Take a good, long look at the photo. Does any of that feel right to you?
The Bagley Wright Theatre in Seattle is currently staging Gilbert & Sullivan's "classic" comic opera The Mikado, which has historically required actors to perform roles in yellowface, and a bunch of shitty made up stereotypes for comic effect. This version is no different, with all forty Japanese characters played by white actors.
The year is 2014, my friends.
Columnist Sharon Pian Chan calls out the production in this editorial for The Seattle Times, questioning the use of yellowface and stereotypes, and calling the opera "a fossil from an era when America was as homogeneous as milk, planes did not depart daily for other continents and immigrants did not fuel the economy."
Mike Storie, producer of The Mikado, defends the show, calling it "fun."
"I personally have never heard any complaints."
Really? I'm just going to leave this right here. It's a contact form for the Seattle Gilbert & Sullivan Society, where you can leave some thoughts if you feel inclined. Or you can use the Society's direct email address, manager@pattersong.org. Mr. Storie, you should be hearing some complaints soon enough.
More here: The yellowface of 'The Mikado' in your face
