Miss Saigon- Page 3

[darkfacegood]

Posted: 7/5/08 at 4:52pm

Eric Kunze was a great Chris. I had the wonderful opportunity to do Miss Saigon with him and he was such a nice guy.

[darkfacegood]

Posted: 7/5/08 at 5:18pm

The question is WHEN lol. Shortly after Lea left Les Miz, I asked her when the show was going to be back on Broadway. She said that with the war in Iraq she didn't think they were going to rush bringing the show back any time soon. But...like Cameron Mackintosh said at the final Broadway performance that wasn't the last time Broadway would see Miss Saigon.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 7/5/08 at 5:21pm

I saw Mr. Wang on Broadway and I distinctly remember being unable to understand much of what he said. I enjoyed Kevin Gray much more.

I saw Elizabeth Paw opposite Will Chase one afternoon (with Curtis 'I Cook as John)...they were dynamic together. The only problem with that show was a horrendous understudy that was on for Ellen...her name was Lucy Vance. Couldn't sing AT ALL.

Another good pairing was Deedee Lynn Magno (no Hall at the time) and Matt Bogart.

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 7/5/08 at 5:27pm

haha... i heard an audio of Lucy Vance as ellen... eeek... not good at all... almost like screeching...

[jsg03jd]

Posted: 7/5/08 at 5:41pm

Eric Kunze was a terrific Chris. I saw him many years ago in the mid 90's opposite Emy Baysic's Kim, and they were great.

He also played a wonderful Joe Hardy (which Cheyenne Jackson is performing starting tonight at City Center as an aside) in the DAMN YANKEES revival. Glad to hear he's still working in the theater. Hope EK comes back to Broadway soon.

[darkfacegood]

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

jsg03jd... I was in the show with Emy and Eric! That was the time I was in the show...who knows...there's a 50/50 chance you saw me lol

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 7/5/08 at 6:00pm

Were you Tam?

[darkfacegood]

Posted: 7/5/08 at 9:01pm

Yes I was ^_^

[LyTeMyCanDyI]

Posted: 7/5/08 at 9:49pm

I feel like it would make sense for this to be revived fairly soon. Things are revived when it speaks to the current time period. I feel like not shortly after we pull out from Iraq we'll have a new Miss Saigon. I'm not saying that the situations are exactly the same, but they're similar enough for it to make sense to revive Miss Saigon.

[maggiwun2]

Posted: 7/7/08 at 11:40pm

I've gotten to know Eric in the last months and can honestly say I've never met a nicer guy. I was so impressed with his performance in Whistle that I started a fansite for him.

He will be returning to New York after the Evita run in Sacramento. Spread the word! I want to see him back on Broadway too. www.erickunze.blogspot.com


Updated On: 7/8/08 at 11:40 PM

[Melicus]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 1:34am

Thank you to everyone who answered my question about Eric Kunze! Our Muny is an outdoor theatre so I was trying to decide whether or not it was worth enduring the heat and humidity to see Miss Saigon again. Now, I'm looking forward to seeing Eric and the show.

[BobbyBubby]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 2:35am

I'd love to see a scaled down Broadway production. While I adored the original staging, the more intimate regional productions I've seen really were more emotionally satisfying.

Though, at this point, I don't see a need for it to return. It is having a healthy post-Broadway life, and, most theatergoers have had their fill.

And pop-opera on Broadway just needs to die already. It had its shining hour, and, as the failures of Pirate Queen and Woman in White have proven, playgoers just aren't biting like they did in the late 80's early 90's.

[jsg03jd]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 3:29am

As long as any revival of MISS SAIGON doesn't excise too much material the way the recent LES MIZ production was butchered, and as long as the orchestra isn't cut by half as well, which was what happened at the Broadhurst as well.

I don't necessarily agree that pop operas are dead or need to die; it's just that THE PIRATE QUEEN and WOMAN IN WHITE were terrible shows. Now, Boublil & Schonberg and ALW may need to call it a day in that respect, but I'm sure someone new can write a good pop opera/through sung score for Broadway.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 4:21am

But most of the cuts to the most recent Les Miz revival were made about 5 years ago. They weren't unique to or made because of the revival.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 11:53am

Miss Saigon does have a pop score, but I would argue that it's still a good score. Maybe it's not musically all that great--I'm not a good judge of that, so I wouldn't know--but the emotions are all there.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 2:44pm

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

Having seen both the original staging and the projection, I have to disagree. I found both effective, but the projection actually seemed a bit more "real" than the slow-moving propeller-less cherry-picker used in the Broadway and London productions. Yes, it was 3-dimensional, but that did not make it any more realistic than the slow-motion magic-bullet action of the "falling chandelier" in Phantom of the Opera.

[philcrosby]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 2:56pm

I saw the almost Original Cast in London (everyone but Jonathan Pryce) and thought the show was overblown and way overhyped. I remember thinking ... "there is a beautiful, intimate show in there waiting to get out underneath all that scenery."

And as iconic a scene as it became, I think you could cut the Fall of Saigon flashback and the show would be just as effective.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 3:00pm

Sorry, but I disagree. "Kim's Nightmare" is an incredible scene, helicopter or not, and the show would be at a loss without it.

[Wildcard]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 3:12pm

"Kim's Nightmare" is the showcase scene for the director. The blocking and "musical staging" required for that scene can be amazing in the hands of a good director. Your focus shifts between different settings and on both sides of the Embassy walls and yet it all has to make sense.

[Colle]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 3:45pm

I have a question for darkfacegood, I am curious to know, how much of the story did you understand and how was it explained to you? You had to have been really young when you were in the show, since you played Tam.

I thought Jennifer Paz and Alan Gillespie had good chemistry when I saw them as Kim and Chris. I also have liked the clips I have seen of Jennifer Paz with Peter Lockyer and Lea Salonga with Simon Bowmen.

Since I have seen the show and how "Kim's Nightmare/Fall of Saigon" works on stage, I can't imagine it done without being a flashback/dream. It is so effective, for me.

[BWNUT]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 4:36pm

The "Kim Nightmare/Fall of Saigon" sequence is the pivotal scene of the show. Without it, the "I Still Believe" duet scene with Kim and Ellen would not make any sense. How did Chris suddenly end up in the States with a new wife? And why is he having nightmares about Kim being shot with his own gun? (He gave Kim his gun during the "Nightmare" scene.) And searching for Kim and hearing only screams?

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 4:55pm

Yes, it also explains how Kim had the gun in "You Will Not Touch Him."

It was my favorite scene in the show, to be honest. The complete emotion of it just envelopes you. And how it begins with the transition from Thuy's ghost taunting Kim to Chris grabbing her and saying "I'm getting you out!" I don't know how other productions have done it, but the tour had flashing lights, and it really contributed to the sheer panic of the scene.

Plus the scene afterward, "Sun and Moon (Reprise)," in which Kim puts on her wedding dress, is just one of the most heartbreaking things you'll ever see.

Updated On: 7/8/08 at 04:55 PM

[darkfacegood]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 9:23pm

I've been asked that question hundreds of times Colle lol...

My older brother was in the show before I was. I started the show a couple of months before my 4th birthday and even though we listened to the music all the time at home and I knew the entire show word for word , let's face it I was 3 had no clue what any of it meant. But I was in the show for 2 years so as I got older I started to understand it a little bit more. Because we were at such a young age they didn't really go into detail explaining the storyline to us for obvious reasons. They told us that we were going to play pretend. For example, they would say Lea is Kim and Eric is Chris, they are your fake mommy and daddy. They actually made it kind of like a game to help us understand. They had different games for each scene. We had to pretend that we were scared for "You Will Not Touch Him"; the kissing game for when Tam has to kiss the Engineer and wipe his mouth; there was the drawing game for "I'd Give My Life for You"; the sleeping game for "Please"; and then we had to pretend we were sad for the final scene.

Because Thuy's character is scary to a small child, it's important for the kids to know that it's just pretend and the actor is not scary in real life. Every time my brother would see Barry K. Bernal (the actor who was Thuy at the time) backstage they would say "Gimmie Five!" Lea told me there was one time my brother yelled "Gimme Five!" on stage during "You Will Not Touch Him" when Barry grabbed him away from her. That's when they started the whole game thing, to make sure another incident like that would never happen again. They would wave the "magic wand" and we became Tam, then that's when we knew it was time to be serious.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 9:43pm

Thanks for sharing; that is so fascinating!

I'm jealous that you are personally acquainted and got to work with such wonderful actors at such a young age, as well.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 7/8/08 at 9:50pm

I did Miss Saigon a year ago at the Company Theatre in Norwell. It was an amazing experience and the cast formed such a tight bond with each other. We were nominated for four IRNEs. We sadly lost one of our cast members back in November. Long story short, that show will hold a very special place in my heart.