Asian Americans protest casting of new musical

A production number from a new musical 'Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise.'

The practice of whitewashing and yellowface isn't just a problem in Hollywood. Asian American actors have a similar problem getting parts on Broadway.

A recent production of the musical Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise drew protests from the Asian American Performers Action Coalition along with other Asian American community groups when it case an Asian character with a non-Asian actor. 

Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise tells the story of a secret sect in Flushing, Queens, that possesses the magical power to extend human life, and the twin brother and sister caught in the struggle to control it. The pop artist Sia wrote the music.

A recent report conducted by AAPAC looked at casting on Broadway over the last five years. African American performers filled 13% of all available roles, Latinos/Hispanic American actors were represented at 4%, and Asian American actors were 2%.  Not surprisingly, white actors, who secured 80% of the roles, were the only ethnicity to over-represent compared to their relative population size.

Asian Americans were the only minority group to see their numbers decline over the 5-year period. 

The AAPAC along with several theatre companies and Asian American advocacy groups recently  released an open letter to the artistic leadership of The Shed, the new multi-million dollar cultural center in Hudson Yards, Manhattan, in response to the casting of a Caucasian actor in an Asian role in their current production of Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise.

Below is their letter in its entirety.

"We are a coalition of theatre artists and Asian American advocacy organizations around the nation. We have heard several complaints from our members who saw your production of Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise at The Shed. Your production appropriates Chinese culture, mixing it with western pop influences, relying on the most reductive tropes of the kung fu genre while providing no cultural context. It makes little effort to humanize or add nuance to the Chinese American characters, but instead, relies on stereotypes for characterization. In a multi-million dollar production which made use of public funds, you chose to employ a predominantly Caucasian writing, music and producing team who deemed it appropriate to give a Caucasian actor the principal role of the Grandmaster, "Lone Peak." As the archetypal wise elder who is the keeper of ancient Chinese secrets and the father of "Little Lotus," it is clear that he is intended to be an Asian character--or should be. The decision to use yellow face casting is offensive and unacceptable to us and we demand a public explanation.

"No doubt, the leadership of The Shed thought that entrusting Chen Shi-Zeng, a Chinese-born director, fulfilled any obligations they might have had in bringing true authenticity to the production. It didn't matter that Mr. Chen has a history of implementing yellow face casting: his production of The Orphan of Zhao at Lincoln Center in 2003 was cast entirely with Caucasian performers playing Asian roles. 

His director's note in the program for Dragon Spring states: 'My intention was to cast actors regardless of their ethnicity because I believe human experience is not exclusive but rather transcendental in nature. Our 'Chinese story' is acted by performers of many backgrounds. Like America at its best, Dragon Spring Phoenix Rise is about shared cultural values and experiences.' 

This sounds to us like another way of saying, "we don't see race" and conveniently sidesteps the long history of misrepresentation, exploitation and erasure that Asians have experienced in this country. Erasing our culture, our humanity and our bodies from our own story is a form of racism at its most insidious. The fact that Mr. Chen grew up overseas does not excuse him from being ignorant of the long history racism against Asians in America. He has been in this country since the 90s.

"We agree that human experience is transcendental-we are forced to see ourselves in Caucasian protagonists all the time. This is an issue of representation. Mr. Chen's lofty goal of "rainbow casting" may be apt if the playing field were level, but it is not. Asian stories are rarely produced, and opportunities for Asian American actors remain unequal. It is perhaps even more disappointing, if that were possible, that, when there are Asian performers in this production, they never rise above the level of being stereotypes: the dutiful Asian kids; the Asian woman who has no defining characteristics except to be a wife and mother, etc., all of which speaks to the apparent disregard the creators have for accurate representation in storytelling. The fact that this orientalism went unchallenged betrays an extreme lack of leadership on the part of The Shed across all levels.

"It begs the questions: Who is this production for, really? What does this production add to the story of Asian immigrants in America when it treats the culture it aims to honor so superficially? Doesn't this actually diminish the culture? What does this production do for Asian and Asian American voices in the theater when its own voice is more reflective of the history of American appropriation of East Asian culture? Can we expect this concept of "rainbow" casting in upcoming projects at The Shed for all racially-specific stories? If not, why was this story treated differently? It's one thing if The Shed fails to live up to its stated mission of "shared cultural values", but it's another when its product negatively affects our community and how we are perceived. We must speak out against it.

"We hope you will address these questions with us in a public forum at a mutually beneficial time in the future, one that will allow multiple perspectives to be expressed. We hope you can be in the room with us to listen to the experience of those who have been hurt by your production and to publicly address what you intend to do differently (if anything) moving forward. We look forward to your response to our invitation. You may contact us at aapacnyc@gmail.com.

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Outcry over inserting white savior in movie about Hiroshima victim

A statue  above of Sadako Sasaki in Seattle is often festooned by paper cranes. Another statue of Sadaki is part of
the Children's Peace Monument located in the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima.

When the U.S. dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, 60,000 to 80,000 people died from the blast. Children on their way to school melted into the sidewalks. People walking down the street turned into shadows and ash. Whole city blocks vanished.

The radiation killed perhaps 100,000 more in the years that followed. Every one of the victims had compelling stories that could be told.

One of those true stories is the story of Sadako Sasaki, who was two-years old when the bomb destroyed the Japanese city in WWII. Her story would make a great movie. 

Casting of Evan Rachel Wood to portray author Eleanor Coerr who wrote teh children's book Sasaki and One Thousand Paper Cranes, has raised concern among Asian Americans who fear the Japanese story will be told through a Western eyes.

Asian Americans are angry that telling story of Sasaki through Coerr's perspective is a form of white-washing what is essentially a Japanese story.

One Thousand Paper Cranes is a movie about the true story of Sasaki played by Shinobu Terajima. Her character will apparently take a back seat to then one played by Rachel Wood, Eleanor Coerr, according to the Huff Post.

Actress Evan Rachel Wood, left, will portray the writer who wrote about Sadako Sasaki, right.

“It’s a story that was amplified and became a phenomenon because of the author, Eleanor Coerr,” Variety quoted director Richard Raymond. “This film shows for the first time the untold truth behind these two remarkable women, and how their lives are intricately connected. I’m honored by the trust Eleanor’s family and the Hiroshima Film Council have bestowed upon me to tell this story.”

Sociologist Nancy Wang Yuen told HuffPost that the film exemplified how “Hollywood cannot deal with U.S./Asia wars without co-opting Asian voices.”

“I wondered whether a story about the devastation of Hiroshima told through a white author’s lens would ever address the fact that the United States committed an act of war that killed a total of 192,020 people (including those killed instantly and those killed by the radiation in the aftermath),” she said.

“This type of story typically does not honor the victims because, like ‘The Help,’ the white female author’s voice becomes privileged over those of the women of color she tried to capture,” she added.

Others used social media to protest the way Hollywood is Westernizing the Hiroshima story.

The story of one thousand paper cranes is legendary. Sasaki’s condition worsened in the years after the atomic bomb drop. A high school club brought folded paper cranes to Sasaki to cheer her up. She took it to heart and set out to fold one thousand cranes as a symbol of good fortune and longevity.

After the criticism gained momentum, Raymond tried to quell the storm of criticism by contradicting what he told Variety.

According to Resonate, Raymond saidt he has “seen all the feedback and recognize everyone’s concerns. We would love to use this moment as an opportunity to clarify a couple aspects of our film.”

He added that the film is based on Takayuki Ishii’s book One Thousand Paper Cranes: The Story of Sadako and the Children’s Peace Statue. Ishii was contacted by the director five years ago “in the spirit of a close collaboration to ensure Sadako’s story, and that of all Hibakusha, was honored with the utmost cultural respect.”

Raymond said the film will be told from Sadako’s “point of view, filmed in Japanese with a Japanese cast.”

“The film separately tells the story of Eleanor Coerr, who wrote the fictional children’s book Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes (which this film is not based on) and brought the story to international fame, further cementing Sadako’s legacy of peace and hope through the powerful symbol she created,” he said, again walking back on the Variety story.

ASAM NEWS contributed to this report.

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Sunday Read: Is 'Magnum P.I.' whitewashing an entire state?

The “Magnum P.I.” cast with Executive Producer Peter M. Lenkov. (L-R) Lenkov, Perdita Weeks, 

Jay Hernandez, Zachary Knighton, and Stephen Hill.

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE to picture Hawaii without Asians or Pacific Islanders. However, on American television, the brown-skinned people descended from Asia and Polynesia who make up the majority of Hawaii are largely missing.

Hawaii has a Japanese American governor, a senator who was born in Japan, a Chinese American Lt. Governor. Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders are the majority population group and hold positions of authority from school board members to the governorship. 

In the recent past, the island state had both of its senators were Japanese American and elected the first Filipino American as its governor.

Therefore, it wouldn't be a stretch to see one of the television shows taking place in Hawaii to feature an Asian American in a lead role.

Wouldn't it make sense to have Magnum P.I. feature an Asian American in the lead role? While Jay Hernandez playing Magnum is Latino and would not be out of place in Hawaii, Latinos make up only 7% of the state.


The joke among the AAPI community was that the original Magnum P.I. starring Tom Selleck was filmed on the island chain's ninth island where there were no Asian Americans or Native Hawaiians.

The Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA) is condemning CBS’ upcoming reboot of Magnum P.I. for featuring too few Asian/Pacific Islanders and is calling on the show’s executive producer, Peter Lenkov, to be replaced. Lenkov, who is CBS’ most prolific writer-producer, also is the EP on Hawaii Five-0, another reboot set in the Aloha State that MANAA says has been “white-washed.”

Now that movies such as Crazy Rich Asians, Searching and To All the Boys I Ever Loved have proven that Asian American leads are being accepted by multi-ethnic audiences, it would not take too much daring for the network to cast am AAPI actor in a primary role.

A CBS spokesperson told Deadline: “While we respect the work that MANAA does to foster Asian/Pacific Islander (API) inclusion in entertainment, their statement does not accurately reflect the current status of Magnum P.I. or CBS. Magnum has two API series regulars among an inclusive cast. Additionally, one-third of all the directors on Magnum are API,” including Justin Lin, who directed the pilot.

The spokesman also noted that, on all its shows for the 2018-19 season, “69% of our series regulars will be people of color, women, LGBTQ characters and performers with disabilities. Additionally, people of color and women will represent 46% of our writers, and 43% of directed episodes. These numbers have increased from last year and steadily over the last five years. CBS is proud of the advances we have made to create more inclusion on all of our shows, and we are fully committed to continue improving in this area.”

I guess we're supposed to be  impressed. The diversity stats cited by CBS can be misleading because they limp POC and women together.  White women are no more likely to be sensitive to Asian themes or characteristics than white men.

Magnum P.I., which stars Jay Hernandez in the central role of Thomas Magnum, is one of the few network shows with a leading man of Mexican descent. It co-stars Stephen Hill, who is African American; Perdita Weeks and Zachary Knighton, who are Caucasian;.

Tim Kang, a Korean American will play Gordon Katsumoto and Amy Hill, a Japanese American, will play Kumu, which means "teacher" in Hawaiian. It appears that Kumu will be the new Magnum's link to the all things Hawaiian. 

MANAA president Rob Chan acknowledged that “the show is diverse” but told Deadline that “oftentimes, Asians are left out of the diversity discussion, and for a show that takes place in a locale that is majority Asian, to have the main leads not to be Asian is offensive.”

CBS just doesn't get it. The network sounds like we should be grateful for the crumbs they throw our way. Magnum will give work for some AAPI actors. Like the sugar and pineapple plantations that gave plenty of work for AAPI farmworkers, they were forever the farmhands, never invited to the board room.

Citing Hollywood’s “overall lack of opportunities for Asian American actors,” Chan said: “We generally want a show to reflect the demographics it’s in. The show takes place in Hawaii, which is majority Asian, but if you look at the four stars, there’s no Asians reflected there. In fact, in the trailer, Jay Hernandez refers to four people by name, and none of them are Asian. We feel that time and time again there is a pattern of exclusion. And while some supporting cast may be Asian, they often times do not get as much screen time as the leads.”

MANAA also had issues with the show's producer, Lenkov, who filled the same role with Hawaii Five-0, which had similar issues with inclusion.

When the reboot of Magnum first became known, Chan wrote CBS saying that MANAA is “very disappointed that Peter Lenkov will be the showrunner for this potential series."

The original Magnum P.I. central cast also didn't include any AAPI actors.

MANAA and the Asian Pacific American Media Coalition have had a problem with Lenkov ever since CBS rebooted Hawaii Five-O in 2010. MANAA says it has spent “countless hours” in research and conversations with the network about “the offensive way” Lenkov cast AAPI guest stars “mostly as suspects and villains.” 

“In its eight seasons (193 episodes), every guest star who tags along with the team to catch the bad guy has been either white or black – except once when she was Asian,” according to MANAA.

(When Hawaii Five-0's stars Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park didn't get contracts comparable to their white co-stars, they left the show in 2017.)

“We think it’s imperative,” he told CBS executives, “that you hire an Asian/Pacific Islander to star as Thomas Magnum, and that the majority of the cast are Asian/Pacific Islanders. In the history of television, no series set in Hawaii has ever starred an Asian/Pacific Islander, despite the fact that they make up 60% of the state’s population. This would be a great opportunity for your new version of Magnum to be the pioneering show to shatter that racial barrier.”

MANAA's pleas apparently fell on deaf ears because the Magnum reboot was given the green light although two Asian American actors were cast. It is hoped that Justin Lin and the other Asian American directors hired will rectify the lack of AAPI presence and their one-dimensional characterizations.  

There will be one Latinx writer to help develop Hernandez' Thomas Magnum character but we were unable to ascertain if there are any AAPI writers. 

Inclusion is more than just a bunch of numbers, it also means the quality of visibility. Is the character making an impact on the plot or the actor just another red shirt (a reference to red-shirted crew members of the Star Trek franchise who normally the ones who perish, while the stars miraculously survive.)? is the diversity within the AAPI population represented, rich and poor, authority figures and laborers, contributing members of society as well as bad guys?

It's important for organizations like MANAA to act as watchdogs to the movie and television industry. Without their persistence and willingness to question the status quo, no matter how uncomfortable it may become. Hollywood decision-makers need to be pushed, pulle,  pressured and educated before they change their ways and widen their perspective.

Because of the hue and cry of the embarrassing departures of Park and Kim from Hawaii Five-0, CBS saw to it that the show's producers replaced theim with AAPI actors. 

It will take action of a similar magnitude to ensure that AAPI characters are more than window dressing for any series that are set in the state where AAPI are everywhere -- in all levels of society and practicing any profession, including crime fighters and private investigators.

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New TV project: First Rule of Ten should be -- 'no whitewashing'

LET'S HOPE this TV project reaches fruition: A former Buddhist monk trying to balance his beliefs with modern-day Los Angeles. Sounds intriguing.

It's unlikely the producers or the network won't turn the protagonist into a white guy, (i.e.. Iron Fist) spouting Mr. Miyagi-like sayings.

It's a good project coming from actor-turned-producer Daniel Dae Kim's production coming 3AD, using to full advantage the production muscle he has gained through the success of his  ABC drama series The Good Doctor.

Also, having playwright David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly) working on the project gives more support for an Asian or Asian/American actor to play the lead.

The television project is First Rule of Ten, based on the successful books by Gay Hendricks and Tinker Lindsay.

First Rule of Ten focuses on a young monk, who after years spent struggling with the teachings of his Tibetan monastery, leaves to find his identity in the unlikeliest of places – Los Angeles, according to Deadline. There, he’s forced to reconcile the differences between the Buddhist teachings he’s grown up with and the new fast-paced lifestyle filled with temptations. His path to self-discovery becomes further complicated when he witnesses a brutal crime and becomes inextricably entwined in its investigation.

RELATED: AAPI actors moving from the sidekick to the star

“3AD is excited to develop First Rule of Ten as our first collaboration with ITV Studios America,” said Kim. “The books tell a beautifully universal story from a uniquely Asian American perspective.”

Kim, who left his Hawaii Five-0 series over a pay disparity dispute last spring, went into the production end of the business, ostensibly to produce more shows with Asian perspectives and storylines.

His first project, The Good Doctor, though derived from a Korean series of the same name, had a white protagonist. He realized to gain credibility among the Hollywood community, his project needed to be a success. He decided to focus more on the autistic angle of the lead character rather than his race.

With the surprise success of The Good Doctor, one of the top shows of the season, he has been able to launch other projects that will have that Asian/American perspective that he has sought.

• Re Jane is a comedy adaptation of the Patricia Park novel of the same name, has landed at TV Land. It's about a Korean/American woman trying to reconcile the conflicting values of Korea and America.
• Exhibit A is a legal drama based on the South Korean series My Lawyer, Mr. Jo, in the works at CBS.  According to Deadline, if Exhibit A is picked up to series, it would be the first U.S. non-action drama to feature an Asian/American lead. 

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Hollywood Reporter: Actor Daniel Dae Kim's latest role is behind the camera

Daniel Dae Kim, actor AND producer

AFTER HIS CONTROVERSIAL departure from CBS hit Hawaii Five-0, actor Daniel Dae Kim has fallen into the role of being the poster child of the racial inequities that exist in the world's entertainment capitol, whether it be in casting or in Hollywood's creative decision-making process.

In his latest Q&A with The Hollywood Reporter, he touches on his successful series produced by his production company The Good Doctor and how it has become a vehicle for his beliefs; and his role as Hellboy's Major Ben Daimo, the first Asian/American comic book superhero to be depicted on the big screen. 

The Hollywood Reporter spoke to Kim about what it means to play an Asian/American superhero, his goals as a producer, and the aftermath of his taking a stand on salary parity

"I ... think it's really important that all of us do something to participate. It's easy to point fingers and say well, it's because of this, that. To get involved in the nitty-gritty is sometimes a daunting task, but a necessary one.

"Something I often say is, I stand on the shoulders of the people who came before [me], and I’m ready to lift up people to stand on my shoulders. And one of the ways we can do that is to hire them. And that’s why it was so important for me to be a job creator, because there is no substitute for on-the-job experience," Kim said.

"A lot of us, and I can tell you from experience, just didn’t have the kind of opportunity it required to get better at the same rate as others.

"So it’s really important to me to create those opportunities," Kim continued. "And as a producer, I think The Good Doctor shows that I’m not in it to create roles for myself, although I won’t rule that out, but it’s not my primary focus."

To read the entire interview, click here.

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Daniel Dae Kim confirms that he will do 'Hellboy' role that was previously whitewashed

Daniel Dae Kim, right, will play Major Ben Daimio, left, in the upcoming motion picture 'Hellboy.'

You can call it karma or you can call it justice. In any case, Daniel Dae Kim confirmed  Wednesday (Sept. 13) that he has signed on to play the Japanese/American character in Hellboy.

Kim takes over the role that was originally given to Ed Skrein, the white actor who voluntarily stepped aside so that a culturally appropriate actor could play the role of Major Ben Daimio, a rugged military member of the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense who, due to a supernatural encounter, can turn into a jaguar when angered or in pain. 

The character is Japanese/American in the Hellboy comics by creator Mike Mignola.

In August, Skrein was cast in the part but, after an outcry over whitewashing an Asian/American character, made the morally courageous and unprecedented decision to step down later that month. 

“It is clear that representing this character in a culturally accurate way holds significance for people, and that to neglect this responsibility would continue a worrying tendency to obscure ethnic minority stories and voice in the Arts. I feel it is important to honor and respect that,” Skrein said in a statement at the time.

In his statement, Kim now says, "I’m excited to confirm that I’ve officially joined the cast of Hellboy. We start shooting today (Sept. 13) and I’ll be playing Ben Daimio, alongside our very talented cast, headed by David Harbour, and director, Neil Marshall. Thank you for all the supportive tweets and comments, especially in light of the recent events surrounding its original casting."

In a statement, Kim said: “I applaud the producers and, in particular, Ed Skrein for championing the notion that Asian characters should be played by Asian or Asian-American actors,” said Kim. “He could not have addressed the issue more elegantly and I remain indebted to him for his strength of character."

Skrein announced his decision on Twitter in August, noting that while he was "sad" to not be part of the film, he wanted to help bring positive change to representation in Hollywood.

"It is clear that representing this character in a culturally accurate way holds significance for people, and that to neglect this responsibility would continue a worrying tendency to obscure ethnic minority stories and voices in the arts," Skrein wrote.

Earlier this year, Kim and co-star Grace Park stepped away from their roles earlier because they were unable to get salaries comparable to their white co-stars in Hawaii Five-0. Considering how rare Asian/American actors get meaty roles, Kim made it clear that part of his decision to leave the successful TV series was based on the principal of equity.

CBS denied that race had anything to do with the difficult contract negotiations with the Korean/American actors.

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