The capacity audience at the opening night performance of LES MISÉRABLES held its collective breath as we waited for the curtain. The conductor raised his baton to ready the orchestra, and before they hit the downbeat the crowd went wild with cheers. Thom and I joined in. We have been anticipating this newly designed 25th anniversary production of one of the greatest pieces in the history of musical theater and one of the most enduring stories of redemption for nearly a year. Such anticipation can sometimes leave the realized experience flat and wanting. On the contrary – we, and the audience were thrilled.
Of the four professional productions I have seen of Les Mis (including the First and Second National Tours and later the Broadway revival) this production feels most like true opera. Big and true and never vague, the moments are played for all they are worth. With opening night behind them, I hope that the actors will allow themselves to ramp down a little and tell the tale more simply. Nonetheless, they were all wonderful.
To great effect, At the End of the Day and Lovely Ladies struck a deeper note of destitution, poverty, and shame than previous productions, bringing new insight to the plight of the poor. Conversely, I felt the addition of some vulgarities previously unseen in Master of the House and ABC Café were unnecessary and gratuitous. However, overall, the insertion of new text seamlessly clears up some of the story and will be great for first timers.
There was not a less than bravo voice among the cast. When J. Mark McVey’s Valjean sang out “…who am I? ; who am I?…” I wanted to shout back ‘you, my friend, are Jean Valjean.’ Jeremy Hays’ Enjolras expressed his impassioned idealism so honestly that we believe his fellow students followed him even to death. My one true ‘oh no’ in this night was the change in the staging of his iconic moment of death. I have to believe that Directors Laurence Connor and James Powell were impeded by the new set. I simply cannot imagine that they intended to change that moment, likewise the change in the staging of Gavrosh’s big moment. The real revelation in this production is Justin Scott Brown as Marius. He brings a power and sexuality previously uncast in the role. Julie Benko is a menacing Innkeeper’s Wife snarling at young Cosette to fetch the water or “I’ll forget to be nice.” I remember that role to be a bit lighter and funnier, but she played her choices for all their worth and it paid off. Max Quinlan’s Innkeeper was just the right mix of funny and sinister. Given the amount of time the Bishop of Digne has on stage, one might think his is a small role. But Valjean’s transformation and ultimately his path to God sits squarely on the priestly shoulders of the good Bishop. As a woman who stumbled upon my own faith by way of a rocky road, that moment of the story is riveting. And Benjamin Magnuson understands this importance in the reverence he brings to the Bishop. Andrew Varel’s Javert wrestles mightily with God and the Devil in his soliloquy and the effect of his demise in this new staging is a remarkable piece of theater. What a powerful voice that man has. Chasten Harmon gets kudos for the beautiful voice she brings to Eponine, but she is not quite the waif that the role begs for; lovely, but a bit too strong for this unloved urchin.
Thom immediately loved the use of set-projections that bring Victor Hugo’s sketches into the environment. But I had to set aside my purist old-theater sensibility to appreciate and not be distracted by them. Once I got over how different the overall look of the play was, I did get caught up in the world that the images created. My heart is with sets made of wood and nails (of which there were many) but I am glad I surrendered to the new media experience. It is stunning.
I confess I have deep emotional ties to Victor Hugo’s tale brought to life by Sir Cameron Mackintosh. I was pregnant with my first child when I first saw Jean Val Jean struggle and strive toward a larger purpose and Javert struggle and flee from grace. Like so many things that happened to me during my first experience of bringing new life into the world, that production of Les Mis holds a special place. And last year, Thom produced an epic little piece of theater at Cooper and Chloe’s high school. We brought in professional set designers and a musical director, and created and lived in the world of the miserable ones. Each and every telling of the story, every production, every listening to the Broadway and London Cast Recordings, has moved me. The point is – LES MISÉRABLES is a story worth telling and exploring and seeing again and again.
Do not miss it in this beautifully redesigned production now through July 31, 2011. We are taking the entire family before it closes.