The heat is on in St. George for four nights only starting Wednesday, Feb. 3, when The Stage Door will produce a concert-style version of “Miss Saigon” featuring an all-star cast at the historic Electric Theater in St. George.
Cameron Mackintosh’s legendary musical “Miss Saigon” will make its final London flight at the Prince Edward Theatre on Feb. 27 and then return to Broadway in 2017. In the meantime, the rights to this production have been pulled from all markets in preparation for the return, with the exception of right here in southern Utah.
“Miss Saigon” is by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil (the creative geniuses behind “Les Miserables”) and is a similar tale to the classic opera by Giacomo Puccini, “Madame Butterfly.” However, instead of a doomed romance involving an Asian woman abandoned by her American lover, the setting is relocated to 1970s Saigon during the Vietnam War and portrays the story of a marriage between an American GI and a Vietnamese bargirl. The musical’s inspiration was reportedly a photograph that Schönberg found inadvertently in a magazine. The photograph showed a Vietnamese mother leaving her child at a departure gate at Tan Son Nhut Air Base to board an airplane headed for the U.S. where her father, an ex-GI, would be in a position to provide a much better life for the child. Schönberg considered this mother’s actions for her child to be “the ultimate sacrifice,” an idea that is central to the plot.
The cast includes James Royce Edward performing the role of Chris, the American GI. Edwards is perhaps better known locally for his roles in Tuacahn’s “Tarzan” (playing the lead role) and “The Little Mermaid” (as Prince Eric). Alexa Garcia (Maria in “West Side Story” at SGMT) will play Kim, the Vietnamese bargirl. The principal cast members are rounded out by Brodie Perry, Joel Thomas, Jake Thomas, Cathy Ford, and Emme Forbes Condie. The chorus comprises approximately 26 other equally talented performers.
The staging design by Josh Scott allows this production to be much more than a mere concert, and it will include all the music of the regular stage production.
“Miss Saigon” is licensed thru Musical Theatre International. Tickets are on sale now for this limited production and can be found at showtix4u.com or thestagedoortheater.com or by calling (435) 656-4407.
