Review: Miss. Saigon at Signature Theatre

When Miss. Saigon opened on Broadway in 1991, the production played to 1,700 theatergoers nightly, featured a cast of 40 and a physical production which incorporated a helicopter landing on-stage.    So what would happen if Miss. Saigon was suddenly scaled down to a small regional theater?  Would this epic stage show survive?

That was the question facing Signature Theater when they announced Miss. Saigon as the opener for their 24^th season. The result was astounding.  Not only did Miss. Saigon survive, but 24 years after its world-première in London, I’m thrilled to report that the show has held up unbelievably well in this thrilling new production!

For starters, I can’t stress enough the reduction in the size and scope of this production.  Most musicals are scaled down when they go from Broadway to regional theater, but this reduction was drastic.  Signature’s Max Theater only seats 275 patrons and this revival features a cast of 18, roughly half the size of the original London and New York casts.

One problem with the original Broadway production was that the staging took away from Miss. Saigon’s book, music and lyrics, the heart of any musical.  Whereas with The Phantom of the Opera, audiences could remember both the special effects and the score, with Miss. Saigon it was a different story.  Audiences could remember the helicopter, but none of the songs.  There was no balance between these two storytelling techniques.

In Signature’s production, director Eric Schaeffer has done a remarkable job refocusing the story away from special effects and more towards the love-story at the heart of the show between an American GI and a Vietnamese bar girl during the fall of Saigon in 1975.  Furthermore, Schaeffer’s staging allows the songs to better tell the story.  And luckily for this audience, the score is beautifully performed by a 15 piece orchestra (much larger than many current orchestras on Broadway).

Adding to the chaos and confusion of Miss. Saigon’s war setting is the environmental set design which is at the heart of this production.  The theater is littered with military paraphernalia including an authentic Vietnam-era airplane wing and cockpit.  All of this leads to the question: Is there a helicopter?  Yes, the helicopter does make an appearance.  And while I won’t spoil the moment, I will reveal that it is only used to enhance the scene, not steal it.

A great deal of praise and credit for this production’s success must also be given to the performances of Thom Sesma (the Engineer), Diana Huey (Kim), Jason Michael Evans (Chris) and Erin Driscol (Ellen).  With a well established show like Miss. Saigon, it’s easy to create performances that are carbon copies of the original Broadway cast.  But this cast has indeed created a Miss. Saigon that is their own and the on-stage chemistry is only adding to the excitement of this production.

There is one final aspect of this production which can’t be ignored and that is a new Act II song entitled “Maybe” making its world-début in this production.  In preparation for next year’s 25^th anniversary London revival of Miss. Saigon, the creative team of Claude-Michel Schonberg, Alain Boublil and Richard Maltby Jr. decided to rewrite a scene in Act II causing them to remove one song, and substitute it with “Maybe.”  In an effort to not be a spoiler, I won’t disclose much about the song except to say that it’s terrific.  And for audiences, there’s nothing more exciting then to hear a new song before the rest of the theatrical community.

The fall 2013 DC theater season is just beginning, but as of right now, it’s hard to imagine anything more exciting this year than Signature Theatre’s production of Miss. Saigon.  “Why, God, Why?” is not just a ballad in the first act, it’s the question you’ll be asking if you miss this production!

Miss. Saigon is playing thru September 22.  Tickets maybe purchased here.

My Favorite Things

MarqueePolitics is turning two this month, and this blogger is turning the big 27. With these milestones on the horizon, it got me thinking.

I’m often asked about my favorite performances, and to identify which ones made the biggest impact on me.  With my birthday right around the corner, I thought that this would be an appropriate time to reflect on the performances that have never quite left me.

Phantom/Miss. Saigon/Cats

“Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start.”

All it took was: a crashing chandelier, helicopter landing and dancing cats.  These were first shows I ever saw (ages 3, 6, 7).  Their combination of: high emotions, grand spectacle and memorable pop scores sent my young imagination soaring.  I often call them the holy trinity of musicals, because it was these three shows that introduced me to the great love of my life, the theater.

Evita – 1979 Original Broadway Cast Recording

I had an epiphany in high school, and it was the first time I ever listened to the original Broadway cast recording of Evita.

The rock opera’s themes of politics, revolution and media manipulation hooked this young politico at age 16.  Evita was further electrified by Patti LuPone’s fierce portrayal as Argentina’s First Lady and her ambition to succeed at all costs.  Despite having the album for the 11 years, not a week goes by when LuPone and the original Broadway cast of Evita can been heard from my apartment, giving this show a touch of star quality!

Elaine Stritch at Liberty – 2002 Broadway Production

Rare, intense, humorous, honest and a triumph of the human soul.

I was lucky enough to attend the last Broadway matinee performance of this show.  From that Sunday afternoon, I learned that human’s can triumph over any adversity as long as we don’t stop fighting.  Accompanied by a songbook of classic Broadway hits, Stritch walked the audience thru her: fights with alcoholism, struggles with love, triumphs working with Noel Coward and Stephen Sondheim, and life’s journey from being raised in Detroit to having her name adorn Broadway marquees.

Great actors leave it all out on the stage and Stritch set the bar for generations to come.

 Company – 2006 Broadway Revival

Company, more than any other show, changed my perspective on life.

My parents split when I was very young, and what understanding of marriage I had came from television.  Because of that, I never understood the emotional complexity involved when two people enter into a relationship, and what I did know was very one-sided.   Company threw cold-water on that idea, teaching me that relationships are about sharing your life with somebody, not just some-body.  Theater is often a reflection of life through art, and its through art that we learn so much about ourselves as individuals.

The Audience

The one constant in all these productions is the audience, and I’ve been lucky to have always had a supporting audience of my own.  While I won’t use their names, I want recognize the friends and family who have encouraged my love of the theater: My parents who introduced me to the musical at age 3, grandparents who were always game to see a show on Broadway – even if they didn’t quite “get it”, Chief of Staff, and dear friends living across the country in: New York, Pittsburgh, Rockville, San Diego, Seattle and Washington, DC.  All of which I owe a debt a gratitude for indulging in my life’s great passion!

The cast albums to all shows mentioned above are available on amazon.com.

Furthermore, video productions of: Cats, Company, Elaine Stritch at Liberty and Phantom may also be found at amazon.com.