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Arcadia Weekly Apr 15, 2010
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A new production of
MISS SAIGON
Saturday, May 1st, 2pm and 8pm
Music by Claude-Michel Schonberg
Lyrics by Richard Maltby Jr. and Alain Boublil
Adapted from the original French lyrics by Alain Boublil
Additional Material by Richard Maltby Jr.
Orchestrations by William D. Brohn
SGVMT Creative Team
Bobby Hundley Ray A. Rochelle Rikki Lugo Richard Allen
Producer Director Choreographer Music Director
Originally produced on the stage by CAMERON MACKINTOSH
* This production licensed by Josef Weinberger Ltd on behalf of Music Theatre International and CAMERON MACKINTOSH LTD.*
Miss Saigon, the epic “award winning” Broadway hit musical tells of the tragic romance between a strong-willed Vietnamese girl and an American G.I. during the last days of the Vietnam War. This special benefit production will be performed in its entirety featuring a 24 piece orchestra onstage.
Directed by award winning director/actor/choreographer Ray A. Rochelle (Miss Saigon First National Company, Choreographer/Associate Director: F.C.L.O. – 2005 LA Ovation Award-Best Musical, nomination Best Choreography.) Music Director Richard Allen, Choreographer Rikki Lugo. Produced by Bobby Hundley (2004 A.D.A Award – Best play revival comedy Moonchildren)
Onstage at the historic San Gabriel Mission Playhouse for two performances only! Call 626-282-1440 or email: sgvmtboxoffice@earthlink.net
In April 1975 at “Dreamland”, a sleazy Vietnamese club, shortly before the Fall of Saigon, it is Kim’s first day as a bargirl. The seventeen-year-old orphan is greeted by the Engineer, a French-Vietnamese man who owns the club. Backstage, the girls get ready for the night’s show, jeering at Kim’s naïveté (“Overture”).American Marines, aware that they will be leaving Vietnam soon, party with the Vietnamese prostitutes at the club (“The Heat Is On In Saigon”). Chris, a Sergeant disenchanted by the club scene, is encouraged by his friend John to go with a girl. The girls compete for the title of “Miss Saigon”, and the winner is raffled to a Marine. Kim’s innocence strikes Chris. Gigi Van Trahn wins the crown for the evening and begs the marine who won the raffle to take her back to America, annoying him. The showgirls reflect on their dreams of a better life (“Movie In My Mind”). John buys a room from the Engineer for the virgin Kim and Chris (“The Transaction”). Kim is reluctant and shy, being a prostitute for the first time, but dances with Chris. Chris tries to pay her off to leave the nightclub. When the Engineer interferes, thinking that Chris doesn’t like Kim, Chris allows himself to be led to her room (“The Dance”).
Chris, watching Kim sleep, asks God why he met her just as he was about to leave Vietnam (“Why God Why?”). When Kim wakes up, Chris tries to give her money, but she refuses, saying that it is her first time sleeping with a man (“This Money’s Yours”). Touched to learn that Kim is an orphan, Chris tells her that she need not sell herself at the club, because he wants her to stay with him. The two pledge their love for each other (“Sun and Moon”). Chris tells John that he is taking leave to spend time with Kim. John warns him that the Viet Cong will soon assume control of Saigon, but John reluctantly agrees to cover for Chris (“The Telephone Song”). Chris meets up with the Engineer to trade for Kim, but the Engineer tries to weasel an America visa into the deal. Chris forces the Engineer at gunpoint to honor the original arrangement for Kim (“The Deal”).
The bargirls hold a “wedding ceremony” for Chris and Kim (“Dju Vui Vai”), with Gigi toasting Kim as the “real” Miss Saigon.
Thuy, Kim’s cousin to whom she was betrothed at thirteen, arrives to take her home. He has become an officer in the North Vietnamese Army and is angered to find her with Chris (“Thuy’s Arrival”). The two men confront each other, drawing their guns. Kim tells Thuy that their arranged marriage is now null because her parents are dead, and she no longer harbors any feelings for him because of his betrayal. Thuy curses them all and storms out. Chris promises to take Kim with him when he leaves Vietnam. Chris and Kim dance to the same song as on their first night (“Last Night of The World”).
Three years pass, and in Saigon (now renamed Ho Chi Minh City), a street festival is taking place to celebrate the third anniversary of the reunification of Vietnam and the defeat of the Americans (“Morning of The Dragon,” also called “The Fall of Saigon”). Thuy, a commissar in the new government, has ordered his soldiers to find the still-corrupt Engineer. Thuy orders the Engineer to find Kim and bring her to him. Kim is still in love with Chris and has been hiding in an impoverished area believing that Chris will come back to Vietnam to rescue her. Meanwhile, Chris is in bed with his new American wife, Ellen, when he awakens from a dream shouting Kim’s name. Ellen and Kim both swear their devotion to Chris from opposite ends of the world (“I Still Believe”).
The Engineer finds Kim and brings Thuy to her. Kim refuses Thuy’s renewed offer of marriage and introduces him to Tam, her three-year-old son fathered by Chris. Thuy calls Kim a traitor and Tam an enemy, and moves to kill Tam with a knife. Kim pulls out Chris’s gun and shoots Thuy (“You Will Not Touch Him”). Thuy dies, with Kim weeping and cradling his body. She flees with Tam (“This Is The Hour”) and tells the Engineer what she has done (“If You Want to Die in Bed”). The Engineer refuses to help her until he learns that Tam’s father is American (“Let Me See His Western Nose”) – perhaps this is his passport to the United States. He tells Kim that now he is the boy’s uncle, and he will lead them to Bangkok. The three set out on a ship with other refugees (“I’d Give My Life for You”).
Act 2
In Atlanta, Georgia, John now works for an aid organization whose mission is to connect Bui-Doi (children conceived during the war) with their American fathers (“Bui Doi”). John tells Chris that Kim is still alive, which Chris is relieved to hear after years of having nightmares of her dying. He also tells Chris about Tam and urges Chris to go to Bangkok with Ellen. Chris finally tells Ellen about Kim and Tam (“The Revelation”). In Bangkok, the Engineer is hawking a sleazy club where Kim works as a dancer (“What A Waste”). Chris, Ellen and John arrive in search of Kim. John finds them, and Kim is thrilled to hear that Chris is in Bangkok. John tries to tell her that Chris is remarried, but Kim interrupts, believing that she is to go to America with Chris. John cannot break the news to her, but promises to bring Chris to her (“Please”).
The Engineer tells Kim to find Chris herself, because he doubts that Chris will come (“Chris Is Here”). Kim is haunted by the ghost of Thuy, who taunts Kim, claiming that Chris will betray her as he did the night Saigon fell. Kim suffers a horrible flashback to that night (“Kim’s Nightmare”): As the Viet Cong approach and Saigon becomes increasingly chaotic, Chris is called to the embassy and leaves his gun with Kim, telling her to pack. When Chris enters the embassy, the gates close, as orders arrive from Washington for an immediate evacuation of the remaining Americans. The Ambassador orders that no more Vietnamese are allowed into the Embassy. Kim reaches the gates of the Embassy, one of a mob of terrified Vietnamese trying to get in. Chris calls to Kim and is about to go into the crowd to look for her, but John is eventually forced to punch Chris in the face to stop him from leaving. Chris is put into the last helicopter leaving Saigon as Kim watches from outside, still pledging her love to him (“The fall of Saigon”).
Back in 1978 Bangkok, Kim joyfully dresses in her wedding clothes (“Sun and Moon: Reprise”) and goes to Chris’s hotel room, where she finds Ellen, who reveals that she is Chris’s wife. Kim is heartbroken and refuses to believe Ellen. Ellen also refuses to take Tam to the U.S., saying that Tam needs his real mother, and Ellen wants her own children with Chris. Kim demands that Chris tell her these things in person (“Room 317”). Ellen feels bad for Kim, but is determined to keep Chris (“It’s Her or Me”). Chris returns, having failed to find Kim, and Ellen issues an ultimatum: Kim or her. Chris reassures Ellen, and they pledge their love for each other. Chris will leave Tam and Kim in Bangkok but offer them monetary support from America. John warns that Kim will not find it acceptable to have Tam stay in Thailand (“The Confrontation”). Kim lies to the Engineer that they are still going to America (“Paper Dragons”). The Engineer imagines the extravagant new life he will lead in America (“The American Dream”).
Kim tells Tam that he should be happy because he now has a father. She tells him that she will be watching over him (“The Sacred Bird”/”Little God Of My Heart”). She steps behind a curtain and shoots herself. Chris, Ellen, the Engineer and John all rush into the room at the sound of the gunshot and find Kim mortally wounded. Chris holds Kim in his arms as she explains that the gods have guided him to his son. Chris begs her not to die, as she asks him to hold her one last time, and she dies in his arms (“Finale”).
On October 21, 2009, a film version of the musical was reported to be in “early stages of development”. Producer Paula Wagner was reported to be teaming with the original musical producer Cameron Mackintosh to create a film version of the musical. Director Lee Daniels has mentioned directing the film version as a possible future project. A screenwriter is currently being sought, with the hope of a 2011 release.[15] Filming locations are said to be Cambodia and quite possibly Ho Chi Minh City (the former Saigon). No casting has been mentioned but speculation states that the producers will be seeking an unknown for the lead role of Kim.
The San Gabriel Valley Music Theatre is a newly formed Theatrical Company, dedicated to bringing you The Best of Broadway. SGVMT is committed to preserving and presenting the unique American art form called Musical Theatre. Located in the historic Mission District, the beautiful and stunningly elegant San Gabriel Mission Playhouse is just the right setting to showcase the world’s greatest musicals. The sightlines for the audience are flawless, especially the exclusive, terrace box seats, which cater to the most discriminating patron. Audiences can always expect to see the magic of the theatre come alive on the Playhouse’s legendary stage.
SGVMT is 25% of the Way towards meeting our Fundraising Goals. Help Us make it the rest of the way by joining our exclusive donor club and receive exclusive benefits.
For details call 626-282-1440
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