Theater Review

For those who wonder just what the creators of the world’s greatest

musical could do for an encore, the answer is impressively on view at the

Orange County Performing Arts Center.

When Frenchmen Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg turned Victor

Hugo’s “Les Miserables” into an awesome dramatic musical spectacle, they

built their show around historical fact, a lower-class uprising in Paris

in the 19th century. Another history lesson, America’s involvement in the

Vietnam War, led to the creation of “Miss Saigon.”

The word “spectacle” hardly qualifies as a description of “Miss

Saigon,” a maelstrom of pulsating emotions set in 1975, the year South

Vietnam’s capital fell, and three years later in its painful aftermath.

The show brilliantly captures both the overall pandemonium and the

internal conflagration of personal heartache.

“Miss Saigon” has often been compared to Puccini’s “Madame Butterfly”

for its depiction of love and loss involving an American military man and

his foreign lover. This is accurate enough, but there’s also a few

strains of “West Side Story” present, not to mention memories of “Les

Miz.”

The latter moments are stirred by the presence of the Engineer, an

avatar of avarice who’s at least a second cousin to Thernardier. Joseph

Anthony Foronda tackles this role with a seething devotion to personal

enhancement that manifests itself in his glorious production number “The

American Dream” late in the show. Foronda revels in his consummate greed

as the ultimate street hustler, a sterling performance.

The heart-rending core of the production, however, is Mika Nishida’s

achingly realistic portrayal of Kim, the teen-age Vietnamese girl thrust

(like “Les Miz’s” Fantine) by personal poverty into a life of degradation

as one of the Engineer’s “business girls.” Nishida thrusts herself and

her superior singing voice deeply into this tragic character.

Greg Stone is staunchly believable as the American Marine whose life

is forever altered by Kim, and who endeavors, three years later, to do

the right thing by her. Stone brings a sense of power and integrity to

his role, rendering his moralistic dilemma convincingly in the solo “Why

God, Why?”

Another upstanding GI who can’t forget the plight of the children left

behind is given a splendid rendering by Eugene Barry-Hill. The role of

Chris’ American wife is powerfully interpreted and beautifully sung by

Jacquelyn Piro, whose tortured solo, “Now That I’ve Seen Her,” expresses

volumes of painful concern.

Johnny Fernandez, in a character recalling Chino from “West Side

Story,” excels as the Vietnamese soldier promised to Kim from childhood,

riveting in their fateful confrontation and haunting in his later

reappearance. Little Brittney Bui, all of 4 years old, is delightful as

the son Chris left behind.

Then there is that helicopter. Like the chandelier in “Phantom of the

Opera,” it’s the centerpiece of “Miss Saigon,” a spectacular effect that

punctuates the frenzied exodus from the capital as the North Vietnamese

close in. It’s actually the first sound you hear in the show, but you

must wait until midway into the second act to see it up close and

personal in a stunning flashback sequence.

“Miss Saigon,” superbly staged by Nicholas Hytner with equally

impressive musical staging by Bob Avian, exudes a power and passion

rarely experienced in the musical theater. It stands toe to toe with “Les

Miserables,” which is the ultimate compliment.

Unlike the normal center weeklong run, “Miss Saigon” will be around

through Sept. 25, which should give local theatergoers ample opportunity

to experience its emotional power and technical magnitude.

* TOM TITUS reviews local theater for the Daily Pilot. His reviews appear

Thursdays and Saturdays.

CUTLINE: Mika Nishida clutches her son as Johnny Fernandez threatens

his life in a tense scene from “Miss Saigon” at the Orange County

Performing Arts Center.

WHAT: “Miss Saigon”

WHERE: Orange County Performing Arts Center, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa

Mesa

WHEN: Now through Sept. 25; show times are Tuesdays through Fridays at 8

p.m., Saturdays at 2 and 8 p.m., Sundays at 2 and 7 p.m. (dark Monday

only)

HOW MUCH: $41-$66

PHONE: (714) 740-7878