Final Analysis of “Miss Saigon”

Jessica Black

History of Musical Theater

Dr. Armstrong

Miss Saigon was an idea born from a photo enhanced by a one hundred year old script and redesigned to suit the 80’s, but based within a historical event 15 years prior to its premiere. Popular music and film of the mid 80’s were an influence, but due to the historical referencing, the creators felt that the pop should be the undertone to the operatic overtone that would convey the seriousness of the topic. In my previous essay “The History Behind the History of Miss Saigon,” I over described the actual war when in fact it is 1986 that is the most vital date to the show. The creators and assistants felt uneasy with the topic at first because America did not seem to be settled with the results of the war and were often disgruntled about entertainment that attempted to portray the devastation. Richard Maltby was a key factor, with American sensibility towards the subject, in the timing of the show. He and the creators actually stated that their goals were clarified by the success of “Platoon,” an award-winning Oliver Stone movie about the war. This was the first inclination that time had passed, sufferers of the war were accepting, and a new generation was in need of a reminder of the pre-existing time period.

The children often sent to live with their GI fathers were not sent until after the war and up through the time period in which the piece was introduced. The child born to the ill-fated lovers of the show was still very much a factor in the 80’s. Although the war was over, the repercussions bared, the relationships built, and the children born were still very much alive. The recurrence of the Madame Butterfly theme was simply because it had not become extinct and destructive relationships and children lost to uncertainty still very much existed. Boublil and Schonberg intended this love story to be emotionally effective as well as educational. The uprising of a generation born to the baby boomers, war protestors, and survivors were the generation that would reside in a theater seat for this show along with the previous generation making the experience beneficial on multiple levels. Often are we blind to events that we were not directly involved in and/or matters outside of America. This show intertwines two worlds and welcomes the newcomers and old timers to review a love story in the face of severe complications. The love story is timeless and has been set to an array of backgrounds over the years, but the tragic and sacrificial ending of Miss Saigon was probable for the time and place in Vietnam. Boublil and Schonberg wanted desperately to reveal the truth of matters of the heart in which they found purity, honesty in the real life photo of a Miss Saigon.

The music was worked in to convey the power of the love story, the intensity of the fall of Saigon, and the emotions that could still be provoked in an emotionally dulled audience. Richard Maltby referred to Chris, main male character, as a metaphor for America and his attempts at doing good being unravel by tragedy. He has been compared to America and its relationship to the Vietnam War. Through these not so subtle metaphors, the creators were able to convey a larger plot to an audience that was in need of answers. The love story is historically charged, but the intimacy  of the characters involved may be what appeals to one audience where as the war backdrop could appease another. The show is multi-meaningful, although some may only exit feeling that they have seen just another endearing love story. Meaning is in the eye of the beholder and the creators complicate it enough so that everyone has a taste.

The music is for everyone and extremely attached to the love plot minus the victory march of the soldiers, but even that song marks a point in which it appears the two lovers will never see one another again. The music embraces each song and is effective in conveying the emotions of the characters. Many of the songs have dual meanings and serve as the topic above to convey multiple messages. The predominantly slow love ballads convey the darkness and despair of the lovers as well as the two countries. Kim and Chris are parallel projections of the war and appear to symbolize each of their countries and their placement in war. The music created for the show was detailed and slowly developed in order to serve a purpose grander then just a love ballad or a disco or even a march. They were strategically placed throughout the show in a fashion that would grow to the climax of self-sacrifice in the end. The most moving notion of the music is that in the end, everyone is defeated and the orchestra wails away at the audience to portray that there are no winners, just players.

Miss Saigon was successful in wheeling in a modern audience mainly through song at first and later through plot. I still believe that “The Heat is on in Saigon” is still the ear catcher and the song closest to the 80’s heart of pop. I would even venture to say that the plot engulfed in people constantly working to help others could be a wake up call to a very selfish decade. Almost as if it is saying that the Me Generation emerged from an era that was about helping others, and maybe it was time to return to the gift of giving not taking. It may be far-fetched, but the show was anything but selfish. All of the characters were in it for someone else except for the Engineer who was a portrayal of the 80’s egotistical self gratification seekers and the shallow shell that is unchanged in the end. The punishment of not progressing is a strong enough notion that you are less likely to move forward when you are in it only for yourself. The self-sacrifice is the boldest moment of the show, but the other characters are also busy shuffling around attempting to set things right. Overall the sadness of Kim’s death is recovered by the life she believes her death will give her son. The darkness is continuously lifted by the honest attempts made by characters to do the right thing. The moral hopefully set a positive example for a decade that was in need of enlightenment.