SIDCOT SCHOOL'S PRODUCTION OF 'MISS SAIGON' IS A SELL-OUT SUCCESS

Sidcot School's production of 'Miss Saigon' – one of the first in the UK after the musical was licensed for school performance – has been hailed a success after it sold out.

The musical, set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, opened in the school's Friends Meeting House on Wednesday March 13 and ran until the Saturday, selling out every night.

All cast members were from the Senior School and Sixth Form, and spent five months rehearsing for the production that followed the lives of Kim and Chris, a Vietnamese bar girl and an American soldier who meet and fall in love. Chris wants to take her back to the US, but the North Vietnamese are approaching Saigon and he has to leave without her. Some years later they are reunited, and she presents him with the son he never knew he had, but the story ends tragically with the death of Kim.

Forty students at the Quaker independent school near Winscombe sang and danced their way through 35 numbers, accompanied by a full band and a variety of costume and scene changes. Both Leila Addyman (Kim) and Darwin Li (Chris) were outstanding as the star-crossed lovers, but special mention should go to Jason Pallari as the flamboyant, devious Engineer and Nicolas Gampierakis as Chris's best buddy John.

Bev King, Sidcot's Director of Music, said: The crew and cast were delighted with the first night of the latest musical production of 'Miss Saigon'. The cast has worked extremely hard to create such a professional show. By the time the evening came to a close the audience had been treated to some exceptional performances."

For more information about Sidcot School visit www.sidcot.org.uk. The next Open Morning is Bank Holiday Monday May 6th at 9.30am.