford, Raul Julia, Paul Winfield and Brain Dennehy, the screen version falls short. It fails to flesh out the complexities, losing much of the political bite. It strips the two major women characters of depth to the point where the film becomes misogynist. Save the $7.50. — CI. Freshman is fresh fare THE FRESHMAN. Starring Marlon Brando, Matthew Broderick, Bruno Kirby. Written and directed by Andrew Bergman. At Famous Players theatres. It’s been a decade or more since Marlon Brando has had what passes fora lead movie tole (even though Matthew Broderick gets more screen time), but it’s apparent his enor- mous skills remain intact. The combination of Brando’s figurative and literal large pres- ence, and other delectable performances by Maximilian Schell, Bert Parks, Penelope Ann Miller and a junior dinosaur make The Freshman an enjoyable repast. Brando, having great fun, parodies his Godfather role as a well connected New York importer of dubious business practices who operates mostly in shadow from the back of a Little Italy social club dominated by a large portrait of Mussolini. Broderick plays a naive college freshman who gets taken for one ride after another in halting attempts to adapt to life in New York. Bro- derick takes on a small job for Brando, and it rapidly takes over his life. Though Andrew Bergman’s direction tends to be heavy-handed and obvious, the flavourful acting and overall pleasing tone of this movie constantly win out. — Chuck Idelson People’s Daily World Raul Julia (I), Bonnie Bedelia and Harrison Ford in Presumed Innocent.. Barristers & Solicitors Ath Floor, 195 Alexander St., Vancouver, B.C. V6A 1N8 682-2781 Offers a broad range of legal services including: Personal Injury & Insurance Claims Real Estate & Conveyancing Divorce & Family Law Labour Law Criminal Law Estates & Wills