Vintage Theatre to Present MISS SAIGON, Beginning 12/5

Based on the opera Madame Butterfly by Puccini and set in 1970s Saigon during the Vietnam War, "Miss Saigon" similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed romance between a Vietnamese bar waitress and an American G.I.

Vintage Theatre presents "Miss Saigon" December 5, 2014, through February 1, 2015, at Vintage Theatre, 1468 Dayton St., Aurora 80010. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.; Sundays at 2:30 p.m. with additional performances Saturday January 11 and 31 at 2:30 p.m.; Monday, December 15 @ 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, January 29 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $31, $26 in advance and available online at www.vintagetheatre.com or by calling 303-856-7830. Group discounts for 6+ are available.

Director Rebecca Joseph has cast Arlene Rapal (Engineer), Regina Fernandez Steffen (Kim), Rob Riney (Chris), Keegan Flaugh (John), Chachi Martin (Thuy), Abby McInerney (Ellen), Samantha Saunders (Gigi), Emily Gerhard (Mimi), Brianna Herman (Yvette), Chelley Canales (Yvonne) and Everest Xiong as Tam. The ensemble members include Robert Payo (u/s Engineer), Court Clark, Jenna Moll Reyes, Mara Abbott, Chris Arneson, Hao Liu, James Thompson, Chanel Karimkhani, Zach Nick and Brad Wagner.

Alain Boublil and Claude Michel Schönberg were first inspired by a photo, taken a few weeks before the fall of Saigon. The photograph showed a Vietnamese mother giving up her half-American child at a departure gate to board an airplane headed for the United States where her father, an ex-GI, would be in a position to provide a much better life for the child. Schönberg considered this mother's actions for her child to be "The Ultimate Sacrifice," an idea central to the plot of "Miss Saigon".

"Miss Saigon" débuted on Broadway in April of 1991 and went on to garner 10 Tony Award nominations. The musical represented Schönberg and Boublil's second major success, following "Les Miserables" in 1985.