"Yellowface" Slyly Comments On Political Correctness In The American Theater--Past And Present!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                              The first thing I need to tell you, girls, is "Yellowface" is performed without an Intermission.  So, make sure your bladder is aware of that.

                                             Next, after the colossal monstrosity that was Jez Butterworth's "The Hills Of California--" I cannot believe it is still running; can you, dolls?--coming to "Yellowface" was so refreshing because David Henry Hwang's take on theatrical and political awareness is so compelling, funny and well-acted by a sterling cast headed by Daniel Dae Kim, that I just sat back in a state of theatrical bliss.

                                                "Yellowface" examines the furor created when the original production of "Miss Saigon," which opened at the Broadway Theatre on April 11, 1991, misguidedly--or did it?--bring over Jonathan Pryce as the Engineer, instead of casting an Asian born actor.  Now, the character is meant to be Eurasian, which means there is other blood in him, but I can see the point.  Ever after, this role has always been cast with an Asian born actor.  I mean, Sondheim got a whole constellation of them together in 1976, with "Pacific Overtures."  You're telling me, the creative staff could not find one?  Especially after finding the sensation Lea Salonga, whom I saw years later when she returned to the show for a brief time?

                                                      Nevertheless, the character is Eurasian, and Pryce was actor enough to have received that season's TONY Award as "Best Actor In A Musical."  I am sure his performance of his signature number, "The American Dream" in on YouTube somewhere, and I advise you to give it a look.

                                                        David Henry Hwang, an accomplished dramatist, presents all sides of the argument, making the activists just as annoying as their detractors.  What is the right or wrong answer?  Is there one?  Hwang does not answer these and other questions; rather he places the evidence before the audience and allows it to make up its mind.  A very smart approach.

                                                            "Yellowface" is stimulating, funny, engaging, but it is never pretentious.  Earlier, I mentioned a Broadway monstrosity which is still running. Its creative staff should head over to the Todd Haimes Theatre, to observe what a well-crafted dramatic work is like.

                                                                Because, darlings, it sure isn't theirs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!