Review – Miss Saigon (UK Tour) – Empire Theatre, Liverpool

Some 36 years since I first saw Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg’s Miss Saigon in its original production at Drury Lane (where it ran for over 4,000 performances) it is great to see it back on stage at the Empire. This brand new touring production which opened last autumn has clocked up over 200 performances already, and arrives here for a fortnight’s run in the Lime Street venue.

There are some die-hard fans who lament the fact that the producers have not retained the original staging, but let’s face it – if you go to see a production of Madame Butterfly (on which the show is broadly based) you presumably don’t expect a facsimile of its 1904 premiere?

This production is certainly different in many ways but what it achieves is every bit as epic and, in my view, probably a more powerful delivery of the heartbreaking storyline.

The story spans 3½ years and begins in Saigon in April 1975, where an American Marine, Chris, is introduced to a Vietnamese teenager Kim by the unscrupulous Engineer, who runs a bar and brothel and pimps out the local girls. A sham ‘marriage’ ceremony takes place but Chris eventually returns home to Atlanta where he marries Ellen, unaware that he has fathered a child in Vietnam.

Mirroring the plot of Madam Butterfly, but also very much true to what actually occurred countless times after the Vietnam War, Kim hopes that one day Chris will return, but the reality of what happens when he comes to find his child three years later ends in tragedy.

What this new production does so very well is to revise its view of ‘The American Dream’, toning down the self-congratulatory aspect of its view of war and giving more dignity to the female characters.

Chris, played by Jack Kane, is given a more sympathetic treatment, and he does a great job of finding the vulnerability and inner conflict of his character. Julianne Pundan, herself still a teenager and making her professional debut in this production, is quite astonishing as Kim. She brings depth and powerful emotion to the role, and is the heart and soul of the show.

Perhaps the greatest talking point for this production however has been Seann Miley Moore’s reinvention of The Engineer, reprising a part they took in the 2023 international tour. A character that maps onto Madam Butterfly’s Goro, which was a much smaller role, The Engineer is central to the plot, with machinations that are the catalyst for every tragedy in the story. Moore ramps up the charisma of the character to a new level, and The American Dream, a production number which lands as we approach the close of Act II, is an absolute showstopper.

All of the principals deliver outstanding vocals accompanied by strong characterisation, including especially Mikko Juan as Kim’s intended fiancée Thuy, Emily Langham as Chris’s American wife Ellen and Dominic Hartley Harris as his friend John. They are supported by an exceptional ensemble, and it would be remiss not to point out Liverpool actor Jamil Abassi, whose stage career began on these same boards as a member of the Empire Youth Company.

Andrew D Edwards has provided a towering, architectural set design (reportedly occupying 14 trucks to transport it between venues) that gives the production a monumental feel, assisted by masterful lighting from Bruno Poet and subtly embellished with video projections by George Reeves.

The show boasts a 12 piece orchestra in the pit under the direction of Ben Mark Turner, and Adam Fisher’s sound design keeps voices and music in perfect balance throughout.

Jean-Pierre Van Der Spuy’s direction is overseen on the tour by Maria Graciano, and the overarching storyline is realised in truly epic, sweeping fashion, in a manner fit for a world where we are living through what seems like a whole new era for the ‘American Dream’.

This new production is set to open on the West End stage of the Prince Edward Theatre in May 2027, but you can see it here in Liverpool for half the price! It runs at the Empire until the 2nd May, with tickets available here, and then the tour continues with venues booking across the UK to 8th August, in a run that has already been extended due to popular demand.

Star rating: 5 stars

Production Photos by Danny Kaan 

Julianne Pundan as Kim

 

Jack Kane as Chris

 

Seann Miley Moore as The Engineer

Members of the company of Miss Saigon

 

This review was originally written for publication by Good News Liverpool