A good experience visiting The Palace Theatre, as expected from one of Manchester’s most popular theatres.
This production of Miss Saigon was entertaining but the plot was hard to follow, especially at the beginning. Overall the cast were mixed – some very strong actors shone while others were disappointing in musical performances.
The staging and live orchestra were both West-End-class with a sweeping, fault-free soundtrack and jaw-dropping set surprises.
Theatre Experience 🐝🐝🐝
The Palace Theatre security checks were quick and unintimidating with friendly bouncers checking all bags. It was a busy night with a large audience and, while the foyer snacks kiosk service was fast, the circle bar had a long queue and a tap water took 10 minutes to order.
The staff were helpful and accessible in plain sight.
The toilets were initially clean but at the interval wouldn't flush (staff explained that this was due to too many flushes using all the water) resulting in sitting through the second half with a full bladder.
Plot 🐝🐝🐝
You may know the plot of Miss Saigon but if not, don't worry, I won't give any spoilers. Here is the basic set-up:
American soldier Chris is stationed in Saigon, Vietnam during The Vietnam War in 1975. He meets bar-and-brothel worker 17-year-old Vietnamese Kim who is on her first night in the job having fled her destroyed village. They end up spending the night together and falling in love. He vows to help her. The rest of the musical follows the unfortunate events that test their love.
Fast-moving scenes with many background characters left me confused. I soon lost track of their relationships. This made what should have been tragically crucial plot points feel forced and unemotional.
This production stood out in several aspects. Firstly, the brothel girls featured in some very sexually explicit scenes with many crude jokes and language used. I would have been uncomfortable bringing children to watch. Secondly, the staging was fantastic (which I will detail later) managing to rescue a lot of the confused plot.
Photo Copyright: Johan Persson
Cast 🐝🐝🐝
The cast felt authentic with Asian actors playing Asian characters, a refreshing change from other musicals I have seen like Hairspray where White-British and Hispanic actors were playing African American characters. The entire cast was large and the background acting and singing was good.
Chris, Kim's American love interest, was hopefully ill on the night because he totally failed to hit any of the high notes. He faded into the background and only emerged when he hit a wrong note. Awkward grimaces were exchanged between audience members at these points.
Kim, the musical's heroine, was neither bad nor outstandingly brilliant. She didn't convey convincing love for Chris until the second half making me wonder if the storyline was about a money-grabbing prostitute trying to take advantage of a vulnerable veteran.
Her solo song before the interval lasted far too long and she gave an average performance. I was also disappointed by her voice which had a nasal tone and lacked depth. She was notably better in the later second half drawing tears from the audience at several key emotional moments.
The Engineer, on the other hand, was utterly brilliant. While not blessed with a typical soloist's voice, he smashed all of his songs and scenes providing thorough entertainment and laughs all round. His performance of 'American Dream' was outstanding. He received the largest cheer from the audience and a standing ovation.
Photo Copyright: Johan Persson
Staging 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝
(Including Scenery, Props, Costume, Hair & Make Up)
Impressive! The stage is straight from the West End with truly world-class scenery and setting. It was very flexible transforming beyond recognition from scene to scene. The production director deserves every award.
The clever staging and impressive props rescued the emotionally-dry performances. The use of moving fences detaining fleeing refugees formed an incredibly moving scene which left many audience members in tears, myself included. The jaw-dropping surprises that I won’t spoil added to this making it a magical theatrical experience.
The lighting, while moody and dramatic, was at times too dark making it hard to see the action. Costume, hair and make-up was as expected giving the eyes lots to look at especially in the colourful brothel scenes.
Music 🐝🐝🐝🐝
The music was live from an orchestra who were so brilliant I didn't realise they were live until the end. The sweeping soundtrack is undeniably beautiful but, unlike many other musicals, the songs weren't memorable. As stated previously, the main actors' singing wasn't up to standard which brings this bee-rating down from five to four.
The Theatre Bee
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