I saw this show with my mom when I was home for the summer. I was a little worried that I had hyped the show up in my mind so much that I would be disappointed by what I saw on stage. And, to an extent, I think that was the case...at least as far as the actors were concerned. This was nothing wrong with the cast we saw, but I just didn't feel the emotional attachment to the characters that I had come to expect after falling in love with the cast recording. But the staging of the show was every bit as impressive as I'd imagined, and that helicopter was just incredible. :-)

Some of my favourite scenes would have to include "Why God Why?" (I just love that song!), the wedding scene (Chris was hilarious!), "The Morning of the Dragon" (awesome dance sequence!), "I Still Believe", "If You Want to Die in Bed" (the Engineer provided most of the comic relief in the show), "Bui Doi" (the video they showed was really neat...I didn't know that they did that!), "The Fall of Saigon" and the "Finale". Wow, that's a lot of favourite scenes, isn't it? :-) I was also really excited whenever Thuy was on stage...that guy has the best lines! However, like I said, there was just some connection missing, so that while I was prepared to sob throughout the show, I only really cried once (as Chris boarded the helicopter), and only teared up at the end.

A few notes on the cast itself...Kim was good, though she was a little too helpless most of the time. Chris was the understudy, but he had a great voice. The Engineer was fabulous...he really stole the show. Ellen was also an understudy, and I didn't find her a very sympathetic character at all....I think it is really a challenge to make the audience care about this character, since they're already so attached to Kim, and this actress just didn't quite manage to pull it off. Thuy was fairly good, though he could have been more powerful as well. And I just have to note the little girl playing Tam...she was adorable!!! :-)

I did stop by the stage door after the show and chatted with the actors playing Chris, Thuy and the Engineer (and dragged my mom along for her first time at the stage door! :-) and they were all very nice!! All in all, it was a good experience, and I'm glad I went, but I can't see myself going to the show again anytime soon...it's just not that kind of show!