‘Miss Saigon’ nationwide tour kicks things off in Providence
PROVIDENCE — For the first time in 17 years, “Miss Saigon,” the epic musical set in the Vietnam era, is starting a national tour, and local audiences will be the first to see it.
Known for its moving story, gorgeous score, and the spectacle of a helicopter landing on stage, “Miss Saigon” launches the tour with performances Sept. 2130 at the Providence Performing Arts Center.
This production was met with acclaim and record-breaking advance sales for its 2014 opening in London and still is touring the United Kingdom, with stops in Germany and Switzerland scheduled this year. Producer Cameron Mackintosh also scheduled a 10-month Broadway run, which closed in January, and now new cast, crew and orchestra for the North American tour are in final rehearsals at PPAC.
During a break, Anthony Festa, who plays Chris, the GI at the center of the love story, made time to talk about his “dream role” under the direction of Laurence Connor, who led the UK production, and the honor of working with composer Claude-Michel Schonberg, who came to Providence to put his stamp of approval on the music.
“Miss Saigon” tells the story of Kim, a young Vietnamese woman orphaned by the war and forced to work in a bar run by a questionable character known as the Engineer. That’s where she meets and falls in love with Chris, but they are separated during the fall of Saigon. Chris returns stateside with no idea he has fathered a child – until Kim finds him in hopes of giving their son a better life.
Part of the preparation for everyone in the cast of “Miss Saigon” was watching documentaries about the era, including Ken Burns’ “The Vietnam War” and another one told from the Vietnamese point of view, Festa said.
“We learned what it meant for them (soldiers) to come home, how they felt, and how this was the first televised war,” he explained. Enthralled by the score the first time he saw the musical, he said the documentaries gave him insight.
“Now I can break down the lyrics (for meaning),” he said. He sees his character as “a good guy, trying to do the right thing. He got there (Vietnam) as a kid and grew up in the war. It’s a beautiful story of love, sacrifice and survival.”
The story of Kim and her son clearly embodies those elements, but the character of the Engineer is another take on the survival theme. The many characters – there is a cast of 42 – and their situations add depth and interest.
Then there is the helicopter, a theatrical creation that brings on a gut reaction.
“We take you right there, the day we evacuated, with all the fear, desperation and anxiety,” Festa said.
Arguably, Festa has been working toward this leading role since he was 5, growing up in the town of Ballston Spa in Upstate New York. He remembers his father, whom he lovingly describes as a “big, loud Italian man,” singing Sinatra and Presley songs around the house.
“That’s where I got my voice,” he said. It was his mother, however, who recognized his theatrical inclinations.
“I was always doing magic tricks, entertaining,” he said. His first role was as the Artful Dodger in a community theater production of “Oliver!” and Festa admits getting a reaction from the audience is what gave him the acting bug.
He studied musical theater at the State University of New York in Cortland and then moved to New York City where the work of auditions began. His credits include work off-Broadway, most recently in the Outer Critics Circle Award-winning best musical “Desperate Measures.” He has toured with “Wicked” and “Finding Neverland,” and played Tony in “West Side Story” in London and on an international/UK tour.
Performances of “Miss Saigon” take place Sept. 21-30 at the Providence Performing Arts Center, 220 Weybosset St. Tickets start at $38 and are available at the box office in the theater, by calling (401) 421-ARTS (2787), or online at ppacri.org.