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Skyler Makuch is the Vietnamese bar-girl Kim, and Ben Steltz is her American lover, Chris Scott, in ‘Miss Saigon.’ Skyler Makuch and Ben Steltz portray the story of a doomed romance in ‘Miss Saigon,’ which opens at Theatre at the Grove in Nuangola on May 1.

“You are sunlight and I moon,” the young woman sings to her lover. “Joined by the gods of fortune, midnight and high noon. Sharing the sky, we have been blessed, you and I.”

Vietnamese Kim and American Chris, the main characters in the musical “Miss Saigon,” may feel blessed for a few moments, maybe even for a few days in 1975.

But Saigon is collapsing around them, American forces are evacuating, and it’s impossible to take along everyone who would like to escape with them.

That means Kim — an innocent teen forced by circumstances to become a “bar girl” — will remain behind in her wartorn country and attempt to raise her little son, who is derisively called a bui-doi, or “dust of the earth,” because of his mixed heritage.

Can you think of any musicals with a plot that is more heart-wrenching?

“Not off-hand,” said Michael Marone, who is directing “Miss Saigon” for the Theatre at the Grove in Nuangola, 40 years after the very week the war ended. “There are some that are as dark, but not as tragic.”

If you had to pick a human villain in the show, you might look to Kim’s ex-fiance, Huy, who wants her back, but doesn’t want her son.

“But he’s just doing what he’s been told to do by years and years of tradition,” Marone said. “I believe the show paints the situation as the villain, rather than a particular person.”

“There’s a unique thing about this play. Even the most loving and pure characters do things that aren’t necessarily good.”

Based on Giacomo Puccini’s opera, “Madame Butterfly,” the musical portrays a story of doomed romance and desperate sacrifice, told against the backdrop of music by composers Claude-Michell Schonberg and Alain Boublil, who also collaborated on “Les Miserables.”

“The score is gorgeous,” Marone said. “If you like ‘Les Mis’ you’ll enjoy ‘Miss Saigon.’ “

And if you’re looking for a helicopter to appear the way it did on Broadway, well, Marone is not giving away all the production secrets.

“Given the constraints of a small stage,” he said, “we have a very unique way of handling the helicopter special effect. I’ll leave it at that.”