Dedicated to the 35th anniversary of the musical Miss Saigon on West End, Lisa writes an article “Miss Saigon: Deja Vu”, where she interviews the composer and creator of the legendary musicals Miss Saigon, Les Miserables and The Pirate Queen.
In the mid-80-s a photograph of a young Vietnamese woman holding a crying little girl, giving her child to an American soldier so that she could leave for the U.S. and be with her father, drew attention of Claude-Michel Schönberg and evoked strong feelings, reminding Claude-Michel of the story of Madame Butterfly: “I saw a picture of a young Vietnamese girl leaving her mother behind at the airport and I thought that for the mother who has been searching for her ex-boyfriend, it was a huge sacrifice – she knew that if she found the guy it would be the last day for her with her daughter. This picture was a huge shock to me as a father. I could imagine my son leaving me forever back when he was a child. Or I would think of my mother – This could be the last time that I see her. It was a horrendous notion. I’ve been obsessed with that idea of Miss Saigon for a while, and I told Alain Boublil we should set the show up at the end of the Vietnam War. And turn it into a story of а young American soldier and a beautiful Vietnamese girl. And we immediately set off to work.”
And that is how the idea for the book of Miss Saigon the musical was born. Lisa asked the composer and author of the book of the musical Miss Saigon why he chose to use the libretto of the opera by Puccini Madame Butterfly as the basis for his musical.
To read the full article: https://thetheatretimes.com/miss-saigon-deja-vu-an-exclusive-interview-with-claude-michel-schonberg