ABOUT THE SHOW

A modern interpretation of Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, creators Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg (Les Misérables) were first inspired by a photo of a Vietnamese mother leaving her daughter at a departure gate for a plane headed to the United States, and, presumably, a better life. The idea of a mother’s ultimate sacrifice is a central theme in MISS SAIGON.

This award-winning musical sensation is one of the most stunning Broadway productions of all time!  Set in 1975 during the final days of the American occupation of Saigon, MISS SAIGON is an epic love story about the relationship between an American GI and a young Vietnamese woman. This powerful musical features show stopping hits “The Movie in My Mind,” “I Still Believe,” “Why God Why” and “The American Dream”.

 
  Video: Original London Cast Olivier Awards 1990

• 1991 Tony^® Awards

• 11 Nominations, 3 Wins

• Best Musical (Nominee)

• Best Book of a Musical (Nominee)

• Best Original Score (Nominee)

• Best Actor in a Musical (Winner)

• Best Actress in a Musical (Winner)

• Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Winner and additional Nominee)

• Best Scenic Design (Nominee)

• Best Lighting Design (Nominee)

• Best Choreography (Nominee)

• Best Direction of a Musical (Nominee)

1991 Drama Desk Awards

• 4 Nominations, 4 Wins

• Outstanding Actor in a Musical (Winner)

• Outstanding Actress in a Musical (Winner)

• Outstanding Orchestration (Winner)

• Outstanding Lighting Design (Winner)
  
  
  
   

FUN FACTS

• Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil were also the creators of another musical theater hit, Les Misérables, which Pittsburgh CLO produced for the first time in 2009.

• MISS SAIGON is a modern adaptation of Giacomo Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly, and similarly tells the tragic tale of a romance involving an Asian woman abandoned by her American lover.

• The musical’s inspiration was reportedly a photograph, inadvertently found by Schönberg in a magazine. The photo showed a Vietnamese mother leaving her child at a departure gate to board a plane headed for the United States where her father, an ex-GI, would be in a position to provide a better life. Schönberg considered this mother’s actions to be “the ultimate sacrifice,” and central to the plot of Miss Saigon.

• The original MISS SAIGON is one of the most spectacular and technically complex productions ever staged. More than 260 people worked the London production at each performance and only 47 actually appeared in front of the audience.

• MISS SAIGON is the 10th longest-running Broadway musical. Its 4,082 performances spanned nearly a decade, from April 1991 to January 2001.

• In the fall of 2009, “Variety” reported that Hollywood producer Paula Wagner and Cameron Mackintosh were developing a film version of Miss Saigon. Director Lee Daniels, who recently earned an Oscar^® nomination for the film “Precious,” is considered the front-runner to direct. A screenwriter is currently being sought-out, with the hope of a 2011 release.

• Lea Salonga played Kim in the original London production. She also sang the part of Jasmine in “A Whole New World” as part of the soundtrack for the Walt Disney animated hit “Aladdin.”

• Jonathan Pryce, who won a Tony® for his role as the Engineer, also starred as Fagin in the 1994 London revival of Oliver!