Miss Saigon Opens Tonight

Lars Lee as Chris and Jenna Zito as Kim in The Hartt School's upcoming production of Miss Saigon. Photo by Steve Wronker.

The Hartt School, by arrangement with Cameron Mackintosh, will present a new production of Miss Saigon, the epic tale of a courageous young Vietnamese girl, Kim, and her journey of survival in post-war Vietnam and Bangkok.

Performances will take place Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 25 through 27, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 28, at 3 p.m., in Lincoln Theater.

University of Hartford students, faculty, and staff are entitled to one free ticket to this production when they present current University ID at the box office in Lincoln Theater. Admission for the general public is $20, with discounts for seniors, students, and groups. Please call the University Box Office at 860.768.4228 or 800.274.8587 or visit www.hartford.edu/hartt for tickets and information.

Hartt's production of Miss Saigon is directed by Kevin Gray, with music direction by Michael Morris and choreography by Ralph Perkins. Based loosely on Puccini's Madame Butterfly, and set against the backdrop of Saigon in the turbulent final days of the U.S. involvement, Miss Saigon tells the story of ordinary people caught in the extraordinary circumstances of war.

Hartt’s cast features Lars Lee of Minneapolis, MN, as Chris; Jenna Zito of Northport, NY, as Kim; and Jason Long of Lafayette, CA, as The Engineer. Presented through a special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI), Miss Saigon features music by Claude-Michel Schonberg and lyrics by Richard Maltby Jr. and Alain Boublil; was adapted from the original French lyrics by Alain Boublil; and includes additional material by Richard Maltby Jr., with orchestrations by William D. Brohn.

About the director: Kevin Gray starred as Scar in the National Tour of Disney's The Lion King, directed by Julie Taymor, and has toured the United Kingdom as The King in The King and I, reprising his role from the Broadway revival of Rogers and Hammerstein's classic, in which he became only the third actor in history to play the role on Broadway. Gray starred as Pontius Pilate in the Broadway revival of Jesus Christ Superstar and starred in Harold Prince's production of Showboat, as Gaylord Ravenal. He toured as the star of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Music of the Night, and appeared as The Engineer in the Los Angeles and Toronto productions of Miss Saigon, receiving the Dora Mavor Moore (Canada's Tony Award) and Los Angeles Dramalogue awards for his performances. He appears on The Complete Miss Saigon, recorded in London. He was the youngest actor to play the title role in The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway and on the U.S. National Tour, receiving The Carbonelle Award for his performance as The Phantom. Before that, he played Raoul in Phantom of the Opera on Broadway and created the role of Valentin opposite John Rubinstein in the world premiere of the musical Kiss of the Spider Woman. Read more about Kevin Gray.