Miss Saigon (Broadway)

"'Miss Saigon' is more relevant and heartbreaking today than when it premiered on Broadway in 1991...As directed by Laurence Connor, this solid and satisfying revival builds on the extraordinary visuals, nonstop adrenaline, sweeping emotions and pulsating musical score that characterized the original production while adding an unmissable brutality and grittiness...Briones, Noblezada and Brammer are giving high-intensity performances that stand on par with their predecessors." Full Review

"Back on Broadway in all its breathtaking pop opera glory…Masterfully directed by Laurence Connor, the company of more than 45 performers realize in enthralling terms the epic proportions of this tale of love torn asunder...The principals from the West End company head the cast with extraordinary performances, making sure that the 'Madame Butterfly'-inspired story remains a heart-breaker for the 21st century." Full Review

“With its lush and melodic score, ‘Miss Saigon’ remains an ambitious and stunningly effective musical even as it also borders on the overwhelming. It has been seamlessly and extravagantly directed for all its sentimental worth by Laurence Connor…It can’t be overstated how beautifully the petite Noblezada, as the doomed Kim, touches us with her sensitive performance and her clearly spun, octave-vaulting soprano voice…An admirable and affecting musical.” Full Review

"Stunning performances from the entire cast make this revival pure Broadway joy...The effects of the U.S. war in Vietnam are tangibly felt...There is no doubt this revival of 'Miss Saigon' is a hit. With a top-notch cast, dynamic visuals, and a story that speaks to the complexities of the American Dream, this classic will definitely be beloved by a new generation of theatergoers." Full Review

"Classy revitalization of an old, presumably boring property that proves to have plenty of life in it yet. The upscale revival should bring a tear to old-timers with romantic memories of the original schmaltzy score, while titillating newbies...The production values alone are a jaw-dropper...And just wait for his big getaway in 'The American Dream,' a show-stopper—and a career-maker for Briones." Full Review

"The new 'Miss Saigon' is as hypnotic in its storytelling as it is overwrought in depicting its small tale of five people caught up in events beyond their control. As one might expect from one of the blockbuster British musicals, everything about it is huge. Luckily time has made its underlying theme of the fate of refugees caught up in war both relevant and immense too." Full Review

"The helicopter may not be completely the real thing but with the help of lighting and strong fans, it's still pretty amazing...Using that spectacle factor and the quality of the singing as a baseline to judge whether 'Miss Saigon' holds up, the answer is 'yes.' This is the biggest, most spectacle-rich show in town...Noblezada sings with enough feeling to touch even the most cynical members of the audience...Current events make this new production as sadly timely as it is entertaining." Full Review

"Sure, it's a brash, broad-strokes saga with questionable racial and gender representation and a taste for salacious vulgarity. But although director Laurence Connor has adhered to the basic contours of the original, his grittier approach exposes teeth in the material that I don't recall previously being so sharp...Noblezada is a legitimate discovery, just as Salonga was the first time around...This is brawny, crowd-pleasing entertainment." Full Review

"'Miss Saigon' soars to the rafters...Director Laurence Connor has darkened the tone considerably...Casting is key in this production...Young Eva Noblezada, discovered while in high school, is quite a find with the instincts of a seasoned veteran and the vocal range to match. With Alistair Brammer as Chris, the doomed lovers raise tragedy to epic proportions...This is a most worthy revival, and now, minus the controversy, fans are free to re-live the thrill." Full Review

"Connor directs the cast with high stakes, amplified to reach the last row of the balcony. But within this amplified reality, Noblezada can carry your heart in the palm of her hand...You’ll feel like you’ve gotten your money’s worth with 'Miss Saigon‘s' flashy production design. But once you’ve left the theatre and the stage goes dim, it will be 'Miss Saigon’s' haunting score and timely reflection on how war impacts the human spirit that will stay with you." Full Review

"The new revival of 'Miss Saigon'...is lavishly produced...And I must have really gotten old because I enjoyed it a lot more than in '91, when I found it screechingly cheesy. This time, there are still some clunky lyrics and also people belting songs while writhing in melodramatic anguish. But the story grabbed me...As the dramas unfurl, Laurence Connor’s direction keeps things swirling, with some dazzling set pieces, including Jon Jon Brione’s brilliant turn as the Engineer." Full Review

"The show retains everything that made it noteworthy in the first place: Schönberg's ear-worm melodies, a massive ensemble of attractive dancers, and a helicopter landing onstage...Connor has opted for the more-is-more approach...When you look beyond the hulking scenery and 'American Idol'-style glory notes, you can see 'Miss Saigon' for what it really is: a bruising indictment of American self-pity in an age in which we still control the lion's share of wealth and power." Full Review

"This bracing new production from London reminds that whirlybirds can’t whip up emotions. Only good actors can do that. The revival has plenty of them...Noblezada impresses Kim. She sings from a deep well of emotion and gets under your skin...Briones brings sleaze and sly humor to the role...His gritty take on 'American Dream' is a highlight. Too bad he’s also saddled with a gratuitous 'Make American great again' line. It mars the show's otherwise fine-tuned return." Full Review

"This production is sensational in every way: visually and sonically (often painfully so). Most important, it’s brilliantly cast...'Miss Saigon' is a show that eats its cheesecake and has it too, like a skin flick that runs a banner at the end promising to donate proceeds to a home for wayward girls...The show’s high point, 'The American Dream'...is more chilling than I’ve ever seen it...The production’s other big discovery is Eva Noblezada...Noblezada radiates conviction." Full Review

"Eva Noblezada has an enormous, poignant strength and a piercing voice that can delicately float as confidently as it blasts. Alistair Brammer has the voice, the jaw and the muscles of a gentle American giant...The story feels more urgent amid renewed refugee tragedies and our consciousness of the sex trade. And the narrative—helped by unusually graceful lyrics—almost distract from the generic Euro-pop ballads and anthems that sound like many we’ve heard before." Full Review

"The spectacle still impresses. There's the lush orchestration...; a ferocious paean in dance and song...; and, of course, the helicopter...The standout in this show, though, is Eva Noblezada as Kim...She isn't matched by the more opaque performance of Alistair Brammer as her lover Chris, though perhaps his part is just underwritten...But one doesn't go to 'Miss Saigon' for a tight narrative. It's an evening of big Broadway, with music that will move you and set pieces that will thrill." Full Review

"The story packs an unavoidable emotional punch, even if you do see it coming, largely due to the performance of Ms. Noblezada...She simply nails all of it...Briones is doubtless giving the best performance of his long career...The large cast is uniformly excellent...The design elements are appropriately impressive...The pop-rock score is sometimes tepid and often repetitive, but when it has to soar it does so, usually on the wings of Eva Noblezada’s beautiful soprano voice." Full Review

“This blockbuster is bulletproof against critical assaults on its...mawkishness, racial stereotyping, melodramatic overkill, and substantial lack of comedy...Still...it's hard to deny the show's ability to zing theatregoers' hearts...Briones, who's played the Engineer in multiple productions, captures his treacherous survivalist instincts without losing audience sympathy. He helps make this an entertaining, if unexceptional, revival of a show whose problems have become more apparent with age.” Full Review

"True to its operatic source, the sung-through drama of 'Miss Saigon' is better conveyed via its sweeping, power-ballad-driven music than by its lyrics...Nevertheless, strong performances keep the proceedings stimulating, particularly that of Jon Jon Briones, especially charismatic as The Engineer...Powerfully voiced Eva Noblezada combines sensitive nobility and naiveté as Kim, and Alistair Brammer's rocker-belting Chris effectively displays the steady growth of PTSD." Full Review

"An elaborate staging, which at times vies for attention with the talented cast...Briones is the focal point of this 'Miss,' part-character and part-narrator, emceeing his way across Asia with gyrating hips and snarky asides...Noblezada is effective...The helicopter scene remains phenomenal...My issues with 'Miss Saigon' aren’t deal-breakers: the orchestrations sometimes unintentionally subvert the presence of the actors. And the initial bond between Kim and Chris isn’t sketched out enough." Full Review

"The show is completely sung-through, which was common in the ’90s but feels a bit dated today. Further, much of those songs are sweeping, melodramatic ballads...Eva Noblezada is probably the show’s biggest wow (sorry, helicopter)...In general, this new iteration has a more appropriately gritty feel than the show had in the ’90s, from the physical set to the portrayal of Americans and the consequences of war. Still, it’s a pretty darn schmaltzy show to begin with." Full Review

“Schönberg's score is unfailingly melodic, but it doesn't add the requisite gravity and dramatic heft to such potboiler plotting. This is not for lack of trying…The lyrics are distressingly generic. It doesn't help that the characters are mostly one-dimensional and prone to dramatic flip-flops…Still, if you're a fan of ‘Miss Saigon,’ this is a first-class revival, both in terms of its cast and production values.” Full Review

"As a primer on the megamusical...'Miss Saigon' has just about every ingredient required: high emotion, universal themes, hummable songs, visual enormity, dazzling and often mechanized spectacle...A nobly committed cast...Megamusicals in general just don't do it for me, but that's not to say that the production isn't done very, very well. If you like shiny romantic sappy bigness and don't mind two-dimensional characters that threaten to dip into stereotype, the show just might be yours.” Full Review

"The production’s impressive visual spectacle, lively staging and crowd-pleasing vocal calisthenics cannot completely mask a script that leans heavily on emotional manipulation and one-dimensional storytelling...Perhaps a miraculous cast could take such blunt-force emotional instruments and soften them into credibility...If the new 'Miss Saigon' is powerful, it’s because of the powerhouse singing...In fairness, the revival delivers on the thrills that its fans are surely expecting." Full Review

"Here it comes again just about exactly 26 years after its first landing. It huffs and puffs and settles itself awkwardly but tenaciously...Throughout, everything possible to be done to overwhelm the patrons has been done. So congratulations of a sort go out to Connor for directing with power...As to the performers: Briones is a marvel. He’s a reason to see this bloated whip-up. Noblezada, Brammer and Clarke are all fine, but curiously, their singing is pitched at a strange adolescent level." Full Review