Miss Saigon, Prince Edward Theatre ****

I have often been left disgruntled by Boubil and Schönberg's musicals as they have often been walking very close to the edge of plagiarism. Marguerite had some phrases which resembled the opera La Boheme and Bring Him Home from Les Mis was dangerously similar to the Humming Chorus from Madama Butterfly. Therefore, I was wary when getting a ticket to Miss Saigon that this story has also been borrowed from the great composer Puccini.

Luckily, this wonderful musical borrows nothing else and shows a gritty, real, emotional Vietnam that shows the horror of war as well as the joy of love and hope for a better future. Whilst the first scene could do with cuts to keep the pace going, this is the only part of this show that drags. Unlike their other musicals, the pair have been influenced by more more styles, incorporating pop and soul within the beautiful, lyrical music that delights and causes the tears to start somewhere in the middle of the first half and doesn't stop until the tragic denouement. However, it is also hilarious with it's star, Jon Jon Brioes as the engineer, providing plenty of gags whilst also conveying the long discussed nature of the American Dream. The penultimate number in the musical is hate filled, showing the sexualisation of the dream and how it is dressed up to be something it is not. This is the case throughout, with each of the obscene sexual references are a mask for the pain suffered in Vietnam. The juxtapositions create rounded characters and unlike Les Mis, all of these characters are three dimensional; where an innocent girl has the capacity to kill and where the evil woman that stole the protagonist's man is portrayed as innocent unlike Les Mis where all the protagonists are great with only Javert having a complex personality. In comparison, this musical encourages diversity and is almost perfect.

The production itself does the piece proud. This is a truly remarkable reworking that incorporates the dank slum life to the majesty and ceremony in the parades. Totie Driver and Matt Kinley's set design makes full use of their presumably large budget to create a majestic set whilst Laurence Connor can't seem to put a step wrong with direction which is at times subtle and at others brash in a way which gels well. As far as performances go, Eva Novlezada's Kim is one of the greatest you can see and you can already see a superstar in the making. The stars from Korea and the Philippines, Kwang-Ho Hong and Rachelle Ann Go are both marvellous in their roles and the ensemble are spot on also. If you wanted to part with large amounts of money, this wouldn't be a bad thing to spend it on (unless, like me, you are prepared to wake up at 6am for a day seat for £20).