On Saturday 19th August, I went and saw Miss
Saigon at the Birmingham Hippodrome, this was the first time I had seen this
musical. I knew nothing about the storyline apart from that it was set during
the Vietnam war in the 1970s.
I didn’t know what to expect from this musical and I must
say it blew my mind, it is one of the best musicals I have ever seen. I’m not
going to spoil the story for those who haven’t seen it and want to go see it
but I am going to give a spoiler free outline. This is a love story about an
American GI who was stationed in Saigon called Chris and a Vietnamese girl
called Kim. Kim is forced to work in a bar in Saigon by a man dubbed The
Engineer, to earn a living which is where all the American GIs go to unwind.
Chris gets taken to the bar by his friend John and instantly falls for Kim.
John gets Kim for Chris and they fall in love instantly and plan for Chris to
take her back to America with her. However, events don’t turn out for the best
and they get torn apart. We then fast forward three years and Chris has a wife
called Ellen who has no idea what happened in Saigon or about Kim. Kim has been
surviving somehow with the belief that Chris will return to Vietnam and take
her and their son Tam, whom Chris has no idea about. We then go through Kim’s
emotional rollercoaster to reunite her with Chris and introduce him to his son.
We also find out what happened the day Chris and Kim got separated. I highly
suggest you take tissues because you will cry at some point in this show. This
show took my heart and ripped it into a million pieces, I’m still in shock from
it now.
Sooha Kim who played the part of Kim was amazing, she
portrayed every emotion to perfection you just wanted everything to be ok and
turn out the way Kim wanted it too. Her singing voice was phenomenal I was in
awe every time she sung. I loved Kim I just wanted to keep safe because she was
an innocent that get wrapped up in a war she never asked for like most people
during that time. I was routing for her throughout the whole show. Ashley
Gilmore who played Chris again was phenomenal, his connection with Sooha Kim on
stage was gorgeous they just worked so well together in every aspect and their
harmonies were on point. Again, his portrayal of emotion was perfection because
Chris goes through so much in this musical like Kim. His singing voice, blew my
mind especially in his solo Why God Why? it was phenomenal. I liked Chris as a
character and again he was another one I found myself routing for throughout the
show because he suffered from the consequences of Saigon and that was sad to
see because again real people suffer from war. Red Concepcion as The Engineer
was brilliant and he gave much needed comic relief to the play, he got into the
character so well and put on a show for people. His singing voice again was
amazing, like everybody’s in this show I cannot fault it. I felt sorry for his
character because he has a dream that he is aspiring to and won’t stop at
anything to get it even though he probably is never going to get it because of
the cards life has dealt him which is very sad. I’m so glad that I finally got
to see Zoe Doano in a musical because she wasn’t very well when I saw Les Mis
in which she played Cosette. In this she plays Ellen, Chris’ wife, she was
amazing, her voice is so lovely to listen to and her portrayal of Ellen was so
good because Ellen is granted some very difficult situations but deals with
them so well. Ryan O’Gorman as John was brilliant; we see John’s character go
through a change after 3 years and he is a very good friend to Chris and tries
to help as much as possible and I think Ryan portrayed this very well. His solo
Bui-Doi was beautiful, very emotive, his voice was just amazing also. The
character of Thuy played by Gerald Santos was interesting because he comes out
of nowhere and again another character we see change over the years. Final
mention to Na-Young Jeon who played Gigi, she was fantastic, she got into the
character so well and her voice was another level especially when she was
singing The Movie in My Mind. The Ensemble were another level with their
singing and their dancing because the dancing was complex and I think they set
the tone at different points and portrayed the culture very well.
I liked the songs in this show my favourites had to be Why
God Why? Sun and Moon, The Last Night of the World and The Morning of the
Dragon. All the songs were amazing and the singing was on another level,
probably the best singing I have heard in a show. The staging was brilliant
everything moved seamlessly, so much was going on sometimes I didn’t know where
to put my attention. Best part was the helicopter; I don’t know how nor want to
know how but there was a helicopter on stage. I was sat agog when this came up,
it’s so clever and effective, the best piece of staging I’ve ever seen as well.
As usual the Hippodrome was amazing as a venue, I cannot
fault it the staff are so friendly and accommodating. Our seats were Row J of
the Dress Circle, which is where I would now prefer to sit because you can see
the whole stage, however we did miss a little bit because the staging is spread
right into the wings of the stage because it is so big meaning we missed a
little bit but nothing important at all. The theming again for this was incredible
I didn’t get a chance to try a themed cocktail because I didn’t have time but I
had a look at the selection online. There is Saigon Fizz, Sun & Moon and
Mimi Bellini. If I was going to try one, it would have been Sun & Moon
which is Orange Juice and Archers Peach Liqueur. Also, in their circle
restaurant they have just introduced a Miss Saigon themed food menu which you
can have 2 or 3 courses off.
I would give this show 5/5 stars it is spectacular in a
different way because it is telling a very real story and gives you real
emotions that you can sympathise with. If you haven’t seen it and are thinking
about it then go and book tickets, you will not be disappointed. It is
currently running at the Birmingham Hippodrome until 23rd September,
buy tickets here. To buy tickets to see it anywhere else or to see if it
is coming to a town near you go to the Miss Saigon website.
Until next time,
Stacey x
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