From producer Cameron Mackintosh of Cats, Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables fame, along with original music and lyricists Claude-Michel Schonberg, Richard Maltby Jr. and Alain Boublil, Miss Saigon came in as the costliest of all his productions at $12 million.
Premiering in London in 1989 with a cast and crew of 218, it opened on Broadway in 1991, then went on tour. To move the production on the road took 38 tractor trailers and a revamping of the theatres in which it played. Miss Saigon was the most expensive show to move—ever.
Since then, the cast, crew and scenery have been adjusted to accommodate smaller theatres.
Broadway by the Bay’s production of Miss Saigon at the Fox Theater in Redwood City reaches for the heights and doesn’t quite make it. With an over-long storyline set in war-torn Vietnam, loosely patterned after Puccini’s opera Madam Butterfly, the plot drags at times and most of the conclusions are anticipated.
Saving the show are some wild special effects, scenery and a cast of talented performers who do an amazing job with what they are given to make the evening enjoyable.
Kim (Danielle Mendoza), the innocent child-woman who has to turn to the sleazy life of the streets, moves from being an innocent girl to a lady of the night, then to the protective mother, in a well-crafted performance.
The American GI, Chris (Terence Sullivan), carries off the role of Kim’s lover with the cynical and bitter attitude about a war and people that mean nothing to him, when he finally finds love in his last days in Vietnam. He performs with depth and clarity; his final scenes are heart-wrenching.
Anthony Rodriguez III brings in the “The American Dream” number near the end of the second act. This is really the only Roman candle that sparkles in this production. Rodriguez plays the nefarious and utterly creepy engineer who has the desperate dream of manipulating his way to the Promised Land (the United States). He plays the part with the insidious delight of the serpent of Eden and brings hustling to a new low.
The famous thundering, vibrating, Huey helicopter landing on the roof of the American Embassy during the fall of Saigon is recreated by a projected movie. The shabby red light district of Bangkok is realistically fabricated. All this gives the show a series of boosts that hold the viewer’s attention.
This Miss Saigon might not be the greatest musical you will ever see but it does have some great moments, thanks to a super 18-piece orchestra under the very able baton of Sean Kana, along with a solid cast.
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Broadway by the Bay presents ‘Miss Saigon’
Fox Theatre Redwood City
Plays through April 3 Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
Tickets: $47-$69
More info: Call (650) 579-5565 or visit broadwaybythebay.org/miss_saigon
Camille Bounds is the Theatre, Arts and Travel columnist for the Morgan Hill Times and the Gilroy Dispatch.
