Response
Upon its Broadway opening in 1991 the musical was massively hyped as the best musical of the year, both critically and commercially. It broke several Broadway records, including a record advance-ticket sales at $24 million, highest priced ticket at $100, and repaying investors in fewer than 39 weeks.
However, although the show has received awards and acclaim, it lost the Best Musical Award at the 1989/90 Laurence Olivier Awards to Return to the Forbidden Planet in London.
Miss Saigon and The Will Rogers Follies led the 1991 Tony Award nominations with eleven nominations. According to The New York Times, "'Will Rogers' and 'Miss Saigon' had both earned 11 nominations and were considered the front-runners for the Tony as best musical. But many theater people predicted that Miss Saigon, an import from London, would be the victim of a backlash. There is lingering bitterness against both the huge amount of publicity Miss Saigon has received and the battle by its producer, Cameron Macintosh, to permit its two foreign stars, Mr. Pryce... and the Filipina actress Lea Salonga, to re-create on Broadway their award-winning roles."
The show lost to The Will Rogers Follies for nearly every major award, though Lea Salonga, Jonathan Pryce and Hinton Battle all won awards.
Read more about this topic: Miss Saigon
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