Miss Saigon/Tear Jerker


 * Miss Saigon might just be worse than Madame Butterfly, considering it's partly set during the Vietnam War.
 * "Bui Doi", which opens the second act, is a total tearjerker. John singing "Now I know I'm caught/ I'll never leave Vietnam" is a punch to the gut, but when he practically sobs out "But then I saw a camp for children/Whose crime was being born" the tears start pouring.
 * In the original production, this song was accompanied by a slide show featuring pictures of the mixed-race children John was advocating. Don't know if the pictures are of actual Vietnam War babies or if they were staged...either way, it was damned effective.
 * This troper started tearing up during a minute-and-a-half version of it. It's that damn powerful.
 * "The Fall of Saigon" is probably the most emotionally punishing scene in the entire show. When the helicopter takes off and you hear the crowds at the gate screaming in despair, it just rips out your heart.
 * Chris' agonized scream of "KIM!" as he makes one final, desperate attempt to find her before being dragged onto the helicopter and forced to leave doesn't help.
 * "I Still Believe", where in stark contrast to their previous scene (embracing on the balcony of her room), we see a despairing Kim alone in a hovel, praying for Chris to come back to her, while simultaneously seeing him thousands of miles away. . .in bed with his new wife. Only 1/3rd of the way through the play and from that scene alone, we know it's going to end sadly, somehow.
 * "Room 317" Kim rushes to Chris' hotel room, thrilled at the prospect of FINALLY reuniting with him . . . only to meet his wife. And with that, you can literally see Kim's heart break--every actress I've seen in the role plays this scene perfectly--Kim freezes in place, her face, her arms, her entire body sags and goes so limp that for a moment you fear she might collapse right there.
 * The ending.