New Season of Blogger Night at the Ordway: Miss Saigon

A tragedy of passion and beauty—based on Puccini’s opera Madame Butterfly—Miss Saigon is set during the Vietnam War. Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg (Les Misérables) created another absolute masterpiece in Miss Saigon. Like Les Mis, Miss Saigon presents an array of inspiring music and lyrics which appeal to all our senses and emotions.

Miss Saigon follows the love story between a young girl, Kim, and an American GI, Chris. Years after leaving Vietnam, Chris discovers his war bride Kim is still alive and is now raising his son. He returns to Saigon to find her, but with the Viet Cong closing in on the city and other ties at home binding him, Chris is forced to make some challenging decisions before leaving Vietnam again.

Purchase tickets here. Runs October 8-13

This show has been on my radar for years. Several of my friends and family members have seen it and have raved about it.

I took my theater buddy, Kim, with me again for the kick off to a new season of Blogger Nights at the Ordway. She is a teacher and has a degree in history so it was fascinating to get her take on the historical side of this show.

I know about Vietnam about as much as a learned in school. I know a bit from my dad who was in the army. That's about it. Overall, the show was intense. Big dramatic songs, lots of chaotic scenes, noisy helicopter sound affects, powerful video of children of war. That was captured well. 

I, however, did not feel the love story. It was sudden and intense from the first moment and I just could not get into them as a couple who longed to be together. I think the power of the story was also lost due to it being an opera. Every word was sung and with that, there was no ebb and flow of feelings. It was intense all the time! And that got to be tiring.

The "comic relief" numbers sung by the Engineer were okay but too long and didn't seem to fit with the story. I was not impressed with the actor who played Chris. His voice was a bit too forced and overly dramatic. As the show progressed he got better but the first number was too much.

I really liked the actress who played Kim. She had an amazing voice and had the delivery that conveyed the necessary roller coaster of emotions she was feeling. I appreciated it.

It was really worth seeing and I think the more theater I have the opportunity to see, the more I learn about the differences in how a story is really told.

I recommend Miss Saigon. Don't let some of my negative comments influence you. I was also blowing my nose a lot from a bad cold and coughing up a storm. It demands to be seen. The history was interesting. The idea of it all was worth creating. 

And the ending...well, the ending is a tear jerker. 

Happy Viewing and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child