The Heat Is On (TV 1989)

A behind-the-scenes look at the production of a musical, this feature chronicles the development of "Miss Saigon," from its early beginnings, through casting, preparations, choreography to ... See full summary »

Director:

David Wright

Stars:

Cameron Mackintosh, Nicholas Hytner, Claude-Michel Schönberg

Cast

Credited cast:
Cameron Mackintosh	...	Producer
Nicholas Hytner	...	Director
Claude-Michel Schönberg	...	Composer
Greg Ellis	...	Himself
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
David Caddick	...	Musical Supervisor
Richard Maltby Jr.	...	Co-Lyricist
Claire Moore	...	Herself
Peter Polycarpou	...	Himself (John)
Jonathan Pryce	...	Himself
Lea Salonga	...	Herself (Kim)
Monique Wilson	...	Herself (Mimi)

Storyline

A behind-the-scenes look at the production of a musical, this feature chronicles the development of "Miss Saigon," from its early beginnings, through casting, preparations, choreography to its opening night on The West End.

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Plot Keywords:

behind the scenes | london england | singer | making of | musical stage production | 

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Genres:

Documentary | Music

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Details

Country:

USA

Also Known As:

The Making of 'Miss Saigon'

Company Credits

Production Co:

Thames Television

Technical Specs

Runtime:

75 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Quotes

Lea Salonga: They were very vague.

User Reviews

good snapshot of the musical 'Miss Saigon'

In less than an hour this documentary presents 'Miss Saigon' with some bits of musical number, the story of how the musical came to be written, the story of how Lea Salonga became Kim (although it presents her as a new discovery which isn't actually true, she recorded an album aged ten), and some background on the design issues.

Key players in this are producer Cameron Mackintosh, writers Alain Boublil, Claude Michel Schonberg (and to a lesser extent, English lyricist Richard Maltby Jnr.), director Nicolas Hytner, designer John Caird, and cast members Lea Salonga and Jonathan Pryce.

We see the cast in rehearsal and in performance; we hear from everyone involved about the links to Madame Butterfly, Vietnam, etc. For those who have seen the production it is a good aide memoire - for those who haven't it gives a (brief) flavour of what it is about. I would have loved to see complete musical numbers though and seen more on how Maltby worked with the French originators of the musical to make it work.