It's probably best known for raising the stakes for 1980s blockbuster shows by landing a helicopter on stage, but Miss Saigon is also a good show with good music. As a follow-up to their international smash Les Misérables, Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg (with an assist from Richard Maltby Jr.) adapted the tale of Madame Butterfly to the Vietnam War, realized here by the original 1989 London cast. While it may seem overheated at times, the despair and passion … mehrfit the tragic story, and Schönberg's pop-flavored style receives its most appropriate setting. Leading the cast are Jonathan Pryce as the Engineer (a Eurasian character whose casting generated some controversy when the producers wanted to have Pryce, a Caucasian, reprise the role on Broadway), Lea Salonga (in her first major role) as the young Vietnamese bride, Simon Bowman as her lover, and Claire Moore as his American wife (and a young Ruthie Henshall as one of the sweaty bargirls). The songs include the bawdy opener "The Heat Is on in Saigon," "The Movie in My Mind," "Why God Why," the romantic duet "The Last Night of the World," the female duet "I Still Believe," the male chorus number "Bui-Doi," and the Engineer's mocking "The American Dream." The booklet includes photographs and full lyrics. It's also available in a 58-minute highlights version. --David Horiuchi weniger

CD 1
01 - Overture
02 - Heat Is on in Saigon
03 - Movie in My Mind
04 - Dance… mehr
05 - Why, God, Why?
06 - This Money Is Yours
07 - Sun and Moon
08 - Telephone Song
09 - Deal
10 - Ceremony (Dju Vui Vai)
11 - What's This I Find
12 - Last Night of the World
13 - Morning of the Dragon
14 - I Still Believe
15 - This Is the Hour

CD 2
01 - If You Want to Die in Bed
02 - Let Me See His Western Nose
03 - I'd Give My Life for You
04 - Bui-Doi
05 - Revelation
06 - What a Waste
07 - Please
08 - Fall of Saigon
09 - Room 317
10 - Now That I've Seen Her
11 - Confrontation
12 - American Dream
13 - Sacred Bird
14 - Finale weniger