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| ConverseSneaker |
TamI recently 'discovered' Miss Saigon and I love it. But there was one issue I am confused on. How did Broadway and West End find asian toddlers to play Tam whose's parents were willing to let them stay up until 11 o'clock at night or whatever for several shows a week(even with doubling the part, that's still 4 or 5 shows a week) in a show with mature themes and words?And does Tam HAVE to be asian? I mean, if he's half asian, half american, couldn't he be played by a causicain(spelling?) kid, and just make it seem he takes after his father? |
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| The Very Angry Woman |
Re: Tam
They often were not toddlers. They were usually small-sized girls between 4 and 6. I can't think of a Tam who was not at least hapa. I also take issue with the term "half Asian, half American." Please think about that. |
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| mastachen |
TVAW are you Asian? | ||||
| The Very Angry Woman |
Heritage-wise, yes. |
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| Celeste_SM |
And I have friends who take issue with the term "hapa" as well.
We double cast Tam. Both kids (one girl, one boy) were older than they looked, and their parents were fully briefed on the nature of the show. It's not as hard to find as it might sound at first, especially considering the allure of having your child on-stage. |
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| mastachen |
What's wrong with hapa? My Asian American Studies professor uses 'hapa' to describe himself, so for a long time I thought that was the politically correct term to use. |
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| The Very Angry Woman |
It generally is, but there's also this take on the word. I can see their point: http://www.realhapas.com/ |
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| ConverseSneaker |
Alright, thank you for your answers people. TVAW or anyone else who took offense to my wording, I apologize for offending you in any way. I was just curious to know how Tam was casted, although I did figure girls were casted as Tam too. | ||||
| The Very Angry Woman |
These might interest you.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE1DE1239F936A2575AC0A967958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all http://www.patteproductions.com/Previews/Archive/prev98/oa980701.htm http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,21160054-5012479,00.html |
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| ConverseSneaker |
Those were extremely interesting. Thanks TVAW! 
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| Somewhere |
Sorry to hijack the thread, but what do you do if a local high school uses an eleven year old as Tam?  I'm not sure when they are performing Miss Saigon, but I do know that they take huge liberties with characters (in Les Miserables SE, they had a female Enjolras, which always bothered me somehow), as I was in that show.
This would ruin much of the story (for me anyway) of Miss Saigon, as this would mean, obviously eleven years have elapsed, and who knows what Ellen and Chris would have gotten up to in that time, if you catch my drift. 
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