Miss Saigon [Original London Cast]

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Binding: Audio CD EAN: 5014636100527 Label: Geffen Manufacturer: Geffen Number Of Discs: 2 Publisher: Geffen Release Date: 1990-11-26 Studio: Geffen
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Editorial Reviews: Miss Saigon rather surprisingly turns out to be a tour de force for its star, Jonathan Pryce. In the midst of Boubil and Schönberg's "girl-meets-boy-with confused-emotions-in-Vietnam" rewrite of Puccini's Madama Butterfly, Pryce's Engineer's bright tenor provides a nasty yet humanely pragmatical focal point for more logically tuned minds. Daring to tackle the controversial theme of doomed lovers during the misguided American war efforts, Miss Saigon was a thematic and stylistic breakthrough of the 1980s, just like Jesus Christ Superstar had been in the previous decade. But the lyricist, Richard Maltby, previously a young man with alleged off-off-Broadway street cred, could only do so much with Boubil's French original platitudes--it is Schönberg's music paired with producer Cameron Macintosh's storyboard vision that secured the deserved success of Miss Saigon. On this complete recording, an orchestra on form shows off William D. Brohn's skilful orchestrations, and a fine ensemble supports Lea Salonga's tender yet determined Kim. And in the male camp, apart from the prancing Pryce, Peter Polycarpou (John) is crystal clear as the struggling American marine soldier, curbing all tendencies to over-emotionality. --Yngvil V.G.
Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: A repeat of the original and the latest tour Comment: Having seen the original show with Jonathan Pryce and Lea Salonga, I also saw it a year later when the understudy was playing Kim and was not disappointed. All those years ago I brought my 5 year old up with the soundtrack and always promised her that if it came back to the stage I would take her. Now she is 15 and I was able to keep my promise at the Milton Keynes venue of the current tour and she was absolutely blown away. Jonathan Pryce was fab as the engineer in the original show, and I'm glad I saw him in that part, but the current cast, although doing a variation of the original is certainly not a disappointment. My daughter Hannah is desperate to see it again, with her friends, and the only down side is it is realistically not close enough to go again. If you are a musical lover and can't get to the show, sit down after dinner with a nice bottle of wine and with the synopsis let the soundtrack take over, not as good as being there but certainly a good substitute if you can't get to the show - But, if the show does another tour - DON'T miss it! Customer Rating: Summary: Bit Slushy Comment: This was the first show I saw in London, and to my husbands shock I wasn't blown away. The special effects make this show(you hear the helicopter on the CD)but the lyrics are a bit sickly. It is a great musical if you are someone who likes a good cry but not if you like good music. Certain songs are brilliant like "The heat is on in Saigon, Movie in my mind You will not touch him" and the Engineer is a fab character. Anyway it is set in Saigon during the end of Vietnam and the soldiers are getting ready to leave but for Chris that is not going to be easy as he has fallen in love with Kim, a dancer in a club. Chris has no choice but to leave and thus leaving Kim behind. Years later his friend John is struggling with the guilt of what happened in Vietnam and decides to try and help the children they orphaned and goes back to Vietnam with Chris and Chris' new wife!!! As you can imagine everything blows up when they go back and the ending isn't the happiest ever. It is a good CD for music lovers who grew up with Miss Saigon or people new to musicals, but for me this is just OK,(and really slushy!). Customer Rating: Summary: Brilliant Comment: You dont have to see this show to apreciate its music. Each song is as unique as the next with some heart renching ballads, to some immensley powerful numbers that will literally send chills down your spine. ok so its not the kind of show that will be to everyones taste as it is 'thru-sung' (no speaking), but those who are fans of the great genre of 'musical', this is a must for your collection. Its hard to imagine that the same people who wrote this stunning score were also behind the daddy of musicals; Les Miserables, (if you loved that, you'll love miss saigon). Customer Rating: Summary: The original version is better than what I ended up seeing Comment: have seen "Miss Saigon" twice and have come to the definite conclusion that I like the "original" story contained on this two-disc set a lot more than I like the revised version I have seen on stage. The genesis for this Alain Boubil and Claude-Michel Schonberg musical was two-fold, the well known Puccini opera "Madame Butterfly" (the main theme of which sounds briefly in the Finale and a haunting photograph of a Vietnamese woman seeing her daughter for the last time before the child goes to America to live with her ex-GI father (the photo is included in the libretto). In performance the return has been to the Puccini story line, where the woman kills herself BECAUSE her American lover has taken her child away. However, I maintain that what you have in this version is much more powerful: Kim kills herself to FORCE Chris and his wife to take Tam to the United States. In this latter context Kim's song "I'd Give My Life For You" makes sense and is more powerful. The change also resulted in an awkward and almost complete revision of Ellen's big solo number "Her or Me," which also loses a great deal of power. Fortunately, that song survives on this disc. Vocally the women stand out much stronger than the men, from Lea Salonga's exquisite performance throughout ("I'd Give My Life for You", "The Revelation"), to Clare Moore's impassioned duet and solo work ("I Still Believe" and "Her or Me"), to the chorus of bar girls ("The Movie in My Mind"). The male singers are surely adequate, but not especially memorable, except of course for Jonathan Pryce's star turn as the Engineer ("The American Dream"). My favorite pieces in the show tend to be the duets: Kim and Chris in "The Last Night of the World," Kim and Ellen in "I Still Believe," Kim and John in "Please." Emotionally the show contains more punch than the more celebrated "Les Miserable" by Boubill and Schonberg, made all the more effective because of the way a key chunk of the story (how Kim and Chris got seprated during "The Fall of Saigon") is not revealed until Act 2 when it comes in between the soaring optimism of Kim finding out Chris is in Bangkok ("Please") and the shattering revelation of his marriage to Ellen ("Room 317"). Even without seeing the famous helicopter scene on stage, this is an emotionally draining sequence of songs. "Miss Saigon" is closing on Broadway soon, but even if you never get to see it on stage, just listening to it will still give you chills and drive you to tears. Customer Rating: Summary: What a show! Comment: Miss saigon is the most amazing and powerful musical ever written. Boublil and schonberg are great! It deffenatly beats les mis (and that is saying something). I could listen to this version of the show all day. Lea salonga is great as kim. Her voice is to die for! So if your in doubt about the show, my advice to you is go and see it because you will be blown away. And give yourself a day and then you will be wanting this album. Take care Ryan Limb xxx (ryanlimb30@hotmail.com) More Reviews