‘Miss Saigon’ Auditions Begin Without Incident : Stage: No organized protest greets casting call at Music Center. Some Asian-American activists still plan demonstrations.

Auditions for the controversial New York production of “Miss Saigon” were held in Los Angeles on Friday with little evidence of the fervent emotions the show has raised.

Forty-three actors--most of them Asian-American--had lined up at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion by 11 a.m., when the auditions began.

But with auditions scheduled to continue all day Friday and today, and next week in New York, it was difficult to gauge how the turnout would be affected by the public brouhaha over the casting of white actor Jonathan Pryce as a Eurasian, or by the recent accord between Actors Equity and “Saigon” producer Cameron Mackintosh that allows him to import two non-American actresses for the other leading role of Kim.

According to casting notices, the role of Kim is among those still open. Mackintosh’s representatives are also seeking an Asian understudy for Pryce and actors for the roles of a G.I. named John and “a fanatical member of the Viet Cong” named Thuy, as well as chorus members.

Mark Virkler, 26, showed up to audition for John, even though the casting notice requests “a black, Hispanic or Native American” and Virkler’s heritage is primarily white. “I’m one-eighth Native American, so I thought I’d give it a shot,” he explained.

Away from the audition site, leaders of the anti-”Saigon” protest expressed mixed feelings about the auditions, which they suspect of being not much more than a public relations gesture, they said. “We’re damned if we do, and damned if we don’t,” said actress Kim Miyori. “The auditions are probably not going to be in good faith, but if we boycott them, they’ll say there is no Asian talent pool.”

One actor, who said he planned to audition Saturday, said he would “impress them with my talent, then pull down my pants and walk out, telling them off as I go.”

Another actor, Ernest Harada, said he would like to audition; “all I want is assurances that these auditions aren’t a sham.”

“The current auditions are in no way a sham or a token,” said a spokesman for Mackintosh in New York. “People seen (at these auditions) have every real chance to be cast in the New York premiere, as well as for replacements in the Broadway company and for national tours.”

Many of the Asian activists vented their feelings to Actors Equity executive secretary Alan Eisenberg on Thursday afternoon in a four-hour meeting of the committee on racial equality of the union’s Western region, at the Equity offices in Hollywood.

The committee voted 8-1 to condemn the recent agreement between the union and Mackintosh and to request that the union council rescind the agreement. The committee also passed a resolution requesting Asian-Pacific-American representation in all negotiations regarding “Miss Saigon.”

Eisenberg will “take what was said back to (Equity’s council in) New York,” said George Ives, Western regional director of the union. But he noted “certain legal problems” in rescinding signed agreements and said he felt that many of those who attended the meeting were unaware of Eisenberg’s inability to act without council approval. “He was their only target, so he took the flak,” said Ives.

“There was a lot of emotion and energy in the room,” confirmed Miyori, after the meeting. “We indicated that we’re ready to be very vocal about our anger.”

The shouting may have only just begun. Miyori remarked that demonstrations to mark the April 11 opening of “Miss Saigon” in New York “will be inevitable.”

“They’re giving us plenty of time to organize (demonstrations),” said Chi-Muoi Lo, a Vietnamese-born actor who objects to the show’s depiction of the Vietnamese (“the women are prostitutes, the men are villains”) as well as to the casting policies that raised the initial controversy.

He said that he plans to organize the Vietnamese community in Philadelphia, where his parents live, to take buses to New York for the demonstrations.