'Miss Saigon' cast embrace full circle moments in Philippine return

MANILA, Philippines — Excited is an understatement for what the "Miss Saigon" cast feels in bringing the musical back to Philippine shores.

Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil's award-winning musical based on Giacomo Puccini's "Madama Butterfly" was last staged in the Philippines 24 years ago and starred Lea Salonga as she originated her West End and Broadway role of Kim.

This new production of "Miss Saigon" by Cameron Mackintosh was first performed in London, and after a decade it finally makes its way to a country with such close ties to the musical.

A number of Filipinos have participated in different versions of the musical like Lea, Joanna Ampil, Eva Noblezada, Rachelle Ann Go, Jon Jon Briones, Ma-Anne Dionisio, Isay Alvarez, Cocoy Laurel, Pinky Amador, Jon Jon Briones, Jenine Desiderio, Robert Seña and Monique Wilson.

The 2024 Philippine run of "Miss Saigon" features a main cast with Filipino heritage: Fil-Aussies Abigail Adriano and Seann Miley Moore as Kim and the Engineer, Filipino-Kiwi Laurence Mossman as Thuy, and homegrown actress Kiara Dario as Gigi.

Even Nigel Huckle, who plays Chris, has Filipino ties as he had a yaya named Nenny who looked after him growing up in Singapore.

Related:  'Miss Saigon' co-creator praises musical's Philippine connections

The five actors were present at a press conference held outside the Theatre at Solaire, where "Miss Saigon" will be staged, to share how being part of the show feels like a full circle moment.

This is actually not Nigel's first time in the Philippine as he was part of the "Les Miserables" production that performed here in 2014.

That year, Nigel and his family flew Nenny from Iloilo to see him perform, and this time around, he will be doing the same for "Miss Saigon."

Around that time, Nigel was auditioning to be part of "Miss Saigon" on Broadway, and while that didn't fall through he was glad to be given this new opportunity.

Kiara similarly attempted to audition for "Miss Saigon" abroad during a time she considered pursuing Medicine, and she called the five seconds she was allowed to sing as the happiest of her life and vowed to stick with musical theater.

"It's really an honor to be part of