Lasting impact of 'emotional' Miss Saigon

STANDOUT PERFORMANCES IN RETELLING OF WAR TALE SEE AUDIENCES ON THEIR FEET

- By BARBARA HODGSON

I THOUGHT I must have seen Miss Saigon at some point over the years, not least because I vaguely knew the story, so had an idea of what to expect when I took my seat in the audience for this new version of the long-running musical favourite. I soon realised I was wrong.

I certainly didn't expect the story of doomed romance set in 1970s Saigon during the Vietnam War to feel as raw and real as it did and it's thanks to the cast, all of them, that we become so invested in the characters.

We meet them first in a sprawling brothel scene where new worker Kim, played by rising new talent Julianne Pundan, and American GI Chris (TV actor and singer Jack Kane) first meet.

With star Seann Miley Moore as The Engineer snaking through the sleazy bar manoeuvring his clients like a game of chess, it's all off to a rollicking start and Ace, playing prostitute Gigi, sets the bar for the rest of the show when she sings of her longed-for escape in The Movie in My Mind.

There are so many great voices in the cast.

And over the next two hours and 40 minutes which passed far more quickly than I expected - I was carried along by them and by the emotional power of the story.