Miss Saigon Keeps It Hot At Drury Lane

As the economy continues to worsen, it’s up to all of us to support our favorite businesses! I, for one, have invested my extra monies in attending the theater. Whether it be a Broadway show, regional theater or a small community production, the theater needs our help.

Last week over 13 shows on the Great White Way closed, several you thought would be there for a long time – “Hairspray” and “Young Frankenstein.”

Broadway had a nice holiday season with shoppers needing a warm refuge from the snow or people enjoying their Christmas present show tickets. But until there’s the spring thaw, things look awfully icy for Broadway. So I’m going this coming week to check out what might be hot to take us through the winter.

Shows that look very promising include “Shrek, the Musical.” Now, I am not a big fan of the movie, but this musical has a dream cast including Brian Darcy James as Shrek. Mr. James has has one of the strongest, under-appreciated voices on Broadway and received a Tony nomination in for “Sweet Smell of Success” but I also remember loving him in a smaller role in “Titanic, the Musical.” I am glad he’s finally getting the notice he deserves albeit in green face. And his lovely leading lady, Sutton Foster, although under-utilized in “Young Frankenstein,” charmed us in “Thoroughly Modern Millie” and “The Drowsy Chaperone.” Furthermore, it will really be exciting to see how Daniel Breaker does his role as Donkey. Breaker made a triumphant and Tony nominated debut last year in the short-lived musical “Passing Strange” and I expect a lot out of him. I promise to keep you posted on if the shows deserves all of this attention.

Also a strong new Broadway show is “Billy Elliot” which I saw it in London last year. It was a magical experience which totally surpasses the film upon which it was based. It has lots of fun songs, but we’d expect nothing less from Elton John.

This trip to New York will also be bring a repeat viewing of “In the Heights” which is quickly becoming a staple among long-running musicals. “In the Heights” is approaching its one year anniversary on Broadway and most of its original cast remains in tact. It will be exciting to see if it still has the vibrancy as it did when it first opened. In today’s modern musical world of hip hop, rap and dance club remixes, today’s younger music fans might identify “In the Heights” as a musical mash up, combining hip hop with a traditional show tune, making a sound that will appeal to young and old alike.

But I am eager to see what other gems I might find on and off Broadway this winter. Will it be “An American Plan,” “Pal Joey,” or “The Marvellous Wonderettes?” I’ll report back after my New York trip.

If you can’t make it to Broadway, there’s always theater you can find in your own town. One way to seek out shows is through playbill.com, where you’ll find a tab on the left side of the page under tickets, so click on “Regional/Touring” and search by city.

That’s how I found “Miss Saigon,” the Tony award winning musical that was the tenth longest running Broadway musical of all times, playing just outside of Chicago.

The show may not be coming back to New York for now but it is playing an exclusive run through March 8 at the Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace, IL. The greatest appeal for me with “Miss Saigon” has always been the spectacle of its grandiose sets. This show had a helicopter and Cadillac right on stage. If that didn’t make your jaw drop, then nothing in the theater will. But alas, this production is more scaled down and the over-the-top sets are gone so don’t expect to see a helicopter land on this stage.

But your jaw will drop with the shows performances. Melinda Chua Smith and Kevin Vortmann bring their own magic to the story of star-crossed lovers who meet during the Vietnam War. Smith’s Kim is an orphaned young woman who is forced into prostitution and rescued by the sweet GI Chris, played by Vortmann. The modern retelling of the classic “Madame Butterfly” makes its own mark as “Miss Saigon” primarily due to its musical score, filled with many memorable songs.

And while I have seen “Miss Saigon” several times, I was very impressed with both Smith, who has an excellent range and was able to make her songs emotional without being overly dramatic, which is easy to do with the source material. And Vortmann, who has a great rich quality to his voice and was able to sparkle in the quiet moments as well as those times when he needs to truly belt it out. He looks good with his shirt off too. In fact, we met Melinda Chua Smith after the show and I told her I should be her understudy so that I might have the chance to find myself in the arms of the hot men in the show. She seemed a very good sport about it.

Melinda as actually a really nice and sweet woman – and she seemed so fresh, even though she just played the part two times that day. She is quite convincing as the 17 year old Kim, which might be surprising when you consider that Melinda is in her mid 30s and has played various parts in “Miss Saigon” since the early 1990s.

Tickets can be purchased at www.drurylaneoakbrook.com or www.ticketmaster.com. The ticket prices can be as low as $22 but if you want to try to find even a better deal, try www.chicago.oodle.com or www.chicagoplays.com.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 12th, 2009 at 2:26 am and is filed under Culture & Style. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.