My Week in London - Miss Saigon (Review)

Last week I stayed in London and took the opportunity to see 3 shows in the West End I'd been wanting to see for ages, of which I have now reviewed to share my thoughts of them. The second show I saw was the recent Miss Saigon revival and without further ado here is my review!

Miss Saigon (Thursday 30th July, 2:30pm) 

I managed to get one of the last front row day seats for the Thursday matinee of Miss Saigon, one of
the shows I’ve been most eager to see for years. Thankfully I was not disappointed by this extravagant and harrowing production, led by Eva Noblezada’s stunning performance as Kim.

The production values and technical work on this revival is one of the main highlights of the show, as shown through the numerous ambitious set pieces such as “The Morning of the Dragon” and most notably “The Fall of Saigon” flashback, featuring the iconic helicopter sequence. When backed up by Boublil and Schönberg’s beautiful score, the whole show really feels epic. Yet this is not at the expense of the slower, more dramatic numbers and the performances.

Eva Noblezada brought the audience to their feet at the conclusion of the show which speaks for the strength of her performance. Her voice is just gorgeous and any worries in regards to her acting ability based on the show’s earlier reviews were dispelled by her layered performance combining weariness, innocence and ferocity into the tragic young woman.

Jon Jon Briones is excellent as the sleazy Engineer and almost steals the show, while I could barely tell that Richard Carson and Marsha Songcome were in fact understudies as they both sung and acted incredibly as Chris and Gigi respectively.

While I was blown away by the spectacle of the show, I did not feel as emotionally invested in the central romance between Kim and Chris as I felt I should have. The chemistry between Noblezada and Carson was strong but there was still something missing in their relationship, which is what keeps the show from being truly outstanding for me. Nevertheless, Miss Saigon is a thoroughly impressive production that I’d recommend seeing before it bows out of the Prince Edward Theatre at the end of February. 

★★★★

I'll be posting my final review tomorrow! If you haven't already check out my Billy Elliot review and my Memphis review. Thanks for reading!