Miss Saigon Previews Thread

[Lot666]

Glitter said: ""I cringe hearing Chris sing about saving Kim: "So I wanted to save and protect her. Christ, I am an American! How could I fail to do good?""

Isn't that the point?  We are SUPPOSED to cringe.  it's a ridiculous statement  (and in the Canadian production, sometimes got a laugh from the audience)."

...and it's a very real 'Murican viewpoint (USA! USA! The greatest country in the world!).

 

[Lot666]

Fan123 said: "...I also wonder if some of the "greatest love story" stuff is more for marketing purposes than anything else. That phrase is going to sell more tickets to a sizeable portion of the audience (read: us white people) than "white people screw things up: the musical", more accurate though the latter may be."

Cameron Mackintosh isn't stupid. In truth, this show presents the U.S. in a rather unflattering light and the typical #TrumpsAmerica type would rail against it if the advertising reflected that. If, however, it's presented as "the greatest love story", those same people will go for it like a trout and come away with nary a thought for its indictment of U.S. foreign policy.

[eatlasagna]

SugarButterFlour86 said: "I saw the show Saturday evening. It was great to see a professional staging of the show. Seeing that the music to the show, in my opinion is iconic in it's own right, I was not fond of the lyric changes. I don't know if they were trying to update currency on language or not, but I was not ready for it. Especially the lyric changes in "Heat of Saigon" and if I recall correctly, "Movie In My Mind" was touched as well. Those numbers, I feel are the songs that get the show on its way... and I missed the original lyrics. The original lyrics I felt aren't "dated' by any means. I look for a brand new staging or in realm of designs in a revival I choose to see, and did not care so much lyric/libretto changes. The company is doing a great job with the show, and glad I can say I saw this production. I was too young to catch the original but respect whole-heartedly the original production/concept. 

 

"

i'm only gonna comment on the revival recording and will assume those lyric changes were kept for broadway...

I'm still confused as to why they changed so many damn lyrics!  i honestly understand now why people are so angry at the Star Wars special editions!  haha

the only lyric changes that i personally like are MOVIE IN MY MIND when Gigi no longer sings about eating too much ice cream... i just that that was ridiculously cheesy... I also like that Chris no longer sings about the big mac.... ugh i hated that line!  I also like Chris's line change in Act 2 in when he no longer sings "back when I was a different man, back when i didn't have a clue who I am." While I didn't flat out hate that line, it was just weird.  I like that John no longer is in the scene when Ellen confronts Chris.  I always felt that scene should have been about those two and John being there was odd.  That being said, I don't like the scene now when he comes in after the confrontation.  It's just talking over music.  It's like you spend the whole show singing everything than you just start talking.  

and the one change that REALLY bothers me is when kim sings "i'm seventeen and I'm new here to day, the village i come from seems so far away, all of the girls know much more what to say..." they now added in that "all of these girls here know much more what to say..." it just irks me.  did that really need to be changed?!?  

 

[TheSassySam]

Has anybody need Eva's understudy? How is she? My tickets are for next Saturday's matinee and I read that Eva doesn't do Saturday matinees. 

[FMSES]

[Bettyboy72]

After seeing the current Broadway production, I have a new take on the musical under the current political order of the US. I see the musical as an indictment of the US, its savior mentality, and its laissez-faire attitude towards the exploitation of other cultures. When I was young and saw the Toronto sit down, I actually viewed this as an unrequited love story. It's not. It's a story of how people survive trauma with fantasy and how in the end, it all falls away. 

Also, from the first time I saw it, my heart broke for the female dancers. I struggle with the exploitation and the shoe horning of history to fit the story, but in my early 20s it did make me look into Vietnam and what happened to its people and namely its women and children. The photo the creative team credit as starting the journey for them of the mother surrendering her child still stays with me. 

I think some of the lyric changes and re-writes are attempts to add some more weight or depth to the characters. This doesn't mean it still isn't problematic. I think it still upsets me because Asian women are still highly fetishized and exploited globally. They are among the largest victims of sex trafficking and sex slavery. 

 

[Dave28282]

eatlasagna said: "That being said, I don't like the scene now when he comes in after the confrontation.  It's just talking over music.  It's like you spend the whole show singing everything than you just start talking.  "

Great point! They need to be very careful with this. For some reason the director thinks this is realistic, when in fact, it's the opposite. The language has been singing from the start, and that illusion of sung thoughts and dialogue creates raw emotion. To ask from your audience to suddenly switch is kind of dangerous and takes people out of it.

 

[Babe_Williams]

Bettyboy72 said: "After seeing the current Broadway production, I have a new take on the musical under the current political order of the US. I see the musical as an indictment of the US, its savior mentality, and its laissez-faire attitude towards the exploitation of other cultures. When I was young and saw the Toronto sit down, I actually viewed this as an unrequited love story. It's not. It's a story of how people survive trauma with fantasy and how in the end, it all falls away. 

Also, from the first time I saw it, my heart broke for the female dancers. I struggle with the exploitation and the shoe horning of history to fit the story, but in my early 20s it did make me look into Vietnam and what happened to its people and namely its women and children. The photo the creative team credit as starting the journey for them of the mother surrendering her child still stays with me. 

I think some of the lyric changes and re-writes are attempts to add some more weight or depth to the characters. This doesn't mean it still isn't problematic. I think it still upsets me because Asian women are still highly fetishized and exploited globally. They are among the largest victims of sex trafficking and sex slavery. 

 

 

"

I am hoping that the refugee theme of the show will make some people think about the issue more deeply. It's definitely a timely topic on many fronts. 

[Broadwaystar2]

Dave28282 said: "eatlasagna said: "That being said, I don't like the scene now when he comes in after the confrontation.  It's just talking over music.  It's like you spend the whole show singing everything than you just start talking.  "

Great point! They need to be very careful with this. For some reason the director thinks this is realistic, when in fact, it's the opposite. The language has been singing from the start, and that illusion of sung thoughts and dialogue creates raw emotion. To ask from your audience to suddenly switch is kind of dangerous and takes people out of it.

 

 

"

I feel this takes you out of the show, you should stop going to theater...LOL!!

[Emmaloucbway]

Saw the show tonight- it was Billy Bustamante's debut as The Engineer and he was fantastic! And of course Eva Noblezada is giving a thrilling performance as well.

I've seen this production before on the West End a few years ago, but I think I liked it better on a second viewing. Love that score (even though some lyrics aren't very good).

Also a side note, the helicopter didn't ascend at the end of the scene so the show had to be held for about 10 minutes. It was a VERY interesting night. 

[everythingtaboo]

Was there tonight too. Was really bummed that Jon Jon wasn't there, but then after a few minutes of the show, once Billy kinda found his footing, he absolutely blew me away. I didn't read the insert until after the show ended and of course he says it's his tenth time as the Engineer. Either way, he was great.

 

The show was great too. It could use a little tightening in the first number to help us know where to focus, but otherwise it really seemed to be in really good shape. At least until the helicopter scene stopped at the end of the sequence. Of course, the sequence was really emotional and the tears were about to flow - and then the stage managers usher the cast off the stage so they can close the curtain. Of course I love the stuff of live theatre, but on the other hand, I had to try to suck the tears back into my ducts as they turned the lights on! But then it returned and smoothly flew to the end.

 

Can I just give a shout-out to the orchestrations of James Moore, who did some amazing work on On The Town and Gigi, and there were points tonight when I just wanted to listen to what he did with the score.

[Lot666]

Bettyboy72 said: "After seeing the current Broadway production, I have a new take on the musical under the current political order of the US. I see the musical as an indictment of the US, its savior mentality, and its laissez-faire attitude towards the exploitation of other cultures."

This has always been the overriding theme of the show to me.

[disneybroadwayfan22]

Is Eva on Wednesday afternoons or evenings?