LES MIS US TOUR :D
Yessss we saw it last night! It was awesome! The theater had the correct amount of cherubs (no cherubs)!!! We dressed up!!
I have demonic eyes in this one but YOU GET THE IDEA~ Obvs K is cosplaying Patria. And I am Gavroche. Only people kept thinking I was Éponine?? IDK. I guess because I am a ~lady~. Although I also did have a big coat at one point so maybe that was it. MYSTERIES. Everyone kept complimenting our outfits though 8) Squeak didn't have any pictures taken of him but he was wearing his star-spangled tricolor sash around his head like an extremely classy gentleman. It was good.
SO, OMG OKAY THE PLAY. I guess K saw the European tour version and said the sets and staging were the same for that so that wasn't new for her but IT WAS NEW FOR ME AND SQUEAK and we got really excited about it!!! I thought they handled the lack of a turn-y-thing really well (although there seemed to be a few leftovers from turn-y-thing staging where people were sort of pointlessly walking in circles in a few bits? Which personally I thought was kind of hilarious, but. >>) We were up really high so we could not see many details but we could see all the action pretty well and even SOME of the facial expressions? Sometimes? AND EVERYONE'S HAIR I GUESS??? Speaking of which Enjolras looked like he was wearing a clown wig??? I AM JUST SAYING. But let me try to organize my thoughts. Okay.
At first we were all like O_O NO ONE HAS OTT COCKNEY ACCENTS! ALSO ANACHRONISTIC GALLEY PROPS. Omfg props! Omfg an actual set! WHAT IS THIS MADNESS. But I really fucking loved the set tbh. The stage in Detroit was really narrow as well which meant that the barricade ACTUALLY spanned the entirety of the street from building to building which I really really liked because (as much as I love the... giant barricade transformer robot in London) it really put it in context? Which was nice. Okay where was I. RIGHT YES THE BEGINNING. I.. liked Valjean I guess? I mean I was not OMG BEST VALJEAN EVER about him but he was quite good and I actually liked hearing a very American Accent Valjean not because I dislike British Accent Valjeans but because it seems like all of them sort of try to be Colm Wilkinson??? And American Accent Valjean did not, which was kind of new and different. If that makes sense. So yeah that was nice. I also liked how he and Cosette were really cuddly and father-daughter-y! It was charming.
Javert (who I can only think of as Wolvert because omfg he looks just like Wolverine) was pretty alright too although I was sad that we could not see his magnificent sideburns from the balcony. I really liked him in Stars, a lot, and in a few other places, and then in some places I was just sort of meh about him. /SHRUG.
Fantine... didn't sing???? I DONT EVEN KNOW WTF WAS UP WITH HER she literally just spoke over half her lines. Angrily. WTF is up with ANGRY!FANTINE. I DO NOT KNOW. All the tour Fantines seem to be like FANTINE SMASH >8( all the time it's kind of bewildering.
Let's seeeee what else. Gavroche was AWESOME, Marius was boring, Cosette was kind of cute but kind of meh, I liked SOME of the stuff they did with Éponine but most of it made me kind of mad plus she did not seem to really be acting at all, aside from sort of being a belligerent brat..? Which didn't make any sense really and then they had Marius do stuff like kiss her on the cheek and hold her hands a lot and shit which was EXTREMELY RIDICULOUS AND POINT-MISSING. It was like they were trying to promote some kind of "gosh gee which lady will he end up with!!!!" thing?? Which, ugh, no. Doin it wrong :I I DID like that they have Marius actually ASKING her "should I stay or should I go" during One Day More because it kind of mirrors her role in tricking him into going to the barricade in the novel. Buuuut I think that was about it =/
Les Amis were great THE MUSAIN WAS GREAT OMG Grantaire was so obnoxious and melodramatic and threw himself into Marius's lap and kissed him at one point?? Like 1980s Courfeyrac? It was great.
One thing I think I am kind of alone in as far as other reviews I have seen is I did not actually really like how they did the Grantaire/Gavroche friendship? I mean, don't get me wrong I really love the idea of it and I like it when it's sort of hinted at with Grantaire like lifting Gavroche onto his shoulders or giving him friendly shoulder punches or w/e, but I really REALLY didn't like how in this production they kind of... replaced all his barricade interaction that is usually with Enjolras with interactions with Gavroche? I mean I am torn I guess because imo more Gavroche IS ALWAYS GOOD but like... there was little to no Enjolras/Grantaire interaction which I think sort of leaves a bit of a gap in the narrative? Because there's no reconciliation and... idk. If, when Grantaire is all THIS IS STUPID WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE WHAT A STUPID IDEA THIS WAS Enjolras is just "wev" and then Gavroche goes to comfort him and then Gavroche dies it's sort of... there is no explanation or reason showing why Grantaire wouldn't just be like "FUCK IT"? If you have not introduced the idea of his Enjolras hero-worship? I am using a lot of question marks? IDK those are my feelings.
I mean I guess they did make up for the lack of HANDLY MANCLASPING/FOREHEADTOUCHING by having Enjolras clamber up next to Courfs on the barricade when he took the watch to GET THEIR CUDDLE ON. FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME? That was sort of "wat" but I liked it (OBVIOUSLY) I guess they were just like WELL WE HAVE TO PUT SOME HOMOEROTIC SUBTEXT IN HERE SOMEWHERE
The sewers were really excellent and overall I really enjoyed the VICTOR HUGO'S PAINTINGS!!! backgrounds (even though I still think Victor Hugo was a bit of a shit artist :'D) And Javert sort of fading into the background in the river scene looked a lot less absurd than when he like... rolls off the stage like a child down a hill, as Squeak says. Which really is what it looks like at the Queen's. At least when you are sitting in the shitty seats. Which we always are. 8D
At first I wasn't sure about the candles thing in Turning and Empty Chairs At Empty Tables but by the end of it I was totally sold. ;_; I especially liked ECAET not actually taking place near any chairs or tables at all (because, as K pointed out, ALL THE TABLES AND CHAIRS WENT INTO THE FURNITURE WALL!!) and everyone blowing the candles out at the end was totes heartbreaking :( I thought it worked well.
Let's seeee... I liiiiked the Thenardiers a lot which I was not particularly expecting BUT THEY WERE TOTES EXCELLENT. And uhh... yeah. The Finale ALWAYS makes me cry so there is not really any point in saying I CRIED because. Duh. The part of my brain that registers song lyrics involving beating ploughshares into swords is just directly connected to the part of my brain that activates the weeping nodes. THIS IS BRAIN SCIENCE, YOU GUYS. THAT IS HOW IT WORKS.
So yeah. And then I guess we came home and had pie? It was very enjoyable. Although K is leaving today which is extremely sad :( Alas. Oh well we had a very good time and a lot of silly photographs documenting this. SO THAT'S SOMETHING AT LEAST.
This entry was originally posted at http://pob.dreamwidth.org/267302.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
I have demonic eyes in this one but YOU GET THE IDEA~ Obvs K is cosplaying Patria. And I am Gavroche. Only people kept thinking I was Éponine?? IDK. I guess because I am a ~lady~. Although I also did have a big coat at one point so maybe that was it. MYSTERIES. Everyone kept complimenting our outfits though 8) Squeak didn't have any pictures taken of him but he was wearing his star-spangled tricolor sash around his head like an extremely classy gentleman. It was good.
SO, OMG OKAY THE PLAY. I guess K saw the European tour version and said the sets and staging were the same for that so that wasn't new for her but IT WAS NEW FOR ME AND SQUEAK and we got really excited about it!!! I thought they handled the lack of a turn-y-thing really well (although there seemed to be a few leftovers from turn-y-thing staging where people were sort of pointlessly walking in circles in a few bits? Which personally I thought was kind of hilarious, but. >>) We were up really high so we could not see many details but we could see all the action pretty well and even SOME of the facial expressions? Sometimes? AND EVERYONE'S HAIR I GUESS??? Speaking of which Enjolras looked like he was wearing a clown wig??? I AM JUST SAYING. But let me try to organize my thoughts. Okay.
At first we were all like O_O NO ONE HAS OTT COCKNEY ACCENTS! ALSO ANACHRONISTIC GALLEY PROPS. Omfg props! Omfg an actual set! WHAT IS THIS MADNESS. But I really fucking loved the set tbh. The stage in Detroit was really narrow as well which meant that the barricade ACTUALLY spanned the entirety of the street from building to building which I really really liked because (as much as I love the... giant barricade transformer robot in London) it really put it in context? Which was nice. Okay where was I. RIGHT YES THE BEGINNING. I.. liked Valjean I guess? I mean I was not OMG BEST VALJEAN EVER about him but he was quite good and I actually liked hearing a very American Accent Valjean not because I dislike British Accent Valjeans but because it seems like all of them sort of try to be Colm Wilkinson??? And American Accent Valjean did not, which was kind of new and different. If that makes sense. So yeah that was nice. I also liked how he and Cosette were really cuddly and father-daughter-y! It was charming.
Javert (who I can only think of as Wolvert because omfg he looks just like Wolverine) was pretty alright too although I was sad that we could not see his magnificent sideburns from the balcony. I really liked him in Stars, a lot, and in a few other places, and then in some places I was just sort of meh about him. /SHRUG.
Fantine... didn't sing???? I DONT EVEN KNOW WTF WAS UP WITH HER she literally just spoke over half her lines. Angrily. WTF is up with ANGRY!FANTINE. I DO NOT KNOW. All the tour Fantines seem to be like FANTINE SMASH >8( all the time it's kind of bewildering.
Let's seeeee what else. Gavroche was AWESOME, Marius was boring, Cosette was kind of cute but kind of meh, I liked SOME of the stuff they did with Éponine but most of it made me kind of mad plus she did not seem to really be acting at all, aside from sort of being a belligerent brat..? Which didn't make any sense really and then they had Marius do stuff like kiss her on the cheek and hold her hands a lot and shit which was EXTREMELY RIDICULOUS AND POINT-MISSING. It was like they were trying to promote some kind of "gosh gee which lady will he end up with!!!!" thing?? Which, ugh, no. Doin it wrong :I I DID like that they have Marius actually ASKING her "should I stay or should I go" during One Day More because it kind of mirrors her role in tricking him into going to the barricade in the novel. Buuuut I think that was about it =/
Les Amis were great THE MUSAIN WAS GREAT OMG Grantaire was so obnoxious and melodramatic and threw himself into Marius's lap and kissed him at one point?? Like 1980s Courfeyrac? It was great.
One thing I think I am kind of alone in as far as other reviews I have seen is I did not actually really like how they did the Grantaire/Gavroche friendship? I mean, don't get me wrong I really love the idea of it and I like it when it's sort of hinted at with Grantaire like lifting Gavroche onto his shoulders or giving him friendly shoulder punches or w/e, but I really REALLY didn't like how in this production they kind of... replaced all his barricade interaction that is usually with Enjolras with interactions with Gavroche? I mean I am torn I guess because imo more Gavroche IS ALWAYS GOOD but like... there was little to no Enjolras/Grantaire interaction which I think sort of leaves a bit of a gap in the narrative? Because there's no reconciliation and... idk. If, when Grantaire is all THIS IS STUPID WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE WHAT A STUPID IDEA THIS WAS Enjolras is just "wev" and then Gavroche goes to comfort him and then Gavroche dies it's sort of... there is no explanation or reason showing why Grantaire wouldn't just be like "FUCK IT"? If you have not introduced the idea of his Enjolras hero-worship? I am using a lot of question marks? IDK those are my feelings.
I mean I guess they did make up for the lack of HANDLY MANCLASPING/FOREHEADTOUCHING by having Enjolras clamber up next to Courfs on the barricade when he took the watch to GET THEIR CUDDLE ON. FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME? That was sort of "wat" but I liked it (OBVIOUSLY) I guess they were just like WELL WE HAVE TO PUT SOME HOMOEROTIC SUBTEXT IN HERE SOMEWHERE
The sewers were really excellent and overall I really enjoyed the VICTOR HUGO'S PAINTINGS!!! backgrounds (even though I still think Victor Hugo was a bit of a shit artist :'D) And Javert sort of fading into the background in the river scene looked a lot less absurd than when he like... rolls off the stage like a child down a hill, as Squeak says. Which really is what it looks like at the Queen's. At least when you are sitting in the shitty seats. Which we always are. 8D
At first I wasn't sure about the candles thing in Turning and Empty Chairs At Empty Tables but by the end of it I was totally sold. ;_; I especially liked ECAET not actually taking place near any chairs or tables at all (because, as K pointed out, ALL THE TABLES AND CHAIRS WENT INTO THE FURNITURE WALL!!) and everyone blowing the candles out at the end was totes heartbreaking :( I thought it worked well.
Let's seeee... I liiiiked the Thenardiers a lot which I was not particularly expecting BUT THEY WERE TOTES EXCELLENT. And uhh... yeah. The Finale ALWAYS makes me cry so there is not really any point in saying I CRIED because. Duh. The part of my brain that registers song lyrics involving beating ploughshares into swords is just directly connected to the part of my brain that activates the weeping nodes. THIS IS BRAIN SCIENCE, YOU GUYS. THAT IS HOW IT WORKS.
So yeah. And then I guess we came home and had pie? It was very enjoyable. Although K is leaving today which is extremely sad :( Alas. Oh well we had a very good time and a lot of silly photographs documenting this. SO THAT'S SOMETHING AT LEAST.
This entry was originally posted at http://pob.dreamwidth.org/267302.html. Please comment there using OpenID.