The two composers refined the idea and eventually came up with a fabulous and powerful musical theatre opera. Another interesting fact, much different than any Rent fact, is that Miss Saigon was originally written in French. Miss Saigon Opened on Broadway in 1987 and took the theatre world by storm. It won many awards and, much like Rent, became a cult phenomenon. Also, unlike Rent, Miss Saigon's history was not plagued with a tragedy.
Besides history musical theatre has many other important aspects. One such aspect is the score of the musical. The score of a musical is the musical's songs. The score for these two musicals is especially important, because they are all sung. Rent has a very lively and vivid score. The score is a serious of rock and roll songs. The music to Rent is similar to that of Andrew Lloyd Weber's, "Jesus Christ Superstar." The core of Rent's score is wild, heavy, and quick songs used to create the basic story. Every once in a while, however, there is a slow ballad to show what the characters are feeling, going through, or thinking. These two styles strike just the right balance in order to work.
Miss Saigon, on the other hand, has almost a completely different score. Instead of using rock and roll the way Rent does, Miss Saigon uses a traditional musical theatre style. The songs aren't as lively and heavy. The melodies are sweeter and more dramatic. Miss Saigon uses the ballad much more to get the story across. Miss Saigon's melodies also are more soaring than Rent's. Similar to Rent, Miss Saigon effectively develops its plot line through the use of its score. Critics have hailed the score to both musicals as two of the most powerful and effective scores in musical history.
One final aspect of musical theatre is subject matter. Rent and Miss Saigon both have an incredibly powerful subject matter. Rent takes place in New York and chronicles the lives of 7 young adults.