Playbill: The international hit musical Miss Saigon, which launched the career of Lea Salonga, will return to the West End in 2027, playing an eight-month limited engagement at the Prince Edward Theatre, more than a decade since the last revival played that same theatre.
3 comments:
Miss Saigon is an absolutely incredible classic musical, but I have mixed feelings over its return to London’s West End. For what it is as a musical, it’s absolutely incredible. The score, the message, the technical feats accomplished throughout such as the helicopter, are all staples that solidified this show’s grandiose. Where Miss Saigon runs into issues in our modern view of it however, is its controversial portrayl of the Vietnamese people. While certain characters assert their agency in their actions throughout the musical, they often fall victim into the “being victims” of war and not much else category, thus making them feel less human. Overall, I feel like Miss Saigon struggles with an orientalism problem, but still among the Vietnamese community the musical is divided over being celebratory or harmful. I’m interested to see how the musical is received on the West End once again, but I’m hopeful in the fact that this well-known discourse around the show itself exists in the first place.
I am so excited and ecstatic that this show is coming back I have never seen the show fully but I've seen many many clips of the songs and dances from the show and I've absolutely been obsessed with it from the acting the powerful building and every clip of the set the props the lighting is just magical and I'm so excited for this production to come back and for people to see it again in full glam and I really hope I get the opportunity to see it. Not only is it a beautiful, amazing show, but I think it tells such a beautiful, raw story coming out of the Vietnam War. And it's such an emotional and powerful story about a young woman fighting through hell to get back to her love and fighting for her child. I am very excited to see clips from this revival!
Miss Saigon is one of my favorite musicals! I really enjoy the music, and I've watched a few bootlegs of the production on YouTube. I do, however, think it is strange that they're doing it on the West End. The show is high-tech and grandiose, yes, but it is low-key super racist, and an awful interpretation of Vietnamese people during the Vietnam War. I do, however, think that the design team understands that, and will try their best to make sure that they fight the stereotypes and prejudices made by the original Broadway premiere of the show. So I think that the show will get really high ratings and do well, especially since it has been 26 years since the original one came out. I really wish that I could see it, and I hope that it lasts longer gets a chance to experience it, especially after her career was started on it.
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