From Chorus to Lead in ‘Miss Saigon’ | The New York Times

[@YanaKFaldas]

Thats crazy he got into theatre while studying engineering and then he became the Engineer in a theatre production LOL

[@JD-ht7yw]

😂😂

[@Protactiny]

Cool Hhahaha 😂😂😂

[@lee6198]

I saw Miss Saigon on Broadway last night. Jon Jon Briones performance was one of the best Broadway performances I have ever seen. He was EXCELLENT. His sleazy swagger and mannerisms during "The American Dream"... OMG. Perfect!

[@markmatel4631]

I just watched Miss Saigon on Broadway last week and he was amazing as the Engineer! The show was awesome!

[@tjizzleone]

I saw it last week. He is so brilliant and breathtaking in the role!

[@lejenddairy]

Mark Matel same. I saw it two weeks ago. He nailed the role, especially the voice.

[@fionaadvincula]

I have so much respect for this man. As someone who wants to experience playing a part on Broadway even if it's just once, I'm inspired by how he was able to do what he's very passionate about even if it took a long time before he got to do it. Saludo ako sayo Kuya Jonjon! I hope to be able to do that too. Someday.

[@evileyez504]

Saw him in the Assasination of Gianni Versace and wow! 3 minutes in and you are just blown away! i really hope this means that he'll be in movies, he is that great, he needs to be in big time movies...Never thought I'd say "he needs an Oscar for a TV portrayal"

[@tomgallowitz]

What amazes me is he was there at the beginning of both Lea and Eva’s careers he watched them from green teens making their debuts to becoming West End and Broadway leading ladies

[@ilaanaweerasinghe7642]

I just watched this last night at 5 am and now I'm obssesed with Miss Saigon! I swear this guy is literally THE BEST. He literally sold the whole show. Funny guy man... Funny guy.

[@musicalsplays3583]

a filipino! MABUHAY!

[@MsLansones]

jers guiva Listen to him...

[@ramyel123]

I din't know that too. :-), mabuhay ang mga Filipino.

[@queen11187]

Another filipino pride.. I watched this musical online.. he makes everyone laugh, he is the star of the night I swear!!

[@martineyles]

He played the part very well at the West End. I had American Dream stuck in my head after the show, and played it on a station piano before heading home. Very glad they filmed it too, so I can enjoy the show again. Never twigged that was a wig before seeing this interview and behind the scenes coverage.

[@truckerant3051]

Jon Jon is truly amazing . Seen him twice in this show and plays the part so well

[@carolinabelle58]

I saw Jon Jon Briones play The Engineer last October from the 2nd row at the Broadway Theater. He was incredible...magnificent!! And then to see him play Andrew Cunanan's father (Darren Criss💕😎💕) The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story...wow. He nailed the part!!!

[@irishernandez6361]

wowwwww that's the reason he was so familiar!!! talented guy!

[@bignigmcgee3713]

This man stole the only thing you can’t get arrested for stealing... the show!

[@joshbratherton9295]

Saw Jon Jon as the engineer in London in 2015. I came out of the theatre amazed at the man's talent and charisma. He was a performance machine, and it was a pleasure to see such talent in the flesh :)

[@Esgalben]

i wonder what his age was during the first audition. i had always thought you'd never achieve sounding like a native speaker if you arrived in the states when you're too old and i thought late teens is too old. perhaps theater training helped a ton.

[@ijey82]

He was around 23. I'm pretty sure it was a bit of an exaggeration that he never spoke English before. It was more he never spoke English exclusively in conversation.

[@Sophiewophie45]

Jon Jon Briones is my faveeee engineer 😻

[@renbajala]

I wonder most of main casts in Miss Saigon are Filipinos, they could have chosen Vietnamese for the roles. I guess that shows Filipino singers are world class.

[@ramyel123]

True, :-), Filipino singers are world class. :-)

[@lejenddairy]

I guess it's like having a British man play an American in a movie. Happens a lot and you can't even tell they are English until you hear them talk outside of character.

[@samanthanguyen4845]

because Vietnamese girls don't want to act in a shameful role

[@cindymananzalamartinez6679]

shameful only to you

[@cindymananzalamartinez6679]

and its shameful coz you couldnt...even if you wanted to....you know,sing and act

[@ramonpurugganan6865]

My God, Jon Jon is so brilliant an actor.

[@airwinserranoditianquin5454]

Wow! Just wow.

[@bunnygarden215]

He was just brilliant in this! Made the show!

[@MadameCorgi]

Jon Jon is fabulous. Saw him in London.

[@pbbmlangsakalamtvbeybe]

Galing talaga Jon Jon briones 🤗🤗🤗

[@raqsxz03]

Always proud that I’m a Filipino 🇵🇭❤️

[@daveteves]

Those subtitles aren't really necessary though.

[@josefienw]

Dave Teves they are for the hearing impaired

[@daveteves]

I don't think that the hearing impaired would watch a KZbin video about a musical.

[@dontpugme]

There are many hearing impaired actors and fans of musical theater.

[@JRipley15]

Deaf West.

[@MayenPineda]

spring awakening by deaf west tho

[@gabbysokolowski9500]

i watched him perform in november he was amazing!

[@muzikizfun]

And this guy adds an air of authenticity that can't be matched no matter how great the non Asian actor is!

[@septan4168]

Is he the one from gianni versace? Darren chris' dad?

[@truhunk1]

We saw Jon Jon in New York. He was really good. So was Kim and the rest of course.

[@Teriyaki418]

I saw the 1991 and the most recent iteration of Miss Saigon. Mr. Briones more than hold his own within the ensemble and the outsized shadow of Mr. Pierce’s performance in the same role.

[@ServandoWatercolor]

i think in one interview with lea salonga, she said that if you are qualified for the role then it doesn’t matter what your race is.....wouldn’t that apply to jonathan price? never demand for a subjective field like art to be fair n politically correct, once you dictate how art is, it becomes fake

[@_preciousamber_]

Jon Jon is phenomenal!

[@clarencebermundo7395]

Proud Kababayan here 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@trentalpha7749]

He could play a biopic of Jose Rizal

[@hannahosullivan5450]

He’s very good looking. Not as the engineer but irl

[@takerhapsody]

Best Engineer ever

[@buhkangliwayway]

HE IS BRILLIANT WHY HAS HE NOT WON A TONY

[@BestVietnameseMovies]

Miss Saigon - Vsense movies

[@brianeduardo1234]

He was superb in the role made all the difference.... mad when you think of it that they had an English man in the role - it would be like an English girl playing Kim....

[@liwang1234]

loved her laugh❤

[@kathleenw6984]

So the original cast was criticized because both the Engineer and Thuy were played by Caucasian men sporting "yellow-face". The character of Thuy is, as far as anyone can know, 100% Vietnamese and therefore should always be played by an Asian actor. The Engineer, however, is half-Vietnamese and half-French, so therefore he is as much white as he is Asian. Preferably another bi-racial man should play him, but if there is not a suitable bi-racial actor to play the role, a white man has as much a right to do it as a fully Asian man. EDIT: Thuy could also be played by a bi-racial actor with predominantly Asian features.

[@lejenddairy]

Just because an Asian and a Frenchmen breed, doesn't mean that the offspring is going to look white or biracial. I know someone who looks 100% Asian and it turned out that her mother was white. But set that aside, Jon Jon is the best engineer yet in my opinion and has the perfect voice.

[@deesanti6212]

Filipinose are really talented. I guess they are one of the best when it comes to talent.

[@eugenecombo1873]

He was better than Jonathan Pryce to be honest.

[@ciociosan]

And now he’s on Ratched.

[@CrimsonAlchemist]

The BEST Engineer! He's better than the white original actor

[@shenic5131]

"First time speaking in English" What? Being born and raised in the Philippines means at the very start you step into a classroom, kindergarten that is, English was the language used in all subjects except Filipino and AP. You were asked by your teachers in English, right?

[@nagwagi2000]

Well if ya gonna nitpick then a Filipino actor has no business playing in a Vietnamese role. Pryce was BRILLIANT as The Engineer PERIOD! Get over yourselves!

[@s.t.santos5928]

Vietnamese and Pinoys have similar facial features that may be interchanged; can't be said of a Caucasian vs. an Asian.

[@nagwagi2000]

@@s.t.santos5928 Dumb racist comment. You have no business speaking for the Vietnamese, and as a Filipino I have to disagree with your callous statement. Never thought I'd see a "rice is rice" type comment from an Asian!

[@s.t.santos5928]

@@nagwagi2000 Racist? Do you even understand what you are talking about? YOU get over yourself.

[@Sodapop-gi4bu]

Kind of ironic how ny times made this video but gave the show itself a pretty bad review 😂

[@tomgallowitz]

Sodapop246 8 It's more of audience show than critics show, it's basically critic proof at this point.

[@matenain3101]

So they said he revived his role from the original cast but then later said Pryce played the role in the original cast. I’m confused?

[@ilaw0220]

he was part of the chorus in the original cast, he was not the engineer at that time. Pryce was the first engineer.

[@TheXeeman]

omg it's kripp!!

[@Mahal2006]

Well Lea Salonga played Fontene in Les Mis and she's asian playing a white woman. So why can't a white or black play the engineer with all the make up and prosthetic. Yes ideally, you would not to go through extreme measures to alter a look to fit the bill but to say absolutely it should be an asian, i think contradicts the essence of the art of acting, which is putting on make up and prosthetic and make believe accents.

[@fannishfanning160]

Mahal Kita Look up Lea Salonga's answer regards that.

[@meredithchandler73]

@@BryanMorcilla I think casting for LES MIZ was color blind *after* Lea. I don't think there were any people of color in lead roles until her.

[@wearashirt]

Hooo hiii... _______ ako!

[@charlotteconnelly6623]

EVAAA

[@queenShoee]

Good artist deserve praises although the paradox is that Miss Saigon is truly A Great Racist Musical

[@leotorres6190]

Ow well im a asian, but i prefer the original engineer, not beacause of you and they picked the asian one.

[@ivianieexinor5540]

Can there be a black Kim toooo

[@shamcee1893]

on hindsight...isn't Eponine and Fantine suppose to be French(and white)? Can we say then that they casted Salonga and Go incorrectly in Les Miz? lol

[@fannishfanning160]

Sham Cee Look for Lea Salonga's answer in regards to that. LOL @ you too