Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil found huge success in one tragic love story set during a civil war. So perhaps it’s only natural that they returned to that well for their second big hit.

The creative team behind Les Misérables followed it up with Miss Saigon, a spin on Puccini’s Madame Butterfly. In 1975 Vietnam, American Marine sergeant Chris spends one night with an innocent Vietnamese teenager named Kim on her first night as a prostitute. Kim has a son by Chris and, three years later, has dreams of them re-uniting as a family. The production then follows intertwined storylines: the attempts by Kim and a sleazy operator known as the Engineer to find Chris; Chris’ post-war life in America; and a flashback to the events that led to Chris and Kim being separated.

Pioneer Theatre Company takes on the story in all its epic operatic glory. Come along to experience the wonderful tragedy of it all.

Miss Saigon @ Pioneer Theatre Company, 300 S. 1400 East, 801-581-6961, May 1–16. PioneerTheatre.org.