Miss Saigon @ Festival Theatre, Adelaide 5/1/2024
Miss Saigon opened this week in Adelaide after rave reviews in Sydney and Melbourne. It is the first time Miss Saigon has been performed professionally in Adelaide, although a few amateur theatre companies have delivered seasons admirably.
The opening night performance was one that evoked so many complex emotions ranging from shock and confrontation to compassion and tenderness. While this is the fourth Miss Saigon production I have seen, it was by far the best primarily due to the mostly Asian-Australian cast.
Some context is required at this point; Composer Claude-Michel Schönberg (Les Misérables) was inspired to write the musical after seeing a photograph of a distraught little girl and her mother at Saigon’s airport as she left her mother to live with her father, a former US soldier living in the United States. I too, was given up by my Vietnamese mother at the end of the Vietnam war. I was lucky to be evacuated as a baby from a Saigon orphanage only five days before American troops left Vietnam. Adopted by Australians, one of my first experiences learning about the American Vietnam War was seeing Miss Saigon in the original West End production in the 1990s.
To say the musical has evolved with the times is an understatement.
This current Cameron Macintosh production leans into the powerful spirit of the Asian cultural heritage of its cast and celebrates all that Asian-Australians have brought to our shores.
Forgotten are the critics who panned earlier productions on Broadway as promoting ill-favoured racial stereotypes and ‘white-washed’ casting, however the confrontational nature of the first couple of scenes of the show cannot be dismissed.
The fictional account of a torrid time in our world history is also based loosely on the story from Puccini’s opera, Madame Butterfly. It certainly helps that the juxtaposition of fiction and history can be met through art. Those who may not know of those last days of the American Vietnam War are introduced to events such as the frantic evacuation of the last GI Joes from the American Embassy and the existence of ‘war orphans’ like myself as told in the song Bui Doi.
It’s a show of contradictions – fascination yet aversion to capitalism (demonstrated in the musical number the American Dream), the ways of the new meeting the ways of the past (the Wedding Ceremony), raunchiness and innocence (the movie in my mind), and of course the love that Chris (played by Nigel Huckle) has for two women.
It’s a fine line to traverse in telling a story of such complexity. This production does it sensitively, majestically, and respectfully.
The role of the Engineer is pivotal to the production and Seann Miley Moore delivered it with such aplomb, brilliance, and surprising humanity. The character itself is very polarising and the actor could easily play up to the nastiness and devolve into typecasts of money-grabbing selfishness. But Moore delivered such a nuanced and layered performance that my previous aversion to this character changed. A true entertainer, Moore delivered many witty one-liners, has a resonating voice, and they can certainly act! They evoked compassion for this character when previously the Engineer was portrayed more one-dimensionally as the villain. “That’s me,” they said after the show, “sun and moon, ying and yang. I am the embodiment of polar opposites so I understand playing a character with different sides to him”. Thank you Seann Miley Moore for the performance of the night.
The best performance of Kim that I have seen was delivered impeccably by the delightful Abigail Adriano. Her musical surety, preciseness, and tone were all beautifully on point. From the soaring numbers of Sun and Moon and I’d Give My Life for You to the sung-through narratives, Adriano’s pitch was always perfect and the dynamics well delivered. Adriano is also a consummate actor. Her stage presence shines, and she gives such powerful gravitas yet vulnerability to the role that the audience cannot help but believe why Chris fell in love with her. After the show, Adriano graciously shared with me that for her, it is not about delivering a perfect performance, it is more important to tell a story. She said that as long as she can create an emotional impact on the audience, she considers she has done a good job. These humble words belie the powerhouse voice and seamless delivery of a complex and tough role – I will be following this young woman’s career with much interest.
While in no way discounting the top-class performance of Moore as the Engineer, I do believe that the titular role of Miss Saigon should have the final curtain call. It amazed me and a number of other audience members that she did not get the last walkdown. I do understand that this has been the order in the past, but I suggest this changes to uphold the production’s values of moving with the times.
Other standouts were the choreography, the extremely tight and in sync ensemble led by the affable Winchester Lopez, and the set design. It’s no wonder there was a standing ovation from a full house.
Be prepared to be dazzled, confronted, amazed, conflicted, but above all, be prepared to fall in love. There’s much to love about this show, this cast, and this production.
Theatre Review by Kim Burley