MISS Saigon, by Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil really is like no other musical – this tragic tale is a full-on sing-through and more opera than most musicals.
Unsurprising really, as it unashamedly enjoys the same storyline as Puccini’s Madame Butterfly.
The Vietnam war finished in 1975 with the dramatic fall of Saigon and the shambolic exodus of American troops leaving a legacy – as was said at the time – of coca cola and venereal disease behind them.
Picture by Danny Kaan. s
When Cameron Mackintosh first brought Miss Saigon to the stage, it was little over a decade later and still very much a current topic. I was lucky enough to see one of the first performances back in September 1989 at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in which the legendary Johnathan Pryce won an Olivier for his performance as The Engineer.
I had managed to get a seat in ‘The Gods’ but also queued for hours in the returns line where I upgraded at great expense to the stalls via a ticket tout. Luckily, they were genuine and a jaw-dropping night’s theatre followed.
So wonderful was that original show (which ran for the next ten years in the West End) that I haven’t been to any of the revivals until this one last night at the Alex – happily it too was quite simply ‘awesome’!
Everything about this Miss Saigon is big; Andrew D. Edwards ever-moving set stretches wall-to-wall and from stage floor to way above the proscenium, transporting us from the despots of a decaying Saigon in Vietnam to Atlanta, USA by way of Bangkok, Thailand.
Picture by Danny Kaan. s
Our journey is lit dramatically via the stunning lighting design by Bruno Poet; the sixteen- strong orchestra under direction of Ben Mark Turner are hair raisingly superb, the choreography by Chrissie Cartwright and Carrie-Anne Ingrouille bold, brash and beautiful. Jean-Pierre Van Der Spuy’s direction is masterful and relentless as he hooks
us in from the first note and image to the show’s final, emotional second.
Like Madame Butterfly, Miss Saigon tells the tragic tale of a doomed romance, though set in Vietnam rather than Japan. It follows the story of a 17-year-old orphaned south-Vietnamese peasant girl turned bar hostess and a US marine, rather than a Geisha and a Lieutenant.
The story opens in ‘Dreamland’, a Saigon bar and brothel, shortly before the end of the Vietnam War where it is the naïve Kim’s first day as a bargirl. She has been cajoled in by the club owner nicknamed The Engineer. US marines Chris Scott and his friend John Thomas enter the club looking to enjoy a night on the town before they return to America as the Viet Kong take Saigon.
Picture by Danny Kaan. s
John buys Chris a night with Kim, which he is reluctant to accept. Kim pleads she will lose the job she has only just got and she will be homeless, so he concedes. After spending one night together Chris, doesn’t leave but goes AWOL and stays with her.
They fall madly in love and Chris offers to marry Kim and take her back to America with him. Events dictate this isn’t to be and Chris leaves without her on one of the last helicopters before the city it is taken by the Viet Kong.
Once back in America Chris tries to contact Kim without success and presumes she was killed in the fighting. He meets Ellen whom he marries not knowing Kim was pregnant with his child when he left.
He finds this out three years later from John and that he has a son, Tam. The Engineer had escaped with Kim and is living in Bangkok. Chris tells Ellen about Kim and that he wants to look after his son financially and the two go on an ill-fated mission together leading to Kim’s eventual suicide to ensure her sons future.
Picture by Danny Kaan. s
This is Julianne Pundan’s professional stage debut as Kim and a very fine job she makes of it too with a beautiful voice bringing an innocent charm to the role, which makes you want to adopt her yourself.
Jack Kane has a terrific vocal range as Chris and captures the soul of a marine caught up in a war he knows is not just flawed but plain wrong.
Dominic Hartley-Harris is also highly watchable as Chris’s best buddy John.
I started off this review by saying that Johnathan Pryce’s engineer won an Olivier, well I wouldn’t be surprised if Seann Miley Moore follows by winning one too.
He brings the cherry to the top of a fabulous production with his charisma, verve and total dynamism even finding moments to break the fourth wall with the audience occasionally.
The energetic ensemble are non-stop from get go to walkdown playing a multitude of roles and always spectacularly.
This new version of Miss Saigon is indeed a rebirth – it has a rawer edge than the original language-wise and makes full use of theatrical technology available today.
Highlights include the staggering helicopter scene and the outrageous new version of ‘American Dream.
It’s a roller-coaster of a show emotionally and I don’t think there was many a dry eye in the house at the end.
If you’ve never seen it – go and experience theatrical majesty. Seen it before? I think you’ll enjoy this more – I did!
Miss Saigon runs until November 29 at Birmingham’s Alexandra Theatre – click here for times, tickets and more.
*****
Review by Euan Rose
Euan Rose Reviews
