Was The Revival of Miss Saigon Considered a Failure? — Page 2

newintown said: "I, too, never understood the enthusiasm forMiss Saigon,.............

....less insight into human relationships than a Hallmark greeting card.....

This solemnbore of a show is interrupted from time to time by a cardboard yet showyvillain who embodies much of the same disgusting vices as our current President;strangely, audiences mindlessly and inexplicably seem to identify most with this grotesque, driven solely bygreed and love of material consumption."

It's clear that there is a lot you don't understand. I would suggest to watch the show first before you talk. If you miss all these points and layers if you have seen the show, then our worlds are too far apart to even start a discussion.

Updated On: 1/18/18 at 11:33 AM

evic said: "Like the flop that was the revival of Cats, no one was interested in seeing it. Originally, it received huge publicity because there was a helicopter on stage. Imho itis a very boring show. Both shows are head scratcherson how long they originally ran. I would say that combined , they lost 20million which is a drop considering how much they have made over the years.. ."

Not a fan of Miss Saigon or Cats, but facts matter...

Cats grossed over $65 million in about 70 weeks. That's hardly a flop. Whether they made back their investment (probably not as they would have announced it) technically determines whether it's a "flop" - but the financials have changed a great deal as people have discussed. More than likely they made back a great deal of their investment and the show will launch on tour a year from now.

Miss Saigon is a bit of a surprise in that it grossed about $35 in 44 weeks and many(myself included) thought it would have done a lot better, particularly with Cameron leading the charge to revive this. But, again these producers are reviving known properties that - while obviously not everyone's favorite - are obviously popular.

I appreciated Lot666's assessment of some of the problems with the Miss Saigon revival. I had seen the original production only once and would've been frustrated to have that type of "talk-singing" in what has always been known as a through-sung piece.

Free tickets.

"Seized," or "was dragged?"

It's possible, don't judge.

Curious why the OP has decided to start a thread on this subject, despite not seeing it him/herself, despite ample opportunity whilst visiting the city on business many times?

Cameron Mackintosh revived this show, for no other reason than out of all his shows, this had the most requests to be revived.

For an avid theatre fan such as myself, it was the only show that gave an opportunity to see 3 shows on Sunday.

dramamama611 said: "You are comparing apples and oranges. People know Phantom because it's still running and still touring.

I think it has far more to do with it being unproducible at colleges, high schools and community theaters since, under most situations few of them have the necessary people to cast. That's what kept Oklahoma, West Side Story, etc alive."

I think the brand "Phantom" has much more behind it. For example the Hollywood movie from 2004, the Royal Albert Hall dvd show of the 25th anniversary, the other video promo clips, the whole world knows what this show looks like since the 80's, everyone knows the iconic boat scene with the blue/green lighting etc. Multiple recordings and videoclips floating around for decades. Same goes for Les Mis, the show has really been "out there".

With Miss Saigon there wasn't anything since the 1996 cd. A whole generation has no idea what this show is or looks like. They are only starting to rebuild the brand Miss Saigon since 2014. It takes time.

Updated On: 1/20/18 at 06:49 PM

Lot666 said: "evic said: "Like the flop that was the revival of Cats, no one was interested in seeing it. Originally, it received huge publicity because there was a helicopter on stage. Imho itis a very boring show. "

I'm always amazed when people make absolute, declarative statements like "no one was interested in seeing it", and then say "imho". There's nothing "humble" about your opinion as written, evic. Your assessment is obviously incorrect, as I (along with many others, just on this board) was very interested in seeing Miss Saigon, and not just because "there was a helicopter on stage"."

Totallly agree. Even saying outright that something is a failure is totally unfair. From a perspective of not liking the show? Financial considerations cannot be solely based on the Broadway run.

I never got to see the original and looked forward to seeing this. I thought it was a beautiful production, slow moving at times, but overall worth seeing. The subject that is a reminder of the very worst exploitation and human behavior and a very dark era in our country’s history, doesn’t help draw audiences. Some of us lived through those times and there are very painful reminders. Unfortunately, 25 years from now, this sad time in history will become overshadowed by equally embarrassing memories.

mc1227 said: "

Totallly agree. Even saying outright that something is a failure is totally unfair.From a perspective of not liking the show? Financial considerations cannot be solely based on the Broadway run.

I never got to see the original and looked forward to seeing this. I thought it was a beautiful production, slow moving at times, but overall worth seeing. The subject that is a reminder of the very worst exploitation and human behavior and a very dark era in our country’s history, doesn’t help draw audiences. Some of us lived through those times and there are very painful reminders. Unfortunately, 25 years from now, this sad time in history will become overshadowed by equally embarrassing memories."

Exactly. Although I think a big part of this person's problem is also "not understanding the show". This show is in fact very complex in terms of human relations, the dark sides of human behaviour, the politics, the painful situations, the harsh reality of war (which is part of why I love this show so much), the very fine and complex line between what makes someone's choices sincere or bad. We can not expect everybody to grasp or understand this, and therefore like the show. You need to have a certain level of intelligence to take in all of this and see the bigger picture. Literally, I have seen people posting stuff complaining about a line a certain tormented and confused character says and whining that that does not match their own personal and political views, which is absurd of course. If you live like that you should not go to see another show again in your life, period. There will always be people getting offented by what's right in front of their nose without having the ability to understand the other layers.

Updated On: 1/21/18 at 06:56 AM