Miss Saigon

Miss Saigon

From Closing Night by Patrick Oliver Jones

August 31, 2025 · 37 min · Season 2 · Episode 12

About this episode

This episode explores the historical controversy surrounding racial casting in Broadway, focusing on the musical Miss Saigon and its implications today.

When a white actor was recently announced to replace Darren Criss in Maybe Happy Ending, it sparked a fresh wave of debate over racial casting on Broadway. For Asian Americans like playwright David Henry Hwang and actor B.D. Wong, it felt like déjà vu, echoing a controversy they had spoken out against more than 30 years ago with Miss Saigon. That blockbuster musical became the center of a storm back in 1990 when Jonathan Pryce was chosen to reprise his Eurasian character from the London production when it transferred to Broadway. This decision ignited protests, ultimatums, and the first major reckoning with yellowface in American theater. In this episode, we look back at Miss Saigon, the clash between producer Cameron Mackintosh and Actors’ Equity, and how that moment set the stage for Hwang’s satirical play Face Value—and continues to reverberate today. --- Click ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for a transcript and list of all resources used. Produced by Patrick Oliver Jones and WINMI Media with Dan Delgado as co-producer. Theme music created by Blake Stadnik. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People in this episode

Host: Patrick Oliver Jones

Topics covered

  • racial casting
  • Broadway
  • yellowface
  • Miss Saigon
  • theater history
  • Asian American representation

Keywords

  • Miss Saigon
  • racial casting
  • yellowface
  • Broadway controversy
  • David Henry Hwang
  • B.D. Wong
  • Jonathan Pryce
  • Cameron Mackintosh
  • Face Value

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Actors’ Equity, Cameron Mackintosh

Books & works: Miss Saigon, Face Value

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