Character guide
Kim
from Miss Saigon
Kim is the young Vietnamese woman at the emotional center of Miss Saigon, Claude Michel Schonberg's 1991 musical.
- Show
- Miss Saigon
- Broadway premiere
- 1991
- Role
- Lead
- Music by
- Claude-Michel Schönberg
Who is Kim?
Kim is a seventeen year old orphan working in a Saigon bar when she meets and falls in love with an American soldier named Chris in the final days before the fall of Saigon in 1975. When their brief happiness is shattered by the war's end, Kim is left to raise their son alone, holding onto the belief that Chris will one day return for them.
Her devotion to her son and refusal to give up hope drive the story's most wrenching turns, as years pass and she must confront the possibility that the life she imagined with Chris will never come to be.
Kim's role in Miss Saigon
Kim is a lead role and one of the most demanding in modern musical theatre, requiring a powerful, emotionally raw voice capable of carrying the show's sweeping, sung through score, including The Movie in My Mind and Sun and Moon. The role also calls for significant dramatic range, from youthful hope to devastating sacrifice.
Lea Salonga originated the role on Broadway after playing it in the West End, and her Tony winning performance, which made her the first Asian actress to win Best Actress in a Musical, remains the standard against which later Kims are measured.
Kim: frequently asked questions
What show is Kim from?
Kim is a lead character in Miss Saigon, which opened in 1991.
Is Kim a lead or supporting role?
Kim is a lead role.
Who wrote the music for Miss Saigon?
Claude Michel Schonberg composed the music, with lyrics by Alain Boublil and Richard Maltby Jr.
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