Miss Saigon (1991)
by Claire J Rottenberg
Almost 10 years after the London premiere of their
first hit, "Les Miserables,"
Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil saw
their second major play open in London. Like its
predecessor, "Miss Saigon" became a huge
success, first in London, and then several years
later on Broadway.
"Miss Saigon" opened on Broadway on April
11, 1991 and it closed almost 10 years later, after
4,092 performances. The Broadway production was
followed by productions in at least 15 other
countries in many different languages, including
German, Polish, Swedish, and Japanese.
Although "Miss Saigon" was nominated for
11 Tony awards, it won only 3, all of which were won
by the show's performers (Lea Salonga for
Best Actress in a Musical, Jonathan Pryce for Best
Actor in a Musical and Hinton Battle for Best
Featured Actor in a Musical). Most of the other
Tony awards in 1991 went to the American musical,
"The Will Rogers
Follies."
"Miss Saigon," even though it was not a
Tony winner, was a huge financial success. In less
than 10 months on Broadway, its investors recouped
their funds due to the enormous advance sales of
high-priced tickets (up to $100 per seat).
"Miss Saigon," based on Puccini's
tragic opera, Madame Butterfly, takes place in Saigon
during the 1970s Vietnam War. Schönberg and
Boublil wrote the book and the beautiful score that
includes the songs, "The Movie in My
Mind" and "Last Night of the
World." The play was directed by Nicholas
Hytner with choreography by Bob Avian.
Despite its enormous popularity and storyline
conducive to film, surprisingly, "Miss
Saigon" has never been made into a movie.