Review: A Towering 'Miss Saigon' At The Paramount

By Melody Udell in Arts & Entertainment on Nov 7, 2013 4:25PM

Miss Saigon, now playing at the Paramount in Aurora.

Miss Saigon, that grand ‘80s-era mega-musical, is famed for its big budget scene featuring a helicopter looming large, ready to transport American soldiers from the newly fallen capital city of Vietnam. But on stage at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora the pivotal scene is missing this once-famous technical prop and as it turns out, that scene—the entire show, in fact—still maintains all the high-stakes tension that makes Miss Saigon such a gripping piece of musical theater.

But of course there’s more to Miss Saigon than make-or-break prop decisions. Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil—the duo behind the other 1980s musical blockbuster Les Misérables—found inspiration from a heartbreaking photo of a young mother and her child in post-war Vietnam. The show is a loose take on the Puccini opera Madame Butterfly but set in 1975 when American troops were attempting a messy post-war evacuation that would leave Saigon in shambles. Chris (Brandon Moorhead), an American GI ready to head back to the States, meets Kim (Shawna Haeji Shin), an innocent young Vietnamese girl forced to work at a bar after her parents’ deaths. Kim reluctantly takes part in selling herself—alongside a host of other desperate-to-get-out bar girls—to the highest bidder. Chris spends a memorable night with Kim and can’t bear to send her back to the bar the next day. Moorhead’s Chris is tender and aching, and his deeply moving version of “Why God Why” shows us a conflicted soldier who is suddenly and unexpectedly in love. His on-stage chemistry with Shin’s vulnerable yet steely Kim is undeniable.

With the help of his fellow GI, John (Elliot Greer), Chris attempts to bring Kim back to the States with him. While there’s no helicopter in sight in this crushing scene, Jesse Klug’s lighting and Adam Rosenthal’s audio effects are just as powerful. An ensemble of war-torn Vietnamese cling desperately to chain-link fences hoping to evacuate alongside the American soldiers. All while Mike Tutaj’s set projections show us actual photos from the fall of Saigon. It’s a heartbreaking memorable scene.

The show’s wildcard character is the Engineer (Joseph Anthony Foronda), an enterprising Vietnamese pimp attempting to smarm his way into the United States. Foronda is no stranger to the role and his Engineer is calculating and sinister. Using Kim as his ticket out of the country, the Engineer performs his big number "The American Dream," but leaves out all the splashiness from the Broadway production. His solo is accompanied only by the surprisingly versatile and vibrant beams that set designer Linda Buchanan uses to suggest the chaos of 1975 Saigon.

Schonberg and Boublil’s aching score soars in the hands of the Paramount’s wholly talented cast. Emilie Lynn, playing Chris’s American wife Ellen, performs a standout rendition “Now That I’ve Seen Her.” The emotion in her voice is clear as she sorts through her feelings about her husband’s long-ago wartime love affair.

Mounting a Broadway-caliber show, especially one with the history and fan base of Miss Saigon, isn’t easy. But clearly the Paramount is up to the task, managing to turn a show with potentially dated material into a renewed retelling of war-bred heartbreak. And even if you’re prepared like I was for the show’s final blow, that heartbreak feels fresh.

Miss Saigon runs through Sunday, November 24 at the Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora, for tickets call 630-896-6666 or purchase online.