And Our Love Is Reborn!

Seems odd to do a review for this in a strange way, even though it is technically my 3rd time seeing this - after catching it in London 2 years ago, and then having a cinema screening (plus subsequent DVD release) for its 25th Anniversary, but I couldn't miss this, knowing how much I love this show - as you can probably now tell, I am talking about Miss Saigon; the tragic love story about a Vietnamese girl and an American GI during the end of the Vietnam War, which is now playing Manchester's Palace Theatre as part of its UK tour.

The show is essentially the London (and now Broadway) revival going on the road, so if you want to hear more about the production itself (including background etc etc), please click here. It is just as epic and as much of a spectable as ever, the score still gives you, and of course, it is still incredibly emotional; instead, I am going to concentrate on the new players playing these incredible characters.

I'll get the worst out of the way, and that is I didn't enjoy Gerald Santos's performance as Thuy - especially compared to when Kwang Ho Hong who you genuinely believe would murder an innocent child and have little to no remorse (sorry, you'll realise this, but I cannot help but compare one or two things to either when I last saw the show or the 25th DVD). Santos to me, wasn't scary AT ALL, acting more like a stroppy teenage boy in a man's body.
To be honest, I wasn't keen on Emily Beth Harrington (u/s) as Ellen either; she was vocally sound, but she could have done a bit more with it for me. Though having said, it is VERY hard to beat Carolyn Maitland in my eyes.

Now that that's out of the way, let's get out of the way, let me get onto the good bits.

I will say firstly is that I LOVED Ashley Gilmour as Chris, especially in the beginning - he seemed a very kind Chris, plus he was gorgeous...
As The Engineer, Red Concepción didn't win me over immediately, and he was a bit of a slower burner - but he did from the second half onwards. Very different from Jon Jon Briones, and not quite as threatening, but he brought up a lot more of the sad, pathetic and cowardly qualities of The Engineer. Plus his American Dream was just as brilliant as Briones', though a completely different interpretation.

As the titular character, Sooha Kim was a fresh take on Kim; again, very different from say Eva Noblezada or Tanya Manalang, but just as good - she made Kim more childlike and innocent. Plus her vocals were very different and fresh.
I must also mention, despite having the smallest "main" part in the show, Na-Young Jeon as Gigi. Her moments Movie In My Mind were absolutely beautiful; I really wish she had more to do, I wanted to see more of her! Hopefully, I'll get to see The King and I this year (Jeon has just been cast as Tuptim).
And finally, I must mention Hollie He who was our adorable little Tam  - so cute!!!!!!

Saigon is definitely worth seeing, there's no doubt about that, and it is running into May, so there's plenty of chance to see it - but try and not to sit where we did. We went for the back of the gallery, and while this isn't the case for certain shows, for Saigon, the top of the set was cut off, so we couldn't see certain props/moments (eg: Ellen propped up in bed whilst she's singing I Still Believe). All that's left to see is that it is Saigon as good as ever, so go see it while The Heat Is (Still) On.