In the rain the pavement shines like silver all the lights are misty in the river...
While it's hard to have an interest in music and musicals without being aware of Les Misérables, I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I hadn't actually heard any of the songs from it until Joey Potter sang On My Own for a pageant on that teen train-wreck, Dawson's Creek, in 1998.
When I was working for Sanity several years later, a colleague loaned me her VHS copy of the London stage production, saying how much I would enjoy it. I tried to watch it once and fell asleep before anything of note happened. When I returned the tape, I conveniently left out my apparent disinterest in the classic musical.
In 2012, the feature film was released and I went to see it with Del and Nomi, out of curiosity more than anything. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would and marveled at how they'd adapted it for screen, despite having never seen it on stage.
Last night I finally saw the musical live onstage at Sydney's magnificent Capitol Theatre and it blew me away. I have to admit, I was a little disappointed with the first song. The opening of the film is so immense and powerful - both visually and audibly - that I thought a live version would be epic. But the vocals didn't sound nearly as powerful as I'd expect a chorus of men to be (especially after having seen Pirates of Penzance).
But that was the only disappointment because everything else was wonderful. The staging was clever and seamless, moving from ships to country towns to brothels to Parisian streets effortlessly. My favourite set was the beginning of the French revolution where the whole stage was overrun with balconies, rundown buildings and apartments stacked atop each other.
The lighting (or lack thereof in some instances) and the way they utilised the back screen was so simple yet so effective. The scenes which called for motion (the marching during One Day More, Valjean dragging Marius through the sewers, Javert's suicide) looked fantastic as the screen moved with the ensemble for a film-like effect.
I wasn't familiar with any of the actors, but I am so glad they went with talent over notoriety because they were absolutely brilliant. The boy entrenched in the revolution was a great blend of charismatic, savvy, and cheeky, and his voice carried surprisingly well. Javier was commanding and impressive. But it was hard to look past the leading man, who spends most of the production onstage and whose range went from searing fierce baritone in the first act to a beautiful delicate soprano in the second act.
The renditions of songs I had fallen in love with (I Dreamed A Dream, Red And Black, One Day More, On My Own, Do You Hear The People Sing) were truly excellent. I had tears streaming down my face for at least three of them and goosebumps for even more. I fell in love with A Little Fall of Rain, Who Am I, The Confrontation, and A Heart Full of Love, while gaining even more appreciation for the show as a whole.
It is a long and dense musical (I think we were in the theatre for a solid three hours), but there were very few moments which dragged. Even the quieter moments of the show were enjoyable as I'd never realised the number of repeated themes and melodies. The music helps weave together so many common threads and the more times I see it, the more I realise just why this is one of the greatest musicals of our time.
When I was working for Sanity several years later, a colleague loaned me her VHS copy of the London stage production, saying how much I would enjoy it. I tried to watch it once and fell asleep before anything of note happened. When I returned the tape, I conveniently left out my apparent disinterest in the classic musical.
In 2012, the feature film was released and I went to see it with Del and Nomi, out of curiosity more than anything. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would and marveled at how they'd adapted it for screen, despite having never seen it on stage.
Last night I finally saw the musical live onstage at Sydney's magnificent Capitol Theatre and it blew me away. I have to admit, I was a little disappointed with the first song. The opening of the film is so immense and powerful - both visually and audibly - that I thought a live version would be epic. But the vocals didn't sound nearly as powerful as I'd expect a chorus of men to be (especially after having seen Pirates of Penzance).
But that was the only disappointment because everything else was wonderful. The staging was clever and seamless, moving from ships to country towns to brothels to Parisian streets effortlessly. My favourite set was the beginning of the French revolution where the whole stage was overrun with balconies, rundown buildings and apartments stacked atop each other.
The lighting (or lack thereof in some instances) and the way they utilised the back screen was so simple yet so effective. The scenes which called for motion (the marching during One Day More, Valjean dragging Marius through the sewers, Javert's suicide) looked fantastic as the screen moved with the ensemble for a film-like effect.
I wasn't familiar with any of the actors, but I am so glad they went with talent over notoriety because they were absolutely brilliant. The boy entrenched in the revolution was a great blend of charismatic, savvy, and cheeky, and his voice carried surprisingly well. Javier was commanding and impressive. But it was hard to look past the leading man, who spends most of the production onstage and whose range went from searing fierce baritone in the first act to a beautiful delicate soprano in the second act.
The renditions of songs I had fallen in love with (I Dreamed A Dream, Red And Black, One Day More, On My Own, Do You Hear The People Sing) were truly excellent. I had tears streaming down my face for at least three of them and goosebumps for even more. I fell in love with A Little Fall of Rain, Who Am I, The Confrontation, and A Heart Full of Love, while gaining even more appreciation for the show as a whole.
It is a long and dense musical (I think we were in the theatre for a solid three hours), but there were very few moments which dragged. Even the quieter moments of the show were enjoyable as I'd never realised the number of repeated themes and melodies. The music helps weave together so many common threads and the more times I see it, the more I realise just why this is one of the greatest musicals of our time.
Click to view