Talk:Miss Saigon
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--203.167.26.70 20:45, 5 October 2005 (UTC)wapak
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[edit] further information
There's some more information about Miss Saigon at Alain Boublil — mostly statistics and such. Much of it probably could be removed from Boublil's page and added here, if it's accurate. Unfortunately, it appears to have been added by an anonymous contributor, so I can't vouch for its accuracy or currency. Anyway, I thought that people who have this page on their watchlist might be interested in sorting it out. —Josiah Rowe (talk • contribs) 06:19, 4 November 2005 (UTC)
[edit] Added Song
I thought it was a real oversight not to include "The Heat Is On In Saigon" as a memorable song...it was used in ad campaigns for the show all the time and was the first MS song I knew before I went to see the show. Many take it as the "theme song" to the show even though it's the black sheep of the soundtrack...someone correct me if I'm wrong.
[edit] Criticism
Also, I think criticism of Miss Saigon ought to be explained a bit better. I feel that the current short little bit about Actors Equity is slightly biased...it makes them sound like a crazy bunch of unreasonable people or something, which may be some people's opinion, but there is another side too. In terms of racial issues, in the London production, Pryce (and if I'm not mistaken, also the white actor playing Thuy) had worn eye prosthesis and bronzing lotion to try to make himself look more "Asian", which is rather offensive to many. Also, the writing does perpetuate a lot of stereotypes about Asians and has Kim saying random made up steretypical mumbo jumbo stuff steeped in mysticism, like "paper dragons in the sky" etc. Anyways, I won't get into it. I'm just saying that I think it is important to note criticisms of the show as well. It doesn't have to be in a lot of detail, but it shouldn't be dismissed or omitted either in my opinion.
Drenched 03:28, 27 June 2006 (UTC)Drenched
[edit] "Popularity"
Personally, I think that the whole last paragraph under the header "Popularity" should be seriously edited, from: "Notability Miss Saigon was brought back in 2006 with the world High school Premiere at St. Joseph Regional in Montvale New Jersey..." to ..."University High School of Irvine, California will become the third high school to perform Miss Saigon, and has already received outstanding reviews." The VERY FIRST high school version of the show might be notable, but the whole ending about other high schools and their "outstanding reviews" is ridiculous.
If I don't hear any objections over the next few days, I'm going to edit that out and fix that paragraph big time. LBoogey 00:08, 21 July 2006 (UTC)LBoogey
- I completely agree...I think that whole section can be cut minus the very first HS show.
- Actually, I think that the current "Popularity" section should be retitled "Production History," which sounds more objective and descriptive of the contents. All the redundant narrative about the Tony awards can be relocated to the "Awards" section for better organization. The sentence: "Ironically, Will Rogers Follies closed after only 900 performances (a little over two years) whereas Miss Saigon went on to become one of the longest running musicals, running over 10 years on Broadway." isn't encyclopedic and just sounds like someone is bitter, and I think it should be removed. --Drenched 01:32, 21 July 2006 (UTC)
I agree--great suggestions, Drenched. I'm going to use them later on today when I have a little more time, and fix all those areas. Thanks! LBoogey 14:50, 21 July 2006 (UTC)LBoogey
- Since I had the time, I went ahead and made some of the edits mentioned. I left the high school stuff for you though. Also, I didn't substantially edit the content of the text which probably needs substantial cleanup, so please edit away =) --Drenched 01:03, 22 July 2006 (UTC)
Whoa! LOL...we were editing at the same time, and that has never happened to me before. I panicked for a minute. I really like what you did with the beginning of the article--putting the photograph inspiration info right up top like that, and moving the awards info. Nice changes. I did a big cleanup of the text for typos and grammar and flow, but it still seems looooooooong. LBoogey 01:29, 22 July 2006 (UTC)LBoogey
- Haha I just realized that right this second too. It feels good to clean up so much of the article, nice work! I'm just going to expand the intro a little, and maybe some of the plot summary. I agree though, still way too long (especially the in-depth synopsis)! Oh well, one step at a time. --Drenched 01:49, 22 July 2006 (UTC)
[edit] American Bias
I think the line "Miss Saigon was part of the major European influence on Broadway in the 1980s, along with the musicals Cats, The Phantom of the Opera, and Les Misérables" is a little too "American-centric" if that makes any sense. I agree that European musicals did infiltrate Broadway, but in all fairness, Miss Saigon, the Phantom, Les Mis and the like all originally opened in Europe and were intended for a EUROPEAN audience, not an American one. Because they were such big hit, obviously they made their way across the Atlantic. They didn't set out to influence Broadway, Nroadway was just the next logical step. Maybe I am being too picky, but I think this could be re-worded. 65.94.19.87 02:13, 25 January 2007 (UTC)
- Sure, I'm open to rewording the sentence and I definitely see your point. I personally feel that the above sentence & use of the phrase "major European influence" is acceptable since the genre of musical theatre is culturally American despite the fact that the listed musicals are European in origin. If you have a more global & less biased rewording to offer, by all means go for it! --Drenched 06:39, 25 January 2007 (UTC)
