Caucasian to Asian makeup tips?
Caucasian to Asian makeup tips?
#1Caucasian to Asian makeup tips?
Posted: 7/28/09 at 2:40pmWorking on a production of "Thoroughly Modern Milie" where we have Caucasian actors playing Bun Foo & Ching Ho... as far as makeup, we want it to look as authentic as possible, while exaggerating it enough for an extremely large venue. Any tipis or ideas? Anyone have photo examples?
#2re: Caucasian to Asian makeup tips?
Posted: 7/28/09 at 2:47pmLiquid Eyeliner. When we did Miss Saigon last year at my school it was the only thing that saved us.
Genius lasts longer than beauty.
#2re: Caucasian to Asian makeup tips?
Posted: 7/28/09 at 2:54pmWhy don't you just dress up Muzzy in black face...
#3re: Caucasian to Asian makeup tips?
Posted: 7/28/09 at 2:57pmYou may want to contact BD Wong. I'm sure he'd have some interesting and useful input.
"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt
winston89
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/18/06
#4re: Caucasian to Asian makeup tips?
Posted: 7/28/09 at 3:04pmWhy not use fishing wire. Worked for Pryce when he was in Miss Saigon.
"If you try to shag my husband while I am still alive, I will shove the art of motorcycle maintenance up your rancid little Cu**. That's a good dear"
Tom Stoppard's Rock N Roll
sparrman
Broadway Star Joined: 2/21/07
#5re: Caucasian to Asian makeup tips?
Posted: 7/28/09 at 4:27pmIn Richard Corson's makeup book he has a very effective "tape on the eyelids" technique.
Phyllis Rogers Stone
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/16/07
#6re: Caucasian to Asian makeup tips?
Posted: 7/28/09 at 5:05pmCome back next year when you do Ragtime and need help turning white people black!
eatlasagna
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/6/04
#8re: Caucasian to Asian makeup tips?
Posted: 7/28/09 at 7:00pmLMAO...
Genius lasts longer than beauty.
nomdeplume
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/20/05
#9re: Caucasian to Asian makeup tips?
Posted: 7/28/09 at 7:18pm
I'd just say
DON'T OVERDO IT!
Especially on the eyes as that is almost to caricature.
Tuck the blond hair up in a hat (depending on the role) or under a wig to hide it and I've seen that work just fine.
If the acting is good people will overlook a bit of discrepancy in physical features.
#10re: Caucasian to Asian makeup tips?
Posted: 7/28/09 at 7:30pmIts a fine line between character acting and offensive racism. Just be cautious and get some feedback from some Asian individuals if possible.
"The sexual energy between the mother and son really concerns me!"-random woman behind me at Next to Normal
"I want to meet him after and bang him!"-random woman who exposed her breasts at Rock of Ages, referring to James Carpinello
SueleenGay
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/9/03
#11re: Caucasian to Asian makeup tips?
Posted: 7/28/09 at 7:56pmWe didn't have any orientals either so we just changed them to germans and made them Nazis. It was actually more funnier.
PEACE.
#12re: Caucasian to Asian makeup tips?
Posted: 7/28/09 at 7:57pmI just finished a production of The Mikado where not one of the cast members were asian. Dark eyeliner on the top lid only and fanciful or wigs are your best bet without making it a royal pain. I have pictures. If interested, PM me and I'll send you links.
#13re: Caucasian to Asian makeup tips?
Posted: 7/28/09 at 8:10pmIf we ignore the history behind 'black face', why is 'Asian face' less offensive?
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
wizard2joe
Featured Actor Joined: 11/20/08
#14re: Caucasian to Asian makeup tips?
Posted: 7/28/09 at 8:25pm
I am kind of offended by this since I am full asian,
but, I am sure if you're on stage you wouldn't be able to really see it and just put eyeliner on and tell them to quint their eyes just a little bit.
Don't forget the heavy asian accent.
#15re: Caucasian to Asian makeup tips?
Posted: 7/28/09 at 8:40pm
Don't forget -- be sure they make their entrance in a souped-up Honda (they're driving badly, of course), with their overbearing mothers following them and telling them how they'll be late for piano lessons, but be home in time for the sauteed cat-chow mein dinner, and if they do badly they'll shame the entire family. Meanwhile, dad is in the back making crazy "WAHHH!" kung-fu sounds. ROR. That's funny.
And THAT'S how to make sure the audience knows they're Asian.
"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt
Iluvlizlemon
Understudy Joined: 7/19/09
#17re: Caucasian to Asian makeup tips?
Posted: 7/28/09 at 8:48pm
More inspiration.
http://www.angryasianman.com/2009/07/stupidest-thing-ive-ever-seen-ii.html
"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt
ashley0139
Broadway Legend Joined: 1/3/05
#18re: Caucasian to Asian makeup tips?
Posted: 7/28/09 at 9:44pmWe did Millie at my college last year. We didn't have Asian actors as Bun Foo and Ching Ho and, guess what, didn't try to make them Asian. Don't be offensive, just do the show.
"This table, he is over one hundred years old. If I could, I would take an old gramophone needle and run it along the surface of the wood. To hear the music of the voices. All that was said." - Doug Wright, I Am My Own Wife
Chrysanthemum62001
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/14/04
#19re: Caucasian to Asian makeup tips?
Posted: 7/28/09 at 9:47pm
Heh. Once I was in a production of The Mikado. I am an Irish girl throughout. My make-up was horrible! And I had this crazy midnight black wig...which my friend put on backwards.
In other words, good luck!
"What a mystery this world. One day you love them and the next day you want to kill them a thousand times over." The Masked Bandit in THE FALL
eatlasagna
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/6/04
#20re: Caucasian to Asian makeup tips?
Posted: 7/28/09 at 9:48pmSuleengay... just wanted to let you know that it's pretty offensive to call Asians orientals... that's something you would call an object, like a rug or vase, not a person... just giving you a heads up... i can't tell on these boards sometimes if people on here are serious or being sarcastic..
Phyllis Rogers Stone
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/16/07
#21re: Caucasian to Asian makeup tips?
Posted: 7/28/09 at 10:45pmLizzie, thank you for the great tips!
bwaylvsong
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/28/05
#22re: Caucasian to Asian makeup tips?
Posted: 7/28/09 at 10:51pmI think just wearing authentic-looking costumes and hats would be enough, considering you'll be speaking "Chinese" during the show and your ethnicity is clearly indicated in the script (and your name).
SueleenGay
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/9/03
#23re: Caucasian to Asian makeup tips?
Posted: 7/28/09 at 11:22pm
lasagna, anything I write must be considered sarcastic if it offends anyone. Thanks for not correcting my grammar, though! 
PEACE.
fgreene1938
Leading Actor Joined: 10/25/06
#24re: Caucasian to Asian makeup tips?
Posted: 7/28/09 at 11:44pmThis thread's unbelievably racist. How about just have the actors AS THEY ARE. When non-caucasion actors are cast in traditionally white roles they don't get made up as white. Don't you grasp what it is you're actually suggesting? Creepy.
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