'Miss Saigon' returns to PH in March 2024
Award-winning musical Miss Saigon is landing back on the Philippine stage in 2024.
Camera Mackintosh's revival of the hit musical is arriving at the Theatre at Solaire in Parañaque in March 2024. Local producer GMG Production made the announcement on social media on Friday, Oct. 13.
The £4.5 million production is the first revival of Miss Saigon, setting a record in 2013 for having the largest single day of sales of £4.4 million in Broadway history.
Mackintosh's masterpiece has likewise dominated the 2015 WhatsOnStage Awards with nine recognitions, including Best West End Show, Best Musical Revival, Best Direction, and Best Choreography.
In a press release, the acclaimed British theatrical producer said, “I’m thrilled to bring my spectacular new production of ‘Miss Saigon’ to Manila. It’s the best production of the show I’ve ever produced, with one of the most brilliant casts that have ever performed the show worldwide.”
“I can’t envisage another show of this scale being done in Manila for the foreseeable future," he added.
Directed by Laurence Connor, the sung-through musical will feature musical staging by Bob Avian, additional choreography by Geoffrey Garrant, production design by Matt Kinley, and costume design by Andreane Neofitou.
The musical began with an extensive run through the United Kingdom and Ireland last July, featuring a cast that includes Filipino actors Red Concepcion as The Engineer, Gerald Santos as Thuy, and Joreen Bautista, who alternated as Kin in some shows.
It just finished its run in Australia on Oct. 13 and is set to head to Melbourne and Adelaide before arriving in the Philippines in March.
The last time the Mackintosh-produced musical was in Manila was in the year 2000, when Lea Salonga played the tragic heroine Kim in select shows.
Miss Saigon premiered at the Theatre Royal in London on Sept. 20, 1989, and closed after running 4,092 shows until Oct. 30, 1999 in 32 countries.
It was created by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil based on the 1904 opera Madame Butterfly by Giacomo Puccini. It tells the tragic story of a young Vietnamese woman named Kim abandoned by her American lover in Saigon during the Vietnam War in the 1970s.
Tickets will be available to the public on Nov. 6 via TicketWorld, following the pre-sale taking place from Oct. 23 to Nov. 3 exclusively for UnionBank account holders.