Miss Saigon Filmed on West End

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/STAGE-TUBE-MISS-SAIGON-Team-Speaks-at-Final-London-Performance-Mackintosh-Hints-at-Upcoming-Movie-Adaptation-20160228

At the final performance of the revival of Miss Saigon in the West End last night, CamMac announced that the production had been filmed and was being prepped for release later in the year and that a movie was in the works (even though it has been rumored for a while now). I am personally very happy that both these things are happening, but it does strike me as odd that they will be releasing the exact same production they are planning to mount on Broadway. It just doesn't seem like a good idea financially. Any thoughts?

I'll definitely give it a watch if it's available.

I cant wait for the tour...or maybe even a trip to bway

I think it's very smart to stop hiding this show.

The Phantom and Les Mis 25th show dvd's only boosted ticket sales.

Get it out there and it will start to live more.

It didn't flop.

Phyllis Rogers Stone said: "It didn't flop.

"

Yes it did really, cameron expected it to last a lot longer but it started to struggle a bit within its first year after the initial rush had died down. I also think his comments about it being sold out for so far in advance backfired as people didn't think they'd get tickets. He was counting agency allocations which of course isn't money in the bank.

That is pr spin. That article was written just after opening so would mean it would have paid back its investment in under a month. The advance was good and exceeded the budget so on the face of it it looks like you've made your money, but until performances begin you don't have money in the bank to pay back the original investment plus meet weekly running costs. So unless running costs were 0 it is highly unlikely it paid back its investment within a month.

I seem to remember Cameron making a similar claim when poppins opened, but could be wrong

I mean it's closing right? So doesn't seem like there's much excitement for the show.

The show has a loyal hard core base of fans, and it was them that were always asking Cameron when it was coming back. The problem is, like the last west end Evita, it just didn't appeal to the wider theatre going audience even though it was supposedly the show 'most people want to.be revived)

CATSNYrevival said: "For me both Evita and Miss Saigon were staged and designed so brilliantly the first time around that the revivals just had no chance of being able to improve on something that didn't need to be improved. Granted, I only saw the tour of Evita with Kathy Voytko that recreated the original staging but I still found that tour superior to the more recent tour that was sent out."

Hmmm, I have to agree with this, the staging of the original Miss Saigon was so brilliant, the revival version doesn't even compare. It lacks intimacy, because although the sets were bigger in the original, the huge fence in "the nightmare", the big disco set in "The heat is on" that came sliding down towards the audience, like we were pulled into the scene, last night of the world with the bamboo bed and the fan and the mosquito net, the hotelroom stage, etc, which made it more impressive, but the most clever thing was the fact that all the important intimate scenes (sun and moon, last night of the world, 317, back in town/thuy's death" took place on small intimate stages, on the actual stage, centre stage.

This new version feels kind of empty. A big black stage where Kim and Chris sit on the floor, singing Last night of the world between the back of a bar and a trash can. Sun and moon taking place on the street, between that same trash can. Kim's bedroom being somewhere up right, far away between a steel pipe. Room 317, big black stage with a trash can and a chair. The heat is on in saigon, little turning table in the middle of a black stage and some chairs where the hookers stand on.

This could really have harmed the run. This show needs theatricality, raw emotion lies in showing what Kim and Chris saw in their minds in last night of the world, toning it down does not make it more raw or real.

With that said, I think the revival had a very decent run in London. We must not forget that shows like Phantom and Les Mis are mainly visited by tourists and these shows are so well known because they are really out there with the videoclips and dvd's available for years. Most people I know don't even know Miss Saigon. They did a very good job hiding the show for the last 15 years. It needs a good marketing campaign, it needs to be introduced to a whole new generation.

Updated On: 3/1/16 at 07:16 AM

True, but under performing is not the same as flopping. Did it recoup or not? That is all that really matters when talking about whether or not something flopped. I haven't really been following the economics of this show, so I don't really know whether or not it was a flop.

Thanks SweetLips. I appreciate that.

Yes, I'm passionate about this show, and you may be right by saying some things won't be noticed by the general theatre audience, but in this case I think the changes are not subtle. I feel that a whole lot of the atmosphere and feel of the show is sucked out of it and that it lacks the essential intimacy in scenery and staging. That is an important part of the overall impression the show makes on audiences.

The new staging was designed to be able to tour better. Not many houses can fit the original sets.

Just wondering Dave19, have you actually seen this production in person or are you basing your opinions on online images and video clips?

I am a big fan of the original staging. However, having seen this version of the show, I found it to be more emotional and cinematic. Sure, I wish some of the sets weren't so skeletal in appearance but they still provided more than enough of a setting. If one can't get past that and requires everything to be realistic, then the whole concept of theater is lost on you.