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.
It's not as if such stories don't still have the power to stir suspense and tears. But this eventful, sung-through production out of London, directed by Laurence Connor, feels about as affecting as a historical diorama, albeit a lavishly appointed one. (The lurid postcard set is by Totie Driver and Matt Kinley, from a 'design concept' by Adrian Vaux.) This despite the hard and dedicated work of its earnest cast, which includes a slithery Jon Jon Briones as an enterprising Vietnamese pimp, a dewy Eva Noblezada as a heroic country girl and Alistair Brammer as the American soldier who loves and leaves her. Though it sets off inevitable topical echoes with its tableau of asylum-seeking refugees, the show still mostly comes across as singing scenery.
The sung-through musical echoes the lush melodies and themes from the composers' Les Miz score while peppering the narrative with politically satirical overtones. It falls on the Engineer to finesse the social commentary and comic relief, which Jon Jon Briones pulls off brilliantly. His biggest number 'The American Dream' can't resist poking fun at our current ruler. This is a most worthy revival, and now, minus the controversy, fans are free to re-live the thrill.
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