Miss Saigon

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Miss Saigon
Original poster
Music Claude-Michel Schönberg
Lyrics Alain Boublil
Richard Maltby, Jr.
Book Claude-Michel Schönberg
Alain Boublil
Based upon Opera by Giacomo Puccini
Madame Butterfly
Productions 1989 West End

1991 Broadway
1992 Japan
1993 Toronto
1993 Japan
1994 Hungary
1994 Los Angeles
1995 Sydney
1995 Germany
1996 Netherlands
1997 Denmark
2000 Philippines
2000 Poland
2001 UK tour
2002 Tallinn
2002 Sweden
2004 UK tour
2005 US tour
2004 Japan
2006 South Korea
2007 Australia
2007 Bulgaria
2007 Czech Republic
2007 Canada
2007 Finland
2007 Brazil
2007 Switzerland
2008 Japan
2008 New Zealand

Miss Saigon is a West End musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby, Jr. It 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, and closed on January 28, 2001 after 4,092 performances.[1] The musical represented Schönberg and Boublil's second major success, following Les Misérables in 1980. As of August 2007, Miss Saigon is still the 10th longest-running Broadway musical in musical theatre history. [2]

Miss Saigon 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.

The show'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.[3]

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 their despair, the victory parade of the new communist regime and the frenzied night club scene on the edge of defeat.

Miss Saigon was part of the major British influence on Broadway in the 1980s, along with the musicals Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, and Les Misérables.

Contents

[edit] Production history

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 been laden with 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]

The new production of Miss Saigon at Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne
The new production of Miss Saigon at Her Majesty's Theatre, Melbourne[6]

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.

The UK National tour opened at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth in August 2004, and continued to tour the country into early 2006. The tour has been the most successful of recent times, with venues including Oxford, Milton Keynes, Woking, Norwich, Nottingham, Cardiff, Bristol, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, Bradford, Belfast, Southampton, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Liverpool and Sunderland. The tour ended in Bristol in June 2006, and has transferred to other countries including Korea and Australia.[7]

Currently the new production is running in the Festival Theatre, Adelaide, Australia. A Brazilian production opened at Teatro Abril, São Paulo on July, 2007.

There was once a rumor of a production in China.

It has been performed in English, Japanese, Hungarian, German, Dutch, Danish, Polish, Estonian, Swedish, Korean, Bulgarian, Czech, Finnish, and Portuguese.

In November 2007, the production premiered at the Rose Center Theater, located in Westminster, California's Little Saigon, one of the areas with most Vietnamese Americans in the United States.

[edit] Controversy

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."[8] 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.[9]

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.[8] 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.[10][11]

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 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]

Miss Saigon has experienced criticism from the Asian American community for various racial issues.[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".[8] The libretto of Miss Saigon also contains lyrics that many Asians might consider offensive, such as the Engineer's lines: "Greasy chinks make life so sleazy/ in the States I'll have a club that's four-starred" (American Dream) and "Why was I born of a race that thinks only of rice and hates entrepreneurs?" (If You Want to Die In Bed).[13]

[edit] Synopsis

[edit] Act 1

The story begins in April 1975 in 'Dreamland,' a sleazy Vietnamese club, shortly before the Fall of Saigon. Kim is a seventeen year old orphan. It is her first day as a bargirl, and she is greeted by the Engineer, an oily-mispositioned French-Vietnamese who owns the club. Backstage, the girls get ready for the night's show and jeer at Kim's naiveté. ("Overture").

American Marines and Vietnamese prostitutes party together at the club ("The Heat Is On In Saigon"). The Marines, aware that they are losing the war, are out to have a final fling before leaving Vietnam. Sergeant Christopher Scott, a young, disenchanted Marine who is disgusted with the club scene, is encouraged by his friend John to go with a girl. The girls flaunt themselves at the Marines, competing for the title of "Miss Saigon", and the winner is raffled to a Marine. When Kim introduces herself, her 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. He refuses and gets annoyed at her cajoling. The scene freezes as the showgirls reflect on their dreams of a better life ("Movie In My Mind"). John talks to the Engineer and buys the virgin Kim and Chris a room for the night ("The Transaction"). Kim is reluctant and shy in being a prostitute for the first time, but introduces herself to Chris, and they dance. 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 had to meet 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, telling him 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 does not need to sell herself at the club, because he wants her to stay with him. Kim is overwhelmed, and 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 are closing in on Saigon. America is in the process of sending people home and retreating before Saigon is captured. John reluctantly agrees to cover for Chris ("The Telephone Song"). Chris meets up with the Engineer for a pre-arranged trade for Kim, but the Engineer tries to weasel an America visa into the deal, as he is desperate to escape the country. Chris refuses, and the Engineer agrees (at gunpoint) to 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. During the celebration, Thuy, Kim's cousin who she was betrothed to at thirteen, arrives to take her home. He has since become an officer in the North Vietnamese Army. He is angered when he finds her with Chris ("Thuy's Arrival"). The two men confront each other, drawing their guns. Kim tells Thuy that their arranged marriage as children is now null because her parents (who promised her to him) are dead, and she can no longer harbor any feelings for him because of his betrayal. Thuy curses them all, before storming out. Chris admits that he will leave Vietnam, but promises to take Kim with him. Chris and Kim cling to each other as they remember the night they met and dance to the same song from the club ("Last Night of The World").

The story moves forward to 1978 in Saigon (now renamed Ho Chi Minh City), where 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 Engineer, who is still his corrupt and opportunistic self, despite being "re-educated" by the new Communist regime. Thuy orders the Engineer to find Kim and bring her back to him.

Kim has been living in hiding in an impoverished area. She is still completely in love with Chris and believes that he will come back to Vietnam to rescue her. Simultaneously, we see Chris in bed with his new American wife, Ellen. Ellen seems to know about the past that haunts Chris, as he suddenly sits up in bed shouting Kim's name. Ellen comforts him back to sleep, and the two women both swear their devotion to Chris at opposite ends of the earth ("I Still Believe").

The Engineer locates Kim and brings Thuy to her. Thuy asks her to come with him and become his wife. She refuses, and shocks Thuy by introducing him to Tam, her two-year-old son fathered by Chris. Thuy calls Kim a traitor and Tam an enemy, and tries to kill Tam with a knife. Kim pulls out Chris's gun and is forced to shoot Thuy to protect Tam ("You Will Not Touch Him"). Thuy dies, with Kim weeping and cradling his body. Kim flees with Tam as the street parade continues outside ("This Is The Hour").

Kim runs to the Engineer and tells him 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"). The Engineer sees this as his passport to the United States. He tells Kim that from now on, he is the boy's uncle, and he will lead them to Bangkok. Kim swears to Tam that she would sacrifice herself to see him have a better life, and the three set out on a ship with other suffering refugees ("I'd Give My Life for You").

[edit] Act 2

1978, Atlanta, Georgia. John now works for an aid organization whose mission is to connect Bui-Doi (children conceived during the war and left in Vietnam) with their American fathers (some production designs paint him as a Congressman with the same goal). John speaks at a conference, where he and other veterans put the problem to an audience ("Bui Doi"). After the presentation, John pulls Chris aside, and tells him that Kim is still alive, which Chris is relieved to hear after years of having nightmares of her dying. He goes on to tell Chris about Tam, but this complicates Chris's current situation — his wife Ellen doesn't know about Kim. John urges Chris to go to Bangkok with Ellen to meet Kim, and Chris finally tells Ellen about Kim before leaving ("The Revelation").

1978, Bangkok. The Engineer has been reduced to working as a hustler enticing tourists to enter sleazy clubs, where Kim works as a dancer ("What A Waste"). Chris, Ellen and John have traveled to Bangkok in search of Kim. John finds them, and Kim is thrilled to hear that Chris is in Bangkok. John attempts to break it to her that Chris is remarried, but Kim interrupts, believing that she is to go to America with Chris. John marvels at Kim's absolute faith in Chris and does not have the heart to break the news to her. He promises to bring Chris to her ("Please").

While John goes to bring Chris to Kim, the Engineer tells Kim to go and find Chris herself because he doubts that Chris will come ("Chris Is Here"). As Kim prepares to find Chris, she is haunted by the ghost of Thuy, who taunts Kim, claiming that Chris will betray her like he did the night Saigon fell. Kim suffers an intense, horrible flashback to that night ("Kim's Nightmare").

1975, Saigon. Chris and Kim plan to escape Vietnam together as the Viet Cong approach and Saigon becomes increasingly chaotic. Chris is called to the embassy and leaves his gun with Kim and tells her to pack, reassuring her that they have plenty of time before they have to leave. Almost immediately Chris enters the embassy, the gates are closed, as orders arrive from Washington for a total and complete 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 find a way in. Chris unsuccessfully tries to call Kim, and is about to go out into the hysterical crowd to look for her. The Americans refuse to let Chris out and 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 behind the gate. Kim pledges her love to Chris against all odds. The helicopter takes off with Chris screaming Kim's name.

1978, Bangkok. Kim joyfully dresses in her wedding clothes ("Sun and Moon: Reprise") and goes to Chris's hotel room, where she finds Ellen. Ellen is forced to tell Kim that she is Chris's wife. Kim is shocked and heartbroken, and refuses to believe Ellen's assertion. Her dreams for Tam's new life in America are shattered when Ellen refuses to take Tam to the U.S., saying that Tam needs his real mother, and because Ellen wants her own life and children with Chris. Kim demands that Chris tell her these things to her face ("Room 317"). Ellen feels bad for Kim, but expresses her determination to keep Chris ("Now That I've Seen Her"). Chris returns to the room with John, having failed to find Kim, and is horrified when Ellen issues an ultimatum: Kim or her. Chris reassures Ellen and tearfully tells her of his experience in Vietnam. They pledge their love for each other, but agree to leave Tam and Kim in Bangkok and 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 dreams extravagantly of the 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 Tam not to forget her, and that she will be watching over him ("The Sacred Bird"/"Little God Of My Heart"). Having said goodbye to Tam, she goes 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 on the floor. Chris runs to Kim and holds her in his arms. Heartbroken, he asks Kim why she has shot herself, and she explains that the gods have guided him to his son. Chris begs her not to die, but she merely asks him to hold her one last time, while the theme from "Sun and Moon" plays in the background. With her last breath, she echoes a phrase uttered earlier when they first fell in love: "How in one night have we come so far?" Kim dies in Chris's arms. Ellen opens her arms to Tam ("Finale"), so that Kim's sacrifice is not in vain.

[edit] Major Characters

  • The Engineer - aka Tran Van Dinh, the sleazy but comical pimp owner of 'Dreamland'
  • Kim - A teenage girl, recently orphaned and forced to work at 'Dreamland'
  • Chris - aka "Christopher Scott" An American G.I sergeant about to leave Saigon to return to America.
  • John - Chris' friend, also a G.I.
  • Thuy - Kim's cousin, to whom Kim was promised by her parents when the two were thirteen. Has since become an officer in the Communist Vietnamese government.
  • Ellen - Chris' American wife.
  • Tam - Kim and Chris's three-year old son.

[edit] Casts

Original London Cast
Original Broadway Cast
Broadway Cast Replacements/Transfers (by character in alphabetical order)
  • The Engineer- Raul Aranas, Joseph Anthony Foronda, Alan Muraoka, Francis Ruivivar, Herman Sebek, Luoyong Wang.
  • Kim- Joan Almedilla, Emy Baysic, Annette Calud, Melinda Chua, Rona Figueroa, Leila Florentino, Deedee Magno, Elizabeth Paw, Kristine Remigio, Chloe Stewart, Roxanne Taga, Alex Lee Tano.
  • John- Timothy Blivens, C.C. Brown, Matthew Dickens, Leonard Joseph, Keith Byron Kirk, Norm Lewis, Milton Craig Nealy, Billy Porter, Charles E. Wallace.
  • Tam- Adrick Aznar, Lexine Bondoc, Kailip Boonrai, Melanie Lin Carabuena, Philipp Lee Carabuena, Nicholas Chan, Jeffrey Chang, Ryan Chin, Victoria Chin, Skyla Choi, Kristofer A. Chow, Ambrose Eng, Andrew Goon, Jonathan Hoang, Keith Hong, Veronica Kelly, Jonathan Regner Kho, Kenny Kim, Vivian King, Philip Kyke Kong, Eric Kramer, Jenna La Salla, Lori Lee, Megan Ng, Brandon Marshall Ngai, Thi Kim Thu Nguyen, Michael Ordinario, Gail Quintos, Geena Quintos, Margaux Reidy, Melissa Remo, Alex Rodriguez, Cailan Rose Seavey, Christine Sison, J.J. Tolentino, Justin Lee Wong, Albert G. Yalun, Jeff Yalun.

[edit] Awards and nominations

[edit] 1991 Tony Awards

Miss Saigon led the 1991 Tony Award nominations with 11 nominations. Predicted to be the clear winner for Best Musical, 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.

[14]

[edit] Other awards

[15]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Miss Saigon at the Internet Broadway DatabaseRetrieved on 2007-December 15.
  2. ^ Musical Cyberspace: Miss SaigonRetrieved on 2007-December 15.
  3. ^ Schönberg, Claude-Michel. "This Photograph was for Alain and I the start of everything...", October 1995. Retrieved on 2007-December 15.
  4. ^ AmerAsians and the Theater Retrieved on 2007-December 15.
  5. ^ Laurence Olivier Awards: Past winners - Musical Retrieved on 2007-December 15.
  6. ^ http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117933287.html?categoryid=33&cs=1 Variety April 4, 2007
  7. ^ Miss Saigon - Miss Saigon opens in Korea Retrieved on 2007-December 15.
  8. ^ a b c Mervyn Rothstein, "Union Bars White in Asian Role; Broadway May Lose 'Miss Saigon'," New York Times, 8 August 1990, A1.
  9. ^ TIME - Will Broadway Miss Saigon? Retrieved on 2007-December 15.
  10. ^ Yellowworld Forums - Yellowface Top Ten Retrieved on 2007-December 15.
  11. ^ Bright Lights Film Journal - Hollywood Yellowface Retrieved on 2007-December 15.
  12. ^ Steinberg, Avi. "Group targets Asian stereotypes in hit musical," Boston Globe, January 2005. Retrieved on 2007-December 15.
  13. ^ a b Behr, Edward, and Mark Steyn. The Story of Miss Saigon. New York: Arcade Publishing, 1991.
  14. ^ Official Tony Awards Website
  15. ^ 2007 Helpmann Awards

[edit] External links