Show guide
Miss Saigon
Miss Saigon is a 1991 sung through musical that reimagines Puccini's Madama Butterfly as a wartime love story set in Saigon during the final days of the Vietnam War.
- Broadway premiere
- 1991
- Music by
- Claude-Michel Schönberg
- Genre
- Sung-through
- Setting
- 1970s
Miss Saigon: quick answers
What is Miss Saigon about?
- Miss Saigon is a tragic love story: in the last days of the Vietnam War, 17-year-old Kim falls for the American Marine Chris, and after the fall of Saigon separates them, she raises their son while waiting years for his return.
When did Miss Saigon open on Broadway?
- Miss Saigon opened on Broadway on April 11, 1991, at the Broadway Theatre and ran for 4,092 performances before closing on January 28, 2001. A revival returned to the same theatre in 2017, opening on March 23 and running until January 14, 2018.
Is Miss Saigon sung-through?
- Yes. Miss Saigon is a sung-through musical, telling its story in continuous music rather than spoken scenes, and it adapts Puccini's 1904 opera Madama Butterfly to the Vietnam War.
Where and when is Miss Saigon set?
- Miss Saigon is set in Saigon in 1975, during the final days of the Vietnam War, then moves to Bangkok in 1978, with scenes in Atlanta.
Has Miss Saigon played in London's West End?
- Miss Saigon premiered at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, on September 20, 1989, and ran until October 30, 1999; Jonathan Pryce and Lea Salonga won Olivier Awards. A West End revival ran at the Prince Edward Theatre from May 2014 to February 2016.
Is there a Miss Saigon movie?
- Miss Saigon has never been made into a film, although an adaptation has been in development for years. The 2014 25th anniversary gala performance in London was filmed and shown in cinemas.
The story of Miss Saigon
Miss Saigon opens in a Saigon bar in 1975, where a young Vietnamese woman named Kim, newly orphaned by the war, meets an American GI named Chris. The two fall in love just before the fall of Saigon separates them, and Kim is left to raise their son alone while Chris returns to the United States, marries, and tries to move on.
Presiding over the bar is the Engineer, a small time hustler who dreams of a better life in America and pulls Kim into his schemes. As Chris and his wife Ellen eventually learn of Kim and their son, the story builds toward a devastating reckoning between love, duty, and survival, with the fall of Saigon and its aftermath as a constant backdrop.
The music and the makers
Miss Saigon was composed by Claude Michel Schonberg, with lyrics by Alain Boublil and Richard Maltby Jr. Schonberg and Boublil were also the creators of Les Miserables, with Maltby joining as Boublil's English lyric writing partner for Miss Saigon. The score is sung almost entirely through, with soaring, emotionally direct melodies that lean on lush orchestration and reprised musical themes to track the characters across years and continents.
Signature songs include The Movie in My Mind, Sun and Moon, The Last Night of the World, and the Engineer's cynical showstopper American Dream. That operatic scope and emotional intensity, paired with spectacle like the depiction of a helicopter evacuation, made the show a defining example of the big, sung through musicals of its era.
Miss Saigon on Broadway
Miss Saigon opened on Broadway on April 11, 1991, at the Broadway Theatre, with Lea Salonga and Jonathan Pryce reprising their acclaimed West End performances as Kim and the Engineer. Salonga's win for Best Actress in a Musical made her the first Asian performer to receive a Tony in that category, while Pryce also won a Tony for his performance.
The original production ran more than 4,000 performances before closing in January 2001, making it one of the longest running shows in Broadway history. It returned in a Broadway revival in 2017. The casting of a non Asian actor as the Eurasian Engineer in the original production sparked significant controversy and debate over representation that continues to shape discussion of the show today.
Miss Saigon: frequently asked questions
What is Miss Saigon based on?
Miss Saigon is based on Puccini's 1904 opera Madama Butterfly, relocated from Japan to the final days of the Vietnam War. Claude-Michel Schonberg was also inspired by a magazine photo of a Vietnamese mother leaving her child at a Tan Son Nhut Air Base departure gate so the child could fly to the father, a former GI, in the United States.
Is Miss Saigon sung through?
Yes, Miss Saigon is sung-through, with almost no spoken dialogue, in the same style as Les Miserables, the earlier musical by the same writing team.
How old is Kim in Miss Saigon?
Kim is seventeen years old when Miss Saigon begins. The recently orphaned Vietnamese girl is on her first day as a bargirl at Dreamland, a Saigon bar, in April 1975 when she meets Chris, an American Marine sergeant.
When was Miss Saigon first performed?
Miss Saigon was developed in the 1980s by Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil and first performed on September 20, 1989, at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, in London's West End, more than a year before its Broadway premiere in April 1991.
Did Miss Saigon win the Tony Award for Best Musical?
No. Miss Saigon tied with The Will Rogers Follies for the most nominations at the 1991 Tony Awards, but The Will Rogers Follies won Best Musical. Miss Saigon still won three Tonys, including acting awards for Jonathan Pryce and Lea Salonga.
When did Miss Saigon open on Broadway?
Miss Saigon opened on Broadway on April 11, 1991, at the Broadway Theatre.
Who composed Miss Saigon?
Claude Michel Schonberg composed the music, with lyrics by Alain Boublil and Richard Maltby Jr.
What is Miss Saigon about?
It is a wartime love story between a Vietnamese woman and an American soldier, set against the fall of Saigon, loosely based on Puccini's Madama Butterfly.
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