The Score

For this section, a lot of people are in a lot of numbers, but don't necessarily have that much to do. The singers of each number will be listed as this:

Bold means that they are a primary soloist

Italicized means that they are featured in the number for a period

Underlined means that they have a solo, but not a very significant one

Normal text indicates ensemble position.

The songs in the show are as follows:

Act 1:

1. Overture - Orchestra
2. Backstage at Dreamland - Engineer, Gigi, Kim, Bar Girls
3. The Heat is on in Saigon - Engineer, Kim, Gigi, Yvette, Mimi, Yvonne, Chris, John 
4. The Movie in My Mind - Gigi, Kim, Bar Girls
5. The Transaction - The Engineer, John, Chris
6. The Dance - Chris & Kim
7. Why, God, Why? - Chris
8. This Money's Yours - Chris & Kim
9. Sun and Moon - Chris & Kim
10. The Telephone Song - Chris & John
11. The Deal - Chris & The Engineer
12. The Wedding - Bar Girls, Kim, Gigi
13. Thuy's Arrival - Thuy, Chris, Kim
14. The Last Night of the World - Chris & Kim 
15. The Morning of the Dragon - Viet Cong members, Two Guards, Engineer, Thuy
16. I Still Believe - Kim & Ellen
17. Back in Town - Engineer, Kim, Thuy, Two Guards
18. Thuy's Death / You Will Not Touch Him - Thuy & Kim
19. This is the Hour - Viet Cong members
20. If You Want to Die in Bed - The Engineer
21. Let Me See His Western Nose (or Kim & Engineer) - Kim & Engineer
22. I'd Give My Life For You - Kim, chorus

Act 2:

1. Entr'acte - Orchestra
2. Bui Doi - John, Chorus
3. The Revelation - Chris, Ellen, John
4. What a Waste - Engineer, Hustlers, Tourists, John, Kim, Owner
5. Please - John & Kim
6. Chris is Here - Engineer, Kim, John, Club Owner
7. Kim's Nightmare - Thuy
8. The Fall of Saigon - Chris, Kim, Officers, Citizens, John
9. Sun and Moon Reprise - Kim
10. Room 317 - Kim & Ellen
11. Now That I've Seen Her - Ellen
12. The Confrontation - Chris & Ellen, John
13. Paper Dragons - Kim & Engineer
14. The American Dream - Engineer, chorus
15. Finale - Kim, Chris

Listening to the Score: There are 2 commercially available versions of the score in English:

The Original London Cast Recording

  

     This is the obvious one. This is only the London Cast Recording, the Broadway cast was never recorded, but Lea Salonga and Jonathan Pryce were in both casts, and they're the two that really matter. Both of them come across as somewhat grating in this recording. I know that Lea Salonga was pretty young when this one was recorded, and she comes across as much stronger in live performances, but you should listen to her renditions of the songs if only because they're so iconic. I have to say give Jonathan Pryce a listen because he was the original Engineer and won a bunch of awards for it, but I personally don't like him. A) because he's white. B) because he's doing this weird character voice thing that isn't very fun to listen to. Plus, like, I get that the Engineer is a sleazy character, but he just sounds drunk the whole time. In a bad way. Plus his accent is atrocious.

     This recording is also not complete. Some of the smaller, transitionary numbers are excluded (a significant sequence between "I Still Believe" and "Thuy's Death" is lost, as well as the introduction to the Fall of Saigon) and the recording contains the songs "Her or Me" and "The Sacred Bird," neither of which are in the show anymore.

The Complete Symphonic Recording

     This recording is my jam. Though only available if you buy a physical CD, the whole thing is on Youtube, so that shouldn't matter. It's called the complete symphonic recording for a reason: it's actually got the entire score on their, sans the cut numbers. The cast also comes across better on the recording: Joanna Ampil was 19 to Lea Salonga's 17, and somehow sounds a bit more mature, like she has a better grip on the character she's playing. Kevin Gray as the Engineer is actually Asian (how refreshing) and while he comes off as more cartoonish than Jonathan Pryce, he's much more likable. We also have Ruthie Henshall playing Ellen, and she's volumes better than Claire Moore. The only thing that I miss from the OLC is the short orchestral reprise of "The American Dream" that was part of the Sacred Bird on the OLC, because I think it's still in the show. Whatever, if you want the complete experience, listen to this recording.

Link to a Youtube channel that has the entire OLC recording.

Link to a playlist of the Complete Symphonic Recording

Link to a hybrid of the two scores that pick and choose the songs that I like.