ONE of the largest shows ever staged at the Birmingham Hippodrome comes into land this month.

Miss Saigon is an epic musical which has wowed audiences in the West End and Broadway for the past 10 years.

Now the original production is coming to the Birmingham Hippodrome.

Since Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schnberg's show premiered in 1989 it has been seen by 29 million people in 18 countries and in nine languages.

The action takes place in 1975 in the final days leading up to the American evacuation of Saigon.

Against this turbulent backdrop a love story emerges between an American GI and a young Vietnamese woman.

After its premiere in September 1989 it continued its run at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane for 10 years, overtaking My Fair Lady as the longest running production at that theatre.

The show also ran for 10 years on Broadway making it the sixth longest running show there

Miss Saigon is one of the most technically difficult of all shows to stage, not least because a helicopter lands on stage during the fall of Saigon scene.

Real helicopter

An open air production in Szeged in Hungary used a real helicopter to recreate the evacuation.

The production at the Hippodrome may not use a real helicopter but it is a life-sized computer operated replica.

Other lavish props include a specially designed Cadillac which folds in half for easy backstage storage and a 18ft Ho Chi Minh Statue.

The show uses 375 costumes, 45 replica handguns and needs 22 trucks to move it between venues.

Over the years Miss Saigon has picked up 29 theatre awards worldwide including two Olivier Awards, two Evening Standard awards, four Drama Desk Awards, and three Tony Awards in America.

There have also been 11 cast recordings, the first of which sold 150,000 copies within three days of its release.

As well as a travelling staff of 40 people and a 19-member orchestra, there are 44 members of the cast.

Leading them is Leo Tavarro Valdez who has played the role of The Engineer in London, Sydney, Manilla, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Miss Saigon runs at the Hippodrome until Tuesday, September 30.

Tickets are on sale from the box office on 0870 7301234 or online at www.hippodrometheatre.co.uk.