I will fully admit that I know very little about this show. All I know is that it's based on the Puccini opera Madame Butterfly and has a story line that explores the relationship of an American GI and a Vietnamese bar girl during the Vietnam war (the opera features an American lieutenant and a Japanese girl). Although I am a fan of opera, Madame Butterfly has always been one that I have never liked. Infact I can't watch it for more than 15 minuets before I can't stand it any more. I cant tell you a specific reason for this, it just is was it is. This is unusual though as it's one of the most loved of all the operas. Why, if I don't like Madame Butterfly, would I go to see a musical that's based on it? Well firstly the producer is Cameron Macintosh and I have always liked his other work. Also I have heard the rave reviews, seen photos of the production from when it was last on the London stage and read descriptions of the production. I wanted to see if for myself and if it is as good as I'd heard but also, like most people, I wanted to see how they portrayed the helicopter on stage.
The theatre is wonderful. I would go so far as to say it might even be the best looking London theatre I've been in. There is lots of red and gold giving a very oriental feel which suites the show perfectly. I've no idea how it would have suited the last production in the theatre, Jersey Boys, but it certainly suites this. The seats in the theatre are fairly new and you can tell. Looking at them you might not be able to tell but they are surprisingly comfortable to sit on. The backs a a little hard and infact for most of the show I had some form of back pain. The seats are also a little close together so if your a larger person you may be a little uncomfortable. There is also a slight issue with the rake (the angle at which the seats are in relation to one another). It's not particularly noticeable so the bottom of the stage had, for me anyway (and I'm not that short), a line of bumps, or the tops of people's heads, all along the bottom.
One last negative thing regarding the theatre, I promise. They opened the doors 45 minuets before the production, which started slightly later than it was meant to by the way, and for those of us in the stalls we were ushered down to a separate waiting area. I normally arrive 30mins before a production and this time was no different. When I got into this second waiting area it was already fairly full and people were already a little squashed. The theatre staff however just kept letting people in and almost pushing them as far forward as they could to let more people in. I could stand this to a certain extent but when it becomes more crushed than the tube during rush hour it's just not good.
There were no real big names in the production, however all have been in numerous theatre productions and some are at least known by theatre fans and critics. Jon Jon Briones is probably one of the best known by Miss Saigon fans, though not by me, as he was a member of the original production and has subsequently played the role of The Engineer in productions around the world. In the role of The Enineer he brings welcome bursts of comedy throughout the show. I say all the cast have been involved in numerous productions, however Eva Noblezada is making her professional and West End debut with this production. If that was nerve racking enough for her she has the role of Kim, which for those of you unfamiliar with the show is the title role of Miss Saigon. I must say she is fantastic and has both a brilliant singing voice and was absolutely captivating to watch. Alastair Brammer who plays the role of Chris, the American who falls in love with Kim, and Rachelle Ann Go who plays Gigi are also a good singers however I did feel at times I couldn't totally understand what they were saying as they were almost mumbling their words. This is surprising as Chris has had many West End roles including Marius in Les Miserables (he took on the role of Prouvaire in the 25th Anniversary concerts at the O2 Arena in London and again in the 2012 film). He had a much better voice quality in Les Mis so maybe having to have an American accent got in the way. Rachelle is also, according to her bio in the programme, is a well known pop artist and actress from the Philippines. I would therefore assume she should have a good singing voice, though you can never be sure of that now with many singers. Her acting was reasonably good though. There are a few others people may know, such as Tamsin Carroll and Hugh Maynard, but there performances were neither good or bad enough to warrant more than this passing mention. One more thing I have to say about the cast, and that is in regard to the female ensemble. As good as their individual singing voices are, they are truly a joy to listen to when singing in harmony. I would go so far as to say they were absolute bliss. I was transfixed.
One last negative thing regarding the theatre, I promise. They opened the doors 45 minuets before the production, which started slightly later than it was meant to by the way, and for those of us in the stalls we were ushered down to a separate waiting area. I normally arrive 30mins before a production and this time was no different. When I got into this second waiting area it was already fairly full and people were already a little squashed. The theatre staff however just kept letting people in and almost pushing them as far forward as they could to let more people in. I could stand this to a certain extent but when it becomes more crushed than the tube during rush hour it's just not good.
There were no real big names in the production, however all have been in numerous theatre productions and some are at least known by theatre fans and critics. Jon Jon Briones is probably one of the best known by Miss Saigon fans, though not by me, as he was a member of the original production and has subsequently played the role of The Engineer in productions around the world. In the role of The Enineer he brings welcome bursts of comedy throughout the show. I say all the cast have been involved in numerous productions, however Eva Noblezada is making her professional and West End debut with this production. If that was nerve racking enough for her she has the role of Kim, which for those of you unfamiliar with the show is the title role of Miss Saigon. I must say she is fantastic and has both a brilliant singing voice and was absolutely captivating to watch. Alastair Brammer who plays the role of Chris, the American who falls in love with Kim, and Rachelle Ann Go who plays Gigi are also a good singers however I did feel at times I couldn't totally understand what they were saying as they were almost mumbling their words. This is surprising as Chris has had many West End roles including Marius in Les Miserables (he took on the role of Prouvaire in the 25th Anniversary concerts at the O2 Arena in London and again in the 2012 film). He had a much better voice quality in Les Mis so maybe having to have an American accent got in the way. Rachelle is also, according to her bio in the programme, is a well known pop artist and actress from the Philippines. I would therefore assume she should have a good singing voice, though you can never be sure of that now with many singers. Her acting was reasonably good though. There are a few others people may know, such as Tamsin Carroll and Hugh Maynard, but there performances were neither good or bad enough to warrant more than this passing mention. One more thing I have to say about the cast, and that is in regard to the female ensemble. As good as their individual singing voices are, they are truly a joy to listen to when singing in harmony. I would go so far as to say they were absolute bliss. I was transfixed.
The scenery is brilliant, constantly moving and changing and always portraying the locations perfectly. I also need to praise the work of the lighting designer Bruno Poet. He has worked on many theatre ans operatic productions. The lighting of the production made myself and others in the theatre feel more like it was a movie rather than a West End show. The lighting is something people around me seemd to be talking about most about during the interval, something thats never really been a major basis for discussion at past shows. I mentioned at the beginning of this that I was interested, as are most people, to see exactly how the production delt with the task of a helicopter on stage. I must say although managing to get a helicopter on stage is impressive, I was left a bit deflated. Although this is the UK premiere of this new production, and the first time the show has been on a London stage in around 25 years, the production has been on stage at many locations around the world. Seeing as there have been great advances in technology I would have assumed so much more could have been done. Maybe I'm just being a bit fanciful, but nonetheless I was left deflated.
I know there has been a fair amount of negativity in this review however I must stress that I did really enjoy the show. It isn't my most loved West End show, though it's certainly up there. I would defiantly recommend going to see this as it's not only a one of the most well known pieces of theatre but it's also a great production. Tickets and Info
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