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CCP STAGING MISS SAIGON, HELICOPTER AND ALL

Manila, April 3, 2000 “I know Miss Saigon is like folklore here but soon, it will be very real.”

The words of director John Robertson of Cameron Mackintosh Internationalthe producer of the musical that made international stars of many Filipino actorsends all doubts that Miss Saigon can and will be staged in Manila.

In an exclusive interview with The Manila Times, he provided a detailed account of the preparations that are already underway for the forthcoming production at the Cultural Center of the Philippine’s main theater.

While this is being read, a large ship containing the Miss Saigon set is traversing the Pacific Ocean from Stockholm, to arrive in Manila by mid-May. The so-called “set” is not the kind of “set” that is familiar to the Philippine audience, which basically means the backdrops and props. This particular set includes radio-controlled wagons that are automated by computers to allow one scene to move to the next, without having to drop the stage curtain.

“They are much like big platforms with sensors underneath that send them in the right direction,” explained Robertson, who has been tasked to oversee the complicated process of putting together such an elaborate production. “Some of the elements will also be coming from Australia, England and other parts of Europe, namely the lighting and the very sophisticated sound equipment.

“When all that gets here,” he continued, “they will have to be taken to a scenic workshop at the back of the theater to be fitted onto the CCP stage.”

According to Robertson, the Manila staging will make use of a different set design, just as all the other productions following the West End premier in Drury Lane did.

“But,” he made clear, “the elements that the show requires to be there, including the car and the helicopter, will remain the same.”

The question on everyone’s minds is how exactly the Cadillac for the Engineer’s The American Dream sequence, and the helicopter Kim’s lover, Chris, boards to return to America can fit onstage. At the Drury Lane Theater, it was made known by the Miss Saigon documentary that the helicopter is simply the front half of the aircraft, while the car was an entire whole.

“All this can easily be done in CCP because the stage here, in fact, is much larger than the one in Drury Lane,” revealed Robertson who had carefully inspected the main theater to find

out where everything should go once the set is reconstructed in a workshop they will run at the back of CCP.

“We will also use Joe Tecson’s workshop for some of pieces,” he added. “There is of course a very large contingent of people from Manila, led by director Jerry Fernandez, to work on the set. What we’re trying to do is involve as many people here in the city as possible so they can put their stamp on the show and be proud that they were part of Miss Saigon’s staging.”

To provide a perspective of how complex the entire process is of staging such a musical, Robertson said that the workforce would consist of about 55 crewmembers, an orchestra of 30the Philharmonic Orchestra for this productionand a cast of 47.

“I think Dong (Alegre of Chase International, who had worked with the Miss Saigon team for many years) is very surprised at the magnitude of it all,” he further stated. “The show can even be dangerous if people don’t do what they’re meant to at the right time so there’s really a lot of work to be done.”

The production of what will be the first Asian staging of Miss Saigon is running a tight schedule. Rehearsals are set to begin by July 17, following the auditions on May 22. The whole production should be perfected by Sept. 29, which is the press night, followed by the President’s night on the 30th and the regular performances in October.

“The production is running for six months thereafter, for 208 performances,” Robertson informed. “I understand this is very much unlike the two or three-week runs you have here for theater plays and musicals. The mindset has to change for everyone who will be involved because it requires a great deal of discipline to do eight shows a week, for what is an emotionally difficult show for the actors. Miss Saigon is a very torrid story that ends in disaster and hope, depending on which way you look at it.”

Indeed, this is truly an exciting time for the Philippine theater industry. If all goes well, the staging of Miss Saigon could make the hope of many people come to fruition. As expressed by presidential son Joseph Victor Ejercito, president of the Bayang Makulay Foundation, which is co-presentor of Miss Saigon, this project could make the country the “Broadway capital of Asia.” And why ever not, since it is acknowledged worldwide that the Filipino talent is truly exceptional. It is this very fact that the makers of Miss Saigon always envisioned staging the musicale here.

“Going back a number of years, because of Dong’s association with Miss Saigon, which goes back to 1988 before London opened, the surge from the Philippines was so huge that Cameron Macintosh eventually said that you will be able to do it here,” Robertson recalled, who has been with Macintosh for what he calls the company’s “big four:” Cats, Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera and Miss Saigon. “The musicale was a turning point for many people, which changed their lives. This is a way of thanking the Philippines for greatly contributing to the birth of Miss Saigon.

Robertson also expressed the more important objective of the production and that is to give the Filipino theater community an opportunity to learn and see how international productions are done.

“When we’re gone, the experience should hopefully go on,” he conveyed.

Only then, Robertson said, that people would begin to see the rewards of enduring a grueling process to put up a production.

“People ask me
‘what do you do this for?’” he related. “I think the reward is when you actually get the production in front of the public for the first time and see them moved by it. Suddenly, everything is taken to a different level and for those who have not been through this experience, it’s a tremendously exciting thing to happen.”

With the “heat” of Saigon rapidly rising, to say that the Filipino people are growing more excited by the day is an understatement. Finally, after 12 long years of waiting, everyone can come to experience the legend of Miss Saigon. (By Tessa Mauricio of The Manila Times)

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