The reviews for Miss Saigon are in, and the revival seems to be sending critics down memory lane if not to Vietnam with the cast. The sweeping epic from the team behind Les Miz, perhaps best remembered for the helicopter that shows up, is mostly a tribute to the original. Coincidentally, the production offers some modern relevance this time around; issues related to immigration and American capitalism both feel more potent in 2017 than during the original Broadway run, and the audience responds with vigor to a “make America great again!” reference from the slimy Jon Jon Briones as the Engineer. Overall, the cast is earnest, the design is lush, and a helicopter does, indeed, show up…but don’t expect this send-up to measure up to your memories of the original.
NEW YORK TIMES REVIEW OF MISS SAIGON
Even before the orchestra sighs its first purple notes from the swoony score of “Miss Saigon,” which opened in a time-warped revival on Thursday night, the audience at the Broadway Theater is treated to another noise — less mellifluous, perhaps, but more titillating, at least for the purposes of this show…
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AM NEW YORK REVIEW OF MISS SAIGON
Stylistically, “Miss Saigon” is a remnant of the bombastic, spectacle-driven, opera-meets-rock English mega-musicals that conquered Broadway in the ’80s and ’90s, such as “Les Miz” and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Cats” and “Phantom.” But as a piece of political theater that depicts Americans involved in a disastrous…
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ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY REVIEW OF MISS SAIGON
Miss Saigon was the first show I ever saw on Broadway. My mother and I were in New York City touring colleges and picked up our tickets at TKTS. We didn’t get to sit together, but when it was over, we sobbed over a slice of cheesecake and rehashed what we’d just seen. Twenty years later, the new revival playing…
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HOLLYWOOD REPORTER REVIEW OF MISS SAIGON
It often seems as if the 1980s revival began just 20 minutes or so after that decade of orgiastic greed and excess actually ended. But with The Art of the Deal recently having replaced the U.S. Constitution, it now feels official. Which makes it perfect timing to bring back Miss Saigon. The show’s romantic…
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NBC NEW YORK REVIEW OF MISS SAIGON
The revival of Boublil and Schönberg’s sweeping musical “Miss Saigon” features two strong lead actors—one appealingly seedy, the other capable and tenacious. As when the musical first helicoptered onto Broadway in 1991, the famous hardware-heavy set deserves star billing, too. “Miss Saigon” is a retelling of…
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