Miss Saigon - Theatre Royal / Prince Edward / UK Tour

Having heard reactions from people watching various productions of this show since 1989, it seems like it really makes a huge difference in experience if you watch it up close, versus way back, balcony, grand circle, etc.

I think Miss Saigon is a show you really need to see up close, because it's all about the human emotions, the subtlety of sung thoughts, people who see the show up close are very engaged and emotional afterwards. People who have seen it from the back miss all of this and only talk about the effects and the helicopter or find certain scenes boring. It's the human emotion that carries this show. Not the effects.

I also think that the intimacy of the original London production, with the small theatres created front centre stage, where sun and moon, why god why, last night of the world, etc, took place, helped this given very much. It was like that really pulled the audience in. In this new production with the steel pipe construction, everything feels less intimate and Kim's bed being somewhere up right in that construction and last night of the world taking place in the stockroom of a bar, being basically the whole stage, does not help either.

I would agree. It's not exactly the most subtle of shows and there's a lot of stuff going on so I would think personally that you would lose a little more being sat closer really.

A few familiar faces in the new cast. Gabriella Williams, Ross Lee Fowkes and Louis Stockil are in it, and I really want to see Gabriella as Ellen.

Is it normal for a cast change to occur mid-venue. Is it possible that the cast have joined mid-way through Manchester so that they first cast do the Manchester press night, get some local word of mouth in to get tickets sold. Then get the new cast in to get the up to speed, like previews after press night, so they are full and ready to go in the next city.

Pretty sure it would be Joreen.

Do we know who the new understudies are?

OMG Vinny is 2nd Cover John now I would do anything to see him do that 😭

He was very good (I saw it last night).

The production as a whole... isn't, at least compared to the original. It's broader and cruder and louder, and nearly every last scrap of subtlety has been taken out of a piece that was never very subtle to begin with. And none of the rewrites are improvements (I don't count the replacement of 'The Sacred Bird', which was gone a long, long time ago, and whose faux-Orientalist lyrics were slightly wince-inducing even in 1989). Some of them, like the rewrite of 'The Movie in my Mind', are actually damaging. This production is very well sung indeed, but it's like watching the cartoon version of something that was originally written for grown-ups.

I actually like the change in The movie in my mind very much, I think that's an improvement. I love how she sings she longs for a place where she doesn't have to "dance" anymore, which is like a metaphor for the whole game that's going on there. Also that her dreams are shattered because of what she's been through. I never really liked the "Ice cream" line, which sounded like "I scream" at times, and the line was merely mentioning a few very random specific things that she liked. Also the dollar bill line felt a bit misplaced to me, because I feel that Gigi's dreams are not about money.

But there is another part of the show that I think needs to be changed back as soon as possible, because it was perfect. It's in the confrontation. The change in the first part, Chris' solo is actually really well done, "senseless fight" etc, is an improvement from the old lyrics. But the part with Ellen used to be: "I think this is the answer, for now this is the answer, It's done.....it's planned......the girl is smart, she'll understand. I just love that these last 2 lines both have 4 syllables, because musically, that gives off the feel that they are trying to affirm to themselves that they are right in the lines they sing. It's like 1234, 1234. This show is written so incredibly well that every syllable and intention of each line matches the music precisely. That's why this material does not need extra sauce by speaking or exaggeration words, but that's another issue. I also love that Chris is so confused and determined to choose Ellen's side at that moment that they sing "the girl is smart, she'll understand", which gives me shivers as it creates a change in attitude that is very realistic for ex lovers in difficult situations. It's really the essence of this show, what do different situations do to people and their love. And the 3rd mistake is replacing the beautifully: "we will do what is right, right for him, right for us, right for Kim..." First, I just love this rhyme scheme. And here they do mention her name in a way that goes from stilted turning into the beginning of doubt, at the end of the line, and then we hear Kim singing "I still taste your kisses...". They start with "him" because they were already talking about Tam, as the previous line was "he will go to American schools", etc. And Kim sings "you won't forget Tam is a part of you". So we know what "him" means.

In the new version, this is a mess. It doesn't make sense anymore, first because they leave out a syllable and sing "It's done, it's planned....Kim is smart, she'll understand". It doesn't fit the music anymore and really it ruins the flow of the moment and the effect of the affirmation is gone musically. Yes people, this is fine art and especially because Miss Saigon is so very well written and has always painted with this given so well, it is a slap in the face if moments like this are ruined. The rest of the show does an exquisite job at this. It flows and lyrics and music match. I don't think people realize how well the lyrics and music match in this show. Also, just mentioning "Kim" here makes the scene less dramatic. The next mistake is that they sing "we will do what is right, right for Tam (while his name is already mentioned twice in line before, they were already talking about Tam, as the previous line was "he can go to American schools", and Kim sings "you won't forget Tam is a part of you). And then they sing "and for us, and for Kim". While it's just an ugly line, it makes no sense in terms of rhyme scheme whatsoever either.

I really hope they will fix this soon.

I like the lyric changes in American Dream, which I think are an improvement, and I don't really understand the beginning of "I still believe", "I heard you speak my name....I cried". Which is a very different way of writing than the rest of the show. This verse is Kim talking to herself, "I cried" is suddenly talking to an audience, one would never tell herself that, which is weird and misplaced. I see that as a mistake in writing. The engineer is the only character that is supposed to speak to the audience in that way. The rest of the show is either sung thoughts or dialogue, but not telling the audience these kind of literal things.

double

This is a very interesting point too. I do feel that the original production was much more mature, real and sincere.

It could have something to do with the belittling "acting the song" approach that seems to happen nowadays, where every lyric is given extra sauce by moaning, speaking or exaggerating, clearly underestimating the power of music and singing and instead "overdoing it" is hurting its essence. 

I once wrote a post about that. When does it lose its sincerity? I think this artform loses its sincerity when overdoing it. "Acting out" each line on top of the singing too much, which feels doubly forced and fake.

I call it the "seed approach". Too much Sauce, Emphasis, Exaggeration and Distraction.

Therefore it feels like posturing and affected. By doing that people are essentially separating the acting from the singing. They might think they are combining it by the constant switching and exaggerating, but they are not.

Speaking 5 words "now..come on...ladies....settle..." and then use a long vibrato on the 6th "doooooooown" simply does not work. That's what makes people feel uncomfortable, laugh and talk down this artform. People will then wonder why they are actually singing if the arform is not embraced/apologized for. Distraction is not the solution.

This is not necessarily about talent, but about making wrong choices in the performance. As you can see in the clip I posted, even Lea Salonga does it right sometimes and wrong sometimes. It's all about natural singing and "acting through it" instead of "in spite of it" by doing distracting things that create a disconnect.

Edit: Here is the link to that clip about the natural approach versus the seed approach