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HAPPY BIRTHDAY
MISS SAIGON TURNS FOUR

[[image]]
Raul Aranas stars as The Engineer in Miss Saigon

Miss Saigon, the moving saga of a 17-year old Vietnamese woman who falls in love with an American soldier, celebrates its 1,697 performance on April 11. Written by Alain Boublil and Claude Michel-Schönberg and produced by Cameron Mackintosh, Saigon opened four years ago at the Broadway Theatre amid a heated debate concerning the casting of Caucasian (and British) actor Jonathan Pryce in the role of The Engineer (an Amerasian). Pryce, who originated the role in London, went on to win the Tony for his electrifying performance, which climaxed in the dazzling production number "American Dream" (Tonys also went to original leading lady Lea Salonga and Broadway veteran Hinton Battle).

The Engineer is now being portrayed by Raul Aranas, who originate this part for the first national tour, and has the distinction of playing the role more than any other actor--nearly [[photo, captioned "Raul Aranas stars as The Engineer in Miss Saigon"]] 1,000 times. Rona Figueroa and eric Kunze currently star as the ill-fated lovers, while eight original cast members remain in the show.

Having enjoyed a successful run in Japan and still playing to capacity on Broadway, the first national tour opened at the Ahmanson Theatre in L.A. in January, and a new national tour will begin in Seattle this month. And, Miss Saigon can celebrate her Broadway birthday with pride--over the last four years members of the Broadway cast and crew have raised nearly half a million dollars for Broadway cares/Equity Fights AIDS; truly an "American Dream."--Andrew Gans

A Scene from the Cameron Mackintosh production of Miss Saigon at the Broadway Theatre [[photo]]

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