Miss Saigon: 25th Anniversary (2016)

Miss Saigon: 25th Anniversary: Directed by Brett Sullivan. With Jon Jon Briones, Eva Noblezada, Alistair Brammer, Kwang-Ho Hong. A filmed production of the musical ‘Miss Saigon’ for its 25th anniversary, performed live at London’s Prince Edward Theatre, in London’s West End. Including the 2hr 20minute production and a bonus 35-minute “25th Anniversary Gala” which included stars of the original cast, Jonathan Pryce, Lea Salonga and Simon Bowman.

“To quote the critic of the Daily Mail, u0026quot;The best live film of a stage show that Iu0026#39;ve seenu0026quot;. And I fully agree with him. I am an avid fan of musicals with a DVD collection over 700+.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eHaving had to wait 25 years since my late wife and I saw it at Drury Lane, London, I have had to be content with the CD. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis production and the DVD are worth more than 10. If you buy only one DVD of a musical, stage or screen, it has to be this one. From the two showstoppers at the beginning and end, The heat is on in Saigon and American Dream, to the beautiful duet, The last night of the World, the score and the performances are fantastic. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAfter Les Miserables, still the best musical ever, Boubil and Schonberg came up with another smash, this time based on Madame Butterfly. And thanks to Cameron Mackintosh for his foresight in producing both shows.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBringing this show to a smaller stage than Drury Lane created several problems the least of which was the helicopter and the number involving the statue of Ho Chi Min was more cramped. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThere are two extras with the DVD, one giving a history of the musical and the other, the after show performances from the original cast which reduced me to tears of joy. Each member of both casts and the production team deserve a huge amount of applause, which they duly got.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe close up singing shots strongly suggest there were so many cameras, that many were on stage and thus part of the performances were filmed not on the night. If you love musicals, this one totally without fault with a dream cast and incredible production values. Enjoy.”