Though the stage musical Thoroughly Modern Millie has a nostalgic Jazz-Age feel, it was written in 2002 by Jeanine Tesori (music), Richard Morris and Dick Scanlan (book and lyrics). The musical is based on the 1967 film of the same name, which in turn was based on the British musical Chrysanthemum (1956). Set in the roaring 1920s, Thoroughly Modern Millie recycles a storyline in which a young small-town woman is caught up in a plot involving girls being kidnapped and sold into slavery in Asia. The 2002 version makes a conscious effort to revise the portrayals of the comic roles of the Chinese henchman Bun Foo and Ching Ho by softening their loyalties to the sinister Mrs. Meers (the leader of the prostitution ring). However, it provides ample opportunities for yellowface acting in these roles as well as reinforces stereotypes of oriental involvement in “white slavery.”
The fear of white women being enslaved by orientals has been expressed through many different artistic works, including Hiram Powers’ famous sculpture, The Greek Slave. In the nineteenth century, a series of plays adapted these worries to target Chinese immigrants. Works such as Henry Grimm’s The Chinese Must Go (1867) and Joseph Jarrow’s The Queen of Chinatown (1899) depicted Chinese immigrants as cheating white men out of jobs and money and enslaving white women through addiction and prostitution. The same anti-Chinese feeling drove the passage of a series of laws, beginning with the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, that restricted the entry and naturalization of Asian immigrants.
