REHEARSALS are now under way for Cameron Mackintosh's acclaimed production of Boublil and Schönberg’s Miss Saigon, which embarks on a UK tour later this year, visiting Mayflower Theatre in spring 2018.

Ryan O’Gorman will play John and Na-Young Jeon will play Gigi. They join the previously announced Red Concepcion as The Engineer, Sooha Kim as Kim, Ashley Gilmour as Chris, Zoë Doano as Ellen and Gerald Santos as Thuy.

Ryan O’Gorman is currently playing the role of Tom Collins in the 20th Anniversary UK Tour of Rent. His other theatre credits include Les Misérables, at the Queen’s Theatre, The Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty’s Theatre, Billy Elliot at the Victoria Palace Theatre and the UK tour of Oliver!.

Na-Young Jeon has previously played the role of Fantine in Les Misérables at the Queen’s Theatre, a role she also played in South Korea. Her other theatre credits include Esmerelda in Notre Dame de Paris in South Korea; Bianca in Kiss Me Kate in Amsterdam and Miss Saigon and High School Musical in the Netherlands.

Miss Saigon tells the story of the last days of the Vietnam War, 17 year-old Kim is forced to work in a Saigon bar run by a notorious character known as the Engineer. There she meets and falls in love with an American GI named Chris but they are torn apart by the fall of Saigon. For three years Kim goes on an epic journey of survival to find her way back to Chris, who has no idea he's fathered a son.

In March, this production of Miss Saigon opened on Broadway where it plays to nightly ovations and has just been nominated for the Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical.

Since its London premiere in 1989, it has become one of the most successful musicals in history.

It returns to Southampton from February 21 to March 17.

Tickets: 023 8071 1811 or online at mayflower.org.uk.