MANILA, Philippines – Broadwayworld.com announced on October 12 that “Miss Saigon’s” producer Cameron Mackintosh, and Philippines’ rep, Dong Alegre would be conducting auditions in Manila on November 19 to 22, 2012, to select the next Kim for the Broadway play, “Miss Saigon”.
“Miss Saigon” is scheduled to reopen in London’s West End with a new cast. The original main cast in 1989 was composed of Filipino singer-actress Lea Salonga as Kim and Simon Bowman as Chris, Kim’s lover.
Majority of “Miss Saigon’s” original cast was composed of Filipinos like Monique Wilson and Robert Sena, among others.
The plot took place during the Vietnam War when Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City now) was about to fall. It is the tragic love story of a bar girl, Kim, and her American GI lover, Chris.
Lea Salonga won the Laurence Olivier Award for “Best Actress in a Musical” in 1989 for “Miss Saigon,” and had gained international fame as a stage actress. Jonathan Pryce, the engineer, also won the “Best Actor in a Musical” for the same play.
In 1991, Lea Salonga and Jonathan Pryce won for “Miss Saigon” the Tony Award as Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Musical and Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Musical respectively.
In the same year, Lea Salonga also won the Drama Desk Award and the Theatre World Award, all for her role as Kim in “Miss Saigon.”
Lea Salonga tweeted the audition through her official Twitter account:
The duet of Kim and Chris, “Sun and Moon” became popular internationally. The lyrics of the song are found below, courtesy of Miss Saigon’s song composers.
Sun and Moon
You are sunlight and I moon.
Joined by the gods of fortune.
Midnight and high noon,
sharing the sky
we have been blessed, you and I.
You are here like a mystery.
I’m from a world that’s so different.
From all that you are
how in the light of one night
did we come so far?
Outside day starts to dawn.
Your moon still floats on high.
The birds awake.
The stars shine too.
My hands still shake.
I reach for you.
And we meet in the sky!
You are sunlight, and I moon.
Joined here, bright’ning the sky.
With the flame of love
Made of sunlight, moonlight.
Below is the YouTube video of “Sun and Moon” sang by Lea Salonga and Simon Bowman.
Reportedly, there are three Filipina singers who are being considered for “Miss Saigon.” These are X Factor Judge Charice Pempengco, American Idol season 11’s runner-up, Jessica Sanchez, and Godspell’s Anna Maria Perez de Tagle.
The forthcoming auditions will be held in Makati at the Opera Haus, 3657 Bautista St., Makati City, on November 19 to November 22, 2012.
