London Revival of Miss Saigon has its Kim- Page 3

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 11/26/13 at 5:29pm

i always felt like with this show in general... if you don't find good actors for any of the parts, then the show can be really bad.. the show rests on KIM but you also need a good CHRIS in order to believe their very brief romance, i mean they only sing two songs together and then don't really reunite until she dies.. you need a good Ellen who can turn a very worthless role into something more sympathetic... i've had some bad Ellens and I've seen some fantastic Ellens (I think Ellen is a real acting role)... I've also seen some REALLY BAD Engineers... it's definitely a more acting role then it is singing... and the same can be said for Thuy, trying to make a villain also into someone more relatable in a sense...

[Dave19]

Posted: 11/27/13 at 6:50am

"... turning Sun and Moon into some West Side Story balcony scene and then singing on a trash can... ugh... having Kim not wear Chris' tshirt for the rest of Act 1 which I felt just truly shows her belief that they will reunite and her love for him..."

Exactly! The original production was much more intimate in all those scenes. The smaller stages sliding centre stage made this show. This idea of a steel pipe construction and an empty stage with some props (tour,dutch versions) was very amateurish and made the show too impersonal. Using the whole stage is only a good idea in certain scenes (Bangkok, American dream, etc) and they did that in both versions with those scenes, but for the new productions they chose to do that with every scene unfortunately.

Also, I LOVED that Kim was wearing his shirt, why the hell did she wear a blue hostess jacket with buttons in the new version?

Updated On: 11/27/13 at 06:50 AM

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 11/27/13 at 12:56pm

Wait, Fifi? John turns into a douche? Can someone explain these changes? Apparently I haven't heard of them (despite reading about the London tour).

[jsg03jd]

Posted: 11/27/13 at 11:17pm

You don't need those 1989 Drury Lane and 1991 Broadway Theatre trucks and set pieces for this show. This is the most intimate of the British pop operas. Signature Theatre demonstrated this past summer that MISS SAIGON can be done well in an almost black box setting so long as your principals can sing and act beautifully.

I do object to Ellen's new song: it is WRETCHED.

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 11/28/13 at 2:33am

ok so Fifi... you know how the bar girls have those little lines? and Mimi had two lines? well they gave that line to another bar girl and called her Fifi... Mimi sings "see my bikini it's just the right size..." and Fifi not Mimi now sings "For a marine I throw more..." just one of those insignificant changes that bothered me for some reason...

as for John being a douche (that might be a harsh word! haha)... it might actually be an acting choice but it's a horrible choice in my opinion... i guess I have been so used to the national touring, broadway and london productions... but after What A Waste when John meets with the Engineer he sings "jesus christ you're here too".. every production i've seen has John singing it with a bit of indignation or annoyance that he still has to deal with the Engineer and that he's still around... but in the new tour it always had John sing it as if he was happy to see the Engineer, even giving him a handshake with excitement... that REALLY bothered me because it just showed no change in his personality from the start of the show... i saw the tour several times and with different Johns and all of them played it that way... so I assumed it was how the director wanted it and it just bothered me... it just made John feel like he hadn't changed from the war... it's a small thing but for someone like me who i fully admit to being obsessed with this show, it bugged me.. but to someone else it would make no difference...

[Dave19]

Posted: 11/28/13 at 8:44am

jsg03jd, you are confused.

The show does need these intimate set pieces because it is the most intimate of the British pop operas.

What this production does not need is the huge steel pipe construction from the tour and Dutch versions, and each and every scene (including Sun and Moon) taking place in that huge black stage with some props. Using the whole stage for every scene takes the intimacy out of the show. That is only suitable for the bangkok and American dream scenes.

I don't know how small the stage was in the Signature theatre production, but in the professional productions it did not work.

The heat is on, Sun and moon, Last night of the world, room 317 were just black holes in the show, because they only used props on a black stage. In Sun and Moon they also used the colossal stage, with their room being somewhere up right in the construction. Last night of the world had no set, just some candles on the floor and they sang on the dreamland bar prop with the lights off. What this show needs is smaller theatres sliding onto the real stage. Because the prince Edward theatre will be a very, very big black box.

[Colle]

Posted: 11/28/13 at 12:46pm

Video, from a few years ago, of one of the reported alternate Kims, Juila Abueva, singing "I'd Give My Life For You."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brL16luka7A

Here is the article reporting on it:

http://www.philstar.com/entertainment/2013/11/28/1261756/miss-saigon-revival-2-more-pinays-kim



Updated On: 11/28/13 at 12:46 PM

[Dave19]

Posted: 11/28/13 at 5:05pm

This is interesting. I thought Julia Abueva didn't even make it to the final 6 in the Philippines auditions. I do think she is a great actress/singer. She has to be careful with her vibrato though. Her sound reminds me of Joanna Ampil.
The other girl, Tanya Manalang sounds a bit too amateurish for me, nice voice, but not yet professional. I wish the Kim alternate had the same singing calibre of Eva Noblezada or the Girl who plays Gigi. I expected her to be the alternate Kim. I hope I don't have to worry for a mediocre singing Kim when I visit the show in May.

[RW3]

Posted: 11/28/13 at 5:58pm

Now, I'm just confused.
https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Abueva-Manalang-to-Cover--Not-to-Alternate-for--Role-of-Kim-20131128

[findsomemeaning]

Posted: 11/28/13 at 6:13pm

Julia auditioned for Tara Rubin in New York last June in between auditions for the Les Miz revival. Everyone in the room (and a lot of people in the hallway) was speechless after she sang This Money's Yours and I'd Give My Life For You.

[Dave19]

Posted: 11/28/13 at 6:27pm

So we now know who is first cast Kim and 2 understudies? Who is going to be alternate Kim?

Posted: 11/29/13 at 2:10pm

I hope they get Rachelle Ann Go who was chosen to play 'Gigi'. I watched the video whererein Cameron officially announced the cast members and I got curious when he said she had an 'amazing voice'. So I went to youtube and searched for her videos and he was right. In fact, that was an understatement. She has a very powerful, impressive singing voice. If she was younger, I believe CM would have chosen her to be his next KIM. It would be quite a shame if she only gets to sing one song (and a duet at that)due to her being 'over-aged' (late twenties) for the role. She can sing like a diva yet can make her voice sound younger too. I prefer a vocally strong Kim and IMHO she would be perfect for the alternate role. Hey, I would not mind at all seeing her in the main role over Eva. It also helps that I consider her prettier compared to Eva and the 2 understudies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MgyDk_wqfkE (Part of Your World - live with orchestra)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMFfllV0z_8 (Part of Your World - studio recording)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3iufWXAM-8 (For the First Time - from Tarzan)

This is how she will sound as Kim:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEWfo2PlyKE (singing I'd Give My Life For You LIVE with Lea Salonga watching)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhyT9GdEFmQ

:) Such a powerful, strong singing voice. And what a range!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYmenSPKpc4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBS5MKGreQc







Updated On: 11/29/13 at 02:10 PM

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 11/29/13 at 10:05pm

Yeah, I think I'd much prefer for her to be Kim. 27 isn't that old, especially onstage! And she looks younger than that.

[jsg03jd]

Posted: 11/30/13 at 4:05am

Dave19: I am anything but confused when it comes to MISS SAIGON having seen it numerous times throughout its run in New York (I first saw it during the Saturday evening performance after Jonathan Pryce, Hinton Battle and Lea Salonga won their Tonys in 1991 with those actors performing their roles and I saw its closing performance in January 2001 with Ruthie Henshall, Will Chase and Lea Salonga), once in Theatre Royale Drury Lane in 1997, once in the Cultural Center of the Philippines in 2000 (also starring Will Chase and Lea Salonga), twice at Signature Theatre (with the remarkable Diana Huey as Kim) and once at The Bushnell (with Charlie Brady whose Chris was the most fully rounded sung I have ever heard) this past year. All of these are true professional productions.

What you fail to grasp is that the story and the music of MISS SAIGON do not need bells and whistles unlike spectacles such as PHANTOM, which requires the chandelier, and LES MIS, which requires the barricade.

Indeed MISS SAIGON can be mounted without both the helicopter and Cadillac that appear in Act 2. The audience loses nothing in terms of story and music even if these items were extracted from the show. It can be performed as a chamber piece and be just as or even more effective than the original West End and Broadway productions.

So long as you have the right performers, the show works even if performed under the conditions of the "professional" production you witnessed. If you're looking for sets and scenery and need them to feel like you're experiencing the music and story, then you've completely missed the point regarding the intimacy of this musical.

[Dave19]

Posted: 11/30/13 at 6:21am

I completely agree that this show does not need bells and whistles and spectacle. It benefits from intimacy. My point is that the original version has this intimacy, because of, for example, the small "sun and moon" set, which basically was a small, intimate "theatre" centre stage. The new version has this huge set with a steel pipe construction all over the stage and a big stairs where the scene takes place. So in the end, what is more intimate?

[Dave19]

Posted: 12/6/13 at 8:08am

I feel that up until now, this show is not very well documented/recorded. Except from the original London cd, everything else out there does not do the show justice at all. When I see/hear clips of the live production, often recorded with crappy equipment, I realize how great this show is.

This made me think, wouldn't it be amazing if they would film the new London production, like a live event as they did with "The sound of music" now? Or more like the style of the Cats dvd. Or a combination of both? At the end of the run of course. It would be a great document of the show for future generations. I feel the new generation has no idea what the show is like. I also think it will only add to the popularity of the show, look at the recent Phantom 25th and Les Mis 25th shows put to dvd.

I feel they have found a strong cast with great singers, which is absolutely essential for this material, so this would be the opportunity. Because if they don't do it, and the show stops after a year, there will be nothing left but a possible future film version and we all know what kind of people they will hire for that. At least we will have a document that does the material justice.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 12/6/13 at 10:19am

ok so Fifi... you know how the bar girls have those little lines? and Mimi had two lines? well they gave that line to another bar girl and called her Fifi... Mimi sings "see my bikini it's just the right size..." and Fifi not Mimi now sings "For a marine I throw more..." just one of those insignificant changes that bothered me for some reason...

Mimi, at least as early as the First Noational tour, has never sang "For a Marine I'll show more." In fact, in that entire exchange Mimi was merely in the background, it was always with the other bar girls. She never sang. That may not be how it played originally on Broadway or the West End, but as of the First National tour it was.

I feel that up until now, this show is not very well documented/recorded. Except from the original London cd, everything else out there does not do the show justice at all.
The Complete Symphonic Recording is the entire show, with a large orchestra, and with performers from Broadway, the West End and Australia (and the ensemble was composed of the US First National tour). And while I don't particular like Peter Cousens' Chris or Ruthie Henshall's Ellen, the show is very well represented by that recording.

[Chowd95]

Posted: 12/6/13 at 7:57pm

There's a recording of the national tour on youtube that honestly has pretty amazing sound quality. And it is the original production, with the helicopter, the giant Ho Chi Mihn statue, the Cadillac, those cool shades that framed the stage rising up and down to let the scenery slide in and out, etc. The video leaves a little to be desired, but if you've never seen the original or want to revisit it this is probably the most complete version you're ever going to get.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMfjJjwoU38

[Dave19]

Posted: 12/6/13 at 9:37pm

"The Complete Symphonic Recording is the entire show, with a large orchestra, and with performers from Broadway, the West End and Australia....."

I know this recording, but in my opinion it doesn't even come close to the quality of the OLC recording. I can't listen to Peter Cousens as Chris, Ruthie Henshall as Ellen and even Joanna Ampil as Kim does not sound good on that recording. She sounds like a housewife most of the time. I have seen much better performers/singers live in these roles.

[Princeton Returns]

Posted: 12/7/13 at 12:20pm

"I feel they have found a strong cast with great singers, which is absolutely essential for this material,"

huh??! They have an as yet unproven Kim, a provenly previously weak singer/actor as Chris and a too old Ellen. This is not a cast id be rushing to say should be recorded

[Quatchi20102]

Posted: 12/7/13 at 11:06pm

Here is Rachelle Ann Go singing "Movie in my mind" with Lea Salonga. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyNk0F9uZoI
I would have totally cast Rachelle Anne as Ellen.

[Quatchi20102]

Posted: 12/7/13 at 11:16pm

Wow they made Ellen a cougar in the rival of this show.

Posted: 12/8/13 at 10:41am

Rachelle Ann has this ability to make her voice sound 'younger'. She could have been cast as an alternate or at least an understudy of Kim. In the US tours, Jennifer Paz is already 39 years old and is still playing Kim!! This is how her recording voice would sound like:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMFfllV0z_8

[BWNUT]

Posted: 12/10/13 at 2:22am

Based on that Movie In My Mind clip, I think Rachelle Ann's voice and appearance are a good fit for Gigi. Now, if only there's a time machine to bring back that 18 year old Lea Salonga (Wow! She still got it!), this will be a rockin' revival.