GWB Entertainment has announced Cameron Mackintosh’s acclaimed new production of Boublil and Schönberg’s musical Miss Saigon will be coming to Adelaide for a blockbuster summer season. Featuring an extraordinary cast of talented performers from across the Asia-Pacific region, Miss Saigon will play at the Festival Theatre from 2 January for a strictly limited season.
Winner of 70 major theatre awards including two Olivier Awards, three Tony Awards and four Drama Desk Awards, Miss Saigon has been described as one of the greatest musicals of all time. From the creators of Les Misérables, Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg, Miss Saigon has been seen by 38 million people and performed in 15 different languages, in over 32 countries and 350 cities.
Miss Saigon’s Australian cast is led by Seann Miley Moore as the Engineer, Abigail Adriano as Kim, Nigel Huckle as Chris, Kerrie Anne Greenland as Ellen, Laurence Mossman as Thuy, and Kimberley Hodgson as Gigi.
Torben Brookman, Director of GWB Entertainment said he was thrilled to be working with Cameron Mackintosh to bring this incredible new production to Adelaide: “After witnessing the Opening Night of this production in Sydney recently, Adelaide audiences are in for an absolute treat with the best production of this incredible show that I’ve ever seen – the heat will be on in Adelaide this summer!” he said.
Speaking to the announcement of the Adelaide season Cameron Mackintosh said, “I’m absolutely thrilled to be bringing my spectacular new production of Miss Saigon to Adelaide. Without doubt, it is the best production of Saigon I have ever produced in Australia, with one of the most brilliant casts that has ever performed the show around the world – headed by the incredible Seann Miley Moore, Abigail Adriano and Nigel Huckle. I can’t envisage another show of this scale being done in Australia for the foreseeable future,” he said.
“Our extraordinary cast have received incredible rave reviews at the Sydney Opera House and the production is only touring to Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide before it leaves Australia – what a treat it will be for audiences to experience it first at the Adelaide Festival Centre, where my recent production of Mary Poppins was sold out, with nightly standing ovations. Don’t miss out!” said Mr Mackintosh.
“It’s wonderful to welcome Miss Saigon to Adelaide. I look forward to this new production delighting South Australian audiences in the Festival Theatre in the new year,” said The Honourable Andrea Michaels MP, Minister for Arts.
Miss Saigon tells the story of a young Vietnamese woman named Kim, who is orphaned by war and forced to work in a bar run by a notorious character known as the Engineer. There she meets and falls in love with an American G.I. named Chris, but they are torn apart by the fall of Saigon. For 3 years, Kim goes on an epic journey of survival to find her way back to Chris, who has no idea he’s fathered a son.
This new production features a sensational cast and an unforgettable score, including classic hits like The Heat is On in Saigon, The Movie in My Mind, Last Night of the World and American Dream.
The original production of Miss Saigon premiered in Australia in 1995 and returned in 2007. This new production opened in London in May 2014 to record-breaking advance sales and critical acclaim, it then opened on Broadway and a hugely successful US Tour followed with The New Yorker calling it A Dynamite Broadway revival
Miss Saigon has music by Claude-Michel Schönberg with lyrics by Richard Maltby Jr. and Alain Boublil, adapted from original French lyrics by Alain Boublil, with additional lyrics by Michael Mahler. This new production is directed by Laurence Connor with musical staging by Bob Avian and additional choreography by Geoffrey Garratt.
Production design is by Totie Driver and Matt Kinley based on an original concept by Adrian Vaux; costume design by Andreane Neofitou; lighting design by Bruno Poet; projections by Luke Halls; sound design by Mick Potter; and orchestrations by William David Brohn. Music supervision is by Alfonso Casado Trigo and Guy Simpson.
Miss Saigon plays the Festival Theatre – Adelaide Festival Centre from 2 January 2024. Tickets on sale from midday – Monday 10 September 2023 through Ticketek.
Miss Saigon is currently playing at the Sydney Opera House until 13 October, before playing Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne from 29 October 2023. For more information, visit: www.miss-saigon.com.au for details.
Image: Seann Miley Moore as The Engineer and Abigail Adriano as Kim in the Australian production of Miss Saigon – photo by Daniel Boud