To See or Not to See: Miss Saigon

Miss Saigon has returned to Broadway. From the team behind Les Misérables, Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, this Madame Butterfly-inspired show is one that will appeal to those nostalgic about the original production.

Kim (Eva Noblezada, making a solid Broadway debut), a Vietnamese peasant whose village has been bombed, has arrived in Saigon looking for work. Naïve and innocent, Kim winds up in the clutches of The Engineer (Jon Jon Briones), a pimp and the owner of a brothel called Dreamland. American Marines swarm the Dreamland each night—they get a girl for free with their first drink. On Kim’s first night of working, John (Nicholas Christopher), a brash Marine, buys Kim for the night for his friend Chris (Alistair Brammer), a young GI disillusioned by Vietnam. Chris and Kim immediately fall in love as, of course, Saigon is falling in 1975. Chris and Kim are separated as the Americans make a hasty getaway.

Flash forward three years. Chris, believing Kim to be dead has married a sweet American woman, Ellen (Katie Rose Clarke). Unbeknownst to him, Kim is very much alive…and raising their son, Tam. Kim has been waiting for Chris to return for them. Kim reunites with The Engineer to help them escape Communist Vietnam and get to America. Chris, through his old friend John, discovers he has a son. But, alas, as all good dramatic and emotional stories go, these star-crossed lovers are never meant to be together again.

Despite its updated elements for today’s standards—there is an acknowledged grittiness about war and aching humanity of those trying to escape it that are missing if you listen to the soundtrack on its own—Miss Saigon itself is a dated show. There is still an underlying uneasy race and gender treatment that makes things feel just ever-so-slightly off. The story itself is melodramatic and chock-full of ballads that sound the same. Many of the characters are not well-developed. In particular, Chris is nothing but a one-dimensional character; it’s a struggle to believe Chris’s sudden love for Kim.

On the other hand, there were several fantastic parts of the show. The Engineer is by far the strongest character—and, in turn, Jon Jon Briones as the performer—in this production. Briones is extremely engaging as, essentially, an oily salesman whose number one priority is self-preservation. His last and biggest song-and-dance number, “The American Dream” is at turns funny and sad. You can see his desperation lurking beneath the surface.

The ensemble also did a fine job. The sheer number of them help give emotional heft to the infamous helicopter scene. That is one moment that was extremely visceral and heart wrenching (however, the helicopter itself is not as show-stopping as I imagined it to be. It is a nice piece of technical theater, though, and does impress the audience just like it did decades ago when the show premiered. Prepare yourself for spontaneous clapping and “oohs” and “aahs”).

Overall, Miss Saigon still managed to entertain countless theatergoers around me who had clearly seen the original production. It is a big, sweeping show that will have a steady audience for quite some time.

 

Miss Saigon is currently playing at the Broadway Theater. For tickets and more information, click here.

 

Photo Credit: Matthew Murphy