On February 16 Burswood Theatre will erupt with a cyclonic thunderclap of sound as the groundbreaking musical that is Miss Saigon lands with all the noise and fury of a Blackhawk helicopter. This full scale production is an awe inspiring onslaught which encompasses song, dance, 3D animation and some of the most extravagant production design ever seen onstage – from the 1500 pieces of costuming to the full scale chopper that takes off at the end of the first act.
Juan Jackson stars in Miss Saigon as GI John, a pivotal character, whose involvement in the story initially sees him setting out in search of a good time, but inevitably assisting displaced war children. For Jackson, an expat American now residing in Australia, Miss Saigon is not only a chance for him to prove his singing prowess once more, but an opportunity to add humanity to a war that ravaged a world… and still has implications to this day.
How does your character, GI John, fit into the mix of characters in Miss Saigon?
I start out and I just want to get my best mate Chris laid. It’s this simple action, which starts the ball rolling for the show really.
Through the course of the show John goes on this really big journey. In the beginning he is very singly minded about very pragmatic survival techniques and also his own survival. The flipside is that he finds the fun in what is an awful situation.
By the time the second act shows up, John has grown immensely. It’s three years later, he’s seen the world and the plight of the people around him – especially the people in Vietnam. His life is completely differently. As for the children who came out as a result of that war, he’s seen their plight as a part of his life. Once you see something you can’t un-see it, and he has to live his life accordingly.
Your character has been described as one of the ‘moral backbones’ of the story – would you agree?
Everybody in their given situation acts to the best of their ability – except for The Engineer whose constant self-interest is himself. What John does in the show is reflects back to the other characters who are making decisions because of their own self preservation and to save themselves and their own relationships. The whole reason Chris resists so much toward going back is because it impacts very much on his relationship.
Displaced war children were one of the many tragedies of the Vietnam War. How has the musical tackled this complex issue?
The half-blood children from two different cultures – primarily America and Vietnam – were not treated very well and not looked upon as being very ‘good’ by the rest of their society. So from my perspective it’s all about the children…and these children aren’t some kind of distant memory from like 300 years ago or even 100 years ago. They’re still living right now. The people who made those children come to see the show, these children are coming to see the show. People who have first-hand experience and Viet war vets who come to see the show – they stop us afterwards and comment on how much they appreciate our efforts to bring this story to life. And I think they are reacting to us struggling to honestly present something that is real, that involves us being in their situation and not just presenting a multi-million dollar interview. But fortunately, people get a multi million dollar musical. However, the emphasis from the director and the producer and the rest of the production is to use every trick in this show to present something that is more visceral, accurate and real and not just the use of tricks for tricks sake.
Can you describe the epic nature of this production and the overall visual impact it has?
Since the first production came out years back, they’ve taken the story and gone back to ‘what are the core components emotionally and truthfully for the show?’ and tried to expand on them. They use both the latest audio visual and soundscape technologies available to present the most filmic version of this story that they can provide. But none of this means anything unless all of us present something that is absolutely real. If we don’t go to that place none of the tricks mean a thing.
Miss Saigon opens at Burswood Theatre for a limited nine week season on February 16. www.ticketek.com.au
