stopthistrain7
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Which male lead?hey, so i'm auditioning for miss saigon at my high school, and i'm wondering which male lead you think i should go for. there's not a huge amount of male talent at my school, so i think i have a pretty good chance of getting the part i want. what do you think? i'm debating between Chris and The Engineer really...
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Set_Buildin_Dad
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If it's between the Engineer and Chris, go for the Engineer. The engineer has a much more interesting part. Chris is a wus of a character. The other choice is John, a much better character than Chris. John also gets to sing Bui Doi to open the second half of the show. BTW, The actor who portrayed John won the Tony award over the actor that played Chris. In my opinion that was partly because it is a better role.
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stopthistrain7
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yeah? u think? the reason i was leaning towards chris was because i thought he had better songs, and for me that is often one of the most important things, but you think the engineer is better? also, who in general is thought of to be the male lead? my director often makes a big fuss over which is a bigger part, not which is better. and you think John? better role? yeah, i guess he grows a lot over the course of the show, from buying kim for chris to finding the Bui Doi.. though its my last year of high school shows and i'm kinda looking as much stage time as i can... i donno, thoughts?
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Set_Buildin_Dad
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The Engineer and Kim are considered the leads in this show. Chris and John are both supporting. Chris has a little more stage time than John.
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Celeste_SM
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I think the Engineer would be most fun to play. Chris has much more stage time than John. Bui Doi is an amazing number that requires an amazing voice. The engineer gets to do American Dream. How about going for the role you're best suited to play?
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kiwitechgirl
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I'd go for the Engineer as well - he has more stage time than Chris and while Chris does have some nice duets with Kim, the Engineer just seems like a much meatier part. Chris is a bit two-dimensional where the Engineer is a much more rounded character, in my opinion! (This is no reflection on the actors playing the parts in the production I'm ASM-ing at the moment, but purely on the way the parts are written!)
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stopthistrain7
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yeah? the consensus is for engineer? would you say that, played well, an actor could find the meat in Chris's part? or is it a lost cause? and as far as Bui Doi goes, i think its a brilliant song, like so so good, but i'd have to lean towards Why God Why if i had to choose between them. i don't know, Chris just has some sweet songs that the engineer doesn't have, like "Chris and Ellen" at the beginning of The Confrontation - so good!
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Pannic
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Technically, the story is really about Kim and Chris.
The Engineer is just a show-stealer.
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kiwitechgirl
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| stopthistrain7 wrote: | | yeah? the consensus is for engineer? would you say that, played well, an actor could find the meat in Chris's part? or is it a lost cause? |
Chris isn't a lost cause, he (to me, at least) just isn't as interesting a character as the Engineer. There is meat in the part, just not as much...One question though, if, as you say, there isn't a whole lot of male talent at your school, why do Saigon? Our male chorus is twice the size of the female chorus, because of having both Vietnamese and American guys, where you only need Vietnamese girls (Ellen is the only American female in the show) - an odd choice surely if you haven't got great guys?
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Pannic
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It isn't just about having great guys.
If you put on this show, the bass section will hate you.
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jackrussell
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| Pannic wrote: | Technically, the story is really about Kim and Chris.
The Engineer is just a show-stealer. |
I wouldn't go that far, but you're basically right. You could take the Engineer out, and the show would be more dull, but it would still work. Take Chris out and you don't have a plot any more.
The character of Chris can be interesting if the actor playing him puts the effort in. He does have good character development and raises some interesting questions in the audience's mind.
But yes, a good Engineer will always steal the show over a lesser actor playing Chris.
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stopthistrain7
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its not nessicarily that we don't have a whole lot of male talent, because we do (to some degree, and especially compared to previous years) its just that theres a lot of politics involved in casting at my school, and there isn't a whole lot of guys that the director would put in a lead part, regardless of talent (like, obvs they have to be good, but... its complicated, it took me my gr. 9-11 to figure it out
and jackrussel, do you think that a good chris can steal the show over a mediocre-good engineer? or is that a lost cause?
i've always been curious, does anyone know what the order of the leads coming out for the curtain call is in a regular production of Miss Saigon (regardless of Jonathan Pryce being really famous and probably getting the last call)?[/quote]
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kiwitechgirl
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It seems to me that you've answered your own question - from everything you've posted, it seems that you're leaning towards Chris rather than the Engineer - so go with it! Chris is still a decent part, with some lovely songs, it's just that he doesn't have as many opportunities to steal the show as the Engineer does...he's also (at least in our production) not as physical as the Engineer - our Engineer is barely ever still, he's constantly on the move, whereas Chris is not. That may well be to do with the actors rather than the part though; I walked into the rehearsal room this afternoon to find the Engineer hurling himself around the room on rollerskates - he's going onto a production of Starlight Express after Saigon is over - he's a much more physical and agile actor than our Chris is.
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jackrussell
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| stopthistrain7 wrote: | | and jackrussel, do you think that a good chris can steal the show over a mediocre-good engineer? or is that a lost cause? |
I think that's probably a lost cause. But then, stealing the show isn't really a good thing in my book. 
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alcockell
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Also depends how comfy the OP is with singing lines like...
"Drinks are on me/First girl is free/What can I say - you get ME for a small extra fee..."
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The Russian
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Man....Chis is the HERO.
Why pass that up??
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