****02-22-10****it Wasn'T About Singing And Dancing Poem by Tom J. Mariani

We wanted to watch
Them sing and dance
Yet no one would hire them
Out of SF's Chinatown

So that's where we went
To watch them
Sing and dance
In their nightclubs

We locals went
Hollywood stars
Of the 1940s and 50s
Would be there too

Then the Chinese
Singers and dancers
Were recruited by Gene Kelly
For the movie Flower Drum Song

First time they used
Real Asians
Rather than
Whites in makeup

One movie and then Hollywood
Was done with them
It was back to Asians
Played by whites in makeup

The Chinese/Ameriocans
Had to go back to Chinatown
Where we went
To watch them sing and dance