add site
services
publishers
database
health videos
toolbar
stats
live show
health store
more stuff
JOIN/LOGIN
| advertise add site services publishers database health videos
| | about toolbar stats live show health store more stuff JOIN/LOGIN |
Shands for Kids Stories | Miss America partnership brings Miss... shandskids.org | Missing Teeth : Dental bridges permanently replace a missing tooth drwolch.com | Vietnam: About Chiropractic in Saigon... vietnamchiropractic.com |
Miss Saigon is a West End musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby, Jr. It is a modern adaptation of Giacomo Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly, and similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed romance involving an Asian woman abandoned by her American lover. The setting of the plot is relocated to the 1970s Saigon during the Vietnam War, and Madame Butterfly's American Lieutenant and Japanese geisha coupling is replaced by a romance between an American GI and a Vietnamese bar girl. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, in London on September 20 1989, closing after 4,264 performances on October 30 1999. It opened at the Broadway Theatre in New York City in 1991. It subsequently opened in many other cities and embarked on tours. The musical represented Schönberg and Boublil's second major success, following Les Misérables in 1980. As of April 2009, Miss Saigon is still the 10th longest-running Broadway musical in musical theatre history.[1]
[edit] BackgroundThe musical's inspiration was reportedly a photograph, inadvertently found by Schönberg in a magazine. The photo showed a Vietnamese mother leaving her child at a departure gate at Tan Son Nhut Air Base to board a plane headed for the United States where her father, an ex-GI, would be in a position to provide a much better life for the child. Schönberg considered this mother's actions for her child to be "The Ultimate Sacrifice," an idea central to the plot of Miss Saigon.[2] Highlights of the show include the evacuation of the last Americans in Saigon from the Embassy roof by helicopter while a crowd of abandoned Vietnamese scream in despair, the victory parade of the new communist regime and the frenzied night club scene at the time of defeat. Miss Saigon was one of the major European musicals on Broadway in the 1980s, along with Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, and Les Misérables. [edit] Production historyIt premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, in London on September 20 1989, closing after 4,264 performances on October 30 1999. On April 11 1991, it opened at the Broadway Theatre in New York City, and closed on January 28 2001 after 4,092 performances.[3] The musical represented Schönberg and Boublil's second major success, following Les Misérables in 1980. As of April 2009, Miss Saigon is still the 10th longest-running Broadway musical in musical theatre history.[1] Since its opening in London Miss Saigon was successfully produced in many cities around the world including Stuttgart and Toronto, where new theatres were designed specifically to house the show. In December 1994 the London production became the Theatre Royal's (Drury Lane) longest running musical, eclipsing the record set by My Fair Lady.  Upon its Broadway opening in 1991 the musical was massively hyped as the best musical of the year, both critically and commercially. It broke several Broadway records, including a record advance-ticket sales at $24 million, highest priced ticket at $100, and repaying investors in less than 39 weeks.[4] However, although the show has received awards and acclaim, it lost the Best Musical Award at the 1989/90 Laurence Olivier Awards to Return to the Forbidden Planet in London and at the 1991 Tony Awards to Will Rogers Follies.[5] After the London production closed in 1999 and also following the closure of the Broadway production in 2001 the show in its original London staging embarked on a long tour of the six largest venues in Britain and Ireland stopping off in each city for several months. The tour opened at the Palace Theatre, Manchester and also played in the Birmingham Hippodrome, the Mayflower Theatre Southampton, the Edinburgh Playhouse, the Bristol Hippodrome and the The Point Theatre in Dublin. This highly successful tour drew to a close in 2003 and a brand new production was developed by original producer Cameron Mackintosh on a smaller scale so that the show could be accommodated in smaller theatres. This 'new' tour started in July 2004 and ended in June 2006.[6] According to the Miss Saigon Official Site, Miss Saigon has been performed by 27 companies in 25 countries and 246 cities, and it has been translated into twelve different languages.[7] [edit] Synopsis[edit] Act 1In April 1975 at "Dreamland", a sleazy Vietnamese club, shortly before the Fall of Saigon, it is Kim's first day as a bargirl. The seventeen-year-old orphan is greeted by the Engineer, a French-Vietnamese man who owns the club. Backstage, the girls get ready for the night's show, jeering at Kim's naïveté ("Overture"). American Marines, aware that they will be leaving Vietnam soon, party with the Vietnamese prostitutes at the club ("The Heat Is On In Saigon"). Chris, a Sergeant disenchanted by the club scene, is encouraged by his friend John to go with a girl. The girls compete for the title of "Miss Saigon", and the winner is raffled to a Marine. Kim's innocence strikes Chris. Gigi Van Trahn wins the crown for the evening and begs the marine who won the raffle to take her back to America, annoying him. The showgirls reflect on their dreams of a better life ("Movie In My Mind"). John buys a room from the Engineer for the virgin Kim and Chris ("The Transaction"). Kim is reluctant and shy, being a prostitute for the first time, but dances with Chris. Chris tries to pay her off to leave the nightclub. When the Engineer interferes, thinking that Chris doesn't like Kim, Chris allows himself to be led to her room ("The Dance"). Chris, watching Kim sleep, asks God why he met her just as he was about to leave Vietnam ("Why God Why?"). When Kim wakes up, Chris tries to give her money, but she refuses, saying that it is her first time sleeping with a man ("This Money's Yours"). Touched to learn that Kim is an orphan, Chris tells her that she need not sell herself at the club, because he wants her to stay with him. The two pledge their love for each other ("Sun and Moon"). Chris tells John that he is taking leave to spend time with Kim. John warns him that the Viet Cong will soon assume control of Saigon, but John reluctantly agrees to cover for Chris ("The Telephone Song"). Chris meets up with the Engineer to trade for Kim, but the Engineer tries to weasel an America visa into the deal. Chris forces the Engineer at gunpoint to honor the original arrangement for Kim ("The Deal"). The bargirls hold a "wedding ceremony" for Chris and Kim ("Dju Vui Vai"), with Gigi toasting Kim as the "real" Miss Saigon. Thuy, Kim's cousin to whom she was betrothed at thirteen, arrives to take her home. He has become an officer in the North Vietnamese Army and is angered to find her with Chris ("Thuy's Arrival"). The two men confront each other, drawing their guns. Kim tells Thuy that their arranged marriage is now null because her parents are dead, and she no longer harbors any feelings for him because of his betrayal. Thuy curses them all and storms out. Chris promises to take Kim with him when he leaves Vietnam. Chris and Kim dance to the same song as on their first night ("Last Night of The World"). Three years pass, and in Saigon (now renamed Ho Chi Minh City), a street festival is taking place to celebrate the third anniversary of the reunification of Vietnam and the defeat of the Americans ("Morning of The Dragon"). Thuy, a commissar in the new government, has ordered his soldiers to find the still-corrupt Engineer. Thuy orders the Engineer to find Kim and bring her to him. Kim is still in love with Chris and has been hiding in an impoverished area believing that Chris will come back to Vietnam to rescue her. Meanwhile, Chris is in bed with his new American wife, Ellen, when he awakens from a dream shouting Kim's name. Ellen and Kim both swear their devotion to Chris from opposite ends of the world ("I Still Believe"). The Engineer finds Kim and brings Thuy to her. Kim refuses Thuy's renewed offer of marriage and introduces him to Tam, her two-year-old son fathered by Chris. Thuy calls Kim a traitor and Tam an enemy, and moves to kill Tam with a knife. Kim pulls out Chris's gun and shoots Thuy ("You Will Not Touch Him"). Thuy dies, with Kim weeping and cradling his body. She flees with Tam ("This Is The Hour") and tells the Engineer what she has done ("If You Want to Die in Bed"). The Engineer refuses to help her until he learns that Tam's father is American ("Let Me See His Western Nose") – perhaps this is his passport to the United States. He tells Kim that now he is the boy's uncle, and he will lead them to Bangkok. The three set out on a ship with other refugees ("I'd Give My Life for You"). [edit] Act 2In Atlanta, Georgia, John now works for an aid organization whose mission is to connect Bui-Doi (children conceived during the war) with their American fathers ("Bui Doi"). John tells Chris that Kim is still alive, which Chris is relieved to hear after years of having nightmares of her dying. He also tells Chris about Tam and urges Chris to go to Bangkok with Ellen. Chris finally tells Ellen about Kim and Tam ("The Revelation"). In Bangkok, the Engineer is hawking a sleazy club where Kim works as a dancer ("What A Waste"). Chris, Ellen and John arrive in search of Kim. John finds them, and Kim is thrilled to hear that Chris is in Bangkok. John tries to tell her that Chris is remarried, but Kim interrupts, believing that she is to go to America with Chris. John cannot break the news to her, but promises to bring Chris to her ("Please"). The Engineer tells Kim to find Chris herself, because he doubts that Chris will come ("Chris Is Here"). Kim is haunted by the ghost of Thuy, who taunts Kim, claiming that Chris will betray her as he did the night Saigon fell. Kim suffers a horrible flashback to that night ("Kim's Nightmare"): As the Viet Cong approach and Saigon becomes increasingly chaotic, Chris is called to the embassy and leaves his gun with Kim, telling her to pack. When Chris enters the embassy, the gates close, as orders arrive from Washington for an immediate evacuation of the remaining Americans. The Ambassador orders that no more Vietnamese are allowed into the Embassy. Kim reaches the gates of the Embassy, one of a mob of terrified Vietnamese trying to get in. Chris calls to Kim and is about to go into the crowd to look for her, but John is eventually forced to punch Chris in the face to stop him from leaving. Chris is put into the last helicopter leaving Saigon as Kim watches from outside, still pledging her love to him ("The fall of Saigon"). Back in 1978 Bangkok, Kim joyfully dresses in her wedding clothes ("Sun and Moon: Reprise") and goes to Chris's hotel room, where she finds Ellen, who reveals that she is Chris's wife. Kim is heartbroken and refuses to believe Ellen. Ellen also refuses to take Tam to the U.S., saying that Tam needs his real mother, and Ellen wants her own children with Chris. Kim demands that Chris tell her these things in person ("Room 317"). Ellen feels bad for Kim, but is determined to keep Chris ("It's Her or Me"). Chris returns, having failed to find Kim, and Ellen issues an ultimatum: Kim or her. Chris reassures Ellen, and they pledge their love for each other. Chris will leave Tam and Kim in Bangkok but offer them monetary support from America. John warns that Kim will not find it acceptable to have Tam stay in Thailand ("The Confrontation"). Kim lies to the Engineer that they are still going to America ("Paper Dragons"). The Engineer imagines the extravagant new life he will lead in America ("The American Dream"). Kim tells Tam that he should be happy because he now has a father. She tells him that she will be watching over him ("The Sacred Bird"/"Little God Of My Heart"). She steps behind a curtain and shoots herself. Chris, Ellen, the Engineer and John all rush into the room at the sound of the gunshot and find Kim mortally wounded. Chris holds Kim in his arms as she explains that the gods have guided him to his son. Chris begs her not to die, as she asks him to hold her one last time, and she dies in his arms ("Finale"). [edit] Film VersionOn October 21st, 2009 a film version of the musical was announced to be in the works. Producer Paula Wagner was said to be teaming with the original musical producer Cameron Mackintosh to create a film version of the Tony-Winning Musical. Director Lee Daniels (already acclaimed for his direction of 'Precious') has mentioned directing the film version as a possible future project. A screenwriter is currently being sought-out, with the hope of a 2011 release.[8]Filming locations are said to be Cambodia and quite possibly Ho Chi Minh City (the former Saigon). No casting has been mentioned but speculation states that the Producers will be seeking an unknown for the lead role of Kim. [edit] Major characters
[edit] Musical numbers
[edit] Casts of principal original productions
[edit] Casts around the world
[edit] Awards and nominations[edit] 1991 Tony AwardsMiss Saigon led the 1991 Tony Award nominations with 11 nominations. Predicted to be the clear winner for Best Musical[citation needed], the show was upset by American musical The Will Rogers Follies for nearly every major award, though Lea Salonga, Jonathan Pryce and Hinton Battle all won awards.
[edit] Other awards
[edit] ControversyMiss Saigon has received criticism for what some have perceived as a racist or sexist overtone, including protests regarding its portrayal of Asian men, Asian women, or women in general.[12] Originally, Pryce and Burns, white actors playing Eurasian/Asian characters, wore eye prostheses and bronzing cream to make themselves look more Asian,[13] which outraged some who drew comparisons to a "minstrel show".[14] In the London production of Miss Saigon, Lea Salonga originally starred as Kim, with Jonathan Pryce as the Engineer. When the production transferred from London to New York City, the Actors' Equity Association (AEA) refused to allow Pryce, a white actor, to recreate the role of the Eurasian pimp in America. As Alan Eisenberg, executive secretary of Actors' Equity explained, "The casting of a Caucasian actor made up to appear Asian is an affront to the Asian community. The casting choice is especially disturbing when the casting of an Asian actor, in the role, would be an important and significant opportunity to break the usual pattern of casting Asians in minor roles."[14] This ruling led to criticism from many including British Equity, citing violations of the principles of artistic integrity and freedom. Producer Cameron Mackintosh threatened to cancel the show, despite massive advanced ticket sales.[15] Although there had been a large, well-publicized international search among Asian actresses to play Kim, there had been no equivalent search for Asian actors to play the major Asian male roles—specifically, Engineer (Pryce) and Thuy (Keith Burns). However, others pointed out that since the Engineer's character was Eurasian (French-Vietnamese), they argued that Pryce was being discriminated on the basis that he was Caucasian. Also, Pryce was considered by many in Britain to have "star status", a clause that allows a well-known foreign actor to recreate a role on Broadway without an American casting call.[14] After pressure from Mackintosh, the general public, and many of its own members, Actors' Equity was forced to reverse its decision. Pryce starred alongside Salonga and Willy Falk (as Chris) when the show opened on Broadway.[16][17] During the production transfer from West End to Broadway, a lesser controversy erupted over Lea Salonga's citizenship, as she was neither British nor American. The AEA wanted to give priority to their own members and so initially prevented her from reprising her role. However, Mackintosh was not able to find a satisfactory replacement for Salonga despite the extensive auditions he conducted in several American and Canadian cities. An arbitrator reversed the AEA ruling a month later to allow Salonga to star.[citation needed] [edit] References
[edit] External links
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| ↑ top of page ↑ | about thumbshots |
