Youngest Miss Saigon Cast Member Is Theatrical "Newbie"

Youngest Miss Saigon Cast Member Is Theatrical "Newbie"

The youngest cast member of Auckland's latest hit musical, Miss Saigon, says she is a "total newbie" who has no formal dancing or singing training and usually just enjoys singing pop songs in the shower.

Jessica Young, a 17-year-old student at Auckland's Diocesan School for Girls, auditioned last September for the all-New Zealand cast of the show - a production of the North Shore Music Theatre - after her father suggested she give it a go.

The show, originally created by the partnership behind Les Miserables, opened to a full house at the Civic on May 20 and has received excellent reviews.

"Neither of us was expecting for a minute that I would actually get in," says Jessica, who was competing against 170 other people for one of 50 parts in Miss Saigon, an epic love story set in war-torn Saigon in 1975.

"I was so scared the first time that I sang, because I had never auditioned for anything before. They told me I was obviously nervous and gave me another try. Then I sang Sun and Moon. It must have been quite good because it made Dad cry."

When Jessica was recalled two weeks later she says had to do some sexy dancing while singing part of The Heat is On in Saigon.

"It really wasn't too flash. But I then I got an email to say that I had been cast as an Asian bar girls ... it certainly wasn't my dancing that convinced them."

One of 14 bar girls, Jessica also plays the parts of a soldier and a peasant during the two and a half hour show which tells the story of an American GI and a Vietnamese girl who fall in love and are separated during the fall of Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War.

Their struggle to find each other over the ensuing years ends in her making the ultimate sacrifice for the child he never knew he had.

Jessica says the rehearsal schedule in the four months leading up to the show has meant making some sacrifices including not playing for Diocesan's Premier Basketball team or as an Under-17 Auckland representative this season.

"The hardest part has been balancing my study with everything I have to do for the show," says Jessica who is studying Graphics, Geography, French, English and Statistics for Level Three NCEA.

But she says performing at the Civic at the age of 17 as the youngest member of the show has been a huge privilege.

"Everyone knows I'm the youngest and the cast is really supportive. There is no hierarchy, the leads know your name and Tina Cross is really nice."

Jessica says she would not have had the confidence to step out of her comfort zone without such amazing support from her parents.

"Without my dad I wouldn't have auditioned and without my mum, I wouldn't have let go of my inhibitions.My parents are always encouraging me to step out of my comfort zone."

Being in Miss Saigon has opened Jessica's eyes up to the possibility of being in other musical productions.

But after this show ends, she's going to have a well-deserved break.

ends

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