Making a scene

James Adams (Chris) and Tina Bergantinos (Kim) rehearse on stage.
James Adams (Chris) and Tina Bergantinos (Kim) rehearse on stage.
When people hear about Miss Saigon, they always ask about the helicopter, one of the most spectacular special effects in musical theatre.

Someone even thought the Regent Theatre roof was coming off to enable the helicopter to land.

Not so, says director Stephen Robertson with a laugh - although it was a huge challenge for the team of engineers, mechanists, theatre people and designers to create the mechanism for the helicopter that, in the show, evacuates the Americans from their embassy in Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War.

It is only on stage for about a minute but it's all lit up and is such a blow-away effect, he says.

While the long-running professional productions overseas had the mechanism to lift the helicopter built into their theatres, here the hydraulic arm had to be able to work in eight different theatres around the country.

The sets, costumes and props were built in Christchurch three years ago by a consortium of New Zealand musical theatre societies. This production by Dunedin Operatic is the seventh of the series, and the third directed by Mr Robertson.

It is one of his favourite musicals, he says.

Stagehands assemble part of the set for Miss Saigon. Photos by Jane Dawber.
Stagehands assemble part of the set for Miss Saigon. Photos by Jane Dawber.
"The story and characters are based on reality, and it's set in the late '70s. The music is special, and the emotional content - I like doing shows about real people and real emotion and the visual element for me is important."

By Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil (creators of Les Miserables), Miss Saigon tells a story typical of the Vietnam War - and somewhat similar to that of the opera Madama Butterfly.

Chris, an American marine stationed in Saigon, falls in love with Kim, a Vietnamese girl, and promises her a better life in America. He gets permission to take her out of the country but in the chaos of the evacuation they are separated and he is forced into the helicopter, leaving her behind.

Three years later, he finds out Kim is working as a bar girl in Bangkok to support their child. He goes to find her, and she thinks he's come to take her away, not realising he has married an American girl.

When she finds out, she decides to end her life, leaving the child in the care of Chris and his wife.

"It has a tragic ending. She lives for the child and her strength comes from the child, and all she's wanting is a better life for the child, so it's self-sacrifice," Mr Robertson said.

The chorus in the musical is made up of Vietnamese and Thai people, played by locals of Asian descent.

"I made it clear when I was first casting the show I wanted Asians playing Asians. The audience have to believe what they are seeing as well. If we are representing real people and real time, then it has to be as legitimate as possible.

"Otherwise you are not going on the journey with the characters, you are just going to be watching a stage show and I think Miss Saigon is more than that. You believe what you are seeing and you get totally involved in the story," he said.

Tina Bergantinos from the Philippines plays the lead role of Kim. She recently arrived in Hamilton with her family and is a rare find, he said.

"The vocal demands for that part are ridiculous. I call it vocal gymnastics. It covers the full range of lyrical singing, big belt singing that's very emotional, and she has to do a lot of screaming. It's an incredible two and a-half hours of vocal demand but she's amazing."

Casting the Asian parts has been difficult in Dunedin, but they found a full cast of 12 or 15 women and 12 men, he said.

"These people are new to theatre, but they've been very quickly trained and drilled. That's what makes this very special, because we are taking people who haven't had a theatrical background and giving them the knowledge and understanding of how it all works."

One of them, Terry Vanderpham, has a special relationship with the story as her mother, pregnant with her, and her family, were evacuated to the US on one of the last planes fleeing Saigon. She was brought up in the US but is in Dunedin with her husband Jeff, who is studying here.

There are also parts for American GIs, but there is only one European female role, that of Chris' American wife. However, five dancers perform in the American Dream number.

This involves another of the big special effects, a huge American flag made up of more than 1000 lightbulbs.

"It was the biggest nightmare to put together. Some poor person had to put in all those lightbulbs and wire them up, but it's the most amazing effect and the heat that comes off it is powerful," Mr Robertson said.

"The whole visual look of the show is very special. It still takes my breath away."

While the audience will enjoy the breathtaking visuals and action and music, they will not see the carefully choreographed chaos going on backstage, he said.

More than 60 stagehands, props people, dressers, electricians and others will be working backstage, helping the quick costume and set changes flow seamlessly from the audience's point of view.

Staging such a big, complex show with quick and intricate changes in the Regent Theatre is challenging because it has one of the smallest stages in the country.

"It used to have one of the largest stages in the New Zealand, so people find that hard to comprehend. In a very short time, New Zealand theatres have been renovated and all have had their stages made larger, wider and deeper. Unfortunately, because of the car park behind, the stage cannot be made any deeper, making it one of the smallest.

"There certainly will be some challenges for the intricate working of the backstage choreography which the audience don't get to see. What they see seems quite simple and easy because it has a flow to it," he said.


• SEE IT

Dunedin Operatic's production of Miss Saigon is at the Regent Theatre, Dunedin from September 16 to 25, directed by Stephen Robertson, with musical director Steve Miles, and featuring Tina Bergantinos and James Adams.

 

Add a Comment