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For those of
you who might not be familiar with the world
of musical theatre… get out! Okay,
I kid. But if you’re not, it saddens
me to think your life might be nothing but
and endless repetition of brainless sports
events or bad sitcoms. In order for me to
fill you in a little on the new DVD of "The
Making of Miss Saigon", I need to first
fill you in a little on just what "Miss
Saigon"… is.
“Miss Saigon” is the second
musical from Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel
Schönberg, the geniuses behind “Les
Miserables.” Once again, these two
took the most unlikely of sources and turned
it into theatrical gold. “Miss Saigon”
went on to become almost as popular as its
predecessor, with productions going on all
around the world. It tells the story of
Kim, a young Vietnamese girl who is forced
to work in a brothel run by the unscrupulous
‘Engineer’ during the Vietnam
conflict. Her first night there, she meets
and falls in love with Chris, an American
soldier. He swears to take her back to America,
but due to an unfortunate course of events,
it does not come to pass.
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Chris ends up back in America and his life changes
drastically. Though he still has nightmares of
what might have happened to Kim, he has moved
on with his life, thinking he will never hear
from her again. As it turns out, he eventually
learns that she is still alive. But that is not
all he learns… they also have a son…
This little synopsis sound s bit simplistic, but
the story is in truth much broader and the musical
focuses more on the events surrounding Kim and
her story of survival. Her willingness to do anything
to keep her son safe, even at the risk of her
own life, is the emotional core of the story.
This is what makes the show so compelling, and
a must see. Though it might have its moments of
humor, they are few and far between. For the most
part, the show is far from light and frothy, and
if you aren’t moved to tears by the songs
“I Still Believe” or “I’d
Give My Life for You”, then you have no
heart. If you ever… EVER… make it
to New York to see a Broadway show “Miss
Saigon” is one not to miss. And bring a
tissue… hell… bring a box.
The last little bit of advice I will throw in
before I get to the DVD is also to make sure if
you do see the show, see it on Broadway…
and not on tour. It seems the new producers of
the recent tour decided to take an ‘event’
show and taking out some of the event. “Les
Miserables” has its Barricade, while “Phantom
of the Opera” has its chandelier. “Miss
Saigon” has the helicopter during the ‘Fall
of Saigon’ scene. At least it’s supposed
to. In this scene a seemingly full size helicopter
normally lowers to the stage, and then takes off.
I remember the first time I saw this, my jaw dropped
to the floor. Even after I learned how they made
it look like there were actual blades turning,
I was blown away the second time I saw it. I was
all set to see it again on the most recent tour,
but it was not to be. The producers opted to use
a huge video screen with what appeared to be a
computer generated helicopter. I won’t say
it didn’t look impressive, but it paled
in comparison to the real thing.
There is also a later scene with the Engineer,
where he sings all about “The American Dream.”
There is supposed to be big white car that descends
for him to frolic on, but again, nothing. Well,
there was a video screen behind him and a small
black box to stand on, but somehow this just didn’t
measure up. I do feel a little petty complaining
about this lack of spectacle, after all the show
does stand on its own thanks to the music and
performances, but the lack of spectacle really
detracts from the show's impact on the whole.
So that said… A&E is releasing a DVD
of the documentary about "The Making of Miss
Saigon", and if you are already a fan of
the musical (or musicals in general), it’s
a must see. I actually already saw this documentary
a few years back when it was released in a Laserdisc
format and thought it was excellent. I honestly
wish there were more documentaries available for
the making of other musicals, just because of
all of the insanity that goes on putting a production
like this together. And what really impressed
me was that this particular documentary didn’t
sugar coat the events. At one point during the
show's original rehearsals, its director Nicholas
Hynter is actually shown getting extremely upset
when one of the 'special effects' doesn’t
move quite right. He is so concerned about the
safety of the performers and loses it to the point
of using very… uhh… strong words.
But the early part of the production is what I
found the most fascinating, especially when it
came time for the casting. The single most important
role in the show is that of Kim, and we see a
handful of the thousands of girls who tried out
for the part. Most of them sound pretty good,
but when the camera turns to Leah Salonga and
we hear her for the first time it’s as if
the heavens opened up and delivered the world's
most beautiful singing voice. I had heard Salonga
before and knew what an incredible singer she
was, but here she was a complete newcomer and
she wows both the producers and viewers alike.
It was also fun to see the great Jonathan Pryce
at work as the Engineer. Most people are familiar
with Pryce from his movie roles, most recently
that of Elizabeth's father in the "Pirates
of the Caribbean" films. I'm sure few moviegoers
are aware of his enormous stage talent. Here we
get to see the man sing and dance likes it's nobody's
business. As a matter of fact, he's so awesome
in the role that when the show originally planned
to move from London's West End (where it premiered),
producer Cameron Mackintosh was adamant that he
and Salonga open the show on Broadway. But since
the character is Amerasian, Asian actors in the
U.S. picketed Pryce's performing the role. They
were upset because Pryce was an Englishman and
needed makeup to look Asian. They wanted the part
re-cast with an Asian actor. Mackintosh said "Fine…
we just won’t bring the show to America…"
The Asian actors quickly (and rightfully) shut
up and the show opened here with Pryce.
I cannot recommend this DVD enough to fans of
the musical. Its 75 minute running time may seem
short, but it is well shot and edited, allowing
for an intense and in-depth look into the making
of a classic musical.
Extras: None
Studio: A&E
Release Date: 10/31/2006
Region: 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website
We'll give The Making of Miss Saigon an A.
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