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Review: Filipino actors dazzle in new 'Miss Saigon' on Broadway

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Paul Henson, ABS-CBN North America Bureau

<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/R1riqb35F88" width="560"></iframe></figure>NEW YORK CITY – It could have been dreary in New York City with fears of &quot;snowpocalypse&quot; as a winter storm makes its way, but no threat of severe weather could put a freeze on Broadway&#x27;s energy – one show in particular.As I made my way through Times Square, Broadway Theatre&#x27;s marquee gleams brightly with a familiar image. It&#x27;s the iconic helicopter logo with the enigmatic half-face of a woman, set against a burnt orange sky: &quot;Miss Saigon.&quot;Yes, after 16 years, one of the biggest and longest-running hits on Broadway returns to its New York stage.Gracing the posters outside the theater are images of its Filipino leads, Jonjon Briones as The Engineer, Eva Noblezada as Kim, and Rachelle Ann Go as Gigi. London&#x27;s West End cast has crossed the Atlantic. It could not get any better than this.The revival of the Cameron Mackintosh musical is now previewing to Broadway audiences before opening in style on March 23.Those who have seen the original version are in for a surprise. This Saigon revival has all the musical flair and bravado of the original, but much grittier.<div>SORDID &#x27;DREAMLAND&#x27;</div>This time around, Dreamland, the Saigon nightclub which has become the escape of many GIs or American servicemen in Vietnam, is much more sordid. There&#x27;s the splash of cheap neon lights, for sure, but there&#x27;s a sickly desperation in the air, a do-or- die clamor to escape the ravages of war and the looming shadow of Communism.Whether you&#x27;re the pimp, the soldier or the bar girl, you want to get out or kill yourself. Not the ideal setting for would-be lovers Kim, the Vietnamese orphan forced into prostitution, and American GI Chris, but definitely makes for great drama.The all-new set drives the point. The stage, decked in apocalyptic, burnt out and rust-colored steel, was drawn from images of the aftermath of bombings of villages in 1970s Vietnam, according to designers Totie Driver and Matt Kinley (who also designed the fantastic set for the &quot;Les Miserables&quot; revival).<div>POWERHOUSE PERFORMANCES</div>Eva Noblezada, who was discovered for the role as a high school student from North Carolina, has bloomed in the role of Kim.Every Kim will suffer comparison to the original, Tony winner Lea Salonga. But Noblezada makes her own mark. Her Kim is raw and fragile. She clings to Chris for survival, but survival turns to love and she shows her vulnerability. When Kim becomes a young mother looking out for her son, she shows ferocity.Noblezada does a powerful &quot;I&#x27;d Give My Life For You&quot; at the end of Act 1. She pairs so intimately well with English actor Alistair Brammer as Chris. With his soaring tenor, Brammer does a heady rendition of &quot;Why, God, Why?&quot; showing angst, surrender and thrill at falling in love with Kim.Jonjon Briones as The Engineer is a powerhouse. Sure, he is lecherously syrupy, sleazy and contemptible as a pimp desperate for a US visa, but he has an effortless wit, charm and comic flair, not to mention a glorious voice that earned him a rousing ovation for the Act 2 showstopper, &quot;The American Dream.&quot;From &quot;The Little Mermaid&#x27;s&quot; Ariel in Manila, to Gigi on West End and Broadway, Rachelle Ann Go has grown into a commanding musical theater actress. Her rendition of &quot;The Movie in My Mind&quot; is poignant, powerful and heartbreaking.Special mention to Devin Ilaw as Thuy for his stage presence and his ruthless and vindictive portrayal of Kim&#x27;s cousin and future Communist government commissar, to whom she was betrothed at age 13.<div>RAZZLE DAZZLE</div>Broadway&#x27;s Miss Saigon is still every bit a visual spectacle with its all-new staging. There&#x27;s that iconic helicopter scene at the US Embassy gates during the fall of Saigon. Sure, it&#x27;s competing with every other over-the-top visual feast in most Broadway musicals, but that chopper holds its own.The drama is heightened by the juxtaposition of desperate Vietnamese on one side of the revolving gates, and fleeing American troops on the other side.The saucy number &quot;The American Dream&quot; shows The Engineer onboard a Cadillac passing through the head of a giant Statue of Liberty, like a cabaret number on steroids. &quot;Quite obscene,&quot; said set designer Kinley. And the &quot;Morning of the Dragon&quot; number showcases a giant golden head of Indochinese Communist Party founder Ho Chi Minh, set against a backdrop of red banners.Twenty-eight years since its premiere in London, a new &quot;Miss Saigon&quot; formally opens on Broadway in one week. And as the musical&#x27;s opening number says, the heat is definitely on in Saigon.

Review: Filipino actors dazzle in new 'Miss Saigon' on Broadway

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Review: Filipino actors dazzle in new 'Miss Saigon' on Broadway

Paul Henson,

ABS-CBN North America Bureau

Published Mar 15, 2017 12:12 PM PHT

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