The Heat Is On - The Making Of Miss Saigon
Lea Salonga has had a successful singing career for two decades. It's hard to imagine her as a plain girl with an unremarkable stage presence. Yet she was.
Her first major role, was as Kim in Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil's Miss Saigon - a contemporary adaptation of Puccini's Madama Butterfly, with the setting transposed from Japan, to Vietnam, Indochina, during the Vietnam War.
A 1989 film documenting the casting process, preparation and premiere performance in London's West End of Miss Saigon has been released on DVD.
In addition to being a captivating behind-the-scenes look at putting a musical together, it reveals young Asian hopefuls with little performance experience. In our digital age of global self-promotion, one would imagine that things would be very different today.
There are times during the film, when it seems doubtful that they'll be able to pull a worthy production together, yet, as we know, they certainly managed to do so.
However, most of the issues arising in this fly-on-the-wall doco are timeless and will resonate for anyone who has been involved in the performing arts.
Of particular interest, believe it or not, is the story behind the art design on the promotional poster: swishes of ink denoting a helicopter, in front of a setting sun.
The Heat Is On is must-see viewing for anyone interested in broadway and musicals, but also for anybody interesting in a no-frills glimpse behind the stage curtain.