To love another person is to see the face of God.....
So, I saw Les Miserables today at the Fifth Avenue Theater in Seattle.
Wow.
Set design inspired by Victor Hugo's own artwork. Unbelievable voices. Slight changes in the staging (no more turntable). Amazing Valjean, Javert, and Eponine especially.
There were a few things I would've changed--this cast had the distressing habit of trying to stress a word in a song by shouting it rather than singing it ("What have I done, sweet JESUS, what have I DONE? Become a THIEF in the night, become a DOG on the RUN!"), instead of letting the music itself or, God forbid, their acting, to make its meaning clear. But I got over that, because the rest of it was so cool. Oh, and the little boy who played Gavroche was EXCELLENT. (I'm not sure who it was, since there are three who take it in turns, and I didn't see the board that announces who's doing what for that performance.) He was just so cocky! I was disappointed they didn't do the song "Little People," because it's one of my favorites. They did do the references to it later, though, which seemed odd, but not so much that it annoyed me--I was just a little disappointed.
As per usual, I cried through "A Little Fall of Rain," and then from the opening notes of "Bring Him Home" pretty much until the end. Though "Beggar at the Feast" did make me laugh, despite all the rest of it--the actors playing the Thenardiers were fantastic.
And, of course, I sobbed through the final scene, from the moment we see Valjean again through the end of the show. I always do.
If you have a chance to see this show on tour, take it. I can highly recommend it. But bring tissues. (I left mine in the car, so I had to go to the bathroom during intermission to get paper towels. No, I'm not kidding.)
Wow.
Set design inspired by Victor Hugo's own artwork. Unbelievable voices. Slight changes in the staging (no more turntable). Amazing Valjean, Javert, and Eponine especially.
There were a few things I would've changed--this cast had the distressing habit of trying to stress a word in a song by shouting it rather than singing it ("What have I done, sweet JESUS, what have I DONE? Become a THIEF in the night, become a DOG on the RUN!"), instead of letting the music itself or, God forbid, their acting, to make its meaning clear. But I got over that, because the rest of it was so cool. Oh, and the little boy who played Gavroche was EXCELLENT. (I'm not sure who it was, since there are three who take it in turns, and I didn't see the board that announces who's doing what for that performance.) He was just so cocky! I was disappointed they didn't do the song "Little People," because it's one of my favorites. They did do the references to it later, though, which seemed odd, but not so much that it annoyed me--I was just a little disappointed.
As per usual, I cried through "A Little Fall of Rain," and then from the opening notes of "Bring Him Home" pretty much until the end. Though "Beggar at the Feast" did make me laugh, despite all the rest of it--the actors playing the Thenardiers were fantastic.
And, of course, I sobbed through the final scene, from the moment we see Valjean again through the end of the show. I always do.
If you have a chance to see this show on tour, take it. I can highly recommend it. But bring tissues. (I left mine in the car, so I had to go to the bathroom during intermission to get paper towels. No, I'm not kidding.)