Les Miz!
Just got back from Les Miz. Some background - this was closing night of the Broadway Across America production, which was passing through Columbus this month. The conductor was the conductor of the original production. It was fantastic.
So, okay, we all know the music, we all know the story. The only weakness was that sometimes, especially at the beginning, it was difficult to hear the singers over the orchestra. Javert's first couple of lines, in particularly, got a little buried. (Javert was great, although his...phrasingwasa little...Shatneresque. This actually improved the song "Stars", where the phrasing at the end just doesn't work well. We were still cracking up the whole time). Fantine was actually the weakest singer in the cast, and did a lot of her big solo in Sprachlied, which made the whole thing much rawer. And this Eponine was much more pleasant and less squeaky than on the recording, which was nice. Anyway.
The really spectacular thing about the production was the sets. Oh my God, the sets. There were wheely things, big backdrops, fun with lighting, a fog machine and the Wonderful World of Scrims. Basically, every type of set design you've ever heard of, and some you haven't. The latter, in particular, was, let's call it Scrimination. Basically, for many of the scenes, the backdrop was a scrim that was animated. Not like the random movie bits in Spamalot! - the projection looked like a painted set or gobo work, but it moved. So, for instance, when marching down the narrow streets of Paris, the cast marked time and the background moved. And they did a good job keeping the back of the stage dark enough that everything appeared seamless. This was used to most awesome affect with the sewer scene. It was just breathtaking. Plus they covered the floor with stage fog. But they gave such a sense of space but also distance as Valjean carries Marius around. And this wasn't just sort of tunnel movement like they did with the street - there was a lot of lateral stuff going on. Also noteworthy was Javert's suicide, which was impressive enough to get applause in its own right. (I correctly called that it would be the same set as for "Stars" - heck yeah). But yeah, he's freaking out, and the bridge comes down - and when he gets to that point, he climbs up on the railing of the bridge - and rather than anything like jumping, the bridge suddenly soars ceilingwards behind him, and he's just...suspended in the air, falling and falling through blueness and into blackness, forever and forever - very like Alice down the rabbithole. (They darkened his feet, of course, so you couldn't see the bit of bridge he was standing on). It was incredible.
There were a couple of weird things. For one, for some reason the show started - on a slave galley! We all sort of went "mrr?" In all fairness, France did totally use to do that sort of thing - although mainly in the 18th century to the best of my knowledge. And it worked well with the music...if not the words so much. And of course, about half of the script was unfamiliar, since the recordings have only about half the songs. Basically, a decision has to be made beteen what's "song" and what's "recitative" or "dialogue" and for much of the show no clear line can be drawn. Which is why it's better to see it than to listen to it! Except that you can't sing along :P And yeah, the full show is even more leitmotify than the soundtrack. Which is why it's so awesome! I was also impressed by the fact that Jean Valjean managed to die a full five minutes before he stopped singing. I don't know if that's usual - main character privileges, I suppose.
Watching it, I caught even more places where Night Watch has clear parallels/shout outs. I may write up a list of them at some point. (Gonna say it - Maskerade is good, but Night Watch is just better. And I feel the same way about the shows too, so there). Really, though, what I have to come back to is just how phenomenal the staging and set work was. There were big slatted things that covered the whole stage and could be used to let in bright revealing beams of light or create a sense of darkness and being shut in. The celler where the students met was just perfect. The baricade believably bridged a space actually significantly wider thank the actual Paris streets would have been, and was complete with an overturned cart (although not an old woman in a rocking chair with her knitting). Fantine's sick bed - simple, but the lighting made it. I could go on and on and on. And the final scene began with lighting candles in silver candlesticks. If there's one thing this show does really well it's parallel structure.
I also love that the leader of the revolution is not a named part. I dunno, I think that's fantastic. Student 1, you've got a great voice.
I love this show. Love It. But I've probably clogged the intertubes enough for one day. Good night all, and be happy in all that you do.
(sad days, I no longer have my anarchist lichen Night Watch icon - it would have been perfect. Red, Black, and a sprig of lilac. Yeah. Gotta use my romanticism icon instead. Caspar David Friedrich for the win?)
So, okay, we all know the music, we all know the story. The only weakness was that sometimes, especially at the beginning, it was difficult to hear the singers over the orchestra. Javert's first couple of lines, in particularly, got a little buried. (Javert was great, although his...phrasingwasa little...Shatneresque. This actually improved the song "Stars", where the phrasing at the end just doesn't work well. We were still cracking up the whole time). Fantine was actually the weakest singer in the cast, and did a lot of her big solo in Sprachlied, which made the whole thing much rawer. And this Eponine was much more pleasant and less squeaky than on the recording, which was nice. Anyway.
The really spectacular thing about the production was the sets. Oh my God, the sets. There were wheely things, big backdrops, fun with lighting, a fog machine and the Wonderful World of Scrims. Basically, every type of set design you've ever heard of, and some you haven't. The latter, in particular, was, let's call it Scrimination. Basically, for many of the scenes, the backdrop was a scrim that was animated. Not like the random movie bits in Spamalot! - the projection looked like a painted set or gobo work, but it moved. So, for instance, when marching down the narrow streets of Paris, the cast marked time and the background moved. And they did a good job keeping the back of the stage dark enough that everything appeared seamless. This was used to most awesome affect with the sewer scene. It was just breathtaking. Plus they covered the floor with stage fog. But they gave such a sense of space but also distance as Valjean carries Marius around. And this wasn't just sort of tunnel movement like they did with the street - there was a lot of lateral stuff going on. Also noteworthy was Javert's suicide, which was impressive enough to get applause in its own right. (I correctly called that it would be the same set as for "Stars" - heck yeah). But yeah, he's freaking out, and the bridge comes down - and when he gets to that point, he climbs up on the railing of the bridge - and rather than anything like jumping, the bridge suddenly soars ceilingwards behind him, and he's just...suspended in the air, falling and falling through blueness and into blackness, forever and forever - very like Alice down the rabbithole. (They darkened his feet, of course, so you couldn't see the bit of bridge he was standing on). It was incredible.
There were a couple of weird things. For one, for some reason the show started - on a slave galley! We all sort of went "mrr?" In all fairness, France did totally use to do that sort of thing - although mainly in the 18th century to the best of my knowledge. And it worked well with the music...if not the words so much. And of course, about half of the script was unfamiliar, since the recordings have only about half the songs. Basically, a decision has to be made beteen what's "song" and what's "recitative" or "dialogue" and for much of the show no clear line can be drawn. Which is why it's better to see it than to listen to it! Except that you can't sing along :P And yeah, the full show is even more leitmotify than the soundtrack. Which is why it's so awesome! I was also impressed by the fact that Jean Valjean managed to die a full five minutes before he stopped singing. I don't know if that's usual - main character privileges, I suppose.
Watching it, I caught even more places where Night Watch has clear parallels/shout outs. I may write up a list of them at some point. (Gonna say it - Maskerade is good, but Night Watch is just better. And I feel the same way about the shows too, so there). Really, though, what I have to come back to is just how phenomenal the staging and set work was. There were big slatted things that covered the whole stage and could be used to let in bright revealing beams of light or create a sense of darkness and being shut in. The celler where the students met was just perfect. The baricade believably bridged a space actually significantly wider thank the actual Paris streets would have been, and was complete with an overturned cart (although not an old woman in a rocking chair with her knitting). Fantine's sick bed - simple, but the lighting made it. I could go on and on and on. And the final scene began with lighting candles in silver candlesticks. If there's one thing this show does really well it's parallel structure.
I also love that the leader of the revolution is not a named part. I dunno, I think that's fantastic. Student 1, you've got a great voice.
I love this show. Love It. But I've probably clogged the intertubes enough for one day. Good night all, and be happy in all that you do.
(sad days, I no longer have my anarchist lichen Night Watch icon - it would have been perfect. Red, Black, and a sprig of lilac. Yeah. Gotta use my romanticism icon instead. Caspar David Friedrich for the win?)