Unrequited love, forbidden romances and a war-struck country are the backdrop for the musical Miss Saigon.
On Dec. 11 and 12, the CHS choral department, symphonic orchestra and select members of the wind ensemble collaborated on the production Miss Saigon, a musical about the love between an American GI and a Vietnamese prostitute.
“The show was a really big success, everyone who came thought it was amazing,” said senior Aaron Braverman who played the male lead Chris. “It also succeeded in raising a lot of funds for the choral and music department.”
The show was designed to raise money for the choral and music departments through generous donations and auctions. In the end they raised almost $10,000.
“It is amazing the amount of support we received to continue the arts both from the community and administration,” technical director Scott Selman. “[I did it for] the joy of [putting on a production] and seeing how it can directly benefit the students.”
According to Selman the show had two corporate sponsors: Behnke Nursery and Main Light Industries. Behnke handled all the lobby decorations, while Main Light Industries (the company also used for Blast) took care of the lighting.
Miss Saigon was different from all the other CHS musicals not only because the characters were cast only from the choral department, but also because it was more of an operetta than a musical, in that all lines were sung.
“It is very demanding to go out on stage every night, see a house of 1,000 people and not be nervous, but the music doesn’t stop, so neither could I,” Braverman said. “The show is all singing so there really is no time to catch your breath.”
In addition, Miss Saigon plucked at heartstrings with its resounding theme of unconditional love juxtaposed with the horrors of a war.
“Not only is it a great musical experience, but also a great learning experience about the fall of Saigon, American-Asian relations and the war in Vietnam,” choral director Carlos Barillo said.
The singers had to both channel those emotions and fully understand the historical significance and background of this play.
“It was easy to portray the characters because of the intense study each student had to do,” Barillo said. “[The singers] empathized with the characters in the show and it is important to remember that when drafting for the Vietnam War [was happening], [those drafted] were the same age as CHS students were, so [the singers] could use that close connection to channel those strong emotions.”
This show also played its part in highlighting the talented symphonic orchestra directed by Kristofer Sanz.
“It was really different from regular musicals because it incorporated all the violinists of the symphonic orchestra, so it was a really big group,” senior violinist Monica Cho said. “I think that for a lot of students who don’t regularly do musicals we did an amazing job. We worked well with the singers and of course, Mr. Sanz was our fearless leader who kept us in sync.”
According to Selman, following the finale of Chicago, the crew only had an eight-day turnaround period, and so the smooth outcome of the show could be attributed to the fact that Selman, Sanz and Barillo all began planning in April.
Overall the show was a resounding success, and a noteworthy performance.
“The 75-piece orchestra was truly outstanding and the performers were fabulous,” counselor Peggy Fahey said. “The entire production was worthy of the Kennedy Center and the orchestra definitely rivaled the National Symphony Orchestra. Of course, I loved the entire show and thoroughly enjoyed watching the students perform, especially my own, both in the orchestra and on stage. It was a powerful performance and extremely well done. I can’t possibly pick any one thing I enjoyed the most because the production in its entirety was superb. Bravo.”
