Miss Saigon US Tour REVIEW and David Campbell

[AspectsofLoveLover]

Posted: 11/6/05 at 7:12pm

Hi all. I just saw the Miss Saigon US tour and just wanted to let you all know I was pretty much in shame. It was my first time seeing it (my husbands third, he saw it in London when it was playing in the west end) Kim who we saw was an understudy and honestly she, Ellen, and the engineer were the only good parts of the production...Chris played by Alan Gillispie was AWFUL and and akward and Thuy (who taught him how to ACT???!) the staging was just weird and the bar girls were flopping there fat everywhere (they were SOOOO out of shape!) Believe me it was not a pretty sight. My husband said that the tour was a AWFUL to someone who saw the original "miss saigon" I was saddened by this since it was my first time seeing it, It just felt so rushed and unprofessional. Just thought I would let you all know this. Also do any of you know anything about the performer David Campbell? I know he is from Australia. I saw him perform on Hey! Mr. Producer in Miss Saigon as Chris and he was fantastic! I was wondering if anyone thought the same! Thanks!

[Beergoggles]

Posted: 11/6/05 at 7:44pm

he was very good on the video. I beleive he's turned him self into a pop singer now... had a top 10 hit in Austrailia!

[AspectsofLoveLover]

Posted: 11/6/05 at 9:03pm

too bad. I wish he would do more musicals...I think his voice is beautiful and he is also just amazing to look at...sigh.

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 11/6/05 at 9:05pm

I saw it recently. My thoughts are here: https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?boardname=bway&thread=869508#1498716

[lfae]

Posted: 11/6/05 at 9:09pm

David Campbell was Billy in Carousel for The Production Company last year, and this year (August) was Joe in Sunset Blvd, again for TPC. He's amazing! As far as I've heard he's doing a cabaret show up in Sydney now, or soon. Not being in Sydney, I haven't been paying TOO much attention

[AspectsofLoveLover]

Posted: 11/6/05 at 9:11pm

thanks I enjoyed reading your comments. I didn't mind the helicopter on the screen either when I heard about it I thought I would be disappointed but I wasn't.

[lfae]

Posted: 11/6/05 at 9:13pm

Some piccies https://www.theproductioncompany.com.au/sb_production.html

[AspectsofLoveLover]

Posted: 11/6/05 at 9:15pm

THANK YOU! David Campbell is beautiful!

[TTL]

Posted: 11/6/05 at 9:17pm

I Never saw the touring production...but MISS SAIGON is a show that touched me! I saw a dinner theater production about a year ago at TOBY's Dinner Theater in Columbia, Maryland. I still can't tell if it is an equity dinner theater or not...It was my first with the show! I enjoyed it so much! Sorry you had a bad experience...it can be a wonderful and beautiful show!
Toby's Dinner Theater

[AspectsofLoveLover]

Posted: 11/6/05 at 9:22pm

It wasn't a horrible experience its just that my husband and I are both actors and disagreed with alot of the choices and much of the staging (like ending the song SUN and Moon on top of trash cans????!!!) Just weird!

[gavrochegirl]

Posted: 11/6/05 at 9:23pm

Well, it's not exactly an EQUITY tour. It's the non-Eq one, so you can expect less quality than an equity tour.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 11/6/05 at 9:35pm

I've seen David Campbell perform three times in different cabaret shows. He's a fantastic singer and a hilarious guy. I really wish I could see him in a musical.

Link goes to his Yahoo group, which is full of personalities.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/david-campbell/

[Broadway Bob*]

Posted: 11/6/05 at 10:38pm

"Well, it's not exactly an EQUITY tour. It's the non-Eq one, so you can expect less quality than an equity tour."

I have to disagree. I've seen plenty of Equity tours that were of vastly inferior quality and I've seen many non-eq tours that were brilliant. The non-eq RAGTIME and RENT tours jump to mind. They were both amazing! In fact I thought the non-eq tour of RENT was better than all the times I had seen the show on Broadway (except when I saw the original Bway cast).

[jefflang007]

Posted: 11/6/05 at 10:58pm

David is an old friend from his home town of adelaide, well actually he was scruffing my girlfriend while we had some "time apart". David is a top bloke and had done well for himself, His career would not be where it is today if it were not for the fame of his father Jimmy BARNES. David is however very talented in his own right.... with a more pleasing voice than his dad! David has released a couple of CD's. One that I can think of is "Taking the wheel" which has a beatifil song called "Yard sale" http://www.swia.demon.co.uk/CampbellCD1.htm

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 11/6/05 at 10:59pm

Was that between his engagements to Natalie Mendoza?

Sorry...had to ask... (But you don't have to answer.)

[jefflang007]

Posted: 11/7/05 at 3:20am

They broke up some time ago, at least 3 years. It may have been a time apart thing.

[Type_A_Tiff]

Posted: 11/7/05 at 4:26am

My thoughts precisely, BroadwayBob. The most recent non-eq Rent tour was absolutely phenomenal, with a chemistry, talent and energy I haven't seen before.

The only thing I would say about non-eq tours are that since the budget is lower, the shortcomings are more evident in the production elements (i.e. sets, costumes, etc. - Cats comes to mind), but I thought Miss Saigon did quite well here.

When I saw the Miss Saigon tour, I was also really disappointed, although I thought Alan Gillespie was stronger than the Kim I saw. My Engineer was clearly the best in the show (Jon Jon Briones at the time, who's done the show in several countries).

[IssaMe]

Posted: 11/7/05 at 7:21am

More information than you probably want :

After being the "Crown Prince of Cabaret" in the U.S. for several years in the 90s (playing everything from little 88's several times to the Algonquin and the "Rainbow Room") and doing some workshops for various Broadway shows (such as Titanic), David Campbell finally got his Green Card and starred in Sondheim's "Saturday Night" in NYC.

But around that time, he began to move away from cabaret and showtunes and decided to become a more contemporary/rock singer (with his new record label Sony - after his two previous middle of the road CDs).

He did several rock gigs in NYC (one concert at Second Stage where he was also starring in "Saturday Night" didn't show him off particularly well but another shortly thereafter at Joe's Pub was quite successful, other than the fact that it ended with an arrest - but we won't go into THAT).

He changed management - dropping his longtime mentor and manager Les Soloman (announcing the break onstage in a Mamaroneck concert with a heartfelt rendition of "From This Day On" from Brigadoon).

He turned down the lead on Broadway in "Thoroughly Modern Millie" (and did so quite tearfully) to return to Australia to work on his rock career (following in the footsteps of his father - the fantastic Australian rock idol, Jimmy Barnes...who is a terrific guy!!!!)

His return to Australia saw great success as the lead in the Johnny O'Keefe biographical musical "Shout" (O'Keefe was sorta the Presley of Australia - just sorta - but a big superstar Down Under in the 50s). "Shout" was a big success touring throughout Australia for several years (the CD starring Campbell is available).

David then returned for one club gig in NYC at the Carlyle doing a lot of new material and a bunch of Bobby Darin songs (go figure!) - it was an o.k. return although it did not quite reach the heights of his previous New York cabaret successes...and he has not been back to perform since.

There was some degree of criticism in some quarters of the business during his cabaret career about the over-zealousness of the hype surrounding him...and some of the people who were pushing him. One of his early champions, Rex Reed surprisingly wrote an unfavorable review of him at the peak of his cabaret career (Rainbow Room)...and the review was devastating.

Then David returned to Australia to work on his career there several years ago (in Australian legit, he had been in Les Miz, Love Valour Compassion, Heaven Only Knows, etc.)

In Australia, the runs in "Carousel" and in cabarets were in addition to becoming a radio DJ and releasing several fairly successful rock singles in the past two or three years. But he never got the full Sony CD released - at least not as yet... (it is now about three years late).

There was a physical problem which required leg surgery but that has been taken care of several years ago.

He was supposed to return to the U.S. for the first time in several years to play this past September at the Algonquin in NYC but the gig was cancelled.

He continues to work in Australia with hit (or semi-hit) singles, club gigs, and radio dj'ing.

He is a phenomenal talent that sometimes takes interesting detours so his image keeps changing.

He probably would have done exceptionally well on Broadway...but his cabaret career alone was not enough to sustain him...and he really did want to become a rock singer - so Broadway was not the direction he took even when the chance was there.



Updated On: 11/7/05 at 07:21 AM

[AspectsofLoveLover]

Posted: 11/7/05 at 11:30am

Thanks for all the info. So sad he didn't go on to do more Broadway...So did he actually play Chris in Miss Saigon at one time? And who is this girl that he was engaged to??? I would love to see some pics of him in Miss Saigon!

Updated On: 11/7/05 at 11:30 AM

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 11/7/05 at 12:56pm

He auditioned for the Sydney cast, but didn't get the job.

The only actual performance of Miss Saigon he ever did was in Hey, Mr. Producer.

[AspectsofLoveLover]

Posted: 11/7/05 at 3:28pm

Thanks for all the info. Who else is a fan of Miss Saigon here?

[EponineThenardier]

Posted: 11/7/05 at 3:31pm

I saw a local (equity) production of Saigon the first time I saw it. I was lucky and saw just about the greatest cast one could see. John was the only (slightly) weak link in the cast, but was still very very good.

[Tom_Andersen]

Posted: 11/8/05 at 1:35pm

David is doing his cabaret act in Australia right now, and I hear he's just been extended two weeks. David's a terrific talent, and I'm happy to say that his 11 o'clock number is my song 'Yard Sale,' which he recorded on his 'Taking the Wheel' CD (thanks for the plug, Jefflang007). If you go to my Web site, you'll find some quotes from David under Original Songs about why he loves 'Yard Sale,' and you'll find a photo of the two of us from his 1997 Rainbow & Stars gig in my Gallery.
Tom Andersen Web site

[jefflang007]

Posted: 11/8/05 at 3:41pm

It's a pleasure Tom. It is a beautiful song.

[AspectsofLoveLover]

Posted: 11/8/05 at 3:44pm

Wow Tom. You sure have met lots of great performers! How lucky you are! Congrats on all your success!