It’s Mr & Mrs Saigon As Stars Tie the Knot – Daily Echo
by Echo reporter
THEY step into the limelight every night of the week – but yesterday a couple took on the biggest starring roles of their lives.
The two lead performers in Southampton’s blockbusting musical Miss Saigon walked up the aisle together for real as they married in a sumptuous ceremony at the city’s historic Tudor Merchant’s Hall.
The entire Miss Saigon cast packed into the building as David Shannon and Ima Castro tied the knot during an all-star ceremony.
They met and fell in love on the show – but while on stage the romance between Chris, an American GI, and Kim, a local Vietnamese girl, is deeply troubled. In real life it had a happy finale.
Ima, 27, swept into the building for the civil ceremony – the first ever in the Tudor Merchant’s Hall – wearing a spectacular dress with 10ft-long veil.
Hugh Maynard, who plays John in the musical, led a cast quartet in the singing and about 80 guests cheered loudly as the couple said “I do”.
A handful of fans gathered outside as the beaming newly-weds stepped out on to the city walls to a glass of mulled wine and the frenzied click of cameras.
They then stepped into a pristine Silver Ghost Rolls-Royce and were driven by Beaulieu owner Lord Montagu himself to a lavish reception at waterside restaurant Dock Gate Four.
After the popular Miss Saigon run at Southampton’s Mayflower Theatre, the couple eventually plan to settle in the Philippines, where Ima is a major recording star, already on her third album.
Miss Saigon Video Interview – BBC Southampton
October 8, 2003 by Admin
Filed under Interviews
BBC Southampton interview with Leo Tavarez (The Engineer), Ima Castro (Kim) and David Shannon (Chris) about Miss Saigon.
Eastern delight that moves you to tears – This is Southampton
Review by Andrew White
A TRIUMPH: Miss Saigon is both moving and spectacular.
Miss Saigon, The Mayflower, Southampton
THE Mayflower’s £2m refurbishment (commissioned so that the theatre could accommodate the UK tour of Miss Saigon) was worth every penny if last night’s rapturous reaction was anything to go by.
Even for those who have already seen it in the West End, the latest version of Cameron Mackintosh’s modern classic does not disappoint.
Real-life couple David Shannon and Ima Castro – due to be married in Southampton next month – lend added realism to the American GI and Vietnamese girl who meet and fall passionately in love shortly before the fall of Saigon.
After a whirlwind romance, the couple are brutally separated. GI Chris returns to American and marries another woman, while his beloved Kim is left to bring up a son Chris knows nothing about.
It is easy to dismiss West End super-musicals as being non-stop glitter, packed with perky showtunes, paper-thin characters and storylines designed to make you smile but little else. Miss Saigon could force you to revise your opinion.
There are certainly plenty of ritzy song and dance numbers, but the grim spectre of war and its shattering effect on real lives looms large over the proceedings.
The emotionally fraught central drama is brilliantly played out against some wonderfully detailed sets. Shannon and Castro are convincing as the ill-fated lovers, while Leo Tavarro Valdez crackles with manic energy as The Engineer, the night club owner who brings the couple together.
With some brilliant and instantly memorable songs, spectacular effects (just look out for that helicopter!) and a lump-in-the-throat finale, Miss Saigon is one musical that lives up to the hype.
