All Good Things...
Tonight is cast change night for the West End production of Les Miserables and it's hitting me hard even though I won't be there to see it.
I have been in love with Les Miserables since I was a little girl. I can't remember my very first memories of Les Mis but I do remember having the London Cast Recording on audio cassette. I was an imaginative music loving child so I would put on a parent's old trenchcoat and lip synch or sing along to "On My Own" at my neighbour's house. She grabbed a broom and took on "Castle On A Cloud". I have vague memories of a grade school assignment where we had to write letters to a Canadian person we admired. I wanted to write to the original Jean Valjean Colm Wilkinson, who I knew lived in Toronto. My mom had to gently tell me that he was actually Irish.
My memory has never been the greatest so I regret not being able to remember much of my first time seeing the show live. It was in Toronto, I was maybe 13, and Colm Wilkinson played Valjean. THE Colm Wilkinson. I remember him crying onstage in Valjean's final scenes with Cosette and my mom being touched. I have a T-shirt, although it doesn't fit any more.
Like any other girl "On My Own" became my anthem for awhile in high school when I had a crazy huge crush on a boy who barely knew I existed. There was an irony in this since I did sing it in my singing lessons and my teacher was the mother of the boy I had a mad crush on. This teacher introduced me to Jekyll and Hyde songs, and although I had to sing the female character parts I later discovered Anthony Warlow through Jekyll and Hyde. Warlow, an amazing Australian baritone, became "my" Enjolras. Suddenly the 10th Anniversary "Dream Cast" of Les Miserables that I had adored for years was still wonderful but seemed incomplete without him.
As an obsessive phase Les Miserables comes and goes; I'll have days or weeks where it's all I will listen to and I'll drag out that 10th Anniversary Cast Video and watch for the umpteenth time, and then for weeks or months I'll slip back into pop, rock, or whatever else is rocking my boat. Les Mis is a constant in my life though. It is something that I have loved for as long as I can remember. A story that has touched me and music that I have sung along with at my most jubilant and that has been with me when I feel all alone.
When I went to Europe last year The West End was one of the most important things I needed to experience. I've seen musicals in Toronto and we've had some fantastic shows come through over the years but I've never been to Broadway or experienced a show in London, England. Despite the prices, I paid for great seats of each show I saw because it meant that much to me. I adored Phantom and developed an even greater love of Canadian Ramin Karimloo, also known as the reason why I don't think the sequel completely sucks (oh the story unquestionably does but he has a great voice and some of the music is good), and I got to see Gareth Gates half-naked, immensely pleasing my fifteen-year-old self who had inner squees at seeing him sing live, but Les Miserables was the crowning jewel. It was my last night in London and the show was beyond words.
Jean Valjean was played by an understudy, Jonathan Williams, but he was so terrific that I've been following his career since then and wondering why they won't give him the leading role outright! At the curtain call when he received a standing ovation he looked so incredibly pleased that it made me smile. Earl Carpenter as Javert embodied the role. He was everything Javert should be and I loved him. Leanne Dobinson as Cosette was sweet, Jon Robyns as Marius was perfect, approaching original Marius Michael Ball in my eyes, and although Nancy Sullivan's Eponine shouted a little during On My Own, she portrayed the character wonderfully. The absolute revelation was David Thaxton though. THIS was the Enjolras I had always pictured. He simply oozed charisma and you understood why students would follow this man to their deaths. I fell in love with his performance.
David Thaxton has been playing the role for two years and has such a following, especially of people who live nearby and can go multiple times, that little moments in his portrayal have been named and commented on. There's his close relationship with drunkard Grantaire, "the jump" where he full on jumps off the barricades to check on the fallen Marius, and a truly magnificent end to the "Final Battle" with the lines "let others rise to take our place until the earth IS FREEE!" Anthony Warlow might have a better voice but Thaxton embodies Enjolras and I can't imagine anyone beating his interpretation.
This is why I'm a little down today. Certain people from what I'm affectionately dubbing "my cast", the fantastic one I saw in London at the end of April 2009 have been leaving over the past year. Marius is now playing Enjolras in the touring 25th Anniversary Cast along with my Javert. Cosette has moved on, and Jonathan Williams remains, most unfairly, an understudy. But Sullivan's Eponine and Thaxton's Enjolras remained... until tonight. This marks their last performance in the cast they've been a part of for two years. David Thaxton will be moving on to a production of Passion that I'm extremely sorry I won't be in London to see and I know he'll be wonderful but it's still sad to see the best Enjolras there ever was move on.
It's even more bittersweet because Thaxton injured his back and has been off for the last several days and might not have the chance to give a final performance. I wish him all the best in his future endeavors but I'm sorry that there will no longer be discussions over whether or not he did "the jump" and if the "Is Free" was the best ever that night. When I get home from work I'll be sitting on youtube watching all the many clips of his performances that's for sure and feeling blessed that I was lucky enough to see him live.
Goodbye "my cast". There will never be the likes again... oh and just give Williams Jean Valjean already. He may not be a name but he's good enough to become one.
ABC Cafe/Red & Black video. He's the one in the shiny red vest :'):
www.youtube.com/watch
"The Jump" caught on tape!:
www.youtube.com/watch
David Thaxton in the Isle of Wight performance:
www.youtube.com/watch
I have been in love with Les Miserables since I was a little girl. I can't remember my very first memories of Les Mis but I do remember having the London Cast Recording on audio cassette. I was an imaginative music loving child so I would put on a parent's old trenchcoat and lip synch or sing along to "On My Own" at my neighbour's house. She grabbed a broom and took on "Castle On A Cloud". I have vague memories of a grade school assignment where we had to write letters to a Canadian person we admired. I wanted to write to the original Jean Valjean Colm Wilkinson, who I knew lived in Toronto. My mom had to gently tell me that he was actually Irish.
My memory has never been the greatest so I regret not being able to remember much of my first time seeing the show live. It was in Toronto, I was maybe 13, and Colm Wilkinson played Valjean. THE Colm Wilkinson. I remember him crying onstage in Valjean's final scenes with Cosette and my mom being touched. I have a T-shirt, although it doesn't fit any more.
Like any other girl "On My Own" became my anthem for awhile in high school when I had a crazy huge crush on a boy who barely knew I existed. There was an irony in this since I did sing it in my singing lessons and my teacher was the mother of the boy I had a mad crush on. This teacher introduced me to Jekyll and Hyde songs, and although I had to sing the female character parts I later discovered Anthony Warlow through Jekyll and Hyde. Warlow, an amazing Australian baritone, became "my" Enjolras. Suddenly the 10th Anniversary "Dream Cast" of Les Miserables that I had adored for years was still wonderful but seemed incomplete without him.
As an obsessive phase Les Miserables comes and goes; I'll have days or weeks where it's all I will listen to and I'll drag out that 10th Anniversary Cast Video and watch for the umpteenth time, and then for weeks or months I'll slip back into pop, rock, or whatever else is rocking my boat. Les Mis is a constant in my life though. It is something that I have loved for as long as I can remember. A story that has touched me and music that I have sung along with at my most jubilant and that has been with me when I feel all alone.
When I went to Europe last year The West End was one of the most important things I needed to experience. I've seen musicals in Toronto and we've had some fantastic shows come through over the years but I've never been to Broadway or experienced a show in London, England. Despite the prices, I paid for great seats of each show I saw because it meant that much to me. I adored Phantom and developed an even greater love of Canadian Ramin Karimloo, also known as the reason why I don't think the sequel completely sucks (oh the story unquestionably does but he has a great voice and some of the music is good), and I got to see Gareth Gates half-naked, immensely pleasing my fifteen-year-old self who had inner squees at seeing him sing live, but Les Miserables was the crowning jewel. It was my last night in London and the show was beyond words.
Jean Valjean was played by an understudy, Jonathan Williams, but he was so terrific that I've been following his career since then and wondering why they won't give him the leading role outright! At the curtain call when he received a standing ovation he looked so incredibly pleased that it made me smile. Earl Carpenter as Javert embodied the role. He was everything Javert should be and I loved him. Leanne Dobinson as Cosette was sweet, Jon Robyns as Marius was perfect, approaching original Marius Michael Ball in my eyes, and although Nancy Sullivan's Eponine shouted a little during On My Own, she portrayed the character wonderfully. The absolute revelation was David Thaxton though. THIS was the Enjolras I had always pictured. He simply oozed charisma and you understood why students would follow this man to their deaths. I fell in love with his performance.
David Thaxton has been playing the role for two years and has such a following, especially of people who live nearby and can go multiple times, that little moments in his portrayal have been named and commented on. There's his close relationship with drunkard Grantaire, "the jump" where he full on jumps off the barricades to check on the fallen Marius, and a truly magnificent end to the "Final Battle" with the lines "let others rise to take our place until the earth IS FREEE!" Anthony Warlow might have a better voice but Thaxton embodies Enjolras and I can't imagine anyone beating his interpretation.
This is why I'm a little down today. Certain people from what I'm affectionately dubbing "my cast", the fantastic one I saw in London at the end of April 2009 have been leaving over the past year. Marius is now playing Enjolras in the touring 25th Anniversary Cast along with my Javert. Cosette has moved on, and Jonathan Williams remains, most unfairly, an understudy. But Sullivan's Eponine and Thaxton's Enjolras remained... until tonight. This marks their last performance in the cast they've been a part of for two years. David Thaxton will be moving on to a production of Passion that I'm extremely sorry I won't be in London to see and I know he'll be wonderful but it's still sad to see the best Enjolras there ever was move on.
It's even more bittersweet because Thaxton injured his back and has been off for the last several days and might not have the chance to give a final performance. I wish him all the best in his future endeavors but I'm sorry that there will no longer be discussions over whether or not he did "the jump" and if the "Is Free" was the best ever that night. When I get home from work I'll be sitting on youtube watching all the many clips of his performances that's for sure and feeling blessed that I was lucky enough to see him live.
Goodbye "my cast". There will never be the likes again... oh and just give Williams Jean Valjean already. He may not be a name but he's good enough to become one.
ABC Cafe/Red & Black video. He's the one in the shiny red vest :'):
www.youtube.com/watch
"The Jump" caught on tape!:
www.youtube.com/watch
David Thaxton in the Isle of Wight performance:
www.youtube.com/watch