Miss Saigon

[BroadwayBuff4Life]

Posted: 7/3/08 at 2:58pm

Hey does anyone think there will ever be a Miss Saigon revival? Its one of my favorite shows and I really dont understand why it closed on Broadway!

[EponineAmneris]

Posted: 7/3/08 at 3:00pm

I would think within 5 years at the VERY least we'll see a full-scale revival of this amazing, classic show

One of my very faves.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 7/3/08 at 3:02pm

I doubt it. It's not the darling Les Miz was.

[philly03]

Posted: 7/3/08 at 3:16pm

I don't believe there will be anything soon either. Maybe at one of it's anniversaries or something...but it's not LES MIS (as LizzieCurry said!). Also, with Les Mis was the tour, so they already had some people cast (for the most part), sets, costumes, etc. Miss Saigon is not something that can be pulled off like that...if you want it to look good! It's not easy, by any means for Les Mis either, set wise...but Miss Saigon cast a specific race (I hope this doesn't come off the wrong way!), which makes it what it is, which makes it even more difficult!

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 7/3/08 at 3:21pm

I am Asian American and I approve of your message.

[jewishboy]

Posted: 7/3/08 at 3:21pm

I think it should be revived, but it really needs to be done with a different team than the ones who did the original production (after seeing the short lived Les Miz "revival").

[antonijan]

Posted: 7/3/08 at 4:17pm

Maybe in the revival, the Vietnamese lead parts could be portrayed by authentic Vietnamese actors.

I Still Believe....you will vote for me! Updated On: 7/3/08 at 04:17 PM

[Tag]

Posted: 7/3/08 at 4:20pm

I don't think there is a question IF it will be revived, but WHEN it will be revived.
And when that happens, does it need to be a carbon copy of the original design & staging? I don't necessarily think so.

[BroadwayBelle2]

Posted: 7/3/08 at 4:22pm

I would love to see a revival since I never saw it when it was on broadway. The music is beautiful.

[philly03]

Posted: 7/3/08 at 4:39pm

"And when that happens, does it need to be a carbon copy of the original design & staging? I don't necessarily think so."

The new staging and design will have to be similar to what it was. I mean you could get rid of some larger props here and there, but how exactly will they do "The Fall of Saigon" without a helicopter? And I would have to assume they'd use the same type of sets for the opening number, Kim's house, etc. Obviously it won't be an EXACT copy, but it'll have to be similar. Look at the EVITA Revival in London--different sets & stagings and it really wasn't all too successful. There's something to look at!

[Tag]

Posted: 7/3/08 at 4:43pm

There is no reason why it can't be completely re-imagined. I never said there doesn't have to be a helicopter, but there are other ways to achieve it.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 7/3/08 at 4:45pm

Maybe it should be like this.

*snort*

http://www.tenredhen.net/saigon.htm

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 7/3/08 at 4:49pm

I have always thought this was a far better show than Les Mis

[Wildcard]

Posted: 7/3/08 at 5:16pm

There are many ways of making that helicopter land... from simple lights similar to Maureen's bike in "Rent" to a sideways landing like the Manila production. I think revivals should be reimagined even just a little for the current audiences. That's what makes the revival of SITPWG good.

[brochatkid]

Posted: 7/3/08 at 5:46pm

OMG. I really hope so. I love that show and it still makes me cry when I listen to the complete version. Who should play the roles?

[Wildcard]

Posted: 7/3/08 at 5:58pm

How about find the winners through a reality show? A Miss Saigon pageant perhaps?

[Fosse76]

Posted: 7/3/08 at 6:08pm

I believe in the Mariott Lincolnshire (Chicago) production, they used lighting effects and rope ladders...I didn't actually get to see it, but I heard it was spectacular.

[philly03]

Posted: 7/3/08 at 6:17pm

"I have always thought this was a far better show than Les Mis"

I disagree. I always thought Les Mis was more creative and just flowed better. Well I suppose one could argue that's because Les Mis was based off of a book, and Miss Saigon is practically copied/translated from an opera & a photograph to a musical in French, and then retranslated in English (as are all of Boublil & Schonberg's works).


"There are many ways of making that helicopter land... from simple lights similar to Maureen's bike in "Rent" to a sideways landing like the Manila production."
Shockingly, I've never seen Rent (and don't really have an interest to), but that's all Miss Saigon did. A box-y helicopter object with a few doors on it, a slow spinning pin-wheel thing on top, lights, and soundeffects.

And I'm not against re-inventing revivals such as Sunday did. I still would have seen Sunday if they did it the old way -- I feel like today that'd be creative; not as "cool" but still creative.

And as depressing as it sounds, in this day & age, they probably could do a reality TV show to do it and I would no longer be suprised...I'd rather haave it like the Legally Blonde one, where you don't get votes because that's just cheezy and anyone could go on!

Lastly, Miss Saigon is depressing (obviously). It already enjoyed a lengthy run, and I feel as if the revival wouldn't run "forever" again, but more like A Chorus Line run...where it wouldn't be a flop but still not another "MEGA-HIT!".

[adamgreer]

Posted: 7/3/08 at 6:22pm

Well, projections are all the rage these days. They could very easily do the helicopter scene with projections, some lighting effects, and fog. It wouldn't be difficult to pull off.

I agree that this show will eventually be revived at some point. I would say within the next ten years.

Posted: 7/3/08 at 6:49pm

this would be awesome if it was revived It's my dream role haha

I think it's possible to change up the set, not necessarily with/without the helicopter but it will be a good opportunity to make things a little different. I feel like a revivals should bring something new to the table.

[songanddanceman2]

Posted: 7/3/08 at 7:13pm

The last UKtour which closed last year of Miss Saigon used a huge video projector screen to do the Helicopter scene.The sound was amazing and made it feel like it was right overyou but the video projection was not a hit with most audiences.
The shows was scaled down a bit to fit more theatres (the original set could only fit in 3 major touring houses one of which i worked in, and we were lucky enough to get that years ago) but the last tour wanted to visit more venues so was redesigned.

The scaling down of the show actually worked incredibly well, whilst the sets were still big they weren't as huge as the original and moved a lot faster making the show a lot more fluid.Audiences were adoring it but the moment the video screen came on with the Helicopter you could see people were annoyed.

[chino]

Posted: 7/3/08 at 7:36pm

How's the Australian production going?

[philly03]

Posted: 7/3/08 at 7:37pm

I think that most people want to feel the REAL feelings that Kim/Chris/Ellen did, and would never result to projections. With a "REAL" helicopter "landing on stage", you get that REAL feel, feeling like you are THERE, which speaks more to an audience then projections...which is opposite in other shows such as Sunday... Not that you won't (or not want) feel the reactions, but it is practically entirely fictional. I know it might sound wierd typed out but it sounded good in my head! I really think that some shows will never do well with projections, and it's really a lot of the "MEGA-MUSICALS", this included among with Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables, and just many others. That's probably why Broadway won't ever truely ever go ENTIRELY projections. Sunday it worked, the critics loved it. Woman in White it worked, the critics hated it; obviously Miss Saigon probably wouldn't work. It would be interesting to see SOME scenes though!

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 7/3/08 at 8:55pm

The projection wasn't bad (they did it with the non-Equity tour as well). But I only saw the tour so I never got to experience the real helicopter.

Anyway, Miss Saigon is and shall always be my favorite show ever. A revival would be great. I would love to see the cast played by Vietnamese actors. I don't think Kim has ever been portrayed by a Vietnamese woman.

I think it's better than Les Mis, too. The story's more intimate and pulled together. And Les Mis is my favorite novel, so I'm not knocking on the story--just that it's a little much for only a few hours.

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 7/3/08 at 11:04pm

awesome... another miss saigon thread!

I hated the projections. I felt like i was being cheated out of something and I felt bad for people in the audience.. It's like expecting steak but getting a hamburger instead. And I hated the projection even more for the American Dream. Ugh. Made the whole scene look tacky.

Anyways, I loved the non-equity tour and can totally see miss saigon working be re-invented only if they go the right director and creative team.

But like i mentioned in another thread... is broadway ready for a tragic show again? or are we still needing musical comedies?