Kwang-Ho Hong, one of Korea’s top musical theatre actors, has joined the cast of the forthcoming high-profile revival of Boublil and Schënberg legendary musical Miss Saigon.
The solo artist and performer, who boasts sell our arena tours in his home country as well as leading roles in Korean productions of The Phantom Of The Opera, Jekyll And Hyde and Miss Saigon, will make his West End debut in Cameron Mackintosh’s highly anticipated production. The Vietnam War-set romance begins previews at the Prince Edward Theatre from 3 May.
Hong joins a principal cast that comprises Jon Jon Briones, Alistair Brammer, Tamsin Carroll, Hugh Maynard, Rachelle Ann Go and newcomer Eva Noblezada, who will also make her West End debut in the production. Noblezada leads the cast as Kim, a recently orphaned 17-year-old who is forced to take work at Dreamland, a sleazy club owned by The Engineer.
Korean star Hong will take the role of Thuy, Kim’s cousin with whom she has been betrothed since the age of 13. The story sees their lives thrown into turmoil and led in directions they could never have imagined after Kim falls in love with American GI Chris.
The hugely successful Miss Saigon has played in 300 cities since its award-winning premiere at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane 25 years ago. This new production will feature the show’s famous songs including Why, God, Why?, The Heat Is On In Saigon, The Movie In My Mind and Sun And Moon, as well as a brand new track written by the legendary Boublil and Schënberg to be sung by Ellen.
Completing the cast are Julia Abueva, Natalie Chua, Jon-Scott Clark, Jenny Ding, Dale Evans, Callum Francis, Ashley Gilmour, Maria Graciano, Simon Hardwick, Jack Harrison-Cooper, Matthew Jeans, Kurt Kansley, David Kar-Hing Lee, Kittiphun Kittipakapom, Mitch Leow, Ela Lisondra, Carolyn Maitland, Tanya Manalang, Christian Rey Marbella, Kanako Nakano, Thao Therese Nguyen, Saori Oda, Ariel Reonal, Jon Reynolds, Romeo Salazar, Jordan Shaw, Marsha Songcome, Eloisa Amalia Tan, Christian Tanamal, Thao Vilayvong, Amadeus Williams and Gerald Zarcilla.
To discover more about Hong, watch the video above in which Mackintosh reveals how they cast the “very special” actor.