A world premiere musical about one of Miami's most legendary restaurants opens Aug. 14, tracing the story back to a Coconut Grove house where it all began.
"SOUP The Musical," produced by The Mandelstam Theater, dramatizes the true story of Tung Nguyen and Kathy Manning, the two women who built Hy Vong Vietnamese restaurant into a decades-long Miami institution. The production runs Aug. 14 through Aug. 23, with tickets available at soupthemusical.com.
Coconut Grove House Where Nguyen and Manning First Met
In 1975, after the fall of Saigon, Nguyen fled Vietnam alone and pregnant. She ended up in the Miami home of Manning, a University of Miami graduate student living in her parents' Coconut Grove house, who was resettling Vietnamese refugees through Lutheran World Relief. That meeting in the Grove became a lifelong partnership.
By 1980, the pair had opened Hy Vong (Vietnamese for "hope") on Calle Ocho in Little Havana, a block from Versailles. The no-frills dining room had fold-up chairs, wooden tables, no music and no air conditioning. Customers went outside to reach the bathroom. None of it mattered. Diners waited hours in lines stretching out the door, and it was repeatedly named Best Vietnamese Restaurant by the Miami New Times.
The restaurant closed in 2016 after more than 30 years.
A Memoir Inspired the Musical's Book and Score
The musical is based on the memoir "Mango & Peppercorns: A Memoir of Food, an Unlikely Family, and the American Dream," written by Nguyen, Manning and Lyn Nguyen. The book was selected for Miami Book Fair's 2022 Big Read program.
"She needed me to help navigate America and I ended up needing her to help me understand myself," Manning told WLRN in November 2021. "It was a matter of will, we decided we were going to make it."
Jim Camacho, the Miami composer behind the South Florida holiday tradition "Mouse King," wrote the music and lyrics. In an announcement published by Coconut Grove Magazine, Camacho said the story is about "someone who loses everything, leaves a war torn country with little more than hope, and through hard work, determination, and the kindness of others builds a new life." Gil Kaufman wrote the book and directs, with choreography by Stefanie Roos and musical direction by John Camacho.
Performance Schedule and Ticket Information
The venue has not yet been announced. Performances are scheduled Fridays at 7 p.m., Saturdays at 1 p.m. and 7 p.m., and Sundays at 1 p.m. through the run's closing on Aug. 23. Tickets are available at soupthemusical.com.
