Miss Saigon REVIEW 3 Nov 2023 ****1/2

MUSICAL THEATRE

Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg; Book by Schönberg & Alain Boublil; Lyrics by Richard Maltby Jr. and Alain Boublil, adapted from original French lyrics by Alain Boublil, with additional lyrics by Michael Mahler

Produced by Cameron Mackintosh

At Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne, until 16 Dec 2023

Reviewer: Kate Herbert

Stars: ****1/2

This review is published only on this blog. I’ll present a radio review on Arts Weekly on 3MBS on Sat 11 Oct 2023. KH

Abigail Adriano, Nigel Huckle-Australian production - Miss Saigon - Photo by Daniel Boud

 This new and updated production of Miss Saigon is musically electrifying, visually spellbinding and technically remarkable.

 

The story still features 17-year-old Kim (Abigail Adriano), an innocent Vietnamese orphan, whose indigent circumstances force her to become a dancer and unwilling prostitute in the Dreamland night club in Saigon. Her every move is controlled by the flamboyant Engineer (Seann Miley Moore), club manager, who pimps her out to American GIs in the days before the US withdraws from Vietnam. Here begins the romantic but doomed affair between the naive, hopeful Kim and jaded but morally upstanding GI, Chris (Nigel Huckle).

 

The book (Claude-Michel Schönberg & Alain Boublil) is loosely based on Puccini’s 1904 opera, Madam Butterfly, transposed to the 1970s. However, earlier productions attracted severe and widespread criticism of its negative portrayal of Vietnamese women as whores, its paternalistic and patronising view of the Vietnamese, and the casting of Caucasian actors as Asian characters. (Particular criticism was directed at casting Jonathan Pryce as the Engineer.)

 

Cameron Macintosh’s striking new production, impressively and imaginatively directed by Laurence Connor (Australian production directed by Jean-Pierre van der Spuy), presents a more acceptable and contemporary view of the issues: it incorporates searing criticism of US politics and invasion, its soldiers’ abuse of Asian women and of the Vietnamese in general, and its cruel abandonment of the people during the US troops’ evacuation of Saigon.

 

However, there is still no getting around it: the GIs still take advantage of these disadvantaged, desperate young  women who are eking out a living in the Engineer’s sleazy night club that is inappropriately called Dreamland.

 

Claude-Michel Schoenberg’s outstanding score soars and thrills, teases and enchants, while the lyrics by Richard Maltby Jr. and Alain Boublil advance the story, illuminate the characters and challenge the audience. Like an opera, it is sung through, with memorable songs including The Heat is On in Saigon, The Movie in My Mind and Last Night of the World.

 

The American Dream is a showstopper, not only because of Avian’s choreography, but also because of Moore’s electrifying performance of the Engineer’s elaborate fantasy about life in America. Moore commands the stage with his ebullient, flamboyant and audacious performance, prowling, prancing and manipulating the clientele in his vibrant Saigon club and later, in a seedy Bangkok brothel. His voice is powerful and versatile, and he totally inhabits this provocative, charming, mischievous and deeply flawed character.

 

Adriano captures the vulnerability, passion, and hopefulness of Kim as she travels the road from shy, helpless, orphan to bold and feisty mother, determined to reunite with her lost love, and unite her son with his father and provide him with a dream life in America.

 

Huckle has a splendid voice that is sometimes heartbreakingly poignant and at others, bold and impassioned, while Chris negotiates the dangerous terrain of his abandoned love in Saigon, his new wife in America and the tiny son of whom he was unaware.  Adriano and Huckle have romantic chemistry and are credible as the tragic couple immersed in their enchanted love bubble - before it all goes wrong.

 

Totie Driver and Matt Kinley's phenomenal set is another star, with its monumental design elements, evocative and vivid locations and the famous helicopter that now appears as both a flickering projection and as an actual chopper, which is just as alarming and breath-taking as it was the first time.

 

David Avian’s choreography and musical staging is dazzling and eclectic; the scene after the reunification of Vietnam is muscular, regimented dance integrated with exceptional acrobatics with echoes of Chairman Mao exercises.

 

This production of Miss Saigon looks and feels like a completely new creature compared with that which we saw in Melbourne 16 years ago. It is a jaw-dropping spectacle that is thematically and dramatically compelling and this new production is a must-see for lovers of musical theatre.

 

by Kate Herbert

Australian production - Miss Saigon - Photo by Daniel Boud