“Miss Saigon” Tells The Story Of Many Vietnamese Americans

DENVER (CBS4) – “Miss Saigon” is the musical story of love and loss in the midst of war. The new production is playing at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts September 10 – 22.
This musical is a drama following the story of a young Vietnamese woman named Kim. She meets and falls in love with an American G.I. named Chris. Love is a powerful driving force in this story.

“What our show does is show true love. At it’s most truest form, our two characters, Kim and Chris, don’t even speak the same language, and they fall in love. It’s just so beautiful to watch flourish throughout the show, and watch the heartbreak and the struggles that they go through to try to get back at each other,” said Emily Bautista, who plays Kim.

The couple is torn a part by the end of the Vietnam War and the fall of Saigon. Kim goes on a 3-year journey to survive the aftermath and find her way back to Chris.

“There’s a lot of heart break, and there’s a lot of drama. I’d say the love …the love that conquers everything, once you get to the end of the story. It’s written so well that it just forces your heart to deliver by the end of the show,” said Anthony Festa, who plays Chris.

Many Vietnamese Americans see their own family’s story in “Miss Saigon.”

“I am the daughter of a Vietnamese immigrant. My mom was part of the Vietnam War. She was born and raised in Vietnam. She lived in Saigon for a long time.” said Jackie Nguyen, an actress in the production. “When my mom was 17, she met an American G.I., and they had three children together. And I believe her children gave her strength to survive and gave her the will to fight and to try and see that there was more to life then this terrible war.”
Nguyen’s mother and her father were eventually reunited in the United States nearly a decade later. She sees her family in the production she works on every night.