Miss Saigon: Theatre Review

Miss Saigon is a moving, powerful and emotional musical. It follows the heart-breaking story of Kim during the Vietnam War and following years. Here’s my Miss Saigon theatre review.

Overview and plot synopsis of Miss Saigon the musical

Miss Saigon is a musical set during and after the Vietnam War. It follows the love story of Kim, a young Vietnamese girl, and Chris, an American soldier. My Miss Saigon theatre review will first discuss the plot synopsis, before moving onto what I liked and didn’t like – so beware there are plot spoilers in this first section.

Act One

Miss Saigon begins set in the city of Saigon, in South Vietnam, in April 1975. The story begins in Dreamland, a bar and brothel run by the opportunistic Engineer. The Engineer introduces his newest recruit – a young Vietnamese orphan named Kim. She is overwhelmed by the bar, but she meets Chris, an American Marine disillusioned by the war. During a lively night at the club, the girls compete in a “Miss Saigon” pageant, and Chris is drawn to Kim’s innocence and vulnerability. John, Chris’s friend, encourages him to spend time with her, and the two quickly form a deep emotional bond and fall in love. Kim rejects Thuy, a Vietnamese man she was promised to by her father. And instead she chooses Chris. They ‘marry’ in a Vietnamese ceremony led by Kim.

The show then cuts to 3 years later. Kim is living in poverty, but still loves Chris and believes he will return to her. But we learn that Chris is now back in the USA, and has an American wife.

Thuy returns to Kim, helped by the Engineer to find Kim. But Kim still refuses to go with Thuy. She reveals she has a 3 year old son, whose father is Chris. Thuy tries to harm her son, and Kim ends up shooting Thuy. The Engineer realises that Kim’s American son could be the passport he desperately desires to get a USA visa. So the Engineer helps Kim and her son, Tam, escape with him to Bangkok.

Act Two

In Act Two, Kim is living in Bangkok, and working in another bar run by the Engineer. They manage to get word to an American organisation, run by John, that is seeking to reunite American soldiers with the children they left behind. In America, John tells Chris that he has heard from Kim, that she is alive, and has a son. John, Chris and his new wife, Ellen, plan to travel to Bangkok to meet Chris’s son.

John finds Kim, and tells her that Chris is in Bangkok to see her. Kim is overwhelmed with emotion. And John can’t bring himself to tell her that Chris is now married.

As Kim prepares to reunite with Chris, we see what really happened three years ago when Chris left Vietnam. Saigon suddenly collapsed, and there was an order for all the American soldiers to evacuate quickly. Chris desperately tried to get back to Kim, and Kim desperately tried to get through the gates at the American Embassy to get to Chris. But Chris was unable to reach her. And he was taken away in a helicopter. He tried for a year to find Kim, before realising he had to move on with his life. And that’s when he met and married Ellen.

Kim runs to Chris’s hotel, dreaming of their romantic reunion. But she meets Ellen. Ellen tells her she is Chris’s wife. Kim is heartbroken. She tries to convince Ellen to still take her son back to America so he can have a better life, but Ellen says that Tam must stay with Kim in Bangkok and they will send money.

Kim returns to her home, heartbroken. She realises that she has lost Chris’s love, and that she will not be moving to America with Chris after all.

Chris learns that Kim met Ellen, and runs to her home to find Kim. However, just as he is meeting his son, he hears a gunshot. He runs through to find Kim has shot herself. Heartbroken from losing Chris, she kills herself so that her son will be able to go to live in America with Chris. Kim dies in Chris’s arms.

What I liked about Miss Saigon

Miss Saigon is one of my favourite musicals of all time. This was the second time I saw the show on stage, and it was just as good – if not better – than the first time I saw it. From the second song, I was in tears, and by the end I was properly crying. The show is just so powerful and emotional.

The emotion of the story of Miss Saigon, and the music

My favourite thing about the musical Miss Saigon is the emotion, alongside the music. The entire musical is sung, with no breaks for dialogue. And almost every song is emotional and powerful. Apart from a few comic moments with the Engineer, the show is filled with emotion.

The second song is a highlight for me. It’s the famous song ‘The movie in my mind’. It’s sung by one of the bar girls in the Engineer’s brothel. She sings, dreaming about a better life. This song is only 5 minutes into the show, and I was already crying. It’s such a powerful song about dreaming of a better life, and being absolutely powerless to be able to create that night.

The show continues with more emotion as Kim and Chris fall in love. The song ‘Sun and Moon’ is one of the most beautiful love songs. You get so invested in their love story.

And then there’s the song ‘I still believe’. Three years after Chris has left, Kim is in poverty in Vietnam with her son. But she still loves Chris, and still believes he will return to her. But then we learn that Chris is remarried in America. In that song, my heart completely breaks for Kim – she still believes in Chris, but he’s moved on.

It’s heart-breaking as well when Kim learns about Chris’s marriage to Ellen. She’s so excited to see him again, and truly believes he’ll take her back to America with their son. It’s devasting to see all her dreams crushed. And the ending, when she kills herself, is beyond sad. There wasn’t a dry eye in the whole theatre. She sang in Act One about how she’d give her life for her son. And she did.

The staging and the helicopter

The staging of Miss Saigon adds to the amazing experience. The set makes you feel like you’re in Vietnam. I enjoyed the powerful military scenes, with the military style dancing in the scene celebrating three years since the reunification of Vietnam.

The helicopter is a real highlight of Miss Saigon as well. In the middle of Act Two, we see Kim’s flashback to when Chris left. It’s a hugely powerful and emotional scene (and yes, I was crying again). Chris is desperately searching for and calling for Kim. And she’s calling for him as well. But the sound effects of the helicopter surround the theatre. And then we see the helicopter descend, to collect Chris and take him away. The special effects of this scene are amazing, and it’s so powerful and emotional.

I first saw Miss Saigon in London, and saw it again more recently on a touring production. I was so glad that they kept the helicopter in the touring production, as it’s such a powerful and memorable moment. It wasn’t quite as good on the touring show as it was in the West End, as you’d expect, but it was still good and captured the intense emotion.

The storyline

The plot of Miss Saigon still feels current and powerful. I’d heard some reviews saying they thought Miss Saigon was a bit old fashioned and dated now – an old musical, that doesn’t work so well today. But I didn’t find that at all. To me, it still felt very current. Even though it’s set in the 1970s, it’s still incredibly important to remember the tragic events of the Vietnam War. And Miss Saigon does such an excellent job at making the Vietnam War personal.

The musical makes you connect so strongly with the characters, you really feel the heartbreak of Kim and Chris. And it’s even more powerful when you remember that this story is going to be loosely based on reality. There really were many children born to Vietnamese women, from American soldiers. This show gives you a glimpse into just one story, but you know that in reality, the devastation and heartbreak of this war would have affected thousands, even millions, of people.

I only noticed one line that got changed from the earlier productions of Miss Saigon. In the original soundtrack, there’s a line in the song Last Night of the World that says ‘On the other side of the Earth, there’s a place your life will have worth’. However, in this most recent production, it’s changed. It now says: ‘On the other side of the Earth, we will build a life that has worth’. It’s a subtle change, but I think it’s a good one. It’s nice to move away from the message that Kim’s life will only have worth in America (which obviously isn’t true), and move towards the idea of Chris and Kim building a new life together.

What I wasn’t so sure about

I absolutely love the musical Miss Saigon. So for me, there’s really not a lot that I didn’t like, or that I wasn’t so sure about. There are only two tiny things.

The role and songs of the Engineer

My first thing is the Engineer’s part. The Engineer gave an amazing performance. But for me, it sometimes felt like his songs were just filler. For example, he has a long song in the penultimate scene, singing about his dreams of a new life in the USA. It’s a fun song, with lots of jokes and sparkly costumes. But then after this song, we cut back to the emotion of the final scene with Kim.

In a way, I can see that it’s nice to have some comic relief in the show – otherwise it’s all very emotional and heavy. And for some people who aren’t so keen on the heavy emotional scenes, this might be their favourite scene – I heard someone in the theatre say this was their favourite. But for me, scenes like this are just a distraction from the emotion and power of the main plot, and those are my favourite parts of the show.

The staging of the song ‘I still believe’

There was also one element of the staging of the touring production I wasn’t so keen on. In the song ‘I still believe’, we see Kim living in poverty in Vietnam. And then it cuts to Chris’s wife, Ellen, who is also singing about her love for Chris. In earlier productions, this juxtaposition was made quite clear, because the scene jumped to show Chris and Ellen in bed in America.

However, in the 2025/26 touring production, Chris and Ellen are just stood to the side of the stage with a few other people. It’s hard to recognise Chris at first. And it’s not at all obvious that the woman who is just stood to the side of the stage and singing, is Chris’s new wife. It’s such an important and powerful scene, where the audience learns that Kim’s love and belief in Chris is wrong. So I feel like it should be made clearer on stage for the audience to understand, if they haven’t seen the show before.

Would I recommend going to see Miss Saigon

My Miss Saigon theatre review is really positive. I absolutely love this show. It’s one of my favourite musicals. So I would definitely recommend going to see Miss Saigon. It’s definitely not a show that’s suitable for children. And if you prefer fun, silly musicals then it might not be your favourite. But if you like musicals that are full of emotion and powerful songs, then this is the musical for you. Just make sure you bring plenty of tissues, as it will almost certainly make you cry.