Miss Saigon Review - 17/10/15
So, here I am again reviewing another performance of Saigon.Ā
Oh how I love Jon Jon. He just IS the Engineer. Everything about his performance is spectacular, every single bit of it. Iām even finding that heās starting to experiment a little bit with the character again, which is making the part even more interesting. You know the bit at the end ofĀ āIYWDIBā where the really funky music plays and he starts dancing around? This time, it was bloody incredible. It was just so rock nā roll.Ā
Beautiful, beautiful Eva. I loved her singing so much. Plus, I feel like the bit where she screamsĀ āNOOOā during This is the hour, was much more timed and dramatic this time around. I even shed a tear when she was saying goodbye to Tam :(
Prefer him a lot more to Alistair (just because heās not grumpy all the time). There also seems to be something a lot funnier about some of his lines when he gets confused at the Vietnamese culture (such as Paper Dragons and perfume). However, I think that the walk-in during Kimās Nightmare was way too cringey.Ā
Hugh is a boss. His singing is soulful, his acting is soulful, his personality is soulful. During Bui Doi, he looked me straight in the eyes when he sang the lineĀ āThey are the living reminder of all the good we failed to do!ā. I felt him staring into my soul...I felt bad, and I wasnāt even fighting in the Vietnam War :O Heck, I wasnāt even born!
What a lovely, lovely woman. I didnāt get a chance to get to the stage door and meet her this time around, but Iām hoping that next time Iām in London I can just nip round to the stage door and thank all of them for putting on such a powerful set of performances...I may not even see the show again, but It makes me feel like I can perhaps meet them in person and just tell them how much it has meant for me to see something as hugely creative and magical as Saigon, on Stage. Carolyn has a wonderful voice, and her acting was ace. I sent her a tweet about half an hour after the performance whilst I was on the train back, just to say how wonderful she was - and she even sent me a tweet back thanking me! :D
There are things about Sangwoong that work. There are things about Sangwoong that donāt work. Either way, people are going to have a split opinion on him especially after Kwang Ho left at cast change. I like the fact that Sangwoong really puts on a display of a desperate character trying to fight his military brainwashing for the woman he loves, but at the same time - I didnāt like the fact that during the torture scene where Kim and Engineer get beaten up by the soldiers, Sangwoong screamsĀ āNoooooooo! Get out!āĀ āCommissar?āĀ āI said get out!!! GO!!!āĀ
This may be because Iām so used to hearing Kwang Ho shoutingĀ āStop! Get out!āĀ āCommissar *u wot m8?8Ā āI said get out!ā
Her Gigi is flipping crazy, but still a bit sexy. I think the difference between her a Rachelle is that Rachelle was originally very calm & used a lot of seduction rather than Natalie, who kind of just throws it in your face quite a bit.Ā
How do I explain this theory? Ok, hereās an idea:
Rachelle (in American Dream:
āYep, Iām back. Missed me? Iāve got a big fur coat and Iām a bit posh nowā
Natalie (in American Dream)
āWASSUP!? HERE I AM!ā
Overall, a smashing performance.Ā
- Big well done to Gavin Tsang for covering many roles in one performance!
- Marsha and Kanako are beautiful! (Just me being a bloke :) )
- Great work from Adam Rowe and his conducting skills!