Moving "I Still Believe" to Act 2

[RW3]

Posted: 11/27/14 at 12:49pm

I found this on the misssaigonconfessions tumblr page and fount it quite interesting.
"I think it would have been better if they moved I Still Believe to the beginning of the second act. This song is revealing that Chris is married to Ellen. I think it was too early to reveal this in Act 1. It would have more impact and be more heart breaking if the audience found out in the second act. You already feel sorry for Kim in Act 1. Then Act 2 it’s like having a dagger through your heart knowing that Kim will never be with Chris despite what she went through in Act 1. I would put a new duet with Kim & Chris to replace ISB in Act 1, and focus more on Chris’s PTSD. The scene would be Chris trying to cope with PTSD in a psychiatric ward while Kim is on the other side of the world trying to put her shattered life together."
What do you guys think?

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 11/27/14 at 12:57pm

I don't like it.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 11/27/14 at 1:06pm

To me, the show is unbalanced to begin with. Act 1 moves along at a nice pace. Act 2 seems to be a jumble. I understand that the story has to jump back and forth between Kim and Chris to show how their lives end up.

I believe Ellen has to be introduced in Act 1 and I Still Believe is the best way to do it. I've always thought that Kim should reprise the song in Act 2.

I don't think that Chris' PTSD should be acknowledged, especially in a psych ward, because the show is already heavy with too many issues. I wouldn't mind if they lost Bui-Doi because it's just another song that takes the show in another direction.

So my answer is I Still Believe should be sung like it is in Act 1 and be reprised by Kim in Act 2 in place of Room 317.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 11/27/14 at 1:08pm

Also, I've always thought that "Last Night Of The World" sounded like an end of the act song and "Morning of the Dragon" sounded like an Act 2 opening song. There's a whole lot of rearranging I would do with this show.

[Pasdechat]

Posted: 11/27/14 at 1:31pm

Agree that they shouldn't over-issue Chris, also it seems like a point of the show that he sees Ellen as his saviour from his trauma ("so many guys came back and had no life/ I found you...") and this is also important in order to view Ellen as a good person and a respectable wife despite being "the other woman".

When I first saw Miss Saigon and "I still believe", I found it very effective how after Kim finishes singing, the scene in the American bedroom is revealed and you realize: Oh my God, he is with a new woman. I found this very heartbreaking in its simplicity. The story could, theoretically, still move in favour for Kim in Act II if it weren't for the Madama Butterfly-reference.