'Miss Saigon' in Manila has started its run: 6 reasons to not wait for closing weekend

It’s a given that the Cameron MacKintosh’s new production of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg’s “Miss Saigon” is a modern masterpiece in musical theater.

The Manila season started over the weekend, just before Holy Week, with shows running every night from Tuesday to Sunday, and matinee performances held on Saturdays and Sundays.

This is the second time “Miss Saigon” is being staged in Manila. It was first staged at the CCP in 1999 with Lea Salonga playing Kim — a good 10 years after she originated the role on its maiden run.

On its current run, homegrown theater actor Kiara Dario sets the stage ablaze as Gigi. Five Filipino children have also been chosen to play the role of Tam.

We won’t elaborate much on the lighting design, costumes, set design and live orchestra music, which are all expectedly world-class.

Its final performance is on May 12 and as announced by GMG Productions, there will be no extension. Here are 6 reasons to not wait for closing weekend.

1. Filipino-Australian Seann Miley Moore playing the queer Engineer or “EnginQueer” steals the show. Their portrayal of the nameless sleazy pimp of Dreamland bar (later identified as Tran Van Dinh), is consistently unpredictable, which means unapologetically never boring.

Moore’s costume changes are more colorful and flamboyant than the rainbow and their delivery and singing of their dialogues is often full of wit and at some point, brimming with Pinoy humor. In one scene, they even spoke in Filipino: “Ang baho ng pwet mo! (You have a stinky ass)!”

Many would agree that Moore’s “EnginQueer” is a class act that is hard to follow and at the media call last week, he said, “It’s called ‘bakla’ energy. So to all ‘bakla’ out there, if I can do it, you can ‘f_ckin’ do it too.”

2. Filipino-Australian Abigail Adriano, who plays Kim, has a voice so beautiful and enchanting. The pressure is on Abigial after being technically the second actress to play Kim in the Philippines after Lea Salonga in the 1999 run at the CCP. The challenge, she said, is to be “unapologetically be a Kim of my own.”

She took Cameron MacKintosh's advice to heart. Recounting how he once told her during rehearsals while holding her face: “Aby, when you do Kim, I just want to see you," Abigal completely owned the character. "More than the sense of duty to do justice to my character, Kim has become a reflection of myself," she said.

Regarding “Miss Saigon” a “timeless piece of art.” Abigail said it’s “such an honor to be part of this legacy of Kim.”

3. Australian-American Nigel Huckle, who plays the American G.I. Chris, reveals he was “nurtured by a Filipina early in my life.” When he was a kid, his family lived in Singapore and he had a Filipina nanny from Iloilo province. But that's not his only connection to the Philippines.

Huckle once acted in “Les Miserables,” when it was staged at The Theatre in Solaire back in 2016 with Rachelle Ann Go as Fantine.

In one of the shows, he brought his Ilongga nanny from the province to watch him. “(But) she came to see the show because she was a fan of Rachelle Ann Go,” Huckle said, laughing. He recounted their bonding moments back then, when he brought her to the gym, where she taught him how to count in Filipino, while lifting weights. Huckle said, “Isa, da-la-wa, tat-lo — nothing beats the feeling of being back here.”

4. The handsome Filipino-Kiwi Laurence Mossman. He is so good looking some of his co-actors call him the Pinoy Clark Kent, or Pinoy Superman.

Laurence, who plays Thuy the villainous Vietnamese soldier, actually started his theatre career in Manila. He debuted in theater with Lea Salonga via Atlantis Theatricals’ “Fun Home” at Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium in 2016. He later acted in Atlantis’ “Kinky Boots” and 9Works Theatricals-Globe Live’s “A Christmas Carol.”

After graduating from college with a degree in music at the University of Otago, he decided to move to Manila and pursue a career in music. If you remember the handsome vocal trio, Primo, who were resident performers at Resorts World Manila, then you’d remember Mossman.

5. Of course, Kiara Dario. The homegrown Filipina triple threat plays Gigi the star of Dreamland bar in the entire run of “Miss Saigon” in Manila. According to Kiara, despite “Miss Saigon” being a period piece, the story of Kim and Chris still happens today. As long as there are still conflicts among nations, “Miss Saigon” will remain relevant.

6. It's a demonstration for "Pinoy power, Pinoy pride." There are four Filipinos playing lead characters in the Manila run of “Miss Saigon.” that according to Moore, it is more than Asian power but “Pinoy power, Pinoy pride.”

In a solo Q&A with the press, Claude Michel-Schonberg earlier affirmed the Pinoy power in the musical, saying “Without the Filipinos, ‘Miss Saigon’ would not have been possible.”

He recounted how, after doing auditions in Europe and the United States, they found the talents in Manila. The rest is history.