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Lyrics - Richard Maltby and Alain Boublil
Opened - 1989
Main Characters - Kim, Chris, the Engineer, John, Ellen, Thuy
Plot - The story begins near the fall of Saigon in the Vietnam war. The Engineer, a local organiser, has got together some girls for a Miss Saigon contest to entertain the US soldiers. One of the girls is called Kim and she is new from the countryside. Two soldiers, John and Chris, are there, and after the contest John buys a night with Kim for Chris to cheer him up. Chris and Kim fall in love and spend the last couple of days together.
We skip several years forward, and Chris is back in America with a wife, Ellen. John finds out that Kim is alive and has a son which is Chris's. In Saigon the Engineer finds Kim again for a man called Thuy who was promised to Kim when they were children. Thuy arrives and gets angry about Kim's child and she shoots him. The Engineer takes Kim with him to Bangkok, which is where John finds her. Kim goes to Chris's hotel and finds only Ellen, still unaware that Chris is married to someone else. Hearing the news she decides that her son, Tam, can have a better life in America with Chris and Ellen. But the only way she knows that they'll take him is if she kills herself. Chris arrives just too late and Kim dies in his arms.
Songs (With marks out of 10)
1.Overture (9)
2.The Heat is on in Saigon (9)
3.The Movie in my mind (10)
4.Why God Why? (10)
5.This moneys yours (9)
6.Sun and Moon (10)
7.Dju Vui Vai (10)
8.Last night of the world (10)
9.The Morning of the dragon (8)
10.I still believe (9)
11.You will not touch him (10)
12.If you want to die in bed (8)
13.I'd give my life for you (10)
14.Bui Doi (8)
15.What a waste (9)
16.Please (9)
17.Now that I've seen her (8)
18.The American Dream (10)
Favourite song - Movie in my Mind
Favourite character - Kim
Favourite quotes -
Chris - "In a place that won't let us feel, in a place where nothing seems real,
I have found you."
Kim - "In a world thats moving too fast, in a world where nothing can last,
I have found you."
- Chris and Kim, their last night together, 'Last night of the world'
"Why does Saigon never sleep at night? Why does this girl smell of orange trees?
How can I feel good when nothings right? Why am I cold when there is no breeze?
Vietnam! You don't give answers do you friend, just questions that don't ever end!"
- Chris, as Kim sleeps beside him, 'Why God Why'
Comment - The first I heard of Miss Saigon was a highlights CD given to me as a christmas present. I liked the songs, but I never really knew how the story went. Eventually I bought the complete musical, and it was transformed into one of the most moving and gorgeous stories I know. The whole oriental feeling is so strong but combined brilliantly with the horror of war. The ending is so tragic, it always brings tears to my eyes. The whole thing is like a beautiful movie.