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| - The musical represented Schönberg and Boublil's second major success, following Les Misérables in 1980. As of August 2010, Miss Saigon is still the 10th longest-running Broadway musical in musical theatre history. Shortly before his death in "The King Is Dead", Robert Kimble did Miss Saigon as a one-man show.
- Miss Saigon is a production, and this is a general overview of that production.
- Madame Butterfly, The Musical. Penned by the legendary composers of Les Misérables (Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil), Miss Saigon is a reworking of Giacomo Puccini's 1904 opera for more contemporary audiences, by moving it to some new place, specifically The Vietnam War (setting) and Broadway (venue). (It's actually a lot more dramatic when you see it onstage. The music's pretty good too.)
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| abstract
| - The musical represented Schönberg and Boublil's second major success, following Les Misérables in 1980. As of August 2010, Miss Saigon is still the 10th longest-running Broadway musical in musical theatre history. Shortly before his death in "The King Is Dead", Robert Kimble did Miss Saigon as a one-man show.
- Miss Saigon is a production, and this is a general overview of that production.
- Madame Butterfly, The Musical. Penned by the legendary composers of Les Misérables (Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil), Miss Saigon is a reworking of Giacomo Puccini's 1904 opera for more contemporary audiences, by moving it to some new place, specifically The Vietnam War (setting) and Broadway (venue). The date is April 1975. A group of American Marines are out for one last night on the town, since they will be pulling out of Saigon soon. They visit a sleazy nightclub called "Dreamland" run by an Honest John known as The Engineer, and populated by a number of hookers, including Kim, a 17-year-old girl who would probably be The Ingenue if it weren't for her profession. She catches the eye of Chris, one of the marines; his friend John makes the arrangements, and the Official Couple get together. However, after finding out that Kim is a Heartwarming Orphan, Chris offers to take her back to America with him. Of course, this is easier said than done, since the Vietcong are going to be moving in on Saigon in a matter of days. Even better, Kim and Chris' Fourth-Date Accidental Marriage is interrupted by Thuy, joint victim of a Childhood Marriage Promise their parents made. Of course, Kim's parents are dead, she loves Chris long time, and Thuy has gone over to the Dirty Communists, so Kim's not going for it. Thuy promises revenge and storms out again. Time Skip to 1978, Ho Chi Minh City (what Saigon was renamed after the Dirty Communists took it over). Kim is still there, living in poverty. Even though three years have passed, she is still devoted to Chris, and has been waiting for him to rescue her. Chris is asleep with his new American wife, Ellen, as it appears Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder. (Maybe. He still wakes up shouting Kim's name, and believes Kim to be dead.) Kim is still being stalked by Thuy, though, and reveals her motivation for Holding Out for a Hero: she and Chris have a son, Tam. Thuy goes a little Ax Crazy over this and Kim has to shoot him, which kills him. She then goes to The Engineer, who points out that Tam having an American father ups their chances of being allowed to emigrate to America. As the curtain falls, they book passage to Bangkok as the first leg of this journey. Act Two opens in America, where John is deeply involved in an American charity organization that helps with the aftermath of the war, specifically, linking American fathers to their interracial children. He tells Chris about Kim and Tam, which leaves Chris in the uncomfortable position of telling Ellen what happened when he was Off the Wagon; the three travel to Bangkok for some sort of family reunion. (Meanwhile, we have a Flash Back to the Fall Of Saigon, where it turns out that Chris did his darnedest to get Kim out with him; in fact, John had to punch him to keep him from abandoning the 'copter and staying in Vietnam.) Kim goes to Chris' hotel room but finds only Ellen, who is not unsympathetic to her plight but doesn't want to be second fiddle to one of her husband's byblows. Ellen issues Chris an ultimatum - her or me - and Chris agrees to limit his contact with Kim and Tam to monetary support sent from America. Of course, Kim isn't particularly happy about this, so once the Americans are at her front door, she shoots and kills herself, leaving Tam's fate entirely in American hands. The curtain falls. (It's actually a lot more dramatic when you see it onstage. The music's pretty good too.)
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