Miss Saigon Playhouse Theatre Edinburgh 29th October 2025 Review
“Miss Saigon – The Legend Reborn” is at the Playhouse Theatre Edinburgh this week (Tue 28 Oct – Sat 01 Nov) and as to be expected, this show is simply a theatrical event that has no real comparison in any other form of media. To experience the power and emotional roller-coaster that is “Miss Saigon”, the only way to do that is at a live stage production. The fact that 2025 is now 50 years after the fall of Saigon adds an extra layer of power to this show, even if that historic connection was unintentional when this new take on the show was being planned.
This new production of “Miss Saigon” by Michael Harrison in association with Cameron Mackintosh is not so much a revamp of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg’s now iconic musical, but more of the next step in this show’s continuing evolution. Still, however, it holds true to the two core elements that have since its first production in 1989 made this show a global stage-show phenomenon – the story and the music.
As soon as this show starts, the on-stage visuals leave you in no doubt where and when this story is set and the opening set takes the audience directly into a world where, if you are a woman working in this Saigon bar catering largely to the needs of American servicemen, then your life choices are limited and very grim. This however is a microcosm of the exploitation that so many women faced not only in the Vietnam War, but many military conflicts throughout history. This is a place that is harsh and brutal with few (including the customers) wanting to be there by choice, and from the opening scene, lighting design by Bruno Poet highlights this with his use of light and shadows on-stage. Much of the central story-line takes place right in the middle of the stage, but there are also many other stories being acted out in the peripheral shadows.
At its core, “Miss Saigon” is a modern re-working of Giacomo Puccini's 1904 opera “Madama Butterfly” and the story of a young courtesan Cio-Cio-San and her relationship with an American serviceman. In this story the story line is moved to Vietnam and 17 year old Kim (Julianne Pundan) who is forced to work in this Saigon bar, and her relationship with Chris (Jack Kane), an American soldier. Unexpectedly, and against all the odds, a real love story between the two happens. Still, if you listen closely enough, there are little homages to Puccini’s music throughout this musical score.
On stage Kim (Julianne Pundan) and Chris (Jack Kane) work well together and are believable in their respective roles with both having the abilities to handle both the vocals and the dramatic parts competently when required to do so.
As with all the best shows, there are multiple smaller stories wrapped up inside the larger one, and one of those is the sheer naked ambition of bar owner/pimp “The Engineer”, played by Seann Miley Moore, to get to the United States of America. The Engineer does not care how he does this, who he exploits or abuses along the way to do this. In his world, all that matters is money and he will provide whatever services a customer is willing to pay...at a price.
The Engineer is a truly unlikeable character and he is given no redeeming qualities in this show, in fact has no redemption at all, and it is due to the performance skills of Seann Miley Moore that this character is even acceptable, and interesting. Seann has by far the largest programme credits of anyone in this show and that depth of experience shows all the way through this production. It is Seann as The Engineer who has the really big and iconic song and dance routine in “Miss Saigon”, “The American Dream” and he does it with apparent ease.
All the basic scenes and relationships are set up in the first act of this show, but for me it is the second act that is stronger. This is where the story deals with the soldiers who have returned home. They may have left Vietnam, but for different reasons, Vietnam has never left them. This is also where coming to terms with those left still in Vietnam becomes the big dilemma – women left behind, and children who have been fathered by American servicemen. This second half also gives Dominic Hartley-Harris as John and Emily Langham as Ellen the opportunity to step out of the shadows of the other main characters of Miss Saigon.
The audience reaction at the end of this show was hugely appreciative and, overall, this Miss Saigon for 2025 deserved all of it.
Review by Tom King © 2025
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com
This new production of “Miss Saigon” by Michael Harrison in association with Cameron Mackintosh is not so much a revamp of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg’s now iconic musical, but more of the next step in this show’s continuing evolution. Still, however, it holds true to the two core elements that have since its first production in 1989 made this show a global stage-show phenomenon – the story and the music.
As soon as this show starts, the on-stage visuals leave you in no doubt where and when this story is set and the opening set takes the audience directly into a world where, if you are a woman working in this Saigon bar catering largely to the needs of American servicemen, then your life choices are limited and very grim. This however is a microcosm of the exploitation that so many women faced not only in the Vietnam War, but many military conflicts throughout history. This is a place that is harsh and brutal with few (including the customers) wanting to be there by choice, and from the opening scene, lighting design by Bruno Poet highlights this with his use of light and shadows on-stage. Much of the central story-line takes place right in the middle of the stage, but there are also many other stories being acted out in the peripheral shadows.
At its core, “Miss Saigon” is a modern re-working of Giacomo Puccini's 1904 opera “Madama Butterfly” and the story of a young courtesan Cio-Cio-San and her relationship with an American serviceman. In this story the story line is moved to Vietnam and 17 year old Kim (Julianne Pundan) who is forced to work in this Saigon bar, and her relationship with Chris (Jack Kane), an American soldier. Unexpectedly, and against all the odds, a real love story between the two happens. Still, if you listen closely enough, there are little homages to Puccini’s music throughout this musical score.
On stage Kim (Julianne Pundan) and Chris (Jack Kane) work well together and are believable in their respective roles with both having the abilities to handle both the vocals and the dramatic parts competently when required to do so.
As with all the best shows, there are multiple smaller stories wrapped up inside the larger one, and one of those is the sheer naked ambition of bar owner/pimp “The Engineer”, played by Seann Miley Moore, to get to the United States of America. The Engineer does not care how he does this, who he exploits or abuses along the way to do this. In his world, all that matters is money and he will provide whatever services a customer is willing to pay...at a price.
The Engineer is a truly unlikeable character and he is given no redeeming qualities in this show, in fact has no redemption at all, and it is due to the performance skills of Seann Miley Moore that this character is even acceptable, and interesting. Seann has by far the largest programme credits of anyone in this show and that depth of experience shows all the way through this production. It is Seann as The Engineer who has the really big and iconic song and dance routine in “Miss Saigon”, “The American Dream” and he does it with apparent ease.
All the basic scenes and relationships are set up in the first act of this show, but for me it is the second act that is stronger. This is where the story deals with the soldiers who have returned home. They may have left Vietnam, but for different reasons, Vietnam has never left them. This is also where coming to terms with those left still in Vietnam becomes the big dilemma – women left behind, and children who have been fathered by American servicemen. This second half also gives Dominic Hartley-Harris as John and Emily Langham as Ellen the opportunity to step out of the shadows of the other main characters of Miss Saigon.
The audience reaction at the end of this show was hugely appreciative and, overall, this Miss Saigon for 2025 deserved all of it.
Review by Tom King © 2025
www.artsreviewsedinburgh.com