Theatre review: Miss Saigon

Most long-lived big musicals have their day and, once they've closed in the West End, may be seen in later years in smaller productions. Miss Saigon, on the other hand, closed 15 years ago but now returns with as much pomp and publicity as it ever had. It seemed a bit of a gamble to me but Cameron Mackintosh must have known something I didn't about public demand for its return, as the show recouped its costs before press night, and has already extended its booking period into next year. Based on Madame Butterfly (doesn't everything seem to be?) Miss Saigon follows Kim (Eva Noblezada,) a 17-year-old orphan acquired by a Saigon brothel catering to US soldiers in the middle of the Vietnam war. She and a young sergeant, Chris (Alistair Brammer,) fall in love and plan to marry and return to America together, but the fall of Saigon and America's hasty retreat from Vietnam sees them parted.

Theatre review: Taboo

A show named after a seedy club gets revived in a site-specific production at a not-entirely-salubrious-looking club in Brixton. Original director Christopher Renshaw, bringing with him an original cast member (Paul Baker as Philip Sallon,) returns to Boy George's autobiographical musical Taboo. It's the early 1980s and straight(ish) aspiring photographer Billy (Alistair Brammer) moves out of his parents' home and in with his Siouxsie-esque girlfriend Kim (Niamh Perry.) The "landlady" is Sallon, and the other residents include a cross-dressing wannabe poet - Boy George (Matthew Rowland.) Billy is our eyes through which to relive a culture that fought against the austerity of a recession under Thatcher by creating flamboyant looks on a shoestring. The fictional Billy's story runs parallel with George's real history with drugs but the show is largely about bringing to the stage some of the iconic figures of the scene.