As Miss Saigon’s glorious second act draws to its painful conclusion, out of nowhere, Joanna Ampil (The Engineer), blazes through a hilariously over-the-top version of The American Dream, surrounded by giant, walking hundred-dollar bills and clad in full Marilyn Monroe Gentlemen Prefer Blondes regalia. It’s a fabulous scene, and one that garners arguably the biggest ovation of the night, in part due to the outstanding vocal work of Ampil, but also in part that it comes as some welcome comic relief in this otherwise powerful but stark and sincere portrayal of the Boublil and Schönberg musical.
Fans of their most celebrated work, Les Misérables, won’t mind the fact that vast swathes of Miss Saigon is as downbeat as the French Revolution classic, but where this differs, is that there are a handful of perfectly executed moments of light amongst the shade. I just perhaps wish there were a few more of them.
Originally adapted from Madame Butterfly, Miss Saigon tells the story of a well-meaning GI (Chris), who during the Vietnam War falls for recently orphaned Kim during a visit with his fellow soldiers to ‘Dreamland’, a brothel run by The Engineer.
Joanna Ampil as The Engineer. Photo: Johan Persson
They fall in love almost instantly (why does that always happen in musicals?) and he pledges to take her away from the life she clearly loathes by bringing her back to America. But when we next see them three years later, they are no longer together, and we’re left for much of the show to guess what or who has kept them apart.
The show (rather than this Crucible production of it) has come under some scrutiny over the years, in the main due to the way it portrays its Vietnamese characters and their desire to escape their home life for the gold-lined streets of the grand old US of A. So much so that just last week, Manchester International Festival showcased untitled f*ck m*ss s**gon play, a show which critiqued the racial stereotyping of the original.
It’s something this production has certainly addressed, if not completely airbrushed, with a diverse cast and production team as well as significant amends to the original script.
What you are left with is a hugely impressive, although rather one-note show that uses the stark Crucible stage as a blank canvas to showcase the outrageous vocal talents of all the cast. Everyone delivers on that front, though special mentions must go to Shane O’Riordan as John, Joanna Ampil as The Engineer (cast for the first time as a woman) and finally a stunning, moving performance of Maybe by Shanay Holmes who plays Ellen, Chris’ wife, as she wrestles with whether she should set him free to rediscover his old flame.
Shanay Holmes as Ellen. Photo: Johan Persson
The other stars of the night are the visual effects team, who regularly bring huge swathes of colour and atmosphere to the simple Crucible stage, most notably in the pivotal moment in Act 2 when a military helicopter descends into Vietnam to evacuate the GIs (including Chris) but leaves the locals behind.
There are strong performances throughout, from both leads (Jessica Lee as Kim and Christian Maynard as Chris) who excel in duet Sun and Moon, as well as from Kim’s eschewed courter, Ethan Le Phong (Thuy). In fact, in terms of vocal talents, I’m struggling to think of a show as strong as this across the whole cast, while the choreography on numbers like The Morning of The Dragon is utterly breathtaking.
An epic, brave re-imagining of the 80s classic, with a hugely talented cast, just one that missed a little sunlight amongst the moonlight.
