Leeds Grand Theatre – until Saturday 13th December 2025
Reviewed by Adam Craddock
3***
Tonight I had the privilege of being invited back to Leeds Grand Theatre, this time to review the touring production of Schönberg and Boublil’s legendary “Miss Saigon”. This is a show incredibly close to my heart, I played John while training and Last Night of the World is going to be my first dance at my wedding so it is fair to say that this is a show and text I know and love.
The production is a new staging for the tour, with several lyric changes and differences very noticeable to anyone the knows the original. For me, the main thing I noticed straight away from the first number was just how much the show has been toned back and made PG. This for me made some of the setting and background drop straight off as the seediness and lad-culture was what immerses you in the dingy world of pre-fall Saigon in Dreamland. To me, Miss Saigon should never be a show seen as PG!
Seann Miley Moore stars as The Engineer. Moore puts an interesting spin on the character, more androgynous than capitalist but, for me, showed a prime case of an actor pre-conceiving what they are going to do rather than letting the emotion guide the performance. Julianne Pundan was solid as Kim, definitely growing into it as the show went but slightly feeling on one level emotionally for me throughout. Jack Kane was vocally strong as Chris but for me again was very much on one level throughout, always feeling like he was about to burst into tears at any one moment. I didn’t feel much of a connection between Pundan and Kane and again it felt very staged for me in the scenes when the characters are falling in love, less so feeling like they actually wanted to kiss each other and more feeling like that was what the director had told them. This really hurt the climax of the show for me, which should be a brutal gut punch but instead I felt… indifferent?
On a more positive note, Ace was exceptional as Gigi, giving a stirring rendition of Movie in My Mind and showing the power of letting your lyrics tell a story, not darting around the stage. Emily Langham was fantastic as Ellen, a character I have been previously indifferent to but her story really connected with me today! Langham found a real human connection to the character and for the first time I think I actually sided with Ellen! Dominic Hartley-Harris was strong as John, with this staging of Bui Doi being a particular highlight of the show for me, really showing the trauma that a brutal world such as this can leave the survivors with.
The production design was very strong, particularly with the all important helicopter scene. I had wondered how they would pull this off on tour and for me, I struggle to think of a better way of doing it than this. The lighting was good, and the sound design was mostly strong, apart from two microphones that were noticeably louder and more bassy than the others during ensemble numbers.
In conclusion, whilst I would recommend a trip to see Miss Saigon for its beautiful score and touching story, I think this production is slightly lacking in connection with its material at times. For me, the heat wasn’t on in Saigon, it was lukewarm.