Direct from its smash London run, Cameron Mackintosh's stunning new production of Boublil and Schonberg's legendary musical Miss Saigon lands on Broadway in March, 2017, featuring its acclaimed stars Eva Noblezada and Jon Jon Briones.
Set in 1975 during the final days of the American occupation of Saigon, Miss Saigon is an epic love story about the relationship between an American GI and a young Vietnamese woman. Orphaned by war, 17-year-old Kim is forced to work as a bar girl in a sleazy Saigon nightclub, owned by a notorious wheeler-dealer known as "The Engineer." John, an American GI, buys his friend Chris the services of Kim for the night- a night that will change their lives forever.
Don't miss this "thrilling, soaring and spectacular" (The Times of London) musical when it returns to Broadway this spring for a limited engagement.
Is it impossible to find the entertainment in Miss Saigon, the epic musical that follows the tragedy of a virginal Vietnamese woman who falls for an American G.I. just as Saigon is falling in 1975, and the sacrifice she makes to ensure their son has the life she desires for him? As evidenced by the laughter and weepy sniffles around me a few nights ago: no. Many in the audience clapped loudly, stood, and cheered this revival (transferred from London and produced by Cameron Mackintosh). But watching this grandly designed and mounted Broadway show-first produced in London in 1989-especially in light of the fraught and charged debate around immigration and refugees, with its full retinue of racial stereotypes unchanged, is a bizarre confluence of opposites; like sunbathing on a bright sunny beach which is freezing cold, or drinking a banana milkshake and it tasting of garden weeds.
The familiar elements of Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil's 1991 musical are faithfully replicated in the Broadway Theatre, where this all-too-mechanical revival, under Laurence Connor's direction, had its official opening Thursday night. That compulsory object of attention, the musical's Vietnam War-era military helicopter - which hit its mark 4,092 times in the original - swoops back in again on this occasion, its 'blades' creating a whoosh that spreads a discernible wind over the audience. The design dexterity extends to cinematic Saigon streetscapes and heavenly sunsets by scenery creators Totie Driver and Matt Kinley and lighting designer Bruno Poet, and there's still bracing romanticism in a score played by an 18-member orchestra and conducted by James Moore. But even before the climactic evacuation scene of U.S.- and South Vietnamese-controlled Saigon, you're conscious of an absence. That would be the missing ingredient of outsize performances, to match what is supposed to be a politics-infused love story of epic scale.
1989 | West End |
Original London Production West End |
1991 | Broadway |
Broadway Production Broadway |
2002 | US Tour |
Big League Productions US Tour |
2002 | Milburn, NJ (Regional) |
Paper Mill Production Milburn, NJ (Regional) |
2004 | UK Tour |
Touring Revival UK Tour |
2014 | West End |
West End Revival West End |
2017 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Production Broadway |
2018 | US Tour |
US Tour US Tour |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2017 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Featured Actress in a Musical | Rachelle Ann Go |
2017 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Miss Saigon |
2017 | BroadwayWorld Awards | Broadway's Backbone Best Musical Ensemble | Miss Saigon |
2017 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Musical | Jon Jon Briones |
2017 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Eva Noblezada |
2017 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Musical | Miss Saigon |
2017 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Revival of a Musical (Broadway or Off-Broadway) | Miss Saigon |
2017 | Theatre World Awards | Outstanding Broadway or Off-Broadway Debut Performance | Jon Jon Briones |
2017 | Theatre World Awards | Outstanding Broadway or Off-Broadway Debut Performance | Eva Noblezada |
2017 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical | Eva Noblezada |
2017 | Tony Awards | Best Revival of a Musical | Miss Saigon |
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