West end Review!!!!
Saw Les Mis last night for the first time since its move from the Palace theatre. We sat in the middle of Row R of the stalls after buying 'best available' tickets off Lastminute.com for £29.50 + £1 booking fee. Legroom was ample, view not the best - the dress circle overhang obscured some of the 'higher up' action, and we felt a bit distant from the stage. That said, good value for what we paid, would have been miffed if the tickets had been full price. I have to confess at being slightly nonplussed at the actual performance; I have very fond memories of the numerous times I saw it at the Palace theatre. John Owen Jones was a solid Valjean, although wavered occasionally with some of the difficult notes. Javert was played by an understudy whose name I did not catch (he was very tall) - and again a decent performance, but nothing spectacular. Joanna Ampil & Gina Beck put in good performances as Fantine and Cosette - and I thought Sabrina Aloueche put in the best performance as Eponine that I have seen since Lea Salonga played the role - fabulous voice.
She was very convincing as a street girl and looked like she could quite easily take on the entire ABC cafe! She played the heartroken child so well, and her On My Own got one of the biggest and longest applauses of the night.
Simon Bailey as Enjolras was also one of the better players of the role I have seen - he had a strong voice and did justice to 'Do You Hear The People Sing'. John Lee is simply not right for the part of Marius - he sung his parts far too abruptly, and did not bring out the emotion expected from 'Empty Chairs'. The Thenardiers did not draw out the comic aspects as much I have seen in the past either (this may be because Mr Thenardier was understudied for that performance) Also the ensemble seem to have gone really downhill since the Palace theatre production - weak singing voices, lack of slickness as a group, and terrible use of the microphone for the leader of the French army - they really need to pull their socks up! In all it still remains a very enjoyable evening out, and no doubt will continue for many years to come (the auditorium was full, even on a Wednesday evening)
She was very convincing as a street girl and looked like she could quite easily take on the entire ABC cafe! She played the heartroken child so well, and her On My Own got one of the biggest and longest applauses of the night.
Simon Bailey as Enjolras was also one of the better players of the role I have seen - he had a strong voice and did justice to 'Do You Hear The People Sing'. John Lee is simply not right for the part of Marius - he sung his parts far too abruptly, and did not bring out the emotion expected from 'Empty Chairs'. The Thenardiers did not draw out the comic aspects as much I have seen in the past either (this may be because Mr Thenardier was understudied for that performance) Also the ensemble seem to have gone really downhill since the Palace theatre production - weak singing voices, lack of slickness as a group, and terrible use of the microphone for the leader of the French army - they really need to pull their socks up! In all it still remains a very enjoyable evening out, and no doubt will continue for many years to come (the auditorium was full, even on a Wednesday evening)