"Miss Saigon"

Show Number Four of the 2019-20 "Broadway in Pittsburgh" series arrived this week, and last night we attended "Miss Saigon."  This show debuted in London in 1989 and on Broadway in 1991.  It has been revived in recent years and is touring nationally once again.

Based on the Pucini opera "Madame Butterfly", it tells the story of life in a Vietnamese brothel, run by an incredibly sleazy character known as The Engineer, in 1975, just before the fall of Saigon that ended the war in Viet Nam.  An American Marine, Chris, visits the establishment one night and falls in love with a seventeen year old orphan girl, Kim,  just recruited off of the streets by The Engineer.  

Saigon falls, the Americans evacuate by helicopter, which is depicted by a simply breathtaking bit of stagecraft, and, alas, Kim is unable to gain access to the American embassy and leave with Chris.  

Flash forward three years to a reunified Viet Nam, Chris is back in America and happily married, although he still has nightmares about his time in Viet Nam, The Engineer has seemingly been "re-educated" by his Vietnamese captors, and Kim is working as a bar girl in Bangkok, and, oh, yes, she has a three year old son by Chris.

I have really oversimplified the plot line here, but let me assure you that seeing this show was an incredibly powerful experience.  A large and incredibly talented cast (as they always are in the Broadway Series) and very moving and emotional songs and performances.   This is one that will stay with you for awhile after seeing it.

Three Stars from The Grandstander.

I know that when this show first toured, we saw it in Pittsburgh.  This would have been in 1992 or 1993.  However, in spite of how I just said that it was show that "will stay with you", my only memory of seeing it back than was the scene with the helicopter.  As I watched this show unfold last night, I had absolutely no memory of its storyline.  Funny how that is.  Perhaps an almost thirty years younger Grandstander just wasn't emotionally equipped to handle a tale as complex as "Miss Saigon" back then.  Maybe I've grown up a bit over the years.

Four shows into this season, here are my rankings of the shows thus far:

1. A Bronx Tale
2. Miss Saigon
3. Jesus Christ Superstar
4. Mean Girls