Miss Saigon

The heat is definitely on in Riverside, with Packemin’s Miss Saigon proving to be  a powerful, moving spectacle.

From Neil Shotter’s epic but effective set design to Audrey Currie’s costumes, Peter Hayward’s orchestra and Karen Lamont-Barnett’s make up, wigs, and hair, this production pulls out all stops to dazzle, move, and entertain. Other theatre companies that like to throw lots of money at the sets and effects should take note: for all of this production’s grandeur and expense it gets right what many of those other affluent companies don’t; Packemin recognises that it’s the characters and their journey that’s important. Despite the largesse on display never once did I feel the performers were being upstaged by it.

And what great performers they were. And in such large number (56). It looked like half of Cabramatta was on that stage. Given the large cast it’s no wonder that the anthemic numbers ("Bui Doi", "This is the Hour", "Morning of the Dragon") sounded so impressive and powerful. 

Vivien Emsworth as Kim  has a beautiful voice and gave a moving performance.  Haydan Hawkins as Chris and Kyle Sapsford as John nail their roles and have great voices to match the soldier-like swagger. I would have liked to have seen these two actors swap their roles, as I had the feeling that the swap would be a more effective dynamic between the three characters. On opening night I felt Kim and Chris were holding back from each other, yet their individual interactions  with John had more feeling, And the talented Ashleigh Taylor does what she can and makes good with the small but pivotal role of Ellen.

David Ouch as Thuy did something I’ve only ever seen one other actor do with the role: he humanises Thuy and makes him sympathetic. This makes Thuy’s voilence all the more horrifying and intense –which it should be.

And Nigel Guerrero-Guarin and Jediah Christoph Hernandez make for the cutest and effective Tams you will ever see. These young lads could have just stood there and I’d applaud them.

A note on Ms Emsworth’s hair: in a case of how small things are really big things, Ms Emsworth has her hair pulled back tight in a bun – as is customary. However, the style pulled at her face and made her look much older than she is. When she sings “I’m 17 and I’m new here today” I couldn’t help thinking she’d been 17 and new for a few years now.  Vivien Emsworth is beautiful as she is youthful, and Karen Lamont-Barnett’s hair and wig work for this show is perfect in every other way, but Kim’s bun didn’t work for me.

The night belonged to Marcus Rivera as the Engineer. He holds this show together, and I could never figure out why he was only the understudy to the Engineer in the professional run, when he should have been the principal. Go see it just for his performance. Mr Rivera once made me impersonate Kim in front of 200 Filipino – that’s how persuasive a performer he can be.

The heartfelt and lovely playing from the orchestra’s string section deserves special mention.

There was only one part where I felt the show went wrong, and that was in the final scene. If you don’t know the show then MAJOR SPOLER ahead so avoid the next bits.

The story has Chris and Kim reunited only after she shoots herself. It’s the classic tragedy set-up of a communication that was missed, mixed, or didn’t happen. Packemin blocked the ending so that Kim meets Chris before she shoots herself and hands over their son to him. Not a word is spoken between the two.

Kim’s suicide is meant to be a necessary and noble sacrifice done for the sake of giving her son a better life. It arises from a firm belief that she will never see Chris again. Having Kim shoot herself after she meets Chris makes that suicide look like pathetic manipulation. Instead of feeling pity I  thought, “well that was silly of you”. This woman kept herelf alive for three years on the belief she’ll be reunited with her lover. Yet she spends only 10 minutes ideating suicide after other people tell her that hubby won’t be happening. Kim needs to believe she’ll never see Chris again for the suicide to work. It did not come off as credible that the lovers would finally meet and not say a word to each other, much less Kim hand over her son in silence. It’s a bit like Romeo finding out Juliet was faking her death but deciding to drink the poison anyway.

Similarly, the Engineer’s fate has always remained ambiguous, but in this production we know what happens to him. I think the ending would have worked better if the ambiguity remained.

Despite that, full praise must go the directors for their use of the crowds: there was perfect balance with big scenes that was realistic (e.g. the refugees, the beggars interacting with tourists, some of those same beggars being caught in front of the tinsel in the "American Dream" sequence). This production realises the sense and scope of common innocent people being swept up in the tide of history.

Peter Novakovich

Photography by Michael Snow.