I have never seen Miss Saigon, so perhaps it's unfair of me to make any kind of assessment of the show based on this 1988 documentary The Making of Miss Saigon. But that's what I'm going to do.
Filmed over about a year's time, I assume as a publicity-builder for the world premiere of Miss Saigon in London, this documentary offers snippets of various aspects of the timeline in creating the show. The first half deals primarily with the worldwide search for the actress to play Kim. We see bits of auditions in New York, Hollywood, Hawaii, and Manila. There is a cringe factor with some of the auditions, and it's hard for me to judge objectively, but I think when you see Lea Salonga audition, you realize she's the one. With no makeup, Ms. Salonga looks very young when we first meet her. It's interesting that another Filipina was cast as the understudy for Kim. I wished for a little more info about their relationship to one another--all we get is a label that both women were alumnae of Manila's young people's program for musical theater.
Actually, this whole documentary would have benefited from a bit more narrative. Granted when you're in the process of creating a technically complicated, theatrically challenging new meta-musical, the last thing you have time to think about is a behind-the-scenes doc, but a bit of attention could have really helped the flow and tension of this film. There is still a bit of tension created--although it has nothing to do with the casting and all to do with the technology of the show.
We see very little of the final show--some chorus numbers, a song by Jonathan Pryce interspersed with chorus quick-changes. What we do see doesn't make me want to see more. I know there are some powerful ballads and duets in the score, but you wouldn't know it from this doc.
Not a lot of information is given about Jonathan Pryce, and again a little background would have helped. Is his character supposed to be multi-racial? He just kind of looks like his eyes are swollen from bee stings. No attention (not even an identifying label) is given to the actor playing the American soldier who is Kim's husband. See, they don't even say the character's name; is this purposeful?
This could fall under the heading of a cringe-making comment, but does anyone else find Cameron Mackintosh kind of adorable?
Miss Saigon
Music by Claud-Michel Schoneberg
Lyrics by Alain Boublil and Richard Maltby Jr.
Opened in London in 1988
Cast: Lea Salonga, Jonathan Pryce, and a bunch of other unidentified people.
Filmed over about a year's time, I assume as a publicity-builder for the world premiere of Miss Saigon in London, this documentary offers snippets of various aspects of the timeline in creating the show. The first half deals primarily with the worldwide search for the actress to play Kim. We see bits of auditions in New York, Hollywood, Hawaii, and Manila. There is a cringe factor with some of the auditions, and it's hard for me to judge objectively, but I think when you see Lea Salonga audition, you realize she's the one. With no makeup, Ms. Salonga looks very young when we first meet her. It's interesting that another Filipina was cast as the understudy for Kim. I wished for a little more info about their relationship to one another--all we get is a label that both women were alumnae of Manila's young people's program for musical theater.
Actually, this whole documentary would have benefited from a bit more narrative. Granted when you're in the process of creating a technically complicated, theatrically challenging new meta-musical, the last thing you have time to think about is a behind-the-scenes doc, but a bit of attention could have really helped the flow and tension of this film. There is still a bit of tension created--although it has nothing to do with the casting and all to do with the technology of the show.
We see very little of the final show--some chorus numbers, a song by Jonathan Pryce interspersed with chorus quick-changes. What we do see doesn't make me want to see more. I know there are some powerful ballads and duets in the score, but you wouldn't know it from this doc.
Not a lot of information is given about Jonathan Pryce, and again a little background would have helped. Is his character supposed to be multi-racial? He just kind of looks like his eyes are swollen from bee stings. No attention (not even an identifying label) is given to the actor playing the American soldier who is Kim's husband. See, they don't even say the character's name; is this purposeful?
This could fall under the heading of a cringe-making comment, but does anyone else find Cameron Mackintosh kind of adorable?
Miss Saigon
Music by Claud-Michel Schoneberg
Lyrics by Alain Boublil and Richard Maltby Jr.
Opened in London in 1988
Cast: Lea Salonga, Jonathan Pryce, and a bunch of other unidentified people.
1 comment:
This is great!!!
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