Houston Grand Opera's use of white actors for Asian roles raises diversity questions

It's a scene that feels out of place in contemporary times, yet one that isn't uncommon.

Fu Manchu facial hair. Slanted eyebrows. Conical rice hats. Kung Fu uniforms and traditional Chinese masks.

These caricatures, applied to or performed by white actors during the Houston Grand Opera's production of "Nixon in China," are being displayed on one of the most prestigious stages in Houston, a city that regularly touts its diversity and in a local theater scene that has taken steps to better represent African-Americans and Hispanics.

"This is not OK," said Cecil Fong, president of OCA-Greater Houston, the local branch of the national Asian advocacy group. "It's a negative stereotype of Asian-Americans. I'm surprised this still happens nowadays."

Fong is among the members of Houston's Asian-American community objecting to HGO's decision to cast white actors in "Nixon," saying that the presence of yellowface in 2017 by one of Houston's largest cultural institutions, not to mention one of the country's most prominent operas, symbolizes deeper problems with equity and diversity in both the city and in the opera world.

The artists behind "Nixon," which will be staged again Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at the Wortham Center, are defending their decision to cast white actors to play Chinese people in the opera, claiming they're "sensitive portrayals" and that no Asians could be found to fit the roles.

This isn't a new issue. Since its premiere at HGO in 1987, productions of "Nixon" typically have resorted to the use of yellowface, a term similar to blackface that describes white actors portraying Asian people. In more recent years, opera productions on both U.S. coasts have caused uproar about their portrayals of Asian characters.

Fong said he was unaware of any effort by HGO to reach out to the local Asian and Chinese communities to discuss Asian representation in "Nixon" and that OCA-Greater Houston will be writing a formal letter to express their disappointment toward HGO.

"Nixon" director Jim Robinson said this production is "extremely sensitive" to Chinese culture and described the casting choice as "colorful."

Composer John Adams said he has not heard complaints about Asian representation in his opera. "It's possible someone could make a stink about it and say it's culturally demeaning. But that would mean people in China couldn't do Verdi or Wagner," Adams said. "There's certainly no intention to caricature the Chinese."

There is criticism around the decisions of having Mao Zedong played by tenor Chad Shelton, a Texas native, while soprano Tracy Dahl, a native of Canada, plays Madame Mao. And bass-baritone Patrick Carfizzi, who is also white, portrays an evil Chinese landlord who whips a peasant girl as a way to promote Communist propaganda.

Artists behind the opera argue that they did not find any suitable Asian singers to play the Chinese roles and pointed out that baritone Chen-Ye Yuan, a Chinese national, co-stars as Premiere Zhou En-Lai.

"Putting aside the social justice implications, this is just a bad business model," said David Henry Hwang, the Tony award-winning author of "M. Butterfly." "People of color will be a majority by 2040 or so. If you accept the notion that people like to see themselves on screen and stage, it's not smart for your survival to draw your audience from an increasingly shrinking demographic."

Critics acknowledged that HGO faced the challenge of drawing from a smaller pool of Asian-American talent. Unlike theater, opera companies often cast primarily for voice, favoring singing ability over other factors.

But Diep Tran, associate editor of American Theatre magazine, said that means companies like HGO should do more to foster minority talent.

"If you don't do the work, then you're using art to justify whitewashing, erasure and the continued marginalization of people of color," she said. "Blackface/yellowface/brownface is an abhorrent practice that should be abolished, and operas should be taking action towards abolishing those practices, instead of making excuses."

The production "raises an eyebrow," said Eiki Isomura, artistic director of Opera in the Heights. Isomura did not find "Nixon" personally offensive but admitted that "there are well-intended works of art that can still contain these microaggressions."

From the top down

Roam the cultural institutions of Houston and you often hear the people who populate this world talk with pride about the levels of diversity in this city.

Aside from its robust Hispanic population and a thriving African-American community, Houston harbors one of the largest Vietnamese populations in the country, and Asians are the fastest growing demographic group in the city, according to census data in 2015.

These same arts organizations in Houston often say representing their diverse community is among their top priorities. Count HGO among them. Its mission, according to the company's website, is to "build the most innovative, inclusive, and transformative opera company in America."

Yet, when you study the people who control these arts groups, their ranks aren't as diverse as the city they serve.

Taking data from newswires announcing leadership changes, the Center for Art and Social Engagement at the University of Houston found that nine out of ten people hired in Houston and Texas for senior leadership of non-culturally specific organizations are white. It's a trend corroborated by data from a recent Mellon Foundation Art Museum Staff Demographic Survey.

"Asian representation is not seen within this community," said Sixto Wagan, director for the center. "And generally, when we speak of Asians, it's always thought of as monolithic, particularly in Houston, where there are so many different ethnic and generational differences and to be able to speak in terms of one monolith is impossible."

But exclusion of minority voices reaches beyond the Asian-American community, said Trevor Boffone, a Houston-based educator specializing in Latino theater. In a 2016 article in the online theater publication Howlround, Boffone noted that "Latina/o representation on stage in Houston is few and far between."

"At what point does the opera world catch up to the rest of the performing arts regarding race and ethnicity in casting?" said Boffone. "In 2017, there are no excuses to cast roles written for people of color with Anglos, especially at a company with the resources that HGO has."

Yellowface traditions

The opera world has had its share of controversies over yellowface in recent years.

In 2014, a Seattle production of "The Mikado" stirred a national debate after Seattle Times columnist Sharon Pian Chan said the opera "opens old wounds and resurrects pejorative stereotypes."

A year later a production of "The Mikado" by The New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players was canceled after promotional images featuring white actors dressed up as Asians drew accusations of racism.

Asian representation in opera often comes under the guise of orientalism, a term used to describe portrayals of Eastern culture as exotic, backward, uncivilized or dangerous.

For instance, the farcical "Mikado" caricatures Japanese culture, featuring characters named Nanki-Poo, Yum-Yum and Pitti-Sing, who live in the fictional town of Titipu.

In "Nixon," a Chinese landlord brutalizes a poor peasant girl in a performance of "The Red Detachment of Women," prompting First Lady Pat Nixon to cry out and call the Chinese people "barbarous."

But there are ways to reinterpret old-fashioned representations of Asians and produce shows with a modern sensibility, said Howard Sherman, director of the new Arts Integrity Initiative at the New School for Drama in New York.

"If an arts organization's goal is to simply continue to replicate work, without regard to what has happened in the society in the ensuing years, then they are presenting nothing but a wax work. I certainly have no interest in seeing that," he said. "Even a place like Shakespeare's Globe, which is intended to try to replicate what was done in Shakespeare's day, hasn't continued to only cast white men and boys in their shows."

Sherman pointed to plays by writers of color - rising stars include Qui Nguyen, Ayad Akhtar and Rajiv Joseph - as evidence that moving beyond yellowface is possible.

The playwright Hwang agreed, citing his new opera, "Dream of the Red Chamber," as one recent success story.

"I just opened an opera last fall at the San Francisco Opera where all the characters are Chinese," he said. "All our principals were Asian. Not only could the company cast this and have a wonderful production, but they ended up attracting new audiences and new funding. It was a boon to the opera."

Looking at the history of Asian-American marginalization, the "Nixon" issue is especially problematic, said Ariel Jones, an administrator for Fresh Arts, a nonprofit organization that provides resources for Houston artists.

"It's erasure," she said. "You spend years in school trying to see yourself in history to find out that your history wasn't deemed important enough, and then when you finally get the opportunity to see yourself in a story of any importance, they change the face of history? The disrespect is almost comical."