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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

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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