Venue: Joseph Rowntree Theatre
Date: Fri 22 Feb - Sat 02 Mar
Time: 7.30pm With 2.30pm Saturday Matinees
Produced by: York Stage Musicals
Written by: Alain Boublil & Richard Maltby Jr
Directed by: Robert Readman
Designed by: Robert Readman
Choreographer: Lesley Hill
Music by: Claude-Michel Schonberg & Alain Boublil
Musical Director: Adam Tomlinson
By the time of the transfer of Les Miserables to the Palace Theatre on 4th December 1985 Alain and Claude-Michel were already working on an idea for a new musical. The idea stemmed from a news photograph that Claude-Michel had come across during a coffee break one autumn afternoon in Paris. It showed a Vietnamese woman parting with her child at Tan Son Nhut airport, so that the child could have a better life with her G.I. father in America. It reminded him of Cio-Cio-San's ultimate scarifice in Madame Butterfly.
But Miss Saigon is not simply a re-telling of the butterfly story. That was just a starting point from which to construct their own narrative, merging only some aspects of the story with their own original contemporary subject matter and contemporary characters. There was a sense of freedom in writing an original creation as compared to writing an adaptation. With Les Miserables they were tied to a fixed narratrive, which was not only a great classic but a huge epic story and one which required the skilful compression of large chunks of narrative. With Miss Saigon, however, the technique was the reverse of compression, it was one of expansion. The butterfly plot of a misunderstanding between two individuals of highly different cultures was retained but the story was projected into a tragic period of modern history when that basic misunderstanding between two people could reflect the deeper misunderstanding between their respective countries at war.
Prices:
Friday 22nd February - 7.30pm (£13 full, £12 Concession)
Saturday 23rd February - 2.30pm (£12 full, £11 Concession)
Saturday 23rd February - 7.30pm (£14 full)
Monday 25th February - 7.30pm (£11 full, £10 Concession)
Tuesday 26th February - 7.30pm (£11 full, £10 Concession)
Wednesday 27th February - 7.30pm (£12 full, £11 Concession)
Thursday 28th February - 7.30pm (£13 full, £12 Concession)
Friday 1st March - 7.30pm (£14 full)
Saturday 2nd March - 2.30pm (£13 full)
Saturday 2nd March - 7.30pm (£14 full)
(Concessions available for Under 16s, Over 60s, Full-Time Students. Family of 4 Ticket £40 All Performances, Groups of 10+ £10 Per Ticket All Performances).
To buy a family x 4 ticket (Select 2 Adults and then 2 Under 16s and the price will convert at the basket).
Running Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
Suitable for ages: 8+
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