‘Vietnam, You Don’t Give Answers Do You My Friend?’ Miss Saigon, Prince Edward Theatre, London. 12.1.2016

My friend Hayleigh had stumbled across an amazing deal that the West End tend to put on in the beginning of each new year, its called ‘Get into London Theatre’ where many West End productions provide amazing discounts on their ticket prices, this is due to lack of sales that normally happen in the new year when everyone is still paying off their Christmas presents! But this is a deal that you can’t miss out on, and we knew exactly which show we were going to use it for.

It is rare that I go to the theatre nowadays and not know anything about what I am seeing, but tonight was one of those rare nights. Miss Saigon had returned to the west end in 2015, and with the announcement of ‘Aladdin’ transferring from Broadway to the Prince Edward Theatre also came the end of Miss Saigon’s run in February. It was one that I had to see having heard raving reviews from others so straight onto the amazing deal we managed to get second row seats for the price of £40 which are usually £60 so I was a very happy audience member when we took our seats, and I did not complain at all about our view! This is the first time I had been in the Prince Edward Theatre, but I have past in many times when walking around London, it first had Mary Poppins, then Jersey Boys, until Miss Saigon moved in. Its the medium size theatre similar in size to the Queens Theatre. I couldn’t comment on what the view was like for the circle of upper circle, and my view was perfect out at the front (which you can see from the photo) but I do know from a friend who had seen the show before me was seated to the side in the middle of the stalls and she found it difficult to hear as to what was being said or sung as they were by the speakers which were quite loud for her, in the interval they moved to the middle in some empty seats and found this to be a lot better than their first seats.

Miss Saigon is a musical based on Giacomo Puccini’s Opera Madame Butterfly, and similarly tells the powerful tragic story of a doomed romance involving a young Asian Geisha and her American lieutenant. Miss Saigon relocates the story to the 1970s in Saigon during the Vietnam War and the romance is between an American GI Chris and a Vietnamese Bargirl Kim run by the corrupt Engineer. The story follows Kim and her devotion to Chris and her struggle of trying to get back to him. Its a powerful story, and one that will leave you grabbing the tissues throughout, sadly I wasn’t made aware of this, and was not prepared.

The set I must say was amazing, and i have to point out the scene ‘Kim’s Nightmare’ when we see the Soldiers being evacuated from Vietnam, and Chris trying to get back to Kim to rescue her and take her back with him, it felt that you were part of it when the Helicopter came to collect them, flying over our heads in the audience and then appearing life in front of us on the stage! it was something I had never seen before, and I was very impressed!

Before I get onto the cast, in the beginning of Act 2 in Bangkok, during the song ‘What a Waste’ and we see the streets full of clubs and ‘girls’ there are many people, men on holiday and also exotic dancers spread throughout. This was an entertaining scene that had the audience laughing at the little gimmicks that showed throughout the scene such as the men exotic dancer getting eyed up by a Mormom… similar to what you would see in the musical ‘Book of Mormom.’ Having seen this it made me realises that these days in West End and in Musicals there may be a little cameo or Easter Egg hidden that reflect in the performance, another one I know about is in Shrek where they have ‘Wicked’ and ‘The Lion King.’ But it goes to demonstrate how close the Musical world is, and that’s why i enjoy it so!

Now the cast for tonight:

The Engineer – Christian Rey Marbella (Alternative)

Kim – Eva Noblzada

Chris – Chris Peluso

Ellen – Siobhan Dillon

John – Hugh Maynard

Thuy – Sangwoong Jo

Gigi – Marsha Songcome

I will be honest and say that at first I thought I had a full line up for the nights performance but it wasn’t until I was at the Stage Door I found out that we had the alternative Engineer Christian when I embarrassingly presented him with my programme and he turned the page to where he was… but he smiled, and when said that you could tell why he was the alternative because he was amazing, and his comic timing and stage presence was brilliant he thanked me and gave me a big hug, and kindly accepted a selfie.

Eva as Kim was amazing, and I can understand why they chose her for the role when they were holding the auditions in the Philippines, her voice was beautiful, and she was the main reason I was always in tears, her passion and love for Chris were clearly demonstrated, and you just wanted it for her she stole the show and i’m so happy we just caught her coming out of the stage door, but I only got time for a signature before she dashed off once again. I know that soon she will be performing as Eponine in Les Miserable so I may just have to look for tickets so I can see her again.

Chris, played by Chris and Siobhan as Ellen both were brilliant in their role, but with Chris I found it hard to like him toward the end as opposed to how much I liked him in Act 1, but when the story unfolds you understand and sympathise with him and his dilemma, he was great to talk to at the stage door and even had time for a selfie with me and Hayleigh. Siobhan as well was great to watch as you saw how strong she stayed and supportive of her husband once she found out about her husbands past. I have also just found out that she has just been cast as Betty in the upcoming Sunset Boulevard Revival on West End with Glen Close as Norma. Had I of known this I would have known this I would have spoken to her longer and given her some pointers…

Hugh as John was the only performer I had seen before at the ‘You’ll Never Walk Alone’ concert last year, and it was nice to see him performing as John who has been with the show since it opened but you can see why he has stayed cause not only is he brilliant in the part, but also you really know that he feels for the part, and watch his transition to a rowdy lieutenant to a strong thoughtful man who just wants to help others. He was lovely to chat to at the stage door and also provided us with a photo.

Overall the acting was just outstanding, and I am so happy I saw this show before it closed, but annoyed that I did leave it to the last minute because now that I have seen it, I really want to see it again, and with the final performance being the 27th February it might make things a little hard but you never know. If you got the chance to see this show then you understand most of what I am saying, but hopefully in the future it will return to the west end, or maybe do a tour, either way I will not wait as long to see it again!