GenQ - For the not so straight individual

The wait is finally over! And boy was it worth it!!
Miss Saigon has finally opened to sell out crowds at Her Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne.
Being a show famous for its grand scale sets, I was skeptical that they were using one of Melbourne's smaller theatres. This is a new Saigon. It has been revised and revisited by a fresh team of designers and has been brought up to speed and downsized and made more portable. Due to technical wizardry, the famous helicopter scene is now an amazing visual effect.

Miss Saigon is an epic love story about the relationship between Chris, an American GI and Kim, a young Vietnamese woman during the final days of the U.S. occupation of Saigon. Kim is working in a sleazy Saigon nightclub owned by a notorious wheeler-dealer known as ‘The Engineer’.  John, another American GI, buys his friend Chris the services of Kim for the night.  That night will change their lives forever.
To pick an individual moment or cast member as a standout would be very difficult. However the leads were truly amazing. Leo Tavarro Valdez who played The Engineer in the original Sydney production and in countless other productions around the world, brings his unique interpretation to Melbourne. There are 2 girls alternating the role of Kim. I saw Laurie Cadevida. Laurie is both beautiful and amazingly talented. Kim is a marathon and a half, and Laurie (an import from LA) has done it hundreds of times before, and this performance not only showed her experience, but also felt fresh, as if she were doing it for the first time.
Sophie Katinis, known for her work on Channel 7's Headland, played the role of Ellen (Chris' wife) and made her musical debut with grace and a great talent.
RJ Rosales was in the original production in Sydney and now gets a chance to play Thuy. I found RJ's performane to be a tad different in that he went for the more vulnerable side of Thuy rather than being a demanding monster. You really felt that he genuinely loved Kim.
Christina Tan, known for her work covering the role of Nancy in the recent production of Oiver and for her featured vocals in the Melbourne season of Dirty Dancing played the role of Gigi, a prostitute who works in the club with Kim. It's a shame Christina didn't get more than one song. Her voice is superb. I would love to go and see her play Ellen and put her own spin on the role.
The 2 boys, Chris and John, played respectively by David Harris, who you may know from the recent production of Fiddler on the Roof, The Full Monty, Thoroughly Modern Millie or Mamma Mia! to name a few. David is a very attractive young man and has a voice that carries quite well. Easy to listen to, easy to look at, as was Juan Jackson, playing John (Chris' best friend). Juan comes to Miss Saigon fresh from working with Opera Australia. Juan's amazingly toned body is matched only by his rich black baritenor voice. His version of Bui Doi was absolutely chilling.
The Ensemble Rounded off with a strong talent of movement and amazing vocals also. It is rare to see such a strong cast in a show these days! I can easily say that if you go and see it and get one of the understudies, it won't be a disappointment!
The sets vividly recreated many different and colourful worlds of Vietnam, Saigon, Bangkok and of course, the US Embassy.
I won't give away much of the show's technical razzle dazzle, other than to say it's pretty amazing. We take it for granted when shows are so smoothly run that we don't notice it all.
For more info go and look at the official website.

(Pictured is Juan Jackson as Chris and Christina Tan as Gigi in "The Heat Is On")