{"podcast":{"title":"Closing Night","slug":"closing-night-6469355","podcast_index_feed_id":6469355,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/closingnight","website_url":"https://broadwaypodcastnetwork.com/podcast/closing-night/","image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/2bf54e30-ece8-11ed-a593-5fb14b3bb4ec/image/0e5e80b73eca08e43e01183cdb9984a4.jpeg?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"WINMI Media, LLC","episode_count":47,"summary":"Every Broadway show has an opening night. This podcast is about what happens next. Closing Night explores famous and forgotten shows that closed too soon, using the stories of individual productions to uncover the larger history of Broadway. Through deep research and immersive storytelling, each episode examines the artists, ambitions, successes, and failures that have defined American theater. From legendary flops to celebrated classics, every closing night has a story worth telling.","last_synced_at":"2026-06-06T08:18:11.835863+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/closing-night-6469355"},"episode":{"title":"Miss Saigon","slug":"miss-saigon","published_at":"2025-08-31T07:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/closing-night-6469355/miss-saigon","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/closing-night-6469355","url":"https://broadwaypodcastnetwork.com/podcasts/closing-night/","audio_url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/BPNET4486898536.mp3?updated=1756736345","summary":"When a white actor was recently announced to replace Darren Criss in Maybe Happy Ending, it sparked a fresh wave of debate over racial casting on Broadway. For Asian Americans like playwright David Henry Hwang and actor B.D. Wong, it felt like déjà vu, echoing a controversy they had spoken out against more than 30 years ago with Miss Saigon. That blockbuster musical became the center of a storm back in 1990 when Jonathan Pryce was chosen to reprise his Eurasian character from the London production when it transferred to Broadway. This decision ignited protests, ultimatums, and the first major reckoning with yellowface in American theater. In this episode, we look back at Miss Saigon, the clash between producer Cameron Mackintosh and Actors’ Equity, and how that moment set the stage for Hwang’s satirical play Face Value—and continues to reverberate today. --- Click ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for a transcript and list of all resources used. Produced by Patrick Oliver Jones and WINMI Media with Dan Delgado as co-producer. Theme music created by Blake Stadnik. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices","meta_description":"When a white actor was recently announced to replace Darren Criss in Maybe Happy Ending, it sparked a fresh wave of debate over racial casting on Broadway…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2249,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/closing-night-6469355/episodes/miss-saigon/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/closing-night-6469355/miss-saigon.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}