Miss Saigon - Theatre Royal / Prince Edward / UK Tour

I saw it on Saturday night - Joreen was on, I'd heard the main Kim was off so had assumed she'd done both shows. Kim is only supposed to be 17 in 1975 so we could argue that Joreen is the right age for her. But I agree she does look younger and would be the sort of person asked for ID if she ever brought alcohol etc. As she is only 17, she'd technically not be allowed in a pub if the cast went for drinks but in a group she would be less obvious.

The show's running time inside the theatre is shown as 2 hours 50 minutes including interval but it was actually nearer 2 hours 45 mins when I checked the time on leaving but 2 hours 50 mins allows for slight delays in people getting seated, interval loo queues etc, so I'd advise people to work from that in case you are booking transport home etc.

Saw it last night for the first time (other than the dvd). Loved it, visually spectacular, superb singing and convincing portrayal of characters. Joreen was on as Kim. Was very impressed with her. Ryan O'Gorman's Bui Doi was worth the ticket price alone. The orchestra was exceptional as well. Ashley Gilmour, Red Conception and Marsha Songcome all gave excellent performances along with the ensemble.

Just home from Birmingham so I thought I'd share my quick thoughts on tonight.
Full cast with Sooha as Kim.

It's the same production as London as we know, and I thought it was great. I loved the recent revival so I was happy. Some beautiful changes to the orchestrations, particularly the en'tract, which now contains a bit of This Is The Hour.

Didn't 'get' Red Conception as the Engineer. It didn't work for me. The whole thing was played camp. There was no menace like you get with Jon Jon (I know I shouldn't compare but...) got better in Act 2 but his American Dream wasn't the moment it should have been. Sooha is GLORIOUS, with a voice and presence I was not expecting. Enjoyed the rest of the principles apart from Thuy, I thought he was very bland and uninteresting.

I'd give it 4*. Just a notch down from London (which I gave 5 the four times I saw it) but this is still only week 4 or 5 of the tour - I'm happy to give them the benefit that they're still trying things out.

They've re-written the wedding song the girls all sing. It has different words now to the recent london revival. That's the two that stuck out. There was a line here and there which changed which I didn't like.

Saw the show tonight in Birmingham and wow! First time seeing the show properly having only watched the 25th anniversary recording and I'm really glad that I decided to go. So many moments where I got chills starting with Movie in My Mind. The cast were fantastic! Felt like there were a couple of sound issues with it being slightly hard to hear Red at the beginning and there was a moment when Sooha's mic was turned down during the helicopter sequence. But what a great production and there were many people wiping away tears as they left the theatre

I wish I had seen this with Alistair Brammer, his voice makes me weak at the knees.

Not sure how i feel about this... Its the offical 'music video' for Movie In My Mind.
It sounds like it's trying to be a song from a Bond movie...

Red should be on. I think I read on Twitter that the 1st understudy will be on Saturday matinee this week. Sooha is away, so the alternate is covering the other shows.

Just in from the matinee in Birmingham and thought I'd post my thoughts.

Overall, great touring production that is largely on par with the London revival - and in some ways better. 

As someone pointed out the big ensemble numbers are much clearer, you can hear what Chris, John and the girls are singing. Though I would say the slapping of hands on the steel tables is still a bit too loud.

Few line tweaks here and there. Wedding Ceremony is different, some other random lines... I think these changes were brought in for Broadway. 

Orchestra sounded gorgeous - as someone pointed out the Entr'act has been re-scored, it really sounds lovely. I'm guessing the pit has been reduced in size slightly but you really can't tell. The saxophonist went crazy during the Exit Music, was brilliant to hear.

Helicopter looked phenomenal and got an ovation. I think it works much better in the smaller space, I think the effect was somewhat lost in the barn that is the Prince Edward. In fact, I would say this set sits much better in a smaller auditorium like the Birmingham Hippodrome.  

Red Concepcion - audience didn't take to him quite as much as Jon Jon, but I thought he was BRILLIANT. He made it his own and he has a tremendous voice. As someone said, it's nice to hear The Engineer parts not speak-spung. 

Aynrand Ferrer (u/s Kim) - does anyone know how many shows she's done? Must be one of her first. She has a gorgeous, high, trilly voice that is very unlike any Kim I've heard before. I notice she went for a lot of the high notes that are in the original score but which were avoided by Eva. Her voice is angelic but she also has a cracking belt for when the moment comes. brilliant actress - almost filmic choices. 

Ryan O'Gorman - better than Hugh because you could understand him. Worse than Hugh because Bui Doi deserves to be much more of a show stopper - Ryan kind of sung along with the chorus towards the end. I didn't feel enough passion.

Na Young Jeon - played a very sweet, child-like Gigi, the opposite of Rachel Ann Go. Gorgeous vocals during Move Is My Mind, she gave me chills. 

Zoe Doano - great actress, nice enough voice. She struggled with the low notes. I think it's nigh-on impossible to get this role right. Still think Maybe is a terrible replacement for Now That I've Seen Her

Ashley Gilmour - decent enough Chris and a nice voice, but nothing revelatory. I think it's quite a dull part in honesty. I also thought he seemed a little too young during the hotel scenes in Act 2. But in Act 1 he had the right amount of naivety. 

Rest of the cast pretty decent. I'm glad I went and it's nice to see such a high quality touring production of Saigon. I have no doubt the standard is pretty equivalent to Broadway, I'd expect nothing less from Cam Mack. 

A handful of people around me were crying at the end - I think this is no greater compliment to the actors and it always gives me chills to hear tears at the end of Miss Saigon and Les Mis, shows a job well done.

***

Badly behaved audience examples: 

I swear there is never a moment of dramatic silence in British theatre that isn't punctuated by someone coughing. 

Lady two rows behind decided the best time to gradually open a bag of sweets was over the first verse of I Still Believe. Luckily she got daggers from enough people that she stopped by the time Ellen popped up.

You're more than welcome. Largely agree with you on speak singing, though i think it comes from the fact that sung-through musicals are slightly out of fashion and modern audiences find it a bit silly. Purely a hunch though.

And yes - the 'new' Entr'acte is exactly the same as the version on the Symphonic Recording. It is gorgeous 

After seeing the matinee yesterday in Birmingham can I just add my voice to the praise this tour is getting. I knew it was essentially the same production as the west end one I saw a couple of years ago but was very surprised they had not scaled anything down for tour,it literally is exactly the same spectacle wise. The cast were just as good too,some better in fact. All this I guess explains the west end ticket price, which I don't mind seeing as they have essentially moved the London show to Birmingham. was blown away by it once more, i may have been leaving a rather different review mind you if my £63.50 ticket had bought me a cardboard helicopter though! xx

what happened?