“Tony Award ® winner and three-time Pulitzer finalist David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly) will make his Roundabout debut with the Broadway premiere of Yellow Face, his hilarious is-he-or-isn’t-he comedy of identity, show business, and (perhaps) autobiography. Starring Daniel Dae Kim (Lost) and directed by Tony nominee Leigh Silverman (Violet).
In this play inspired by real events, the playwright’s fictionalized doppelgänger protests yellowface casting in Miss Saigon, only to mistakenly cast a white actor as the Asian lead in his own play. This Obie Award-winning and Pulitzer finalist play is a laugh-out-loud farce about the complexities of race.”
Weird as it may sound, “Yellow Face” is a good time in the company of smart, self-aware people, critical thinkers willing to ponder the lessons and the follies of the past.
Throughout “Yellow Face,” Silverman uses her talented cast to play all sorts of characters, and the nontraditional casting often delivers a great deal of laughter. It’s fun to see a female actor of color playing a redneck Senator from the South. When Hwang wants to get serious, however, Silverman doesn’t mess around. She casts an actor who looks male and white in the role of the reporter. Oh, can I write that someone looks white and male? Keller also plays the role without a smidgen of the campy gay face that infects some of the other performances. White straight men have become the go-to villains in the theater. Apparently, some stereotypes remain PC.
| 2007 | Off-Broadway |
Original Off-Broadway Production Off-Broadway |
| 2024 | Broadway |
Roundabout Theatre Company Broadway Premiere Production Broadway |
| Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Featured Performer in a Broadway Play | Francis Jue |
| 2025 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Play | Yellow Face |
| 2025 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play | Francis Jue |
| 2025 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play | Daniel Dae Kim |
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