Boublil and Schönberg’s international hit musical adaptation of Puccini’s opera ‘Madame Butterfly’, ‘Miss Saigon’, returns to Edinburgh for the first time in almost eight years with a brand-new production produced by Michael Harrison in association with Cameron Mackintosh. Playing at the Edinburgh Playhouse until Saturday 1st November 2025.
The musical is set during the final days of the Vietnam War and its aftermath (between 1975 to 1978). It tells the story of Kim, a young Vietnamese woman who falls in love with Chris, an American soldier. When Saigon falls, the two are separated, Chris returns to the U.S, building a new life for himself, with Kim struggling in the fallout of the war and hiding with a secret that will see Chris return to her. The musical explores love, loss, and the devastating human cost of war.
I attended Thursday evening’s performance where the audience were gifted with witnessing alternate Kim, Bea Ward, grace the stage. Bea is the youngest actress to play Kim at just 16. The raw emotion, the power, the pain and the desperation that this young actress brings to stage is simply staggering. During Act One’s final striking emotional blow ‘I’d Give My Life for You’, Bea’s performance silences the Playhouse auditorium where you could only hear the occasional sniffle of someone wiping away tears. Bea’s vocal power and ability to push the desperation and emotion of Kim’s love to Tam is truly impressive and captivating. Kim’s journey from an innocent girl taken in by the engineer to a woman on the edge fighting to get a better life was portrayed so poignantly, and truthfully by Bea. Perhaps due to Bea’s age it makes the themes and issues surrounding Kim even more distressing than seen before. This is an outstanding performance by any measure.
Accompanying Bea on stage as The Engineer is Seann Miley Moore. Hot off the tracks of playing the same character in Australia’s production of ‘Miss Saigon’, Seann brings a re-invention of The Engineer to UK audiences. They bring a splice of camp chaos and queer joy into The Engineer, ramping up the madness and bringing arguably one of the best performances of this character. The Engineer’s desperation to begin a new life in America is pushed further than ever before, with Seann verging on a portrayal of insanity during their searing performance of ‘The American Dream’. The grit and edge you typically associate with The Engineer is all there just in a new light, one which has audiences eating out of Seann’s hands. This is a truly brilliant, reinvigorated depiction of this character.
Kim’s G.I. partner, Chris, is portrayed with painful inner conflict, passion and heartbreak by Jack Kane. Jack’s voice has more of a rock edge to it, which plays perfectly into his version of the character. A pinnacle moment of the show is during ‘Last Night Of The World’, where Jack’s vocals paired with Bea’s make for a truly spellbinding musical number. Jack does well to portray the turmoil that war has cursed Chris with, as well as bringing light to the character, conveying the serenity of Kim and Chris’ relationship.
Chris’ wife, Ellen, is portrayed with such anguish, strife and emotion by Emily Langham. Emily does well to bring a headstrong quality to Ellen, as well as clear empathy for Chris, yet apprehension when facing Kim. This is a tricky character to get on the audience’s side, yet Emily’s openness and clear journey for Ellen helps the character’s journey resonate with the audience.
Dominic Hartley-Harris brings us John, Chris’ military comrade. Dominic’s portrayal of John shows how corruption, sleaze and gluttony can put someone on the path to better their lives. Dominic leans into John’s indulgence and then flipping this to a clear demand for repentance. This is seen clearly in Dominic’s stunning performance of ‘Bui Doi’ which opens Act Two gloriously.
Caleb Lagayan covered the role of Thuy on Thursday night. Caleb brought a stern dark nature to Thuy, with a clear obsessive nature for wanting Kim. During ‘You Will Not Touch Him’ one of the pinnacle moments of the full musical – the build in tension thanks to Caleb’s push of Thuy’s threats makes the climactic moment of the number all the more powerful. And in Act Two during ‘Kim’s Nightmare’ you can’t help but get chills from Caleb’s haunting performance. This is a gripping performance from Caleb.
One of the key supporting characters in this musical is one of The Engineer’s girls, Gigi. Ace portrays Gigi with such realism and a contemporary flare. Ace takes ownership over the role and moves away from Gigi’s original interpretation, which was misconstrued in racist stereotypes. Through Ace’s portrayal Gigi is now very much a believable Vietnamese woman from the 70s, desperate to escape the war for a better life. ‘The Movie In My Mind’ is performed with such vocal and emotional strength, captivating the audience within the opening moments of the show.
During our performance Theo Dominic Torres played Tam, he was simply delightful, and his representation of this innocent child was very effective within the grit of the musical.
The ensemble of this production take on complex choreography and movement, while punching the incredible music of Boublil and Schönberg throughout the musical. The ensemble are as follows – Aaron Teoh (Alternative Engineer), Jamil Abbasi, Aaron Aisoni, Daniel J Brian, Ben Fenwick, Owen Johnston, Ann-Marie Craine, Aaron Gonzales, Evita Khrime, Rayhan Lee, James Mateo-Salt, Shania Montevalde, Ryan Ocampo, Julius Sahr, Anh-Khoa Trân, Aimee Yue (Swing), Tonny Shim (Swing), Yiling Yang and Carmen Zhu.
Alain Boublil (book & lyrics – also provided by Richard Maltby JR.) and Claude-Michel Schönberg (concept, book & music) are true geniuses of musical theatre, and whilst ‘Les Misérables’ is the more widely known production, the music and story of ‘Miss Saigon’ is arguably the better piece of theatre. Over the years, ‘Miss Saigon’ has become the subject of debate with some of the content clearly becoming outdated and problematic in it’s handling of the Vietnamese people during the war. Michael Harrison and Cameron Mackintosh have come together with visionary director Jean-Pierre Van Der Spuy to reinvigorate and reimagine ‘Miss Saigon’ for a new generation. Retaining the creativity, heartbreak and power behind the musical, yet adapting it to ensure authenticity and grounding the setting in the war-torn setting of Saigon during the war. Jean-Pierre Van Der Spuy, strips back the staging, yet not to the bare bones, he retains the fundamentals of ‘Miss Saigon’ keeping it a high-quality theatrical production. Chrissie Cartwright and Carrie-Anne Ingrouille’s choreography compliments Van Der Spuy’s direction by focusing more on movement than complex choreographed sequences. Ben Mark Turner’s Musical Direction brings a simply staggering quality to this production, with the orchestra and performers both sounding stunning.
Andrew D Edwards’ set and costume design is versatile – bringing an edge and realism to the characters, taking inspiration from the setting and period, immersing the audience in Vietnam more than ever before. Bruno Poet’s lighting design compliments this by bringing naturalistic colour to scenes, and also turning up the theatrics when he needs to, such as in ‘The American Dream’.
This revival of ‘Miss Saigon’ is one which reinvents the musical for a whole new generation, whilst retaining the power, creativity and profound emotion the original had when it captivated audiences thirty-six years ago.
‘Miss Saigon’ plays the Edinburgh Playhouse until Saturday 1st November 2025, get tickets here – https://www.atgtickets.com/shows/miss-saigon/edinburgh-playhouse/
You can also catch ‘Miss Saigon’ in Aberdeen at His Majesty’s Theatre from Tuesday 3rd to Saturday 7th March 2026 and at Glasgow’s King’s Theatre from Tuesday 9th to Saturday 20th June 2026. Tickets available here: https://miss-saigon.com/
Theatre Scotland 
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