Photo Flash: Opening night reception for Miss Saigon

 

Drury Lane Oakbrook's opening night reception

for the production of MISS SAIGON

 

 

  Kevin Vortmann, who stars as "Chris" with Jeff Committee Chair Susan Haimes and husband Harlan Haimes 

 

 

 

 

 

Presents

The Classic Love-Story

Miss Saigon

 Previews December 31 and opens January 8

 

 

Set in 1975 in the days before Saigon's fall to Communist forces at the end of the Vietnam War, Miss Saigon is the epic love-story of an American GI, Chris, played by Kevin Vortmann, and a young Vietnamese woman, Kim, played by Melinda Chua Smith (who starred in the Broadway, German and both national touring companies of Miss Saigon) and Katie Boren during matinee performances.  Rachel Rockwell will direct the musical, which has been seen by over 30 million people in 25 countries worldwide.

 

The Tony award winning musical Miss Saigon is the story of a romance between Chris, an American Marine serving as an Embassy guard in the days before the American evacuation of Saigon, and Kim, a young Vietnamese woman orphaned by the war and forced to work in a Saigon night club. In this modern adaptation of Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly,  Kim and Chris have a brief but passionate affair and he vows to take her out of Saigon.  On the evening of the largest helicopter evaculation in history, the two are separated and Chris is forced leave Vietnam without his love. Three years after the war’s end the two struggle to deal with the emotional aftermath of their affair while moving on with new lives. Chris, now married, discovers that he has a young son with Kim, while Kim clings to the hope that she and Chris will be reunited and raise their son together as an American boy.  Featuring a beloved score, Miss Saigon includes the songs "The Heat is On in Saigon", "Why God, Why?, “Bui Doi” and "The American Dream".

 

Miss Saigon premiered at Theatre Royal (Drury Lane) in London on September 20, 1989.  It closed after an amazing 4,264 performances on October 30, 1999.  On April 11, 1991, the production opened at the Broadway Theatre in New York, and closed on January 28, 2001 after another great run of 4,092 performances.  Miss Saigon led the 1991 Tony Awards with 11 nominations and remains Broadway’s 10^th longest running musical.

 

Joining Kevin Vortmann, Melinda Chua Smith and Katie Boren in this amazing cast of Chicago’s top actors includes Joseph Foronda, Melissa Dye, John Sanders, Evan D’Angeles, Jillian Jocson, Audrey Billings, Christine Bunuan, Natalie Chung, Adrian Fontanilla, Freddy Franklin, Michael Glazer, Kent Haina, Chie Isobe, Scott Alan Jones, George Keating, Christina Luzwick, Richard Manera, J.P. Moraga, Mayumi Omagari, Allison Orobia, Joshua Park, Matt Raftery, Billy Sarna, Erin Thompson and Christopher Yee.

 

The performance schedule is as follows:  Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m. ($29), Thursdays at 1:30 p.m. ($29) and 8 p.m. ($33), Fridays at 8:30 p.m. ($35), Saturdays at 5 p.m. ($35) and 8:30 p.m. ($35) and Sundays at 2:00 p.m. ($35) and 6 p.m. ($33).  Dinner packages range from $43.75 to $56 (depending on the day of the week).  Subscriptions for the 2009-10 Season are now available for as low as $122 for 5 shows.  Inquire at box office or website for details and prices. For reservations, phone (630) 530-0111 or call TicketMaster at 312-559-1212. You may also visit www.ticketmaster.com or www.drurylaneoakbrook.com.

 

 

 

 

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