GlickArts

MISS SAIGON - 2019 National Tour, March 20

When Miss Saigon first hit the Broadway stage back in 1989 it was a huge hit for a few reasons: The show, now playing through Sunday at Wharton Center, came on the heels of the crazy success of Les Misérables (written by the same team), filled the stage to overflow with huge spectacle, and the politics and emotions of the Viet Nam war were still raw.

 As we view the current national touring production, the history seems as old as the Civil War, but the story remains strong and poignant. It’s a tragic love story using the story line of Madam Butterfly. In the last moments of the Viet Nam war Kim, the lovely and naive country girl, is snagged by a sleazy pimp to work at a bar/brothel in Saigon. She promptly falls in love with a US soldier.

 When the show opens the audience is assaulted with the decadence and debauchery of a Saigon bar that caters to American soldiers. The busy stage vibrates with neon lights, gyrating bar girls and naughty language. Not a show for kids.

As "Saigon" continues, the stage is miraculously transformed, seemingly within seconds, from bars, to helicopter pads, to village huts, to communist rallies, to a fancy hotel room and so on. It’s a struggle to take it all in. And yes, he famous helicopter landing scene is still there – and still jaw dropping.

The music (orchestrated by MSU alum, William David Brohn) is a scintillating combination of American rhythms and Asian melodies with wooden flutes. Fans of Les Miz will be able to hear many of those harmonies as well. The difficult score is played by a traveling pit band, rather than local contractors.

Although it’s really Kim’s story, the star of play is The Engineer (Red Concepcion) who is the epitome of the money-loving opportunist and survivor, only out for himself and dreams of living the high life in the U.S .of A. Concepcion seems to revel in this part, prancing around in garish outfits and treating everyone with equal disdain. He clearly has the star power to pull off this demanding role, but previous actors have displayed more subtly and better dancing.

In general, the entire cast is excellent. They are required to perform great feats of singing, dancing, militaristic marching and acrobatics. Emily Bautista as Kim does a lovely job of creating empathy for her character. Her voice could have been stronger, but electronics helped it along. Her acting bought us all in with her.

Maybe the most impressive actor on stage was J. Daughtry as John, the buddy of Kim’s lover, Chris (Anthony Festa). In many ways he is the heart and soul of the show and his performance was real and powerful. His character was an important element of the drama and his superb acting made it believable.

For opening night, Miss Saigon was a full house, and I predict that this will be the biggest hit of the current Wharton Season, after Hamilton, of course.