Awesome Production!
by Golfwife on 10/2/19ASU Gammage - TempeThe talent was amazing and the set was so creative! I would go see this production again for sure!!
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Miss Saigon on Tour
The latest touring production of Miss Saigon evolved out of West End and Broadway revivals celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Tony Award–winning musical's 1989 London debut. Arriving amid fevered conversations around the topic of immigration, Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg's translation of Puccini's 1904 opera Madama Butterfly to the Vietnam War is timelier than ever. The French playwrights' extravagant "popera," conceived between their celebrated Les Misérables and Martin Guerre, has aged equally well on an artistic level. Director Laurence Connor brings realism and immediacy — and, of course, a scene-stealing helicopter — to this tense and tender tale of a Vietnamese mother who chooses to make the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of her son.
About Miss Saigon
Miss Saigon begins on April 29, 1975, the night before the United States essentially ends the Vietnam War by surrendering South Vietnam's capital city. The colorfully amoral pimp, fixer and survivor known as the Engineer (Red Concepción) sells the poor yet virtuous country girl Kim (Emily Bautista) to an American soldier (Anthony Festa), who is forced to abandon her after a night of passion. Three years later, Chris, now married, reunites with Kim and their child in Bangkok.
Reviewing the show's 1991 Broadway debut, New York Times critic Frank Rich lauded Miss Saigon's lush melodies and praised it as "a gripping entertainment of the old school (specifically, the Rodgers and Hammerstein East-meets-West school of South Pacific and The King and I)." With its revival, audiences can again swoon to gorgeous ballads like "You Will Not Touch Him" and "If You Want to Die in Bed," which reflect Kim's transformation from a naive victim of circumstance into a steely conduit of fearless maternal resolve. The musical's contemporary relevance later reaches its apex in "The American Dream," in which the Engineer fantasizes about the supersized life he will lead when he finally moves to America, where the Vietnam War's lessons are still being learned.
The talent was amazing and the set was so creative! I would go see this production again for sure!!
The show was great, the music was great and the performance was superb. The reason I give it four stars is because the venue could use some work. They should not be allowed to sell seats that can't see the entire stage, or if they do sell them, they should be discounted.
The cast did an amazing job with the story! And the dance scenes were amazing!
For me, this performance was just wonderful. The story, the emotion, the cast, the props....just supurb!
The story was a fantastic reminder of the pain effects of the Vietnam era. The incredible music could have been better by the clarity of the actors diction. The character, Kim, was a key figure but her words were not decipherable. Same was true the “the engineer”. The rest of the actors were clearer. The emotion evoked was a throwback to the mid 70’s and a serious relook at the horrors of any war. A love story that’ll tear you apart. Bring tissues!
The voice and music calibre of the performers was superb. The acting was as well. Loved the modest stage props and so much of the stage setting / mood was generated by the orchestra. The engineer was especially well done adding a humorous touch to an otherwise somber story.
The show was spectacular. Everything, from the musicians, the actors, the story, and the overall performance, was touching, entertaining, and very well done. Certainly not recommended for children, but I’d say it was one of the best musicals I’ve ever seen.
Terrific music, performances & sets. Better than expected.
A wonderful production. So worth the $60 ticket. Would watch another show from this company again.
The rewrite of play is bad The sound system at Gammage is so very bad I will not go to Gammage ever again
Seats we purchased were great location. Stage set up were excellent.
Have attended four different presentations of 'Miss Saigon' over the past 26 years and the '25th Anniversary Show' video DVD (Wow). I can not possibly find fault with any of the performances I've attended at ASU Gammage during that time. Were there differences? Yes, just as live theatre performances always differ from night to night. It is part of what makes livev theatre exciting and interesting. So yes, the performances were all wonderful. Also, if you are a fan of 'Miss Saigon' and haven't experienced the '25th Anniversary Performance' DVD, I highly recommend it. At the conclusion of the performance a celebration breaks out on stage and cast members from the original show join the current actors on stage and some very nice entertainment (singing and dancing) in novel presentations really deliver the joy. Many of the stars perform with their counterparts in once in a lifetime duets blending the 25 years head to head. A remarkable show. If you haven't seen it get it. It is available online.
The filthy language was completely unnecessary. I saw the original version at the Drury Lane Theatre Royale when I was working in London several decades ago and so I took this opportunity in Phoenix to take my wife to this re-incarnation. We were appalled at the language, and I didn't like this producer's take on the original story. Vision was good from our seats on the first balcony but audio was overall poor (a frequent complaint of the Gammage Theatre). However the bad audio seemed to be more due to the artists rather than the venue. We could clearly understand Ellie Fishman (Ellen) and J. Daughtry (John) but couldn't make out hardly any of the words of Red Concepcion(the Engineer) or Emily Bautista (Kim). Certainly not worth the price of the tickets.
We saw Miss Saigon in Chicago about 20 years ago and of course it was fantastic. So we went to see the 2019 touring version at ASU Gammage auditorium. The show itself was spectacular and the talent was amazing. Of course the music is beautiful and again the performances were just wonderful. The only regret that my wife and I had was the new 2019 version of the show is raunchier then the old version was. It’s sad to me that the show felt they needed to add profanity and nudity and more explicit sexual displays to appeal to today’s audience. Definitely don’t take your kids to the show it’s adults only. Sad reflection on our culture.
I've seen Miss Saigon 3 times in New York City and I love the show. We walked out of the Gammage performance. I paid top dollar for perfect seats (row 14; exact center) and the acoustics were awful. We couldn't understand a word that was being sung, and the voices were screechy. A huge disappointment.
Story is fabulous and the experience overall was outstanding. Love this theatre .. our seats were outstanding and leg room is so appreciated. We were in the first tier, third row ... the sound particularly the first act, was not clear and crisp. The second act was better, but not great. This is the first time I have had bad sound at Gamage. It was literally impossible to understand some of the songs. Those around us also chatted about having the same problem. I saw this production in Chicago 20 years ago ... it seems this production had some significant changes. Appreciated the new music written for the story though not sure it enhanced the meaning of the overall message of the story. Overall, a great experience .. will be back to Gamage soon!
This is the second time seeing this play. I loved the new songs and performance. It was sometimes difficult to understand what was being said. The temperature was warm in the building and could have been cooler. I wish I had had opera glasses too! This play is such a huge part of our history, a devastating tragedy of our soldiers and those little innocent children they left behind. Made me cry again. Thank you for bringing this play back, it does not disappoint.
Great visuals. Unable to understand words and doubt that 10% were discernible in Portal 10 seats. Screen shots were about 1/3 obstructed by overhead A/V equipment.
i mixed up the dates and accidentally missed a show! pantages was so generous and accommodated me the following day. literally 3 seconds after the curtain lifted, my eyes started welling up just by being overwhelmingly blown away by the set and commitment of the players on stage. THREE SECONDS IN!!! this production really refreshed this story and i am still reeling over the performances! i was so moved, i went back two more times!!! these player left it all on the stage for us! BRAVO!!!!!
I’ve been listening to the Miss Saigon soundtrack from 1989 for the last 20 years. Tuesday night was the first time that I got to see it in person and I couldn’t have been more excited. The show that I witnessed was nothing like the CD that I had fallen in love with all those years ago. So many of my favorite songs changed or completely taken out. It was disturbing to see the nudity the unbelievable amounts of perversion that was in almost every song. I knew A brothel is involved so obviously There was going to be dancing and perversion- but I think this production went for overkill. I left the theater sad. The talent of course was amazing the singing was stellar but the play was gross.