Miss Saigon

While on vaca with my niece in london, i saw posters for Miss Saigon. OMG, i got so excited as i did not know it was playing here. I had seen Miss Saigon in the early 90’s on Broadway in NYC (before my niece was born!). I always remembered this show and the helicopter scene always stayed with me. Right there i decided i wanted to take my niece to experience it. We arrived at Prince Edward Theatre around 5pm and asked if there were any seats left for tthe 730pm show. They gave us upper balcony. for GBP 49 pp. the seats were good but i’ll be honest i couldn’t make out the facial feature of the performers. But the show was excellent and my niece and i had a wonderful time. Plus the area, Soho, was hoppin!

Just saw Miss Saigon for the second time and I stand by my conclusion that this is the BEST musical or theatre production that I have ever seen and could ever conceive of seeing. (For the record, I have now seen 32 shows, including Les Miserables which people seem to compare this to.)
Miss Saigon is a spectacle of epic proportions, a story based on true events, sensational live music and powerful singing. Here is a legendary tale that could survive age and bridge the gap between generations, race, culture and all human kind.

I remember seeing this show when it first opened at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, many years ago. I was not keen on it then. I thought it was because I had seen Les Miserable so many times, which I really enjoyed, that perhaps my expectations were set too high.
Having had such a long break between seeing either show, I thought I might see the new production at the Price Edward Theatre with a fresh perspective. No luck! I found it a dreary as I did when I first saw it all those years ago.
This musical love story tells the tragic tale of a young girl Kim, orphaned by war, forced to work in a girly bar, popular with GI’s. She falls in love with an American GI called Chris, whose lives are torn apart by the fall of Saigon. That’s it. It neither drew me in musically, or emotionally.
The sets were very clever, and the cast sang well. Musically, I felt as though it was hashed together at short notice to cash in on the success of Les Miserables.
I know some friends who really loved this show. Sorry, it just wasn’t for me.

If you enjoy overly melodramatic musicals with a lot of kneeling and fist shaking on stage to portray said drama with little-​to-​no character development, Miss Saigon is the musical for you! I, however, prefer my musicals to be a bit different than that.
Miss Saigon does have some good things going for it. The singers are absolutely amazing. The sets are clever and well-​done and can be quite interesting. There’s some really interesting points made about American soldiers in Vietnam: The way that they were behaving during the war and the consequences of those behaviors.
There are far too few dance sequences for me. Most of the singing is done kneeling on the stage or sitting on the stage, or just standing around. There are a few dance numbers, but they seem mostly gratuitous as if the writers realized that there was a lack of dancing so they just threw in a couple of random songs to make up for that. The «American Dream» number seemed completely out of place for the story and was clearly there as one of these dance scenes. Or maybe it was there to show how one of the characters has no character development over a period of what was supposed to be three years.
It definitely has a «Les Mis» feel about it and given it’s written by the same people, it’s not a surprise. It just wasn’t as good. I kept waiting for something interesting to happen on stage, but alas, it was mostly just people singing and not a lot of action. And even though I had never seen it, nor did I know the story, the ending was completely predictable for me.
For me, Miss Saigon was just okay. I can’t really remember anything amazing about it, except for the singing, even if I can’t really remember much of the songs. I think there are probably better shows that a person could be seeing in the West End.

An excellent show, I would rate Miss Saigon as my 2^nd favourite musical amongst the numerous shows that I have watched. The actors in the lead roles of Kim and the engineer gave particularly outstanding performances with perfect timing, stage presence and singing. The special effects and set were impressive, especially the helicopter scene.
My early bird friend bought a pair of £20 day tickets for a Saturday evening show in a grand circle box, we had spacious seats with lots of leg room and most importantly a great view of the performance. To purchase day tickets photo ID is required and be prepared to arrive before the box office opens at 10am.

Really enjoyed the show; great production and well acted. Purists may say that artistically it falls shy of Madame Butterfly, on which it is based, but for sheer enjoyment I recommend this highly. In my opinion, great theatre. Leads are strong, particularly the best part — The Engineer. And of course, plenty of drama — would bring a tear to a glass eye.

Very good show! Worth every penny, the theatre is quite new, must been recently refurbished. Comfortable seating. The show set up was very impressive. It’s a very sad story though, love every minute of it.

Finally Miss Saigon has returned to London’s West End and is in fine form as always.
A must see for any theatre goer, Miss Saigon tells the story of Kim, a Vietnamese girl trying to survive in the midst of the Vietnam war and Chris a US Marine, fighting but trying to find meaning in the war ravaged place he has ended up. Kim and Chris fall in love but circumstances tear them apart and the musical follows their story as the years pass and Saigon falls.
Written by Alain Boublil and Claude-​Michel Schoenberg, the writing duo of Les Miserables, and loosely based on Madame Butterfly and inspired by photos and stories of orphaned children after the Vietnam War, this musical is not only powerful in story but is beautifully written in music. Boublil and Schoenberg capture the love of the couple, the torment of the war surrounding them but also provide light relief in The Engineer. A fantastically crafted character who is desperately seeking a visa to America and orchestrates situations to find his ‘American Dream’.
The current show is well casted, seeing a majority Asian cast and some strong leads but the best for me was Jon Jon Briones who returns to Saigon in the role of The Engineer. His comic timing is sublime, he is very crafty but also very convincing in his acting. The casting of Eva Noblezada as Kim, discovered in the US on a High School Musical reality show and Alistair Brammer as Chris, whilst vocally strong (‘Why God’ a particular highlight) I didn’t feel like their voices blended together well. It didn’t detract from the performance but that is me being picky!
As for the sets and the ensemble, as always an absolute treat. The set designers of course treated us to the famous helicopter and car (if you are not aware of these, be wowed!) but particular exciting was the The Army of the Dragon scene, choreographed extremely well and with such powerful music and impact of the dancers, it really was an amazingly crafted scene.
Another highlight and an incredibly moving scene and song is Bui Doi. A song about the orphaned children, a majority of which had been fathered by the US Marines during their confused time in Vietnam. Another returning cast member Hugh Maynard plays John and sang this very well. I was a little worried he may be vocally tired or was holding back but then he produced some incredibly improv and let rip towards the end of the song. A great moment!
This truly is a 5 star show and one not to be missed.
A particular warning though… If you do go to see this show, make sure you have lots of tissues. Definitely a weeper this one!
Xyz