Miss Saigon is my favourite musical, but it is long and it would probably need to be cut if it were to be made into a movie. Not too much. Just the songs that are not moving the plot forward, that sort of thing.
I am having a hard time thinking of what would be left out though. Any one got any ideas?
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Dunno they can't cut anything:|too important
shareI don't think I would cut anything, but I might add some scene(s) about an adult Tam finding out about his mother.
shareNOTE: I've never seen the play and I just bought the highlights CD. I've also heard samplings of other songs on amazon.com.
What I would do is leave the songs that are considered highlights and convert the rest of them to dialogue. While I'd LIKE to stay as true to the show as possible, I don't think people would go see a Vietnam movie in which the characters sing through the entire thing. That might work for a Les Mis movie, but you'd want to keep Miss Saigon as believable as possible since a lot of it's audience might be guys who've seen Apocalypse Now, Platoon, Deer Hunter, and others.
I would not any of them except one and that would be What a Waste. I love the song, I Just don't think it would fit a movie.
shareWhy, God, Why
The Last Night of the World
The Heat is On
Those songs do NOT have to go. They must stay. They are awesome songs. The Last Night of the World and Why God Why are so beautiful. They must be there. Why God Why is actually one of the most important songs.
"If You Wanna Die In Bed" would be a little hard to sustain, uncut, in a movie. I wouldn't lose all of it... I'd keep a small portion and lose the rest. Maybe 30%?
Aside from that (and speaking as a film-maker with an interest in musicals), I can see an awful lot of the stage show fitting very well into a cinematic context.
I've actually mentally story-boarded quite a few scenes from this show, and I think I could pull it off. Of course, being - as I am - a nobody in Hollywood, I doubt they'd give me the chance to prove it.
:o(
It sucks because all the Engineer songs could be shortened because they’re “less important,” but IMO they’re the highlights of the show. :(
share'The Heat is On' is my favorite song in the musical, and it introduces the world the story is set in. It's the opening song for goodness sake. It needs to stay. "Why God Why" does need to go, it's laughable.
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Okay, we did this as our musical this past year and I can definitely say that nothing should be taken out of this except maybe "Now That I've Seen Her". Since it's all sung-through it'd make things difficult. The transistion from Room 317 to Ellen & Chris would be smooth enough. Or do the song and make it a deleted scene.
BTW to Juno-Winter:
First off, you can't cut "The Heat is on in Saigon"; it's the "Once Upon a time..." for Miss Saigon
Why God Why - Chris expresses his reluctance and uneasiness in Vietnam - important
Last Night of the World - A true love song that surpasses Sun and Moon
Ellen's part in I Still Believe does not at all affect their meeting later in act two. They're on two seperate sides of the world.
Just to let you know.
Cougarthespian
"The doctor should be opaque and, like a mirror, should show them nothing but what is shown to him."
-Sigmund Freud
I wouldn't cut the Confrontation (Ellen and Chris), I love the song a lot. I love Now That I've Seen Her/Her Or Me very much, but I'd cut it.
sharei would definately cut why god why? and ellen's part of I Still Believe - when I saw it in the musical it completely ruined the surprise. definately cut one of either sun and moon or last night of the world. I don't know which is better because i don't like either. maybe cut a bit off of kim's nightmare.
shareDefinetely not Why God Why. And especially not Thuy's part of Kim's Nightmare. Why God Why is one of the most important songs in the show. Thuy's part in Kim's Nightmare is Just awesome.
shareUmm - how about the whole thing being shot on location?
"Ellen's part in I Still Believe does not at all affect their meeting later in act two. They're on two seperate sides of the world."
Agreed.
It would also work cinematically.. IIRC, I can see the end-of-Kim's-chorus-into-Ellen's-verse suggesting a dissolve between beds...
You'll probably see similar visual effects to the ones used on Fiddler's Sabbath Prayer scene during the last bit.
Operation Frequent Wind would be cool to see on film though; as long as they crib from news reportage at the time... Lots of handheld camera work..
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