In my first week of research, I got a hold of the script and score of the King and I. A wonderful Rodgers and Hammerstein classic that has been produced in every decade since its premiere in the 1950s, The King and I is one of the shows that many people who are not versed in theatre associate with musical theatre. I loved the musical when I was a child and revisiting it as a young adult has completely changed my perspective on the musical. The first time I watched the musical, I was around nine years old and was instantly swept away by the score and the costumes and the sets that I didn't really notice any of the other aspects of the musical. Mainly, none of the Asian characters were played by Asian actors.
Now it must be taken into consideration that the film was made in 1956, soon after the premiere of the musical in 1951. The concept of Asian roles being played by Asian actors was completely foreign in the industry and Hollywood sidestepped this by having Asian roles be played by white actors in yellowface. Yellowface is a form of theatrical makeup in which the performer changes their face to look more East Asian. Much like blackface or brownface, yellowface is just as demeaning and derogatory to the race in question.
The cast of the film version of The King and I featured one Asian-American actress: Judy Dan who as uncredited in the film. Everyone else in the film was either white or Hispanic (Rita Moreno played Tuptim one of the king's wives) and the king was famously played by Yul Brynner. He then went on to portray the king in a revival on Broadway.
Until 1991, every production of The King and I was never properly cast. For the half century after the premiere of the show, every subsequent production cast non-Asian actors or, as one casting director put in 1972, "looked Asian enough" and never respected Thai culture. Even though the script has the Asian characters speaking in broken english- which is appropriate for the time period- the characters are portrayed as oriental and uncultured, particularly the King's treatment of one of his wives Tuptim. But even after the casting decisions were finally rectified, many critics still believed that many of the laughs in the show came at the expense of the Thai people not understanding the British culture.
P.S. This week's musical reference is from The King and I (if you haven't guessed yet)
Now it must be taken into consideration that the film was made in 1956, soon after the premiere of the musical in 1951. The concept of Asian roles being played by Asian actors was completely foreign in the industry and Hollywood sidestepped this by having Asian roles be played by white actors in yellowface. Yellowface is a form of theatrical makeup in which the performer changes their face to look more East Asian. Much like blackface or brownface, yellowface is just as demeaning and derogatory to the race in question.
The cast of the film version of The King and I featured one Asian-American actress: Judy Dan who as uncredited in the film. Everyone else in the film was either white or Hispanic (Rita Moreno played Tuptim one of the king's wives) and the king was famously played by Yul Brynner. He then went on to portray the king in a revival on Broadway.
Until 1991, every production of The King and I was never properly cast. For the half century after the premiere of the show, every subsequent production cast non-Asian actors or, as one casting director put in 1972, "looked Asian enough" and never respected Thai culture. Even though the script has the Asian characters speaking in broken english- which is appropriate for the time period- the characters are portrayed as oriental and uncultured, particularly the King's treatment of one of his wives Tuptim. But even after the casting decisions were finally rectified, many critics still believed that many of the laughs in the show came at the expense of the Thai people not understanding the British culture.
P.S. This week's musical reference is from The King and I (if you haven't guessed yet)
Your project so far is very intriguing! When did the practice of yellow-face start to end? Or is it still going on?
ReplyDeleteI never knew that race played such a big role in selecting actors! Have you seen any other plays where an actor played a character of a different race?
ReplyDeleteI've never thought about theater this way before! Do you think The King and I is offensive by itself, or merely that the way it has been handled in the past is offensive to minority groups?
ReplyDelete