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NEWS: Death Note Musical Workshop Held in NYC


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mdo7



Joined: 23 May 2007
Posts: 6464
Location: Katy, Texas, USA
PostPosted: Thu Apr 17, 2014 1:44 pm Reply with quote
Well this is going to be interesting to see, but the cast, I hope nobody on ANN will cry "whitewash" or soapboxing about it like that because of lack of Asian-American actors/actresses for this workshop. Because I want to note that when a western musical goes to South Korea or Japan, the western characters for the Asian production are not played by western actors/actresses, they're played by Asian like Jessica of Girls Generation played Elle in the South Korean production of Legally Blonde (pictured below):



or Tiffany (of the same girl group) playing Carmen Diaz in the South Korean production of Fame.
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enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 17, 2014 3:04 pm Reply with quote
Have it done by Matt Stone and Trey Parker!

Book of Mormon
Death Note
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revolutionotaku



Joined: 19 May 2011
Posts: 899
PostPosted: Thu Apr 17, 2014 4:14 pm Reply with quote
enurtsol wrote:
Have it done by Matt Stone and Trey Parker!

Book of Mormon
Death Note

Let's hope it won't be like "Spiderman: Turn Off The Dark".
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Agent355



Joined: 12 Dec 2008
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 18, 2014 1:37 am Reply with quote
Wish I could've seen it. I'm sure it's a hoot! (Why can't it open in NY?)
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dandelion_rose



Joined: 12 May 2012
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 18, 2014 3:59 am Reply with quote
mdo7 wrote:
the western characters for the Asian production are not played by western actors/actresses, they're played by Asian like Jessica of Girls Generation played Elle in the South Korean production of Legally Blonde (pictured below):


There's a South Korean version of Legally Blonde? Is there a South Korean version of There! Right There! (Gay or European)?
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mdo7



Joined: 23 May 2007
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 18, 2014 8:20 am Reply with quote
dandelion_rose wrote:
mdo7 wrote:
the western characters for the Asian production are not played by western actors/actresses, they're played by Asian like Jessica of Girls Generation played Elle in the South Korean production of Legally Blonde (pictured below):


There's a South Korean version of Legally Blonde? Is there a South Korean version of There! Right There! (Gay or European)?


Yep Legally Blonde became a musical and there has been overseas production of that musical including South Korea. About There! Right There! I never even heard of that play (and I can't find any info about it on Wikipedia), give me a link about that musical please??
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dandelion_rose



Joined: 12 May 2012
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 18, 2014 9:36 am Reply with quote
mdo7 wrote:
Yep Legally Blonde became a musical and there has been overseas production of that musical including South Korea. About There! Right There! I never even heard of that play (and I can't find any info about it on Wikipedia), give me a link about that musical please??


There! Right There! (Gay or European) is the most famous musical number from Legally Blonde. It's been used in quite a number of anime fan AMVs.

Not sure how this falls under ANN's policy concerning links to non-legal material if it doesn't concern anime, but here's the full song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LN_L85b2zQ).

If there's a South Korean version I want to listen to it, lol.
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mdo7



Joined: 23 May 2007
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 18, 2014 9:55 am Reply with quote
dandelion_rose wrote:
mdo7 wrote:
Yep Legally Blonde became a musical and there has been overseas production of that musical including South Korea. About There! Right There! I never even heard of that play (and I can't find any info about it on Wikipedia), give me a link about that musical please??


There! Right There! (Gay or European) is the most famous musical number from Legally Blonde. It's been used in quite a number of anime fan AMVs.

Not sure how this falls under ANN's policy concerning links to non-legal material if it doesn't concern anime, but here's the full song (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LN_L85b2zQ).

If there's a South Korean version I want to listen to it, lol.


Oh, OK thanks for telling me that (I didn't know that was a name of the song, thought it was another musical). No, you're not violating the rule. But search around on Youtube, you could find a Korean version of that song.

But anyway back on topic: Looks like nobody is throwing in any soapbox about whitewash and "America is racist against Asian for not casting them in the Death Note musical" crap.
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dandelion_rose



Joined: 12 May 2012
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 18, 2014 10:23 am Reply with quote
mdo7 wrote:
But anyway back on topic: Looks like nobody is throwing in any soapbox about whitewash and "America is racist against Asian for not casting them in the Death Note musical" crap.


Whitewashing's a real thing, but I kind of want to avoid that discussion since it could derail and get pretty bad. But I don't mind when they do a complete change of setting like in Death Note (I'm guessing it would be in an American high school?) and anyway...Light looked like Zac Efron. Looking forward to check it out on Youtube or something.

(Asian here, btw)
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mdo7



Joined: 23 May 2007
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 18, 2014 10:41 am Reply with quote
dandelion_rose wrote:
mdo7 wrote:
But anyway back on topic: Looks like nobody is throwing in any soapbox about whitewash and "America is racist against Asian for not casting them in the Death Note musical" crap.


Whitewashing's a real thing, but I kind of want to avoid that discussion since it could derail and get pretty bad. But I don't mind when they do a complete change of setting like in Death Note (I'm guessing it would be in an American high school?) and anyway...Light looked like Zac Efron. Looking forward to check it out on Youtube or something.

(Asian here, btw)


I know whitewashing is real, but I agreed with you it could derail the topic and this has happened before on ANN. But then again, how is casting a Korean to play a white character any different from what we're seeing in Death Note musical.

(I'm Asian too, BTW)
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Agent355



Joined: 12 Dec 2008
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 18, 2014 11:53 am Reply with quote
Workshopping a play or musical isn't the same as putting on an official performance for the general public. It's a try out type of thing, and in this case it was done for the prospective South Korean and Japanese producers. That's why I asked why it can't open in NYC- it's very unlikely that this will ever be made available in English, even though it was originally written in the language.

As for whitewashing, Aladdin just opened up on Broadway without a single Middle Eastern performer, but Aladdin is played by an American/Filipino actor (one of his parents is American, the other Filipino), so it's not like they hired some white guy to play the part...so, progress?

If they ever put on a Mulan musical with any white actors I'd be upset.
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dandelion_rose



Joined: 12 May 2012
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 18, 2014 12:43 pm Reply with quote
mdo7 wrote:
I know whitewashing is real, but I agreed with you it could derail the topic and this has happened before on ANN. But then again, how is casting a Korean to play a white character any different from what we're seeing in Death Note musical.

(I'm Asian too, BTW)


Since I hope this thread doesn't get derailed, I'll keep my response brief. I think whitewashing is an American / Western thing and deals with racial dynamics and issues in the West.

It can't exactly be replicated with reverse scenarios in Asia because the racial dynamics between whites and Asians in Asia are different. For a casting to be problematic in Asia, it'd have to be a reflection of racial issues in that particular Asian country.

The issue with whitewashing is not just a question of casting, but on whether it reflects its community's racist or racial issues subconsciously.
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KazeFuu



Joined: 03 Jul 2010
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 18, 2014 4:04 pm Reply with quote
I thought that by now someone would have pointed out to Mr. mdo7 that the cast mentioned here is not going to be used in production, the article says
Quote:
The workshop cast members will not be included in the Japanese or Korean productions.

So I really doubt that whitewashing will be a problem, specially as of now.
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mdo7



Joined: 23 May 2007
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 18, 2014 4:13 pm Reply with quote
KazeFuu wrote:
I thought that by now someone would have pointed out to Mr. mdo7 that the cast mentioned here is not going to be used in production, the article says
Quote:
The workshop cast members will not be included in the Japanese or Korean productions.

So I really doubt that whitewashing will be a problem, specially as of now.


True but we have some people that love to soapbox about it. Just want to make sure no one will try to take advantage of it for a soapboxing/ranting about whitewash and all that.
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Sailor S





PostPosted: Fri Apr 18, 2014 4:19 pm Reply with quote
So you're gonna rant about people who might rant about whitewashing before anyone has done so. Do you think you're doing anyone any favors by doing that kind of stuff? And if they really wanted to, do you think they'd stop because mdo7 said he hopes no one does? Unbelievable.
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