Miss Saigon

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Miss Saigon is a musical by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg , which, like Puccini's Madame Butterfly, is based on the French novella Madame Chrysanthemum . The play was premiered on September 20, 1989 at the Theater Royal Drury Lane (London), the Broadway premiere followed on April 11, 1991. The German-language premiere took place on December 2, 1994 in the Musical Hall (now the Stage Apollo Theater ) in Stuttgart instead. The last curtain fell on December 19, 1999. The Swiss premiere took place in 2003 in the St. Gallen Theater , the Austrian premiere on February 3, 2011 in the Klagenfurt City Theater . From May 3, 2014, a revival production of Miss Saigon could be seen at the Prince Edward Theater in London for the 25th birthday of the play. This production was recorded on DVD, which was released in October 2016. A tour production took place in several European countries from 2017 to 2019.

action

Saigon in April 1975: the last weeks of the Vietnam War . A beauty contest is held in the Dreamland nightclub. One of the bar girls is 17-year-old Vietnamese Kim, who spends her first evening here. One of the guests, the young American GI Chris, feels drawn to her. His friend John buys Chris a night of love with Kim from the bar owner, the Chef-im-Ring ( Engineer in the original English). They both fall in love. But the luck is short-lived: The military situation in Saigon comes to a head, and Chris leaves the city in the last US helicopter. Shortly afterwards, the Viet Cong troops invade Saigon.

Three years later: Kim has now given birth to a child and lives under the dictatorship of the new rulers. She still believes in the return of Chris, who knows nothing about his son Tam. One day Kim's cousin Thuy, now a Viet Cong officer, shows up at her place, whom she was promised to be a wife as a child. He claims his rights. When Kim refuses to accept him, Thuy is furious. After the child was shown to him, he tried in anger to kill the little Tam. In her distress, Kim shoots the officer and flees to Bangkok with the boss-in-the-ring and a thousand other " boat people " .

In the United States , Chris has now married the American Ellen and built a new life for himself. But he can not forget Kim and Vietnam , he is repeatedly tormented by nightmares. At a conference on the fate of Vietnamese-American children, the " Bui Doi ", Chris finally learns from his friend John that Kim is still alive and has a son by him. Chris has them located and flies to Bangkok with Ellen and John to see his child. Kim is overjoyed to learn of his arrival. She tells the boss-in-the-ring that Chris has come to take all three of them to America. But he believes that his “American dream” will finally come true and gives Kim the address of Chris' hotel. As if in a nightmare, Kim relived the last hours with Chris: Hundreds of Vietnamese stormed the US embassy , desperately asking to leave Vietnam. Kim also has to watch helplessly as the last helicopter takes off from the roof of the embassy without her, but with Chris on board.

Back in reality, Kim runs to the hotel where Chris is staying. She is full of anticipation to see him again and wants to surprise him in his room. But there she only meets Ellen, who finally tells her the truth about Chris' new life. Desperate, Kim storms out of the hotel room. When Chris and John later meet Ellen again at the hotel, she tells about their meeting with Kim and asks Chris to decide for her or Kim. Chris reveals the dramatic events in Saigon to Ellen and explains to her that she is now the focus of his life. The two then decide to leave Tam with his mother in Bangkok and to support them financially.

Kim, however, wants nothing more than to see her son grow up in a sheltered home in the USA. When the boss in the ring leads Chris, Ellen and John to Kim's quarters, Kim sees only one way to give her son a better life: She commits suicide and dies in Chris arms.

Creative team

  • Orchestration: William D. Brohn
  • Sound engineer: Andrew Bruce
  • Costume design: Andreane Neofitou
  • Lighting design: David Hersey
  • Set design: John Napiers
  • Musical staging & choreography: Bob Avian
  • German translation: Heinz Rudolf Kunze

Cast for the world premiere in London

Cast of the German premiere in Stuttgart

Cast of the revival, London 2014 / DVD production 2016

Songs

1st act

  • Overture
  • The heat is on in Saigon (Saigon, you fever in the light)
  • The movie in my mind
  • The dance (dance by Kim and Chris)
  • Why God why? (My god why)
  • This money's yours (this money's yours)
  • Sun and moon
  • The telephone song
  • The deal
  • The wedding ceremony (Dju Vui Vai)
  • Thuy's arrival (you here)
  • The last night of the world
  • The morning of the dragon
  • I still believe (I believe in you)
  • Thuy's death / You will not touch him (This is the hour)
  • If you want to die in bed (Well, who doesn't like to die in bed)
  • Kim & Engineer (A passport in my hand)
  • I'd give my life for you (I would give my life for you)

2nd act

  • Entr'acte
  • Bui-Doi (Bui-Doi)
  • The revelation
  • What a waste (is it worth it?)
  • Please (is the trip over soon?)
  • Kim's Nightmare (Kim's Nightmare)
  • Room 317 (room 317)
  • Now that I've seen her until 2011
  • MAYBE, New Song for Ellen for the New Production in Utrecht and London
  • The confrontation
  • The American dream
  • final

Awards (selection)

Tony Award 1991

nominated
  • "Best Musical"
  • "Best Book of a Musical"
  • "Best Original Score"
won

Theater World Award 1991

  • Lea Salonga

Drama Desk Award 1991

  • "Outstanding Actor in a Musical" - Jonathan Pryce
  • "Outstanding Actress in a Musical" - Lea Salonga
  • "Outstanding Orchestration" - William D. Brohn
  • "Outstanding Lightning Design" - Devid Hersey

Trivia

The advertising poster for the staging in Stuttgart inspired graphic designer Reiner Müller to design the cover for the board game The Settlers of Catan .

Web links

swell

  1. ↑ Chapter Maskenball - Die Musicals (p. 147 ff) in: Holger Zürch : Silbermond samt Stirnenfuß - Texts and music by Heinz Rudolf Kunze between 1980 and 2005. Leipzig 2005, ISBN 3-938873-31-0
  2. ^ In the sign of the hexagon by Peter Gustav Bartschat, p. 23. Reading sample with reference to sources www.catan.de/files/pagedownloads/izds_leseprobe.pdf