[Apples2for10]

I heard that when Miss Saigon first opened in London, there was some contoversy about the Engineer (an Asian American character) being portrayed by an Anglo-Saxon. Can anyone explain this?

[The Very Angry Woman]

[Timmy_Wishes he was Quast]

So how did people react to his tony?

[What Is This Feeling?]

Bull shit Pryce desreved his Tony in every sense. Broadway, sometimes I think I'd like the West End much better.

[sherwills]

American Theatre equity also didn't want Lea Salonga to perform at the time as she was "stealing" the chances of asian-americans who are members of the equity.

Macintosh originally cancelled the prospect of Miss Saigon being staged in Broadway because of the demands... and later the Equity changed their ruling and allowed both Pryce and Salonga to perform... later winning the Tonys...

The long delay of the Broadway mount attracted the highest advance ticket sales in Broadway at the time at $24 million...

[The Very Angry Woman]

[What Is This Feeling?]

AAC pisses me off sometimes, lol.

[Amy_Vocalist]

[Eponine93]

[sherwills]

Equity's rejection happened even before general ticket booking started.

But I think as a result of the huge popularity of the show (proven by it's box office record... ironically with two unknown imports on the major roles), Equity gave in and had to apply new rules that led to the exchange program between West End and Broadway (hugely popular these days).

Equity perhaps saw that it would've been a major lost opportunity if MS didn't come to Broadway as it won major awards in London and a hit. Macintosh was so firm with his decision that if Equity won't allow Salonga and Pryce to star, then there won't be a Broadway staging altogether.

[musicalfan07]

If you want to find out more, I advise buying The Making of Miss Saigon book, which has a full chapter dedicated to this subject and plus, it's an amazing book!
mf07

[Mr_X]

I also heard that Asians were getting very angry with some of the Engineer's lyrics, where he basically dumps on the Vietnamese.

[sherwills]

[Mara]

"greasy chinks make life so sleazy" from The American Dream

"why was i born of a race that thinks only of rice, and hates entrepreneurs" from If You Want to Die in Bed

"one of these slits here will be Miss Saigon" from The Heat is On in Saigon

They're all I can think of off the top of my head.

[musicall]

[Mademoiselle Lanoire]

[Set_Buildin_Dad]