Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 782.14
EAN num: 9781559701242
ISBN number: 1559701242
Label: Arcade Pub
Manufacturer: Arcade Pub
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 192
Printing Date: 1991-03
Publishing house: Arcade Pub
Sale Popularity Level: 364642
Studio: Arcade Pub
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Rated by buyers 
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Its leave up to the expectations.
Great backstage book with all the inside story and history of the show
Rated by buyers 
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"The Story of 'Miss Saigon'" by Edward Behr and Joseph Steyn is, quite simply, a work of propaganda. This is true not only because the purpose of the book is to persuade the reader to buy a ticket to see the stage musical "Miss Saigon," but because the book tells an egregiously one-sided account of the 1990 controversy over the casting of white British actor Jonathan Pryce as the musical's Vietnamese male lead, the Engineer. In the summer of 1990, "Miss Saigon's" powerful British producer, Cameron Mackintosh, wanted to cast Pryce as the Engineer -- Broadway's very first Asian-male lead (non-supporting) role in 15 years -- without seriously considering any Asian actors for the part. Actors Equity, the American stage-actors' union, denied Pryce a visa to play the role, citing the paucity of lead roles for Asian American actors and Mackintosh's refusal to audition any in good faith. Rather than take the matter to arbitration, as was his option, Mackintosh indignantly accused Equity of "discriminat[ing] against Mr. Pryce on the basis of his race" and canceled the Broadway production, which had already amassed a then-record $25 million in advance ticket sales.
By vetoing Pryce for "Miss Saigon's" Asian-male lead, Equity hoped to call attention to a simple fact: Asian American actors do not have equal opportunities to play lead roles in the U.S. entertainment industry. White actors have always been allowed to play lead Asian roles -- from Charlie Chan to "The King and I" to "Kung Fu." Recognizably Asian actors, by contrast, had never been considered for white leads, and Asian lead roles are extremely rare. However well intended, casting Pryce as the Engineer would only perpetuate this racially discriminatory double standard. Pryce had many other opportunities to play lead roles; Asian Americans actors -- because of their race -- did not.
Although Mackintosh justified the casting of a white actor as the Engineer by saying that the character was of mixed Asian and European ancestry, nowhere in "Miss Saigon's" original London libretto is any reference made to his Caucasian background. In fact, the logic of the plot requires him to be 100% Vietnamese. So, many believe that the Engineer was labeled "Eurasian" solely to accommodate a white actor in an otherwise full-blooded Asian lead role.
In its chapter about the casting controversy, "Calamity and Catharsis" (written by Behr), "The Story of 'Miss Saigon'" does its best to demonize Equity's veto of Pryce and, in doing so, obscure the entertainment industry's historical discrimination against Asian American actors. For example, Behr attributes the objections against Pryce's casting to a "hard-core...radical fringe," when in fact, opposition to the casting of a white actor in a rare Asian lead was broadly supported by Equity's minority constituents. Behr refers to those opposed in principle to such biased casting as the "anti-Pryce" lobby, as though their objections were a personal attack upon this individual actor. And anticipating future arguments against affirmative action, Behr disingenuously accuses the non-white actors of "introducing the notion of racial privilege [for minorities] under the guise of multi-racial equality." The idea that *Pryce* might be racially privileged -- that he would not have had the opportunities to become a star on the London stage if he hadn't been white -- never occurs to the author.
Granted, the "Miss Saigon" controversy also raised the issue of Cameron Mackintosh's right of free speech. But this could have been negotiated with the actors' equal-opportunity rights in the arbitration process, an option that Mackintosh *chose* not to exercise. And while it's important to protect a producer's right to free expression, the entertainment industry is also a business, and as a business, it has the responsibility to make sure that arbitrary obstacles do not keep any particular group (in this case, Asian Americans) beneath a glass ceiling. "The Story of 'Miss Saigon'" twists itself into knots in an effort to obscure such issues. A few months after the dispute was settled -- and it was decided that Pryce would open the role of the Engineer on Broadway -- the New York City Commission on Human Rights held hearings on the subject of racism in casting and concluded that there was "widespread discrimination" in the entertainment industry. These hearings were held in direct response to the "Miss Saigon" controversy and its outcome, but Behr doesn't acknowledge their existence. To do so would have undermined his highly biased, circumscribed argument.
Discussing the "Miss Saigon" dispute in the New York Times on August 26, 1990, African American actress Ellen Holly talked about the times when she was forced to surrender roles because of *her* race, but no one stood up for her. She wrote: "Racism in America yesterday is nothing so crass as mere hatred of another person's ... Read More
Rated by buyers -
Miss Saigon fans will not be disappointed by this pictured-packed, thoroughly written work. (And this is a keeper for Lea Salonga fans, too.) The format is akin to the more accessible "Phantom of the Opera" books -- in fact, I cannot understand why the publisher doesn't have stacks of "The Story of Miss Saigon" sitting beside the coffee mugs and T-shirts at theater gift shops in London, on Broadway and at the tour stops. Amazon's Out of Print Search Service also rates a "10" -- quick, helpful and very reliable.
Rated by buyers 
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This is a very good book, which tells you everything about the making of Miss Saigon, started from Madam Butterfly, then the created team, casting session, rehearsing, the Broadway opening..etc...This book is out of print and very hard to find. I recommend this book to all musical fans out there, expecially Miss Saigon fans, you must read this book.
Rated by buyers -
Of the many theatre books I own, this is by far one of the
more interesting and informative. Great sections on how
the cast was picked and of the early writing process!
A must for actors or anyone who loves MS!
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