Gritty, beautiful 'Miss Saigon' latest in PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh series

The North American tour of “Miss Saigon” – a powerful love story set in Saigon in 1975 near the end of the Vietnam War – stops in Pittsburgh Feb. 4-9 for eight performances at Benedum Center as part of Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s PNC Broadway in Pittsburgh series.

Audiences will experience a new production of the Broadway musical that focuses on an orphaned 17-year-old Vietnamese woman named Kim (played by Emily Bautista) who meets and falls in love with an American soldier named Chris (Anthony Festa) while working in a Saigon nightclub and brothel known as Dreamland.

After the fall of Saigon, Chris returns home, unaware that he has fathered a son, and Kim embarks on a three-year journey to find him.

For Anthony Festa, who has been involved in theater since he was 5, portraying his character is a tribute to his late father, to whom he dedicates his performance.

“I first saw ‘Miss Saigon’ when I was 14 years old with my father in Schenectady, N.Y., close to where I’m from,” he said. “I was doing the Artful Dodger (in ‘Oliver Twist’) at the time, and he said to me, ‘One day you’re going to play that role (Chris) in this show.”

Festa performed in tours of “Wicked,” “Finding Neverland” and “West Side Story,” as well as several New York and regional productions, including “Rent,” “Billy Elliot,” “South Pacific” and “Hairspray,” before landing his current role.

Roller coaster of emotions

“Miss Saigon” involves “a roller coaster of emotions” and performances that are both physically and emotionally taxing, he said.

To better understand the location and the circumstances surrounding the Vietnam War, he traveled to Southeast Asia last summer to visit Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (formerly known as Saigon) and the war museum there.

“It was an eye-opening experience,” Festa said, “being at the Embassy gates and imagining the chaos and confusion that went on there.”

Bautista understudied the role of Chris in the 2017 Broadway revival of “Miss Saigon” before joining the North American touring company of “Les Miserables” and then being cast in the current production of “Miss Saigon.”

The role of The Engineer, the manipulative and conniving owner of Dreamland, is played by Red Concepción, who also portrayed his character in a United Kingdom and Ireland tour. His credits also include many theater, film and television roles in his homeland, the Philippines.

The national tour of “Miss Saigon” features a cast of 42 and a score that includes Broadway hits such as “The Heat is On in Saigon,” “Last Night of the World,” “The Movie in My Mind” and “American Dream.”

Audience advisory

The opening scene that takes place in Dreamland where Chris and Kim meet is “a gritty, raw version of the scene that’s really in your face” in the current production, Festa said.

Pittsburgh Cultural Trust recommends the show for ages 14 and up due to some scenes and language that may not be suitable for younger audience members, including scenes of a sexual nature. The production also includes strobe lights, gun shots and pyrotechnic effects.

“Miss Saigon” by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, also the creators of “Les Miserables,” opened in 1991 on Broadway, and until its closing in 2001, was the 13th longest running Broadway musical in musical theater history.

Since its inception in 1989, “Miss Saigon” has won more than 30 major theater honors, including three Tony Awards, four Drama Desk Awards and three Outer Critics Circle Awards. The musical has been performed in 25 countries and translated into 12 different languages.

‘Know the Show Before You Go’

Pittsburgh Cultural Trust will offer its “Know the Show Before You Go,” a preshow talk about “Miss Saigon,” from 6:30-7 p.m. Feb. 5 at Trust Arts Education Center, 807 Liberty Ave. . The program is free for ticket holders and refreshments will be served. Those planning to attend should preregister at trustarts.org.