Since the musical became a popular choice for high school productions due to its Tony awards and multiple roles for boys and girls,[10] controversy has arisen about the racial stereotyping of Asian people, resulting in Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts student journalists Jasmine Luca and Tai Joselyn referring to the work as "Thoroughly Racist Millie".[18] The subplot of the show in which Mrs. Meers, a white woman, disguises herself as a Chinese woman and runs a white slavery ring with assistance of two recent Chinese male immigrants, Ching Ho and Bun Foo, plays on the close differences between satire and racism. According to the musical play writer, Dick Scanlan, the musical aims to shatter racist stereotypes and allows the audience to experience “the chasm between the stereotype and the real thing”.[19] The original actor for Bun Foo, Francis Jue, also said “this show can be done racist but it doesn’t have to and actually it can actually be anti-racist…And the Chinese guys are the heroes of the story”.[20] A 2020 Encores! production was announced starring Ashley Park in the title role with book revisions by playwright Lauren Yee. The proposed revisions sought to address some of the racist and sexist elements of the show, but the production was canceled due to COVID-19.[21][22]
| Date | Location | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| January 2014 | Dalton School, Manhattan, NY | Show cancelled; then script revised[23] |
| March 2015 | Newton North High School, MA | Theatre Director apologized in public[24] |
| December 2015 | Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, PA | Show cancelled[18] |
| April 2019 | Levittown Division Ave High School, Levittown, NY | Superintendent confirmed not to perform the show again[25] |
| April 2019 | Huntington High School, Huntington, NY | Superintendent apologized, confirmed not to perform the show and promised to add cultural proficiency program in the school district[26] |
