It may be forever known as the show with helicopter, but “Miss Saigon,” now on stage at Antrim Playhouse in Wesley Hills, is about love, loss, compassion and war’s impact.

In the hands of Antrim’s exceptional director, cast and crew, it is a stunning achievement.

Director Randy Accardi and 37 talented actors — fronting an orchestra of 11 — transport us to another time and place: to Saigon’s seedy Dreamland club in 1975, where the oily Engineer proffers girls to the GIs; to Atlanta in 1978, where one GI settles; to Bangkok that same year and a finale that drew tears in the opening-night crowd.

Accardi’s hand is as steady with the intimate scenes as it is with group numbers that are jaw-droppingly precise. He sees to every detail.

Take “The Morning of the Dragon,” when the Communists take over Saigon. Accardi fills the stage with row upon row of soldiers, flag bearers, ribbon dancers and more soldiers. Not one misstep, not one false move, the picture of military might.

It is flawless.

The costumes, by Janet Andreas in conjunction with MARLU Costumes, are incredible for any production, much less community theater, and also demonstrate a painstaking approach to detail. Zachary Spitzer’s lighting effects and sound design help make the transitions possible and are a worthy collaborator in creating Accardi’s riveting stage pictures.

There is smoke, there are flashes of color and, yes, there’s a helicopter.

But there is also a love story well told.

The plot in Alain Boublil’s and Claude-Michel Schönberg’s book, inspired by Puccini’s “Madama Butterfly,” is far too compicated to reveal here, but suffice it to say that there’s a love story set against the fall of Saigon.

Yukiko Yamamoto plays Kim, the new girl from the country, as resolute and stoic, capable of anything to protect those she loves. If her portrayal lacks the wonder and innocence of others who’ve played the role, it still manages to find the depth of the crushing choice she faces. This Kim is somehow darker but equally compelling.

Nolan Muna plays Chris, a jumble of love and confusion haunted by the girl he left behind.
Their fine voices blend nicely and they seem to have an easy chemistry.

As The Engineer, John Ade is a marvel, managing that razor-thin line between repulsion and endearment. We somehow find ourselves liking this most unlikable character who, after all, just wants to be one of us.

T. Eric Collins, who played File in a disappointing “110 in the Shade” earlier this season at Antrim, finds a great fit as John, the well-meaning friend who can’t forget those left behind and works to make things right. His solo on “Bui-Doi” is one of many highlights in an evening chock full of highlights.

As Chris’ wife, Ellen, Elexis Koch captures the confusion and determination of a woman contronted with her husband’s past life. (The role was created on Broadway by Croton’s Liz Callaway.)

With such a large cast, there’s peril in singling out those beyond the leads, but little Kyle Arzaga — a kindergartner at Hawthorne Elementary School — is a pint-sized wonder as Tam.

The male vocals are as strong as you’ll find in community theater and Accardi has drawn top talent here—and in numbers to provide a deep, rich chorus that is something to experience. The female chorus parades around in appropriately skimpy clothing and demonstrates a fierceness of purpose and focus that should be applauded.

As he did with last spring’s “West Side Story,” Accardi employs a minimal set that moves. Last year’s scaffolds give way to this year’s moving panels—panels that spin and swirl and close in on the action, giving the proceedings an appropriately claustrophobic feel when needed.

He over-reaches but once, in a strange, brief interlude with a male dancer in underwear dancing with a robed girl. This pas de deux is brief and unnecessary.

The only other misstep, one that would seem easily remedied, is the mixing of orchestra and voices. On opening night, the levels had yet to be mastered and the otherwise excellent band overpowered the singers in a few songs.

“Miss Saigon” tackles head-on an issue that, when it opened on Broadway in 1991, was contemporary: the children of Vietnamese mothers and American GI’s.

Act II opens with “Bui-Doi,” John’s anthem about Amerasian children the war produced. Accardi plumbs this moment for all its worth, with projections of children on a large white scrim, behind which scenes of fathers learning of their children are played. When the word comes, there are different reactions: calm, rage, joy, confusion. Each is played simply in pantomime and the moment is spell-binding as the entire company sings: “Bui-Doi, the dust of life. They are the living reminder of all the good we tried to do.”

There is plenty of good on the stge at Antrim, now through May 17.

“Miss Saigon”
Where: Antrim Playhouse, 15 Spook Rock Road, Wesley Hills.
When: Weekend through May 17. Fridays and Saturdays at 8; Sundays at 2.
Tickets: $23; $21 for seniors and students. No discounts on Saturdays.
Call: 845-354-9503
Web: antrimplayhouse.com.

Photo by Marty Andreas: Yukiko Yamamoto and Kyle Arzaga are Kim and Tam in “Miss Saigon.”