Les Miserables- Pittsburgh CLO Production- July 7, 2009 (Opening Night!)
I saw the Pittsburgh CLO's Les Miz on Tuesday night and it was fantastic! Honestly, I think it was the best production of the show I've seen. Not that I'm a Mizzie connoisseur like otakuwench or piratesmile331 , but I like to to believe that I do have somewhat discerning tastes. :D
Anyways, the cast was great and I loved the set design. To be honest, I love the turntable, but other than that I don't really love the original London/Broadway sets. They jus seemed so empty and I like re-imagined set designs for this show. The only thing slightly disappointing was the barricade. It was good, but still kind of compact. There are four veterans of the Broadway production in the cast: Fred Inkley as ValJean, Robert Cuccioli as Javert, Jacquelyn Piro Donovan as Fantine, and Kevin Earley as Enjolras. Other notable cast members were Kate Loprest, former Glinda/Nessarose understudy in Chicago's Wicked as Cosette, and Ashley Spencer who was a finalist on the reality show "You're the One that I Want" casting the Grease revival. The actor playing Marius, Matthew Scott, has also been on Broadway in Jersey Boys and A Catered Affair.
Fred Inkley was great as ValJean; his voice and acting were great. One particular moment of his that I loved was during "One Day More!" I happened to look over at him packing and he was holding the candlesticks the Bishop gave to him and kissed them before packing them away. Robert Cuccioli as Javert had a phenomenal voice and I greatly appreciated his rigid perfect posture whenever he walked, but I thought his Javert was a bit too angry/cruel. I know he's supposed to be the anti-hero, but I felt he was just a bit too much of a hateful Javert, rather than one who is so morally fastidious that he can't stand crime. But only a little, he was still very good. Jacquelyn Piro Donovan was the only member of the cast who I didn't really like. I think it's because I tend to judge Les Miz on singing first, then acting, which I think might be because I listened to the Tenth Anniversary CD so much before ever actually seeing the show and, frankly, Ruthie Henshall kind of kills it for every other Fantine vocally. I just didn't like Jacquelyn's voice, at least not for Fantine. Kevin Earley, however, was an unbelievable Enjolras! His voice was absolutely perfect for the role and his acting was so fiery and passionate that I would easily believe that he could stir the crowd to revolution
Moving on to the "newbies", as it seems, Kate Loprest as Cosette was disappointing, honestly. I really wanted to like her since she had a history with Wicked but vocally she was kind of weak and her acting was so timid that she barely made an impression. Hopefully both of those problems can be counted to opening night nerves/settling into the role, as critics have suggested. Ashley Spencer was fantastic as Eponine. She had a strong voice and her acting was also wonderful. Matthew Scott was also a great Marius. He played the part with endearing charm and a great voice.
The best thing about this production though, was the ensemble! They gave their all, were phenomenal singers, were easy to understand, and stayed in the moment at all times. I really think they were the stars of the show.
There were a handful of technical glitches, mostly mics being off when they should have been on but also the occasional lost spotlight, but the show was still overall fantastic.
And photos! Yay:
(Unfortunately there don't seem to be any better pictures of Kate or Matthew)
Anyways, the cast was great and I loved the set design. To be honest, I love the turntable, but other than that I don't really love the original London/Broadway sets. They jus seemed so empty and I like re-imagined set designs for this show. The only thing slightly disappointing was the barricade. It was good, but still kind of compact. There are four veterans of the Broadway production in the cast: Fred Inkley as ValJean, Robert Cuccioli as Javert, Jacquelyn Piro Donovan as Fantine, and Kevin Earley as Enjolras. Other notable cast members were Kate Loprest, former Glinda/Nessarose understudy in Chicago's Wicked as Cosette, and Ashley Spencer who was a finalist on the reality show "You're the One that I Want" casting the Grease revival. The actor playing Marius, Matthew Scott, has also been on Broadway in Jersey Boys and A Catered Affair.
Fred Inkley was great as ValJean; his voice and acting were great. One particular moment of his that I loved was during "One Day More!" I happened to look over at him packing and he was holding the candlesticks the Bishop gave to him and kissed them before packing them away. Robert Cuccioli as Javert had a phenomenal voice and I greatly appreciated his rigid perfect posture whenever he walked, but I thought his Javert was a bit too angry/cruel. I know he's supposed to be the anti-hero, but I felt he was just a bit too much of a hateful Javert, rather than one who is so morally fastidious that he can't stand crime. But only a little, he was still very good. Jacquelyn Piro Donovan was the only member of the cast who I didn't really like. I think it's because I tend to judge Les Miz on singing first, then acting, which I think might be because I listened to the Tenth Anniversary CD so much before ever actually seeing the show and, frankly, Ruthie Henshall kind of kills it for every other Fantine vocally. I just didn't like Jacquelyn's voice, at least not for Fantine. Kevin Earley, however, was an unbelievable Enjolras! His voice was absolutely perfect for the role and his acting was so fiery and passionate that I would easily believe that he could stir the crowd to revolution
Moving on to the "newbies", as it seems, Kate Loprest as Cosette was disappointing, honestly. I really wanted to like her since she had a history with Wicked but vocally she was kind of weak and her acting was so timid that she barely made an impression. Hopefully both of those problems can be counted to opening night nerves/settling into the role, as critics have suggested. Ashley Spencer was fantastic as Eponine. She had a strong voice and her acting was also wonderful. Matthew Scott was also a great Marius. He played the part with endearing charm and a great voice.
The best thing about this production though, was the ensemble! They gave their all, were phenomenal singers, were easy to understand, and stayed in the moment at all times. I really think they were the stars of the show.
There were a handful of technical glitches, mostly mics being off when they should have been on but also the occasional lost spotlight, but the show was still overall fantastic.
And photos! Yay:
(Unfortunately there don't seem to be any better pictures of Kate or Matthew)