19.01.2018 FESTIVAL THEATRE, EDINBURGH
THIS heartbreaking tale of lost love amid the fall of Saigon redefines the word exceptional.
It’s only January but there will not be another show in 2018 which will come close. Other companies take note – this is how a touring production should look and sound.
Five months ago, I caught Miss Saigon on Broadway with its 25th anniversary cast. This cast is every bit as good, the direction is tighter and it comes with better dance routines.
The musical is based on the Puccini opera Madame Butterfly but moves the action from Japan to the Vietnam war where Kim meets American GI Chris amid the chaos of conflict.
Boublil and Schonberg’s masterpiece follows a similar pattern to their other smash, Les Miserables, but has a deeper intensity. The score is incredible but it wouldn’t work without the passion of the actors.
Sooha Kim plays Kim with Ashley Gilmour as her lover Chris. And the chemistry between the actors is electric.
Her performance in You Will Not Touch Him as she protects her son from the cousin to whom she was originally betrothed is the showstealing moment but it is a close-run thing.
Red Concepcion plays the Engineer, the self-serving, brothel-owning sleazeball who can get anything from a night with a prostitute to passage out of the country.
And while his is a far from likeable character, Concepcion is truly marvellous in the role.
The part of Gigi, who was crowned Miss Saigon by the Engineer, was expertly dealt with by Na-Young Jeon. Her voice was a real treat – it’s a pity she only gets one solo part.
Zoe Doano’s Ellen was unexpectedly more tender than the role is normally played – and worked so much better for it.
The delicate change of pace throughout maintains interest and doesn’t allow things to get too morose too quickly - switching from the bawdiness of the brothel to the tenderness of Kim and Chris’s first night together, to the anger and revenge of the victorious People’s Army of Vietnam and the Viet Cong. No money has been spared in staging this and the scene where a helicopter airlifts the GIs out of Saigon is breathtaking.
The sound of the chopper blades seems to come from behind, over your head before it is seen on stage - an excellent sound technique. But the clever rotating scenery and opulent flats are every bit as important to the overall feel as the helicopter. And what other show would bring on an American convertible for half a number?
The lighting captured the mood and the juxtaposition of Kim hiding in the back of the dingy brothel with Chris and new wife Ellen’s brightly lit bedroom emphasises the difference in fortune.
Miss Saigon brings wave after wave of emotion and if you are not in tears by the finale you may as well be dead. ● The Edinburgh run continues until February 17.
VIVIENNE AITKEN