Miss Saigon at La Mirada

[Wildcard]

The LA Times gave it a good review. Was wondering if anyone here has seen it and what your thoughts on it are.

[stagedoorlily]

I saw it on Press Night and it is incredible. The used age appropriate and incredibly talented actors. I really recommend seeing it.

[ggersten]

Going this Saturday with my daughter who's never seen the show. (But she has heard the London Cast Recording plenty)

[eatlasagna]

going on May 6! excited to see a new actress do KIM and to see Joseph Anthony Foronda again as the Engineer!

[rosscoe(au)]

Saw an local company do this show in Australia, Kim was played by a 50 year old white woman, interesting take on the show. Glad to hear they are using the correct age!

[stagedoorlily]

Hi! I just wanted to warn you that the show does have adult content especially on the first scene.

[rosscoe(au)]

Yay for Hookers. Really adult content. She shoots herself and you are worried about a few hookers!

[gvendo2005]

Do they use Kim's new song, mentioned here in another thread, or do they stick with "Now That I've Seen Her"?

[gvendo2005]

Because I STILL don't have my damn edit button back (hi Rob, yes, I deleted my cache; no, it's still not there), I must amend my above posting:

Do they use Ellen's new song, mentioned here in another thread, or do they stick with "Now That I've Seen Her"?

[someone.else's.story2]

I'm seeing it on the 28th and can't wait!

[stagedoorlily]

Actually not worried about anything:) It was Saigon, afterall and I spent part of my youth in Subic Bay. However, I heard many a moms complain about the adult content during intermission.

[Wildcard]

I don't believe they are using the song "Maybe" for Ellen. Chances are it hasn't been implemented yet by MTI. The song is supposed to make its English production debut in the rumored 2013 tour.

[My Oh My]

My sister saw this production on opening night (I'm going on 4 May) and she really loved it. She had previously seen the original production several times and thought this was a very nice, smaller scale nod to the original with the best special effects intact. She also dug the full orchestra treatment; a rarity these days.

And the cast. Boy, did she rave about the cast.

Interestingly, she felt Kim was the weakest vocally. But it's that situation where everyone else just soars vocally and are so up there in the talent scale that "the weakest" among them is actually still really, really good. She loved the Kim, even if she was frequently drowned out by the orchestra.

Oh, and "Now That I've Seen Her" is thankfully included and is apparently spectacularly performed here. Sis thought Ellen was the best member of the cast and delivered the song in a very expressive, fresh manner.

Looking forward to it.

[EponineAmneris]

I wish I could see this and hope that this production/cast comes to Broadway

[eatlasagna]

anyone who saw this... do you guys knows if this is a new set that they designed or the same one that's kind of been being passed around the regional productions of the show... the one used in civic light opera was a great set that reminded me of the original production but the one used in San Diego open air theater was pretty bad...

[AEA AGMA SM]

It appears to be a rental. Everything backstage is tagged FCLO.

[ggersten]

Per this article, La Mirada is using the same set the Fullerton Civil Light Operat Company used a few years ago.
Fullerton to La Mirada

[Wicked Fanatic]

OC Register Review

[eatlasagna]

here's some clips of the cast
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFqqy_GaXuI

[SporkGoddess]

It looks like the woman playing Kim is of Vietnamese descent (at least, her last name is). As far as I know this is a first for Miss Saigon, so I think that's really cool.

[eatlasagna]

this LA times article says she's supposedly the first Vietnamese woman to play the role.. which i concur... is really cool...

most of my KIMs have been Filipino... and then there was Kym Hoy and Mika Nishida who I thought were pretty damn good in the role

[dancinthrulife2]

i'm a member of the cast of this production and wanted to add some info to the convo real quick for all of you

yes, Jackie (our Kim) is in fact the FIRST Vietnamese woman to portray Kim in a major production of Miss Saigon. Which is extremely cool. Along with that, her mother is a survivor of the evacuation of Saigon and lived through "Kim's nightmare" for real. It's an amazing thing to watch someone tell the story of something that is so real and meaningful to them.

and for those who were curious about the sets, it's the FCLO set (and for whoever was comparing FCLO to Moonlight's sets in San Diego......they are actually the same exact set package, they used the FCLO sets as well. it just looked much smaller on the Moonlight Ampitheatre stage)



and as for 'adult content' yes...this is definitely not a show to bring the kidlets or anyone easily offended by sexual situations to. We've been told my numerous Saigon alumni who have attended since we've opened (who've performed in productions anywhere from Broadway, First national tour, Germany, Regional and more) that our production here in La mirada is the 'raunchiest' they've ever seen the show. i'll leave it at that

Big thanks from the cast for all the kind words-
hope to see you all at the show!!
www.lamiradatheatre.com

[My Oh My]

The same set was used for the Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities 2008 production. I really liked what I saw at their show.

I used to be all pro revision/different perspectives in production design. Well, not so much against it nowadays, but I'd much rather prefer something that won't disappoint and is at least based on earlier concepts.

And the only reason I feel that way is because so many attempts to visually 'reinvent' a show's production design have left much to be desired. I'd rather something where the sole purpose of implementing anything is not based on change for the sake of change cause then that affects the direction which affects the storytelling which affects blahblahblahbabblebabblebabble.

[dancinthrulife2]

i also wanted to point out to prospective audience members that we've done a lot to make this show as authentic to the culture as possible.
not only do we have the first Vietnamese Kim ever in a major production (who's mother who i mentioned before did in fact survive the fall and evacuation of Saigon with her children like Kim)
we have also altered the lyrics of "The Ceremony" to actually be in real Vietnamese (they were only phonetic before and mostly not actual vietnamese due to pronounciation to work with the music) and so now it actually does *mean* something in vietnamese.
"morning of the dragon" features actual Vietnamese dance techniques (learned from private dance lessons in traditional Vietnamese dance technique by our choreographer) and real authentic martial art technique from our asst. choreographer who is in fact a martial art master.
we have lots of little authentic touches here and there as well- some the ao dai dresses we wear are traditional vietnamese dresses donated from vietnamese cast members and many of us have gone through the process of learning some vietnamese to keep the onstage chatter authentic.


it was really important to us to keep the culture of the show very important as well as the music and spectacle and personally i think it really sets us a part from other Saigon's.

[someone.else's.story2]

Very cool!!! Thanks for posting this. As a big fan of the show, I was already excited but am even more so now. It's so weird that there hasn't been a Vietnamese Kim before, so kudos to La Mirada. Also, that must be really intense for the actress (and her Mom, if she comes to see the production). As an audience member, I always appreciate when a production puts work into the authenticity of a show. Even if the audience doesn't know what specifically, it generally makes for a more realized production.

Congrats on your show! Can't wait to see it!!!

[ggersten]

We saw it last Saturday night. And darn it, I promised myself I wouldn't cry. So much for promises.

I guess there aren't spoilers anymore - but the audience loudly gasped when Kim shoots Thuy. I even jumped - and I knew it was coming.

The performances were simply - wow!
Kevin Odekirk as Chris - omg - his Why God Why was emotional beyond emotion and he must held the last note for at least 15 seconds.
Joseph Anthony Feronda's engineer - UNEFFINGBELIEVABLE. I saw an understudy on Broadway (March 1994) - but now see how this part can really be played. He simply inhabited the character (yes, I know he's played it before, but it seemed fresh, original and he totally dominates the stage whenever he's on. He brought out the comedy, the pathos, the deviousness, and perhaps even a little humanity in the Engineer.

Jacqueline Nguyen's Kim was sweet. She sang the role really well. But sometimes, there just seemed like a smidgen of emotion was missing. Nothing specific - just a sense. And Ms. Nguyen is TINY. From the balcony, it looked like Chris was twice Kim's height, but I saw them in the lobby afterward and Odekirk can't be more than 5'6" so Ms. Nguyen may look up at 5 foot.

And poor Cassandra Murphy as Ellen - she's great - but I'd forgotten how thankless a role Ellen is.


The sets were okay - they really just set the scene and didn't really add much. I found the Bangkok outdoor set distracting.

The helicopter was cool (alhough smaller than on Broadway which is completely understandable). The moving of the fences for the Fall of Saigon were well done.

I really enjoyed Morning of the Dragon with the acrobatics.

The Dreamland opening was a bit raunchy - and I didn't expect to see Kim disrobe on stage. (For those of a more prurient interest, her back is to the audience). Apparently, some people have walked out in the middle of Act I or left at intermission.

The worst part of the evening: Mr. Cathy Rigby trying to "warm up" the audience with lame jokes and inappropriate comments about Cathy Rigby in a harness over their bed.