Up and Coming Weekly is a weekly publication in Fayetteville, NC and Fort Bragg, NC area offering local news, views, arts, entertainment and community event and business information.
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Miss Saigon Discusses the Victims of War at the CFRT by JANICE BURTON During the first 10 days of November, the Fayetteville community will honor Vietnam veterans during the Heroes Homecoming event. The Cape Fear Regional Theatre is doing its part to honor these American heroes through the staging of Miss Saigon. Miss Saigon, a modern adaption of the opera Madame Butterfly, is set during the closing days of America's involvement of Vietnam, and revolves around an American soldier and a Vietnamese girl who find love in the midst of war and its associated pain. The two are ripped apart as Saigon falls, and the musical ultimately addresses the hard questions of what people will do to survive and who are the real victims of war. Under the direction of Bruce Lumpkin, the cast of Miss Saigon has been working at a quick pace to put the show together. According to Lumpkin, who is revisiting the play for the fifth time, the staging of this show in Fayetteville is going to be unique. "Each time I've done the show, it has been totally different," said Lumpkin, "but this one will be even more different. We are using a lot of projections and photo montages to bring people into the story." Lumpkin hopes that the use of actual footage and photos of the fall of Saigon will help people really see the reality of that moment and the way that people's lives were torn apart. "I know that many people in the audience will have served in Vietnam and will have memories of those days," said Lumpkin. "I hope this will strike a chord with them and those memories." For Shannon Tyo, who is playing the role of Kim, the show is very personal. "For someone of my age and ethnicity and vocal range, this part is tailor made for me. It is a beautiful, wonderful part, and hopefully I can do it until the day I die," said Tyo. "I love this part." Time to Test Tillis's Idea by JOHN HOOD When during a recent speech House Speaker Thom Tillis endorsed the idea of drug testing for North Carolina welfare recipients he set off a raging controversy. The Mecklenburg Republican's most-controversial suggestion wasn't re- ally about welfare families, actually, but about state employees. In response to an audience question, Tillis opened the door to random drug testing for state employees. He should immediately close that door — the idea is likely to be neither cost-effective nor consistent with privacy concerns. More deserving of consideration is the prospect of North Carolina emu- lating Florida and other states that impose drug tests for welfare. The federal courts have upheld the legitimacy of other state conditions, and drug testing is explicitly authorized by federal law. But a decade ago, a broad drug-test policy in Michigan was struck down. Florida's policy — which requires new applicants for cash welfare to take a state-approved drug test and then reimburses recipients who test negative — is currently being challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union. To say that North Carolina may have legal sanction to test welfare recipi- ents for drug use is not necessarily to say the state should impose a drug test. Given the existence of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the main cash-welfare program, it is in the interest of taxpayers that the program be administered in the way most likely to minimize both dependency and cost. All other things being equal, it is folly for the government to give cash as- sistance to those who regularly use mind-altering drugs. Whatever you think of the wisdom and efficacy of drug prohibition, surely you don't think it wise to force taxpayers to finance the drug habits of welfare recipients. But for a drug-testing rule to make sense, the benefits must exceed the costs. I'm inclined to think that it might, based on Florida's early experience, but I also think the debate is plagued by misstatements. Liberal critics argue that Florida's policy is a waste of time and money because very few would-be welfare recipients have failed their drug tests. That's not the relevant statistic. If you lived in Florida, used drugs regularly, 12 UCW OCTOBER 26 - NOVEMBER 1, 2011 and learned that a drug test was required to apply for cash welfare, would you submit your application anyway and hope to get lucky? No. You might try to game the system by submitting results from a fake or disreputable lab. Or you wouldn't apply in the first place. Tarren Bragdon, head of Florida's Foundation for Government Account- ability, has run the numbers for the first quarter of testing. While only 32 applicants were denied benefits because they tested positive for drugs, many others were denied benefits because they tried to submit results from an unap- proved lab. Indeed, about a fifth of Florida applicants were denied cash welfare during the first quarter because of some violation of the drug-testing rule. More importantly, there was a very large decrease in the number of first- time welfare recipients in Florida during the first quarter. In September alone, the number of recipients in the relevant category came in 62 percent lower than the number of recipients Florida enrolled in September 2010. First- time recipients also dropped for the quarter as a whole, though by a smaller percentage. Because participation in other welfare programs not subject to the testing requirement, such as Food Stamps and Medicaid, did not substantially change, it is likely that the drop in cash-welfare caseloads was due primarily to the prospect of drug testing, not to some unrelated trend. Now, before fiscal conservatives get their hopes up too much, don't expect such a requirement to save the state a great deal of money. If you assume Flor- ida's early experience will persist through the fiscal year, and further assume that North Carolina's experience would be similar, the net savings (after sub- tracting the cost of the drug tests) would be around $5 million. I think we should wait, gather more data from Florida and other states and then make a rational calculation. Then again, I'm just nerdy and naïve enough to think rational calculation and public policy go together. JOHN HOOD, Columnist. COMMENTS? editor@upandcomin- gweekly.com WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM "I was adopted from Korea when I was 3-years-old. In the musical, Kim is forced to make a very difficult choice concerning her child," she explained. "For me, it is interesting to see what it is like from the mother's side. I think about a lot of things that have happened in my life, and think about the mother who wanted a better life for her child, like Kim wants for her child. This is truly a story of great love and sacrifice." Tyo, like Lumpkin, is very aware that many in the audience may have actually lived through these times, and sees it as a great honor to get to perform for them. "This is really a beautiful interpretation of the musical," she said. "Being here in this place with such a strong miltiary background, it is very important for us to get things right. I am nervous to a certain extent, but I am very excited for them to see what we are doing. I hope it is going to be beautiful and moving for them, and I am excited for them to come and see it." Of the videos and photos, she noted, "It's mind- blowing how the videos and photos take you exactly where you need to be. In an instant, you are in Saigon in 1973." Lumpkin has been working night and day to ensure that atmosphere is set. "Miss Saigon is a big show, but it is also a very intimate piece of theatre. If it is well done, and you have a great group of people — like we have here — you don't need the expansive scenery or the helicopter, because the story is what is important." The musical will run from Nov. 3 through Nov. 20. Tickets range in price from $12 to $27. All Vietnam veterans will receive tickets for $15, while other vet- erans will receive a $3 discount. For show times, and to make reservations, visit the website at www.cfrt.org. Up & Coming Weekly, COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomingweekly.com JANICE BURTON, Associate Publisher,