Miss Saigon
InCharge Productions
current show is the Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg,
"Miss Saigon" an epic and tragic musical of a young couple in
love, who are torn apart by the Vietnam war in 1975 but are held
together by a burning passion and the fate of a small child.
Boublil and Schonberg also wrote "Les Miserables" and together
with Richard Maltby Jr. bring Puccini's "Madame Butterfly" into
the modern world. The conflicting cultures and ideologies of the
world meet violently in Saigon where cultures clash and ways of
life battle on a grand scale. At the eye of this storm stand
these two lovers, Kim,, a Vietnamese girl who is forced to work
in a sex shop and Chris, an American marine guard at the U.S.
embassy. When Saigon falls and the old city disappears forever
under the red banners and yellow stars of the Viet Cong. Chris
not realizing that Kim is pregnant, is forced to evacuate with
the U.S. forces from the country. She falls in with her former
employer, the procurer of sex slaves, the Engineer, who is
determined to reach America with her son as the passport he
needs and pretends to be her brother. The three of them then
move to Bangkok. Chris returns home and eventually marries, a
few years later he learns of his son. He and his wife, Ellen
travel to Bangkok to find Kim who is determined to make Chris
take their son back to America at any cost. Director Meg
Quinn-Dusault assembles a huge and multitalented cast to fill
all these roles while musical director Shannon Manley not only
taught these intricate melodies and harmonies to the cast but
conducts a marvelous 12 piece orchestra while choreographer
Kayla Armstrong not only taught the dances but stages these
picture postcard moments with the performers. This fantastic
show is a masterpiece with its soaring ballads, comic songs and
gut wrenching dramatic acting and it is rewarded with a standing
ovation at the curtain call.
Meg keeps the action
flowing throughout the show with fast set changes and their use
of a real helicopter in the second act. Her direction and
blocking of her performers is done with ease and she brings out
the best in them and casts each of the roles splendidly.
Shannon's conducting of 64 musical numbers is amazing and she
and the orchestra sound splendid as does the cast in this all
sung epic pop opera like show. Some of the musical numbers sound
like "Les Miz", "The King & I", "South Pacific", "Jesus Christ
Superstar" and "Evita". The standout group numbers are the girls
songs "The Movie in My Mind" where they envision their escape
from Vietnam, "The Wedding Song" where Chris and Kim pledge
themselves to each other and two of the boys songs "The Heat is
on in Saigon" and "Bui-Doi" which is a tear jerking number about
the children left behind at the end of the war as the vocalists
hold up photos of real orphans from Vietnam. Some of the dance
numbers by Kayla include the sex shop dance by the girls who are
dressed up like the girls from the Kit Kat Club in "Cabaret",
the scary marching of the Viet Cong in "The Morning of the
Dragon" and the patriotic type of dance, kick line and
pinwheel in "The American Dream".
Leading this cast as Kim
is Allison Sproul who has a powerhouse voice which fills the
theater with her incredible soprano voice. Her many solos
include "Unicorn", "Sun and Moon" reprise and "I Will Die for
You" which she sings to her young son, leaving the audience in
tears with its poignancy. Her other numbers include "Movie in My
Mind", "Kim and Chris Dance", "This Money's Yours". "Sun & Moon"
and "Last Night of the World", a gorgeous duet that stops the
show, "Please", "I Still Believe", "Kim & Engineer" and "Paper
Dragons". The biggest scene stealer in this show is Jay Silvi as
the Engineer. who helps the GI's by supplying them with girls in
his sex shop called Dreamland and later on entices the tourists
in a Bangkok sex shop. He supplies the needed comic moments to
escape from the harsh reality of the war. The Engineer is
reminiscent of the Emcee in "Cabaret". His voice is fantastic
and his most impressive numbers are the well known vaudeville
type song "The American Dream" where he sings and dances about
finally escaping from Bangkok, "If You Want to Die in Bed" which
vocally reminds you of Judas in "Superstar", "The Night of the
Dragon" where he pleads for his life before the Viet Cong and
his two duets with Kim, "Kim & Engineer" and "Paper Dragons".
John Sparling is terrific as he plays Chris with the necessary
anguish and pathos the part calls for. His tenor voice soars in
his solo "Why, God, Why" where he wonders why he finally found
the girl of his dreams in the hell of Vietnam which is
reminiscent of "Younger Than Springtime" from "South Pacific" as
well as in his duets with Kim "Sun and Moon" and "Last Night of
the World" which displays the raw emotions of being in love but
not being able to control your destiny. 4 year old Joshua
Kue who plays Kim and Chris' son, Tam doesn't utter a word but
captures your heart from start to finish.
Chris' best friend John is
excellently played by Lee Cohen who makes this soldier buddy
into a warm and caring friend, eventually helping Chris find his
long lost son. He uses his strong tenor voice to sell the
emotion packed "Bui-Doi" which opens the second act and has
excellent harmonies by the men's chorus. also sings in many
numbers including the helicopter escape, "Please" with Kim and
"Ellen & Chris". Chris' American wife, Ellen is wonderfully
played by Sarah Shear who conveys the confusion at Chris' bad
dreams and behavior and her eventual realization of the horrors
he suffered in Vietnam. Her topnotch voice is heard in the
counterpoint song with Kim called "I Still Believe" and in the
confrontation songs called "Kim & Ellen" and "Chris & Ellen".( I
first reviewed Sarah as Millie in "Thoroughly Modern Millie" two
years ago and didn't recognize her at first because she wears a
red wig as Ellen.) Kim's cousin Thuy who she pledged to marry
many years ago is played by Andrew Tessier who oozes the right
amount of evilness as this repressive agent of the Viet Cong.
Thuy is the villain of this show who tries to take Tam away from
Kim and he gets to show off his wonderful voice in "Thuy's
Intervention", "The Night of the Dragon", "The Coo Coo
Princess'', "Thuy's Death" and "Thuy's Ghost". Atia
DeRosa Gravely who looks sexy as hell, plays Gigi, one of the
Engineer's girls and her dynamic soprano voice is heard in the
opening montage, the wedding song and "The Movie in My Mind".
16 year old Johnny Fullerton sings the solo part of the
helicopter escape number showing off his powerful tenor voice.
He played opposite Sarah Shear in "Millie") Kudos to the singing
and dancing chorus, too. So for a terrific musical treat, be
sure to catch "Miss Saigon'' by InCharge Productions.
MISS SAIGON ( 29 April to 2 May, 2010)
InCharge Productions, Sharon High School, 181 Pond Street, Sharon,, MA