Last weekend, Earl and I saw “Miss Saigon,” the blockbuster that played its way into the third longest running musical in Broadway history. (For the record, “Cats” is first.) I liked it better than Earl did. But I must admit it’s heavy, somber, a serious retelling of Puccini’sopera “Madame Butterfly.”
As Earl said while we searched for our car in the parking lot after the curtain call, “I want to be entertained, not bombarded with messages.” I see his point. “Miss Saigon” opens in the waning days of American presence in Vietnam, while the second act occurs approximately three years later.
There are many messages: the fall of Hanoi, the departure of the final American aircrafts, the abiding love of Kim for her American soldier, the plight of the children born of American military and Vietnam women, the effort to survive Ho Chi Min’s regime. None of it is particularly light and gay, although some of the music attempts to paint it that way.
I was struck with two comparisons. First, the team that created “Miss Saigon” also created one of my favorite musicals, “Les Miz.” And I could see many similarities in the telling of the story and the mounting of the production. Both have drama, both rely on special effects. Yet, even though “Les Miz” was produced before “Miss Saigon,” it remains the fresher, better piece.
Second, it doesn’t come as a surprise that “Miss Saigon” is making the touring circuit again. The United States and Great Britain, which is where the show originated, are now embroiled in Iraq; and it’s not going particularly well. With this in mind, “Miss Saigon” offers a silent parallel between Vietnam and Iraq, one that may yet play out in reality.
The next act remains to be seen.
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