‘The storytelling through song commands your attention’
Production shot from Miss Saigon, with Julianne Pundan as Kim(Image: Danny Kaan)
The West End came to Hull last night and wowed. As the curtain was raised on the legendary Miss Saigon, you could feel the ripples of excitement through the packed house.
From that first scene of a 1975 Saigon bar, and the opening bars from the orchestra, everyone was transfixed. Me and my partner were total newcomers to Miss Saigon, although we had heard good things about it; for others around us, it was a repeat visit to an obviously much-loved show that, in all, has been running for over 35 years to great acclaim.
Being newbies, we were not going to able to compare this “reborn” touring version of the production to anything that has gone before. But knowing the names Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg, creators of the musical colossus Les Miserables, are attached to it, we knew we had to be in for a treat.
The opening scenes focus on the last days of the Vietnam War and a 17-year-old Kim (Julianne Pundan) being forced to work in a Saigon bar by a notorious character known as The Engineer (Seann Miley Moore). Kim meets and falls in love with an American GI, Chris (Jack Kane) but they are torn apart by the fall of Saigon.
For three years, Kim is on an epic journey of survival, spurred on by her undying love for Chris, as she attempts to find her way back to him. Chris, who has since married Ellen (Emily Langham) is unaware that he fathered a son, Tam, to Kim.
Miss Saigon moves the audience through time, and emotionally, as a wonderful musical score featuring hit songs including The Heat is On in Saigon, The Movie in My Mind, Last Night of the World and The American Dream, accompanies the characters through to 1978 and powerful scenes in Ho Chi Minh City, Atlanta and Bangkok, to a heartrending conclusion.
You are never going to lose the plot in this show, the storytelling through song commands your attention. The scenery and effects are so clever they draw you right into the world being played out in front of you and the actors, what can I say?
The characters the leads portray are so utterly believable; their singing voices are incredible and they are supported by a very talented company and musicians. They give their all with their performances, to make you laugh in some moments, but mostly to make you cry – so do take some tissues – and I can only begin to imagine their exhaustion after the curtain falls.
Cameron Mackintosh, producer of Miss Saigon in association with Michael Harrison, was responsible for the original version of the show that premiered in 1989, and also for this latest reworked iteration that opened in London in 2014. He is also the man behind Les Mis and I felt tiny echoes of that show, in some of the soaring duets and multi-layer songs that feature, as well as in one particular spotlit moment.
My partner did not say a lot – which is unusual for him – captivated as he was by the performance. What he did say though was: “Now that epitomises great theatre.”
Miss Saigon runs at Hull New Theatre until Saturday, January 24. Age guidance is 14-plus.