An Astounding 'Miss Saigon' for Drury Lane Oakbrook

A helicopter very nearly lands on stage every night at the astounding, frequently breathtaking production of "Miss Saigon" now on view at the Drury Lane theater in Chicago's western suburb of Oakbrook Terrace. Said helicopter is the most viscerally exciting aspect of this high quality local mounting of Broadway's 10th longest running musical, but is by no means its only emotionally affecting moment. There are so many of those, and so many musical, choreographic and theatrical highlights, that is it difficult to know where to start in describing this remarkable Drury Lane achievement.

Producers Kyle and Drew DeSantis have seemingly spared no expense in bringing together a top-notch artistic team and attractive, experienced performers in order to put a once-huge Broadway production into a once-midsized suburban venue. So much about the design concept for this "Miss Saigon" seems directly inspired by that utilized by the now-legendary Nicholas Hytner staging that toured everywhere and occupied major musical houses in New York and London for the entire decade of the 1990s. But this show, while looking exactly as audiences expect it to look, now has its small-scale domestic tragedy firmly at its core, which could not be said of the huge mountings of the British mega-musical era.

Indeed, if you don't remember what all the fuss was about fifteen years ago, or if you are too young to have been there then, you owe it to yourself to be there now.

So, kudos to scenic designer Kevin Depcinet, costume designer Tatjana Radisic and lighting designer Jesse Klug. A big shout-out is due to sound designers Ray Nardelli and Joshua Horvath, and projections by Mike Tutaj are affecting and appropriate. The show simply looks great, and will inspire a great deal of pride in local theatergoers during these chilly winter months.

And what to say about the superb cast, assembled along with the design team by fledgling stage director Rachel Rockwell? Each of the six principals soared opening night during their respective big moments, and those with literally years of experience with this material lead those newer to the story with surety and tremendous insight.

Joseph Anthony Foronda, that veteran fireball, is a dream of an Engineer, bringing his experience with this role and his years on Chicago, national and international musical stages entirely to bear, always likeable yet slightly off-center, always watchable, always unpredictable. As Kim, the young woman at the empathic core of the story, Melinda Chua Smith started a little unsteadily, but grew mighty by the first act's final ballad, "I'd Give My Life For You." Cut from the same cloth as the first Kim, Lea Salonga, Smith has played this role for nearly half her life, and her experience is clearly evident, and valuable. She was burdened with an unfortunately uncooperative microphone during two of the first act's love duets, but Smith didn't flinch one iota.

Northwestern University alumnus Kevin Vortmann played and sang the role of Chris, the GI whose flaws and failed hopes set the story in motion and lead to its tragic climax, as if his very sanity depended on his performance. I cannot imagine that anyone could look or sing Chris better, and the opening night audience showed its support for him. Bravo!

Local musical stars John Sanders and Melissa Dye brought their talents to bear on their big Act Two moments as John and Ellen, and played off Vortmann quite well. And "Miss Saigon" veteran Evan D'Angeles, while physically not what you would expect for the role of Thuy, sang magnificently and clearly understands the role and its function in the larger drama. Good for him.

As for the large ensemble of this production, Drury Lane should be justifiably ecstatic about finding and bringing together young performers who both sing beautifully and look spectacularly sexy. Finding people who can do just one of those is hard enough, but this chorus acquitted itself with great aplomb. The women's wedding song was so lovely, and the men's "Bui Doi" was stirring. And everyone joined in to sing and dance a version of "The American Dream" that was more Michael Bennett than the vaunted original staged by Bennett collegue Bob Avian. Choreographer Stacey Flaster did remarkable work here.

Also sounding pretty great was Roberta Duchak's orchestra of 11, playing Kevin Stites's orchestrations in a traditional open pit, conducted by Margaret James with great skill and care. Any regional "Miss Saigon" would kill to have an orchestra like this, a cast like this, a physical production like this, an emotional and affecting story like this.

While "Miss Saigon" and "Rent" were both long-running Broadway musicals based on Puccini operas, opening only six years apart, in many ways they belong to different worlds. In a lot of ways, the theatrical world that produced "Miss Saigon" no longer exists, and no longer produces successful imitators to those shows. And yet, as an international, multicultural piece of theater, "Miss Saigon" is tremendously important. (Don't forget its Italian source, French authors, British mounting, American subject and Asian setting.)

Its most lasting impact, however, may be in its unflinching look at the moment that American foreign policy, American world influence, faltered and may not ever recover in our lifetimes. As Chris says, Vietnam was a world he never once understood. And yet, death, birth, economic hardship and emotional upheaval all resulted from his heroic Americanism, one audiences totally understand. It's a tragedy, to be sure. Don't miss it. This is the best staging of "Miss Saigon" we may see for a very long time. And its message couldn't be more timely.

Photo credit: Johnny Wright.

"Miss Saigon" plays through March 8, 2009 at the Drury Lane Oakbrook, 100 Drury Lane, Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois. Call 630-530-0111 or visit www.drurylaneaokbrook.com.

To post a comment, you must register and login.