[RainbowJude]

Today in 1991, Lea Salonga made her Broadway debut in Miss Saigon.

1. What do you like about this show? Or, if you're not a fan, what makes it unmemorable for you?

2. Pick your favourite song in the show and tell us why it's your favourite?

3. What is your favourite lyric?

4. Got a number you just can't stand? Tell us why.

5. Who's your favorite character?

6. Who is your favourite Miss Saigon-related performer?

7. Got a favourite production? What made it so special?

8. What do you think of the show as an adaptation of Madama Butterfly?

9. A film.... What would you like to see if one was made?

Later days
David

[jackrussell]

1. What do you like about this show? Or, if you're not a fan, what makes it unmemorable for you?

The concept - the fact that it works so well both as a human drama and as a metaphor for what happens when states go to war without understanding the consequences.

2. Pick your favourite song in the show and tell us why it's your favourite?
This is the Hour. Again, the way it develops from the melodramatic but believeable stand-off between Kim and Thuy into the vast political celebration is very effective.

3. What is your favourite lyric?
It sounds a bit naff quoted as opposed to sung, but "You will never be free / Not as long as there's me" sung by the deceased Thuy to Kim is a powerful moment.


4. Got a number you just can't stand? Tell us why.
No - love all of them.

5. Who's your favorite character?
I think it would be Chris, actually - he's unusually morally ambiguous for this type of musical - he starts off wanting to do the right thing by Kim but gives up when it proves too difficult - he's portrayed sympathetically and yet the consequences of his actions are all too obviously disastrous.


6. Who is your favourite Miss Saigon-related performer?
Lea Salonga

7. Got a favourite production? What made it so special?
I'll go with the original London, but only because all productions I've seen have been that or carbon copies of it.

8. What do you think of the show as an adaptation of Madama Butterfly?
Very cleverly done. It uses the strengths of the original and also develops and improves aspects of it to make it work in the Vietnam setting.

9. A film.... What would you like to see if one was made?
I don't generally like filmed versions of musicals, but I think this one would actually work. They'd have to avoid the big-budget Hollywood treatment, though.

Good questions, RainbowJude!

[kiwitechgirl]

1. What do you like about this show? Or, if you're not a fan, what makes it unmemorable for you?
It hits you square in the heart! I love shows that are more than just light fluffy entertainment and set you thinking, and this one does that.

2. Pick your favourite song in the show and tell us why it's your favourite?
It changes; right now I'd have to say Chris' section of "The Confrontation"

3. What is your favourite lyric?
"There in the shambles of a war/I found what I was looking for"

4. Got a number you just can't stand? Tell us why.
Nope, like them all!

5. Who's your favorite character?
Like my favourite song, it changes, at the moment The Engineer.

6. Who is your favourite Miss Saigon-related performer?
Jonathan Pryce

7. Got a favourite production? What made it so special?
The New Zealand premiere! Special because I'm ASM-ing it, it's a brand spanking new production, and the helicopter is fantastic! (we finished teching today and the Nightmare sequence is great)

8. What do you think of the show as an adaptation of Madama Butterfly?
I think it's a great adaptation. I like that they made Chris a lot more likeable than Pinkerton, who was pretty much a cad - Chris might be a bit weak, but he is at least troubled by what he has done to Kim. I also like the change that Kim asks Ellen to take Tam rather than Kate asking Butterfly for her child.

9. A film.... What would you like to see if one was made?
Proper musical theatre actors cast, not big name Hollywood stars who can sort of sing. John Barrowman is a bit old to play Chris any more, sadly, as I love his version of Why God Why. I think it'd have to be quite stylised and perhaps not look like other films about the Vietnam war - on thinking about it, I think maybe I'd like to see Baz Luhrmann direct it as it would fit his style. Also I'd love to see our Kim (who we've brought in from the the States) play Kim on film as she's incredible!

[RainbowJude]

1. What do you like about this show? Or, if you're not a fan, what makes it unmemorable for you? I've always liked Miss Saigon. I really love the epic feel of it, the sweeping melodrama, the romance at the core of it all. I think it's all just wonderful. But you have to buy into it at the start - or you never will.

2. Pick your favourite song in the show and tell us why it's your favourite? "I'd Give My Life for You". I think the song is simple and direct, a moment where I think you see exactly who Kim is. I think it might be melodramatic and over-the-top in something a little drier, but I think it's perfect for the kind of musical that Miss Saigon is.

3. What is your favourite lyric? I really like "Sun and Moon", particularly the line 'How in the light of one night did we come so far?' I also really like the verses in "It's Her or Me"/"Now That I've Seen Her". But see below for more on this....

4. Got a number you just can't stand? Tell us why. Where Miss Saigon falls down for me is in the details. There's not a number as a whole that I can't stand, but there are lyrics that just don't work. My least favourite by a long shot was "What is this bug up my ass? You tell me, I don't know". Thankfully, that one's been replaced in the years since the show's premiere in London. One of the changes I dislike is the rewritten opening of the chorus for "It's Her or Me", which became "Now That I've Seen Her". I understand the thinking behind the change, but the change itself is sloppy and doesn't match the musical phrases of the song.

5. Who's your favorite character? Kim. I think it's a fantastic role.

6. Who is your favourite Miss Saigon-related performer? Lea Salonga.

7. Got a favourite production? What made it so special? Nope. But I reckon that anyone who got to see Lea Salonga in the role got to see something pretty special.

8. What do you think of the show as an adaptation of Madama Butterfly? I think it works and I think it works better. The characters are less one-note than in Madama Butterfly. Kim, as I've said, I think is fantastically written. Chris is a huge improvement on Pinkerton, a character that holds little appeal and who deserves no sympathy. And I like the other shifts too - Suzuki's transformation into Mimi, Goro's retooling as the Engineer, Prince Yamadori's now politically motivated Thuy. Also, the building up of the Kate Pinkerton role into Ellen gives the piece an added dimension. And the context given to the piece of the war in Viet-Nam works perfectly. Character, situation and narrative come together really well in this adaptation.

9. A film.... What would you like to see if one was made? I'd love to see a film. I think the only way to cast Kim would be to go the same route that the producers went to find Lea Salonga - to look for a complete unknown who has what it takes to hold the film together. In terms of the screenplay, I'd like to see the fall of Saigon restored to it's chronological place in the action. Without the act divisions, I think the second act material is strong enough to carry a film through to the ending. And I would like to see "The Sacred Bird" restored. And I think a big budget Hollywood epic would be the only way to do. With Miss Saigon, it has to be all or nothing.

Later days
David

[Quique]

1. What do you like about this show? Or, if you're not a fan, what makes it unmemorable for you?

The sweeping music is so gorgeous. But it's the story that gets me. Also, the way the original production flowed was impressive. Never a dull moment.

2. Pick your favourite song in the show and tell us why it's your favourite?

The entire sequence when Thuy finds Kim up to "This Is the Hour." Probably one of the top most thrilling moments I've ever experienced in the theatre. "Id Give My Life For You" is my favorite solo. When those strings swell, you can almost feel the depth of her love for Tam. And it's just a perfect act one finale.

3. What is your favourite lyric?

The whole exchange between Thuy and Kim ("I knew in time fate would weave a design tying your life and mine into one..." and so on).

4. Got a number you just can't stand? Tell us why.

Some parts of "The Heat Is On" are really tacky sounding. That Big Mac line has got to go

5. Who's your favorite character?

Definitely Kim.

6. Who is your favourite Miss Saigon-related performer?

I loved Kevin Gray's Engineer.

7. Got a favourite production? What made it so special?

I've seen 4 productions--1st and 2nd U.S. national tours, Broadway, and a regional production last year. My favorite was the 1st national tour. The cast was perfection. The 2nd national tour was pretty good too. I found the Broadway production lacking. The cast lacked energy and the production as a whole looked sloppy.

8. What do you think of the show as an adaptation of Madame Butterfly?

I'm not familiar with MB, so can't comment.

9. A film.... What would you like to see if one was made?

I think it would work great as a film. Too bad Lea is now a bit too old to star in it. I'd love to see her do it.

[Dvarg]

1. What do you like about this show? Or, if you're not a fan, what makes it unmemorable for you?

I can't stand it. I think it's the most emotionally speculative and exploitative musical there is, with its enless string of slow ballads of sentimentality-porn.

2. Pick your favourite song in the show and tell us why it's your favourite?

I like The Morning of the Dragon because of its three part counterpount and resemblance of Les Mis. Unlike everyone in the world, I also have a soft spot for Bui Doi. I know I'm not supposed to.

3. What is your favourite lyric?

None.

4. Got a number you just can't stand? Tell us why.

Sun And Moon, or whatever that saxophone hell song is called. It's a part of the worst section of the kitchy faux emotion festival that wollows in itself in the moist beginning of the first act.

I also think The American Dream is a spectacularly unfunny and shallow comedy number I suspect is supposed to say something satirical and important.

5. Who's your favorite character?

John, or what's-his-face. Or maybe Thuy, because of his intense anger.

6. Who is your favourite Miss Saigon-related performer?

Pryce. But not in that role.

7. Got a favourite production? What made it so special?

No.

[edit] Wait, I once attended a world championship of marching bands in the Netherlands, and a Thai marching band of over a hundred participants had based the tattoo on Miss Saigon. They even had a small helicopter model. I think it was fun, and I later got a Miss Saigon t-shirt mailed from one of the Thai girls. That was cute. It even gained me a Miss Saigon key chain.

8. What do you think of the show as an adaptation of Madama Butterfly?

I know Butterfly too little too say.

9. A film.... What would you like to see if one was made?

A total disaster I could laugh my head off to.

[jackrussell]

You can say with justification that Miss Saigon is emotionally overblown - but then it just becomes a matter of taste as to whether you like that sort of thing or not. (I confess I do, but I know not everyone does.)

I don't think it's fair to dismiss it as fluff. It was a courageous show to stage, for various reasons, including:
- the adoption of a controversial recent historical event (the Vietnam war) as the backdrop
- the setting, in the Far East, well away from what most Western audiences expect to be presented with
- the unhappy ending (producers generally see these as commercial risks)

Obviously looking back we know what a hit it was, but if it was proposed now as a new project I don't see many producers being willing to invest in it.

I also think it's unfair to impute a conscious exploitative desire to its creators to make it an "endless string of slow ballads" - I think it would be more accurate to say it's just their style. Les Mis is vulnerable to the same criticism to a lesser extent. It's fair enough to say that it's a style you don't like, but I don't think it's fair to cast aspersions on the intentions behind it.

[Quique]

[jackrussell]

[Barberous]

1. What do you like about this show? Or, if you're not a fan, what makes it unmemorable for you?

The characters are very interesting to me. Many of them start out thinking that they are quite good, then reluctantly come to learn otherwise - Chris, Ellen, John. Chris tries to see himself as the victim no matter what; even as the victim of his own feelings for Kim ('Why God Why?'). After he sleeps with this young prostitute, he acts wary as if he's afraid of being exploited by her - "I don't know who you are"! It's very true to life, the way we try to cast ourselves as the good guy... Like it or not, Chris behaves and feels the way many of us would in such situations, holding up our own probable reactions to be critiqued. And how does Kim reconcile breaking her vow to Thuy and her parents, and yet insisting that Chris keep his vow to her? And killing twice for these opposite reasons? Interesting. (Okay, it's because of Tam, but I still like the symmetry.)

I'm less in love with other aspects of the show. The score ain't great. The Overture is sooo tryhard-"Asian" - but I still really enjoy it. The fast "American" music is sometimes annoying. Some of the lyrics are crap. To me, a lot of the recitative sounds like the composer was just wandering around without structuring it properly (maybe I just don't know those parts well enough though). I remember being surprised when I figured out that Chris and Kim only really have two love ballads - it felt like many more. Plus, I don't mind a bit of melodrama, but this show really lays it on with a trowel.

2. Pick your favourite song in the show and tell us why it's your favourite?

'The Movie in My Mind', probably. It's sad. These girls are wordly and no-nonsense most of the time, but then there's this and the wedding ceremony... they know their dreams are ridiculous, but they can't help it. Yet the things they're dreaming about are just the basics of what we expect from life. And the song hits in the middle of the raucous fun of Dreamland, with the guys right there, not caring or even noticing. The first line kind of sucks, though

3. What is your favourite lyric?

This week...

"Why does Saigon never sleep at night?
Why does this girl smell of orange trees?
How can I feel good when nothing's right?
Why is she cool when there is no breeze?"

Haha, there are so many things to dislike about that song, but I still like it, and especially this part.

4. Got a number you just can't stand? Tell us why.

The Heat is On in Saigon - Redeemed only because it's meant to be obnoxious. But seriously - that rhyme in the title - what an introduction to a show.
If You Want To Die In Bed - We get it. He's smarmy and he wants to go to America. Other parts of the show say it better.

5. Who's your favorite character?

Chris. I won't blab on about him here (any more), but I think he's complex and interesting.

6. Who is your favourite Miss Saigon-related performer?

Lea Salonga.

7. Got a favourite production? What made it so special?

The 1995 Studio Cast Recording. Cuz it's the complete show. Endlessly replayable. What could be more special than that?

8. What do you think of the show as an adaptation of Madama Butterfly?

I don't know Madama Butterfly.

9. A film.... What would you like to see if one was made?

Sam Mendes direct - yeah, as if he would. I thought he did well with the (IMO) morally complex characters in American Beauty *shrug* Give the art direction to Baz Luhrmann. Because he "never lets good taste get in the way of rip-roaring entertainment" (http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/11/26/movies/26aust.html?scp=1&sq=baz%20australia%20review&st=cse) - perfect for this show!!

[kiwitechgirl]