Yellowface in the context of "The Mikado" relevant? Yes!

From Angry Asian Man: Real Life Yellowface -- Now Playing In Seattle

I've read the link, and I keep thinking:  What a misinformed idiot.  Does he understand anything about theatrical history, Gilbert and Sullivan, or the history of ethnic performers in entertainment?  If he does, wow, he needs to be more informed.

As an Asian actor, we face the conundrum of all ethnic actors:  when are stereotypes unacceptable?

In the case of the Mikado, here are my thoughts:

Watch the movie Topsy-Turvy, as it should put this all in perspective as the original intents of Gilbert and Sullivan. As I portrayed Pish-Tush in a couple of productions of Mikado, I get the yellow face. To me, there are certain realities we will never escape. Like how 'our people' were perceived and portrayed 160 some-odd years ago when Mikado premiered in the Savoy Theatre in London. I let it go because it's a testament to how things have changed.

I even played Ito in Auntie Mame, and had no qualms about the stereotypes of his character (and in retrospect should have played it up, as he was supposed to be the comic relief in those scenes).

It would be nice if the casts were all API, but if it were, I think it would lose some of the G & S flavor and historical relevance. The Mikado was groundbreaking for many reasons, for one, a G & S theme that didn't rely on the supernatural or 'contrived' premise. It was one of a handful of dramatic works at the time that took place anywhere but Europe or English-Speaking North America. It was a statement of a time in Victorian England where anything Asian was en vogue and very popular.

They wrote another show "Utopia Limited", which was a commentary on British Colonial Imperialism, set on an Island Nation (most likely Hawaii). Since it is a bitch to produce, the show rarely sees the light of day, but when it does, will people complain about the appearances of the Natives? By the way, I also did that show, but as one Lord Dramaleigh, whose character represented the good that public works could do for a country. Was I offended in either case? NO!

And on the other hand, today one of my agents submitted me to be a stand in for a well-known Japanese golfer in a commerical. I'm Filipino. Should people be pissed? NO!

Taking the perceived Yellowface out of "The Mikado" would be like taking the N-word out of "To Kill A Mockingbird" or deleting derogatory words in other plays about other ethnic groups that came out before Civil Rights. Or sanitizing the "Rape" sequence in "The Fantasticks". Or making Aldonza/Dulcinea a misunderstood woman, rather than the uh.... "whore" in "The Man of La Mancha". Or Disney not making "The Song of the South" available for purchase or viewing (it is a movie that they totally regret making, but will never publicly admit that)? Or even yet, do people find "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" offensive because it's a commentary of Greek-American family life?

I'm neither defending nor condemning, I'm just saying that everything needs to be kept in perspective. There are times where being PC need not be a driving force in everything in our lives.

Nightmares at the Majestic -- A fundraising opportunity

Click here to help support Nightmares at the Majestic

From the original Terror of Church Street and Halloween Horror Nights, the reigning Father of Halloween in Asia, Alan Ostrander and his team of Theatrical Horror Experts are creating Orlando's Newest, Most Fatal Attraction!  Alan and his team have spent the last 13 years creating, designing, and directing the largest Halloween event in Asia -- Ocean Park Halloween Bash.  Now, the FrightMaster is back, home where his roots are, assembling his minions to create the Ultimate Scream Team this Halloween Season!

The Majestic Event Center (MEC) invited AEOStudios (AEO) to build a haunted house on their property.  In the arrangement, MEC administers food and beverage sales and other spaces on the property for event-related functions, while AEO produces and operates the attraction and event merchandising.  The revenue generated stays within their respective group.

We have a home, we have our wicked dreams, but we need you to help us make our Nightmares come true!!!

In order to get what you want, you have to leave a bit of yourself behind....

We are well underway with raising the majority of funding for the event...But, we still have a long way to go!  Here is how you can help be a part of this Frightening project:

• To continue our progress, we need a total of $35,000.  We hope to raise a quarter of it here.  Monies raised through Indiegogo go towards the initial design and buildout stages and insurance.
• Perks begin with a $25 sacrifice to us.
  
• If we are unable to raise the full amount here, we will continue to honor the perks, and we will continue with other fundraising efforts. 

Why?

Your contribution will make a difference in Orlando in many ways:

• It's time that Orlando had a Terror On Church Street-esque Haunt that is reasonably priced, with good entertainment value, and is centrally located.
  
• Our Ultimate Scream Team has a combined 150 years in event management/creation.
• Funding will make Nightmares a frightening reality, so we can start creating scary goodness for our guests.
• As Orlando is a Film/TV/Theatre school hub, the funding we get will help us hire and pay Student Interns, who will be getting real world experience that they won't necessarily get in class.

Risks & Obstacles

A Haunted House usually takes 3-4 years to show a profit, as the budget for the first two years are tied up in equipment, set building and venue costs.  We have taken steps to ensure that monies raised will be used prudently and wisely.

• Our design and creative team actively share resources and utilize those for the needs of the operation.
• The minions are THAT passionate and committed to the vision that Alan and the team have, they all agree on the deferred/low/slow compensation concept for their efforts, as it frees up much needed capital for more important things, like building the haunt and getting event insurance. 
  
• Through our networks. we have obtained equipment and supplies for free or minimal cost, rather than purchasing outright or renting equipment.
• Finally, MEC has given us the space to use to build the haunt, free of charge, and is assisting with some support staff and most importantly, marketing through their existing media network.

Other Ways You Can Help

We understand that people may not be able to afford to give to our pursuit of terror, but here's other ways you can help:

• Get the word out and make some noise about our campaign, via relevant social media (ie Facebook and Twitter).
  
• Don't forget to use the Indiegogo share tools!
• And if you want to be personally involved, please let us know! We can use volunteers for things like set building/buildout, support staff, and whatever the spirits think we need.

The Majestic....  A once noble and regal establishment where all the world's elite would gather.  Now, it's a home to a gathering of another kind -- Spirits, Evil, Dementia and Madness!!!  Many a person's worst nightmares and fears, WAITING FOR YOU!

WE appreciate your help in bringing Terror back to Orlando in the form of Nightmares at the Majestic.

A full prospectus is available upon request by emailing info@gonightmares.com.  Please provide mailing address.

Visit us at:  gonightmares.com
Facebook:  Nightmares at the Majestic
Twitter:  NightmaresHaunt

An open letter to the people who hate Obama more than they love America

From Daily Kos: An open letter to the people who hate Obama more than they love America

Here's the text:

I meet you all the time. You hate Obama. You hate gay people. You hate black people, immigrants, Muslims, labor unions, women who want the right to make choices concerning their bodies, you hate em all. You hate being called racist. You hate being called a bigot. Maybe if you talked about creating jobs more than you talk about why you hate gay people we wouldn't call you bigots. Maybe if you talked about black people without automatically assuming they are on food stamps while demanding their birth certificates we wouldn't call you racist. You hate socialism and social justice. You hate regulations and taxes and spending and the Government. You hate.
     You like war. You like torture. You like Jesus. I don't know how in the hell any of that is compatible, but no one ever accused you haters of being over-committed to ideological consistency. You like people who look like you or at least hate most of the things that you hate. You hate everything else.
Now, I know you profess to love our country and the founding fathers (unless you are reminded that they believed in the separation of church and state), but I need to remind you that America is NOT what Fox News says it is. America is a melting pot, it always has been. We are a multi-cultural amalgamation of all kinds of people, and yet you still demonize everyone who is not a rich, white, heterosexual christian male or his submissive and obedient wife.
You hate liberals, moderates, hell, anyone who disagrees with Conservative dogma as espoused by Fox News and Rush Limbaugh. You hate em.
Well, here are the facts, Jack. If you hate the Government then you are unqualified to manage it. If you hate gay people more than you love America than you should take your own advice and get the hell out. There are several countries that are openly hostile to gay people, but they are full of brown people and you don't like them much either from what I understand. It looks like you are screwed, but that's not what I am here to tell you.
More rant below the fold . . .

Now that you have thrown everything and the kitchen sink at President Obama and it still hasn't worked you are panicking. Obama's approval ratings are still near 50% despite your best efforts to undermine the economy and America's recovery at every step you can. You tried to hold the American economy hostage to force America into default on its' debts, debts that YOU rang up under Bush, so you could blame it on Obama and it failed. You've used the filibuster more than any other Congress ever, going so far as to vote against providing health care access to 9/11 first responders. You remember 9/11, don't you, it's that thing you used to lie us into a war in Iraq, and then when Obama killed Bin Laden and ended the war in Iraq you told people that he hates America and wants the troops to fail. You monsters. You hate Obama with a passion, despite the fact that he is a tax cutting, deficit reducing war President who undermines civil rights and delivers corporate friendly watered down reforms that benefit special interests just like a Republican. You call him a Kenyan. You call him a socialist. You dance with your hatred singing it proudly in the rain like it was a 1950's musical.
Frankly, you disgust me. Your hatred nauseates me. Your bigotry offends me. Your racism revolts me.
Dear haters, I am openly questioning your patriotism.
I think you hate gays, Obama, black people, poor people, all of us, women, atheists and agnostics, Latinos, Muslims, Liberals, all of us, I think you hate every one who isn't exactly like you, and I think you hate us more than you love your country.
I think you hate gay soldiers more than you want America to win its wars.
I don't even think you want America to win wars, you just want America to have wars, never ending wars and the war profiteering it generates. You love that kind of spending, you love spending on faith based initiatives and abstinence based sex education (George Carlin would have loved that one), you love spending on subsidies for profitable oil corporations, you spend like drunken sailors when you are in the White House, but if it is a Democrat then suddenly you cheer when America doesn't get the Olympics because it might make the black President look bad. But oooh you love your country, you say, and you want it back. Well listen here skippy, it isn't your country, you don't own it, it is our country, and America is NOT the religiously extremist Foxbots who hate science, elitist professors and having a vibrant and meaningful sex life with someone we love if Rick Santorum doesn't approve of it. Rick Santorum isn't running for America's fucking high school dance chaperone, he should probably just shut the hell up about sex, but he can't because he has nothing else to run on.
Republicans can NOT win on the issues. They've got NOTHING. All they have is a divide and conquer class war that pits ignorant racist and bigoted people against the rest of us in a meaningless battle of wedge issues and the already proven to fail George W. Bush agenda again of tax cuts for the rich, deregulation, privatization and war profiteering and nothing else, so all they can do is blame black people, gays the government, anybody and everyone else for their own failings. The party of personal responsibility, my ass.
But they love multi-national corporations, just ask a gay hating and racist religious extremist if they think Corporations are people and they will gladly agree, but if you ask them if gay people are people they aren't so sure.
Dear haters, you are the cruel, heartless misinformed assholes who would sell America out to Haliburton in a heartbeat, you would rather pay ZERO taxes than you would see a newly born baby get access to quality health care, you cheer when we discuss denying health care to young people with preventable diseases, and you boo when we discuss the First Ladies plan to cut back on childhood obesity. You are a cross to carry and a flag to wrap yourself in away from being the people who Sinclair Lewis warned us about, but I guarantee that if Fox News told you to dress that way you would, because you are the same blind, ignorant and closed minded dunces who drove this country into a civil war years ago because you are bound to the notion that some men are more equal than others. In short, the reason I proudly wear my union army hat is because of seditious sell outs like you who constantly fuck over working class Americans so a foreign entrepreneur like Rupert Murdoch can get a bigger tax break. If corporations are people, they are neither American patriots nor capable of love. Just like you.
So stop wearing your hate with pride. Stop celebrating your anti-science, anti-math ignorance. Stop using code words to mask your bigotry like "family values", especially when you hate my family and when you stand on the same stage as a guy who has had three marriages or if you share a seat in the Senate with a guy who cheated on his wife with hookers while wearing diapers. You should be ashamed. I know that you are just doing this to motivate your misinformed hate cult base because if they actually knew that your ideas will make them poorer than they are now, they would never vote for you. You are doing your best to impoverish your countrymen so rich people can get bigger tax breaks and you can keep on delivering corporate welfare to the special interests who have bribed you, and I am disgusted by the way you gleefully parade your hatred with aplomb. I don't think you do love America. At least, not as much as you hate everyone in America who isn't exactly like you.
You should think about that, and maybe get some help.
And for the record, I do not hate you. I am embarrassed by you and nauseated by your cruel and thoughtless behavior and your all consuming greed, but I do not hate you. I forgive you and I hope you can change someday, but I don't hate you. You have enough hate in you for the rest of us as it is.