These are the same reasons I can't stand The Sound of Music. It's set pre-WWII yet it starts with some woman spinning in the mountains?!! It should start with the Nazi's marching in the boulevards of Austria. Who sings about favorite things when Ole Adolf is taking over your country? That's just not historically accurate!
I've been going to Broadway shows since 1966. It is by far the worst hit show I've ever seen. I saw it in London in the fall of '89 and would never see another production.
Maturity may indeed do wonders for your ability to articulate, Chenghis, but your taste and instincts are in order.
Miss Saigon is actually the best show I've ever seen. And I have seen a lot.
Some people needed 3 days to recover from seeing the show.
Also, it's the only show with a perfect song order, where every lyric, moment and transition makes sense in a natural way. It really is great moment after great moment after great moment. Never in this show I have a moment where I go "this is too forced "musical-ish" which I have in a lot of other shows. Miss Saigon is one of those few gems, pieces of art that feels natural to me. (funny thing is that the confrontation/hotel scene in the Broadway revival was the first time in my life that a scene in this show felt unnatural to me (because suddenly the director decided they had to speak the scene and sing a word in between every now and then. Les Mis film trauma's). But they way it's written is fantastic.
On top of the glorious music, haunting story line and interesting character situations.
Miss Saigon was one of the British imports of that time .... lush, sung-thru, pop operas like LesMiz, Phantom and Cats, of the 1980s. It was a popular style of theatre then and it worked for us. gimmicky yes but so is the turntable in LesMiz, chandelier and the tire ascending to heaven. that being said ... it is theater and it's live. it is a medium but it's not a movie. so there will be no screenplay. I liked the era of the British invasion (including Sunset Boulevard, Blood Brothers, Chess)
Apparently, you are not aware that Miss Saigon is based on the opera Madama Butterfly which was based on a play by David Belasco. It is set against the war and the aftermath. Read about the opera and then the Broadway version may make more sense to you. AND, theater does not have screenplays.
haterobics said: "Dave28282 said: "Also, it's the only show with a perfect song order, where every lyric, moment and transition makes sense."
No other show has this?!?"
Maybe Phantom. All the songs make sense in that one too. They either are performances in the performance (like Phantom starts with Hannibal/Think of me and Miss Saigon starts with the dreamland performance, which makes the transition very natural), or very well written songs whenever characters express their thoughts.
Yes, most other shows have far fetched (ensemble) songs "I'm so angry and poor, my child needs milk, arm up in the air and one feet stamping on the ground on the exact count to show I'm angry, preferably shoutng the word "angry", fall into musical cliche's or dances that makes it feel like a typical musical parody. Also bad writing in scenes, lyrics and songs. Phantom and Miss Saigon avoid these traps. They have a very clever way of keeping the "flow" and emotion natural.
For example, can you imagine Christine in Phantom singing. "My name is Christine, Yes my name is Christine, and then the ensemble replying "Her name is Christine, yes her name is christine and then repeating her name 20 times and turn their heads to the audience on the final chord while shouting the name "Christine" once more?" Well, that's what happens in certain popular shows right now. Not natural. But bad writing and it makes it a cheap, easy musical parody.
Anyway, as someone mentioned, miss saigon is based on m butterfly, an opera set in Japan in the early 1900s. Miss Saigon is an adaptation of that story as a musical and set in Vietnam. The premise of the original story is that the woman is abandoned by the man. That, and what results as a consquence, is the tragedy of story. The musical already portrays the soldier waaay better than the opera does, and that in itself might be a flaw. On one hand he's a good guy and on the other hand he abandons her. I agree it seems off; in contrast, in the opera, he doesn't come off as a good guy at all and had no qualms about abandoning his wife. So I see how you're trying to rectify the dissonance of him being a good guy and then forgetting about Kim in 3 years. Still, what you're suggesting takes it a step further from the original story and takes away much of the tragic element of the female lead being the wronged victim. In other words, you're completely changing the story. I can see your ideas working in another context, but they're not m butterfly or miss saigon. You're also harping way too much on how true to the Vietnam War Miss Saigon was. I don't think it was the musical's goal to ever give an accurate rendition of the Vietnam War. Most historical works of art aren't completely accurate either. It's called artistic license.
Looks like a new trend on the board these days. Newbies signing up and their first post is to bash a show. First there's the one complaining about obstructed seats and dissing the Great Comet. Now this. Gotta love it.