That’s a big historical and showbiz legacy to take on, but producer Cameron Mackintosh’s 2014 London revival, making its way here via Broadway, in no way disappoints. The show is also known for its productions’ ambitious stagecraft, including a helicopter landing during the evacuation of the American Embassy. It interweaves tragedy and grim humor, splashy ensemble numbers and poignant ballads, in an exhilarating, mostly sung-through score that mixes opera and rock styles with Asian martial and folk inflections. Inspired by Puccini’s Madame Butterfly, Miss Saigon is the story of Chris (Anthony Festa), an American G.I., and Kim (Emily Bautista), the Vietnamese woman he falls in love with just before the fall of Saigon.

The show, then, is both history and current events. That’s 68.5 million forcibly displaced people. There are an estimated 40 million internally displaced people worldwide, 25.4 million more refugees, plus 3.1 million asylum seekers.

The Company of the North American Tour of MISS SAIGON performs “Morning of the Dragon’ at The Kennedy Center (Photo: Matthew Murphy)Īll too timely as well, with war and refugee crises making headlines from Myanmar, Syria, Afghanistan, South Sudan, South America, and elsewhere. The Vietnam War ended 45 years ago, and Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg’s Miss Saigon debuted almost 30 years ago, but the musical, in a riveting touring production at the Kennedy Center through January 13, feels utterly fresh.

Miss saigon boston opera house