Les Mis 25th Anniversary Concert
Just got back from seeing a screening of the 25th Anniversary Concert with my mom, and it did not disappoint.
Alfie Boe was absolutely incredible. Norm Lewis didn't have quite the same richness as Philip Quast, but I'm still a huge fan of his, so it was great to see him in the role again (I saw him on Broadway in 2006). Ramin Karimloo was amazing. Jenny Galloway was hilarious as ever, and Matt Lucas was equally perfect in his role. Lea Salonga was awesome. Katie Hall and Samantha Barks were both great. The boy who played Gavroche also did a wonderful job.
But of course the most controversial member of the cast was Nick Jonas as Marius. When the cast list was first announced, I was as surprised as anyone to see him on it, and I was a little upset about it at first because it was such obvious stunt casting. (There is no other reason for Marius's actor to get second billing. There just isn't.) After finding some bootleg recordings of him singing "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" on YouTube, though, I was willing to give him a chance. Having seen the production, I have to say he certainly looks the part: young, innocent - he even has the dark curls. This works in his favor. His acting was a bit stiff (half the time he was just sort of holding his hands out in front of him like he didn't know what to do with them), and in the first act his voice sounded weak, especially compared to his obviously much better trained costars. Cosette actually drowned him out once or twice during "A Heart Full of Love". But he got much stronger in act two, and I thought he delivered a very good performance of "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables". His acting in the final scenes also saw an improvement.
Were there better people they could have cast? Sure. Adam Jacobs (whom I also saw in 2006) would have been wonderful. But Nick Jonas wasn't terrible. He even did better than I had initially expected. So I'm not too bothered by it anymore.
The staging was also well done, with good use of the three large screens behind the choir and some excellent lighting effects. Actually, the lighting throughout was very cool, with the exception of the opening sequence in which it made the silver candleholders look yellow. But other than that it was perfect, especially the way it was used to create the feel of a barricade without any actual set. Having the three sections of the choir in blue, white and red was a nice touch. Some of the blocking seemed awkward, but I did love how they had Fantine pause and look at young Cosette as she's exiting after her death and Cosette is coming on to sing "Castle on a Cloud". It made it feel like there was actually some interaction between mother and daughter, which was nice.
Cameron Mackintosh, Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg all gave very touching and amusing speeches at the end, and the encore numbers with the three London casts as well as the student cast members and the original 1985 cast were awesome. Simon Bowman, Alfie Boe, John Owen-Jones and Colm Wilkinson all singing "Bring Him Home" together was also just about the best thing ever. (Though with four Valjeans on stage at once, you could see how it'd be a bit confusing: "Who are you?" "Who am I? I'm Jean Valjean!" "But if you're Jean Valjean, then who am I?" "You're Jean Valjean, too." "What?" "You two are both Jean Valjean." "And who are you?" "I'm Jean Valjean, too!" "And who's that other chap?" "He's 24601.") The montage of the various productions and performances played at the beginning of the show was also a great lead-in. It really captured a lot of the sentiment and history of Les Mis. I love that they even included Susan Boyle singing "I Dreamed a Dream" on "Britian's Got Talent".
Now, I happen to have a rather personal connection to Les Mis. (Doesn't every Mizzie?) My mother was a big fan of the musical from the day it arrived on Broadway, and she actually went to see it while she was pregnant with me. At that performance, she was sitting in the front row, right in front of the orchestra, and she claims that I was unusually calm the whole time, as if I was being soothed by the music. When I was six years old, she happened to come across the 10th Anniversary Concert on tv, and I was strangely drawn to it, sitting down to watch with her. Eventually she had to force me to go to bed before it was over, but we borrowed the VHS from my grandparents and watched it together after that, my mom explaining the story and me hanging on every word. She then told me that the show was still playing on Broadway (she had to explain what Broadway was, too) and asked if I wanted to go see it performed live. I was thrilled at the idea, so that wound up being my seventh birthday present and the first show I ever saw on Broadway. At every production I've seen since, my mom has always been sitting right next to me, and every time I find a new cast recording to add to my collection, she's the first to know. She'd been meaning to read the book for years, but it was me doing it that finally motivated her to do so, leading to countless hours of discussion between us. Les Mis is something special that my mother and I share, so getting to see this production with her was wonderful.
Overall, it was an absolutely amazing experience. I'd definitely recommend the DVD when it's eventually released (November 29th in the UK, TBA in the US). I know I need the cast recording added to my collection, like, yesterday. :P
Alfie Boe was absolutely incredible. Norm Lewis didn't have quite the same richness as Philip Quast, but I'm still a huge fan of his, so it was great to see him in the role again (I saw him on Broadway in 2006). Ramin Karimloo was amazing. Jenny Galloway was hilarious as ever, and Matt Lucas was equally perfect in his role. Lea Salonga was awesome. Katie Hall and Samantha Barks were both great. The boy who played Gavroche also did a wonderful job.
But of course the most controversial member of the cast was Nick Jonas as Marius. When the cast list was first announced, I was as surprised as anyone to see him on it, and I was a little upset about it at first because it was such obvious stunt casting. (There is no other reason for Marius's actor to get second billing. There just isn't.) After finding some bootleg recordings of him singing "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" on YouTube, though, I was willing to give him a chance. Having seen the production, I have to say he certainly looks the part: young, innocent - he even has the dark curls. This works in his favor. His acting was a bit stiff (half the time he was just sort of holding his hands out in front of him like he didn't know what to do with them), and in the first act his voice sounded weak, especially compared to his obviously much better trained costars. Cosette actually drowned him out once or twice during "A Heart Full of Love". But he got much stronger in act two, and I thought he delivered a very good performance of "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables". His acting in the final scenes also saw an improvement.
Were there better people they could have cast? Sure. Adam Jacobs (whom I also saw in 2006) would have been wonderful. But Nick Jonas wasn't terrible. He even did better than I had initially expected. So I'm not too bothered by it anymore.
The staging was also well done, with good use of the three large screens behind the choir and some excellent lighting effects. Actually, the lighting throughout was very cool, with the exception of the opening sequence in which it made the silver candleholders look yellow. But other than that it was perfect, especially the way it was used to create the feel of a barricade without any actual set. Having the three sections of the choir in blue, white and red was a nice touch. Some of the blocking seemed awkward, but I did love how they had Fantine pause and look at young Cosette as she's exiting after her death and Cosette is coming on to sing "Castle on a Cloud". It made it feel like there was actually some interaction between mother and daughter, which was nice.
Cameron Mackintosh, Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg all gave very touching and amusing speeches at the end, and the encore numbers with the three London casts as well as the student cast members and the original 1985 cast were awesome. Simon Bowman, Alfie Boe, John Owen-Jones and Colm Wilkinson all singing "Bring Him Home" together was also just about the best thing ever. (Though with four Valjeans on stage at once, you could see how it'd be a bit confusing: "Who are you?" "Who am I? I'm Jean Valjean!" "But if you're Jean Valjean, then who am I?" "You're Jean Valjean, too." "What?" "You two are both Jean Valjean." "And who are you?" "I'm Jean Valjean, too!" "And who's that other chap?" "He's 24601.") The montage of the various productions and performances played at the beginning of the show was also a great lead-in. It really captured a lot of the sentiment and history of Les Mis. I love that they even included Susan Boyle singing "I Dreamed a Dream" on "Britian's Got Talent".
Now, I happen to have a rather personal connection to Les Mis. (Doesn't every Mizzie?) My mother was a big fan of the musical from the day it arrived on Broadway, and she actually went to see it while she was pregnant with me. At that performance, she was sitting in the front row, right in front of the orchestra, and she claims that I was unusually calm the whole time, as if I was being soothed by the music. When I was six years old, she happened to come across the 10th Anniversary Concert on tv, and I was strangely drawn to it, sitting down to watch with her. Eventually she had to force me to go to bed before it was over, but we borrowed the VHS from my grandparents and watched it together after that, my mom explaining the story and me hanging on every word. She then told me that the show was still playing on Broadway (she had to explain what Broadway was, too) and asked if I wanted to go see it performed live. I was thrilled at the idea, so that wound up being my seventh birthday present and the first show I ever saw on Broadway. At every production I've seen since, my mom has always been sitting right next to me, and every time I find a new cast recording to add to my collection, she's the first to know. She'd been meaning to read the book for years, but it was me doing it that finally motivated her to do so, leading to countless hours of discussion between us. Les Mis is something special that my mother and I share, so getting to see this production with her was wonderful.
Overall, it was an absolutely amazing experience. I'd definitely recommend the DVD when it's eventually released (November 29th in the UK, TBA in the US). I know I need the cast recording added to my collection, like, yesterday. :P