FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Tegan McLane, Director of Marketing and Programs (408) 288-5437 x318 [email protected]

MISS SAIGON PERFORMS JULY 30-AUGUST 8, 2004 LOCAL THEATER COMPANY OFFERS FIRST NON-EQUITY PRODUCTION IN U.S.

SAN JOSE, CA – (July 15, 2004) Children’s Musical Theater San Jose, chosen as the first non-Equity theater company in the granted the rights to produce Miss Saigon, opens its much-anticipated production July 30-August 8, 2004, at the Montgomery Theater in downtown San Jose (corner of Market and San Carlos streets). Tickets are now on sale to the public for $18 adults, $12 children 12 and under. Miss Saigon is sponsored by Viet Mercury and is part of the CMT Summer Series, sponsored by the San Jose Mercury News.

Set against the backdrop of the War, Miss Saigon is the dramatic love story of Chris, an American Marine, and Kim, an innocent young Vietnamese girl who takes a job serving soldiers in a bar to survive after her entire family has been killed. Their romance is cut short by the fall of Saigon, and a reunion between the married Chris and Kim, several years after the fall ends in Kim’s tragic suicide. But Miss Saigon is perhaps best known for its showy special effects, including a helicopter landing on stage to evacuate the Americans.

Director Kevin Hauge noted that the Miss Saigon rehearsal process provided a great learning opportunity for CMT Mainstage performers. Not only did the performers have to learn very challenging music and strenuous choreography; they also did research on the and Vietnamese culture. Performers heard stories firsthand from parents and other adults who were involved, including local-resident Minh-Ngoc Nguyen, an ESL instructor and the mother of a cast member who came to the U.S. after the fall of Saigon. Nguyen’s son, Julien Nguyen Christensen, plays the role of Thuy, the young Vietnamese man whom Kim was promised to marry and who later becomes an officer in the North Vietnam army. Mother and son agree that Julien’s being cast as Thuy stirred up a painful and moving personal history. However, Nguyen is happy and proud that a piece of Vietnam history and culture is being brought to life at the Montgomery Theater by the talented staff and Mainstage artists of CMT. Most local Vietnamese have strong opposition to North Vietnam, and some have family members who fought on either side of the conflict.

“We are so honored that the publishing house selected CMT from the more than 7,000 community theaters in the country. Miss Saigon is a difficult show for any theater company to produce, and the fact that we were selected speaks to the outstanding reputation of this company, of CMT Artistic Director Kevin Hauge and of the amazing pool of young talent here,” said Executive Director Jennifer Hull.

Hauge directs and choreographs the show, with musical and vocal direction by Mason Kimont. The cast consists of nearly a hundred 15- to 20-year-olds, including a number of older CMT performers who are back for the summer from their studies at prestigious theater programs such as Manhattan School of Music, New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and Boston Conservatory.

“They bring an incredible energy to the production. It’s wonderful to see how they have matured in their art since last summer,” Hauge said. “There is no question that these young actors, who are the same age as the characters they play, are better suited to the roles than many older actors.”

San Jose State University theater arts professor Jim Culley has designed the set to create an abstract, cinematic feeling, using panels of Venetian blinds that can be adjusted to achieve dramatic lighting effects in combination with Ethan Hoernamann’s lighting design for the show. CMT’s version will have a helicopter.

Performances are: Friday, July 30 at 7 p.m.; Saturday, July 31 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Sunday, August 1 at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m.; Thursday, August 5 at 7 p.m.; Friday, August 6 at 7 p.m.; Saturday, August 7 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; and Sunday, August 8 at 1 p.m.

For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit the CMTSJ web site at www.cmtsj.org. Or phone the CMT Box Office at 408.288.5437. Tickets may also be purchased in person at the CMT Box Office, 1401 Parkmoor Avenue (at Meridian), San Jose, Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.- 5 p.m. or the Montgomery Theater one hour prior to performances.

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