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| re: Miss Saigon (spoilers) | |
| Last Edit: Delvino 09:49 pm EST 01/13/18 | |
| Posted by: Delvino 09:47 pm EST 01/13/18 | |
| In reply to: Miss Saigon (spoilers) - mikem 10:13 am EST 01/13/18 | |
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| I saw the Chris understudy last spring, and he was so wrong, so histrionically over the top and yet canned, the whole story became even less appetizing. And yet, it made a bigger thematic point, by removing an attractive, romantically viable young man from the point of access: the indifference, mistreatment and sociopolitical abuse of this young woman is a searing portrait of hegemony run amok. All of the isms attached this show -- imperialism and colonialism the biggies -- stand out when Chris is vacuous, just a big voice in shallow shell. Noblezada, raw and yeah, so young her naivete was almost embarrassing to watch, as it should be. She lifted the show for me, and she made a case for its cautionary tale. |
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| I saw this production in London soon after it opened | |
| Posted by: aleck 10:08 pm EST 01/13/18 | |
| In reply to: re: Miss Saigon (spoilers) - Delvino 09:47 pm EST 01/13/18 | |
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| And I thought it was terrific. I excused the British Chris for his lapses in accent. But overall I thought it was better than the original production -- which I saw at least 5 times because it was one I would take out of towners of a certain age to. There were a couple of good performances of Chris during that original run -- particularly Will Chase. However, I have to admit I didn't care for it the first time I saw it, which was about a week after it opened. I actually did not think Jonathon Pryce was very good. Later replacements were better. More believable in the role. However, this past November I revisited this production in its current Broadway presentation with someone who had never seen it. We saw the understudies of the understudies in the leads. It was a disaster. My friend was puzzled by the whole thing and why it could have possibly been such a success. The Chris was unable to sing or act. He made no eye contact with his Kim. The Kim wasn't much better. She actually seemed lost on the stage, not knowing where to go next. Everything was so hesitant. And forget any diction. If you weren't familiar with the dialog and lyrics, you were out of luck on trying to follow what was going on. That was true of the ensemble as well. The ladies were loud, but they slurred the lyrics. It was a dispiriting experience -- especially compared to the tight and effective performance I had seen in London. It was watching the tail end of the run of some bus-and-truck production that had been limping along for 10 years. |
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