It's a grand night for music and the Diablo Light Opera Company has pulled out all stops with a magnificent production of "Miss Saigon," a powerful story of love and war. "Miss Saigon" has to be one of the most, if not the most, extravagant musical productions ever to be produced in this history of the Dean Lesher Regional Center for the Arts.

Everything on the control dial is set to "wow!" The sets are "wow!"; the costumes are "wow!"; the actors and actresses are "wow!"; the choreography is "wow!" and the orchestra is "wow!" In fact, there's almost too much "wow!" to handle. Case in point: the orchestra, under the direction of Cheryl Yee Glass, was too much of a good thing, so much power, that it overpowered much of the vocals. Don't misunderstand me, the orchestra was exquisitely directed, but it was just too loud, too often. The sound has always been a problem in this theater; it's always difficult to balance and it often takes several performances before they get it right.

This is the story of a love affair between a Marine, Chris, and a young Vietnamese country girl, Kim, forced into a life of being a barmaid by the economics of war in her country. Chris (Dane Stokinger) works for the embassy in Saigon (later to be renamed Ho Chi Minh City) where he meets Kim (Nina Gosiengfiao on the night I saw the show and alternating with Catherine Gloria for other performances). To protect her from being forced into prostitution by her boss, the Engineer (Franc-Anton Harwart), who owns the club where she is employed, the Marine asks Kim to live with him. As the war goes badly and the Marines pull out of Vietnam, Chris is forced to leave Kim behind. Unbeknownst to him, Kim is pregnant with his child.

The story continues and becomes more complicated with Chris marrying after returning to the states, only to find out three years later about his son. The story moves to Bangkok where Kim, her son Tam (Catherine Mae Hung) and the Engineer have escaped the tyranny of the Communist regime.

This is a moving, poignant tale that is directed quite exquisitely by Daren A. C. Carollo. The company includes at least 40 performers. The cast performs quite well and brings an overall high level of professionalism to the production.

The young lady who plays Kim (Nina Gosiengfiao, only 14 years old, so I'm told) is simply outstanding for her age and experience. The Engineer (Franc-Anton Harwart) is absolutely superb; he brings a powerful talent to this role and makes it positively a thrilling experience. Also, Nephi Speer, who plays Chris's friend, John, has an absolutely exquisite voice, as does Dane Stokinger, who plays Chris.

This is a very complicated show, a very expensive show and certainly a very big risk for regional theater. DLOC should be rewarded for their extremely hard work by your support of their efforts. Not many companies could even attempt to bring such a production to local theaters. This is a great show and I am sure they will get the balance between singers and orchestra straightened out.

I spoke to a couple of people on my way out of the theater and while they spoke highly of it, they mentioned that it was "too loud" first, before they spoke of anything else. If you are hard of hearing this could be a real difficulty, trying to separate and understand the vocalist's words. After all, this is an opera, and you've got to be able to understand what the vocalists are saying.

"Miss Saigon" plays through Oct. 1. For tickets, call the Regional Center box office at 943-SHOW (7469).