>
>Full disclosure: Yours truly is not unbiased. I love Gilbert and
>Sullivan, I love "The Mikado," and I played bassoon in the company back
>in the 1980s. If this were a realistic play with Asian characters being
>played by whites and/or mugging offensive stereotypes, I would be
>sympathetic to the concerns. But that's not what "The Mikado" is. It's
>Brits (or Americans) playing Brits playing dress-up, but mostly acting
>like caricatures of upper-class Brits of 130 years ago. Nobody wears
>Asian-style makeup, except for Katisha (the fearsome contralto
>character), who is made-up Kabuki-style. The G&S Society has a tradition
>of color-blind casting. No Asian-Americans auditioned for this show,
>there are 38 Caucasians and 2 Hispanics on stage. There are several
>Asian-Americans on the stage crew, one in the orchestra pit (a friend of
>mine), and one on the society's Board of Trustees.
>
Hmmmm.....
When I hear "Mikado", the first thing that comes to mind is a 2-8-2 steam
locomotive:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2-8-2
I don't know of anyone protesting one of those in the past 100 years or
more. :{b
Chris
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro
- Hunter S. Thompson
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