| Hurrah for getting rid of the 'fa-ra-ra-ra' in the Chinese restaurant scene! | |
| Last Edit: WaymanWong 01:36 am EST 12/18/17 | |
| Posted by: WaymanWong 01:29 am EST 12/18/17 | |
| In reply to: re: A CHRISTMAS STORY LIVE! - lowwriter 11:59 pm EST 12/17/17 | |
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| I also cringed when ''A Christmas Story'' on Broadway (2012) re-created that moment where a Chinese waiter sings ''Fa-ra-ra-ra!'' It was a cheap laugh. And for the record, that issue was raised by the original composer of ''A Christmas Story,'' Scott Davenport Richards, during its tryout at Kansas City Rep in 2009. He said: “I had a very strong feeling that I didn’t want an Asian kid taken to a musical and saying to his parents, ‘Why are they making fun of us?’ '' (Richards would later be replaced by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, who admitted the restaurant scene was ''definitely offensive,'' but ''excused'' it because it was in the original 1983 movie, and ''we would be in hot water with a lot of fans'' [if we cut it].'') Happily, wiser heads have prevailed in 2017. The Vulture wrote about how the revisions came about. Ken Jeong, who played the owner of the Chinese restaurant, says director Scott Ellis, producer Marc Platt and writers Robert Cary and Jonathan Tolins updated the script with these changes. Jeong and Ellis made another funny contribution. After the Chinese waiters, some of whom were going to college, sang ''Deck the Halls'' flawlessly and without any hint of accent, Ralphie's father says, ''I wasn't expecting that!'' And Jeong's character says: ''What were you expecting?'' The Vulture article also notes how this Fox production was much more ethnically diverse than the original movie, which was practically all-white. Maya Rudolph, whose mom is African-American, played Ralphie's mother, and David Alan Grier played a Santa who happens to be black. (And Sammy Ramirez played Schwartz, a Jewish kid.) I only wish they had featured a couple of Asian-American kids in some of the musical numbers, but overall, I give them a thumb's-up on casting ''A Christmas Story'' that's more inclusive and reflective of our multicultural times. |
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| Link | Vulture.com: How 'A Christmas Story: Live' tackled that Chinese restaurant scene |
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