Written by Boublil and Schonberg, the same people responsible for the hit musical Les Miserables, Miss Saigon is slightly lesser known. The show and it’s music have the same iconic style and dramatic flare, but based around a slightly more modern premise. The story, which is still set around half a century ago, in the 70s, is based around the romance between an American G. I., and a Vietnamese girl. But, what begins as a romance soon, due to the issues of the time period, ensues into tragedy!
In classic Boublil and Schonberg style, the story of this show is extremely historically significant, since it relates directly to the horrors that were caused by the Vietnam War, and to what happened to Vietnam society when it ended. The story is based on various sources. Firstly a magazine photograph of a Vietnamese woman who was raising the child she’d had with an American soldier who'd left at the end of the war, but also on the Puccini opera Madame Butterfly, which they had wanted to base a musical on for some time. After seeing the photograph, they realised the potential for doing this in a Vietnam War setting.
The story begins when Kim a Vietnamese girl is given a job at a club in Saigon, by the club's owner, known as ‘The Engineer’. A group of G. I.s come to the club, including Chris, who dances with Kim, but tries to pay her to stop working there. She refuses since she needs the money to survive. Then, when Chris watches her sleeping, he realises he has feelings for her. They share a brief love affair, but unfortunately, when he is made to return to the USA because of the chaos caused by the war, he is rushed out of the country and can’t take her with him.
Three years later, Kim is living in a poor area and is found by the Engineer and Thuy, a Vietnamese government official, who had once asked Kim to marry him. He asks again, and she refuses for the second time. When he asks why she will not marry him, she reveals a young boy, Tam, saying that he is Chris’s and that she has been raising him on her own. Thuy then tries to kill Tam, calling Kim a traitor, but she shoots him with Chris’s gun first. Both Kim and the Engineer must then escape the country, as they are outlaws of the Vietnamese government.
By now Chris has started a new life with an American wife, Ellen, but upon finding out about Kim’s child, he decides he must tell her everything. The two then venture back to Vietnam to help Kim and the child. The rest of the show then focuses on the terrible choices they must make in order to ensure the best future for Tam.
This show is both romantic and tragic, and at times very funny, with good use of the Engineer character to lighten up the story. The show premiered 25 years ago last month, on 20th September 1989, and there was a special gala performance to celebrate its anniversary. Having seen it, I can say for sure that the new West-End production of this show is extremely good, being produced by Cameron Mackintosh as the original was, and with excellent performances from Eva Noblezada as Kim, Alistair Brammer as Chris and my personal favourite, Jon Jon Briones as the Engineer. The anticipation for this production was clear with record breaking advanced bookings to see the show. To catch the musical with this brilliant new cast, take a trip to the west-end’s Prince Edward Theatre soon!
Image from: http://footlightvicproductions.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/misssaigon-logo-hi.jpg
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