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This anniversary edition of Les Misérables is stellar, with a few problems that just really detract from the overall performance.
Alfie Boe as Jean Valjean is actually excellent. He isn't as well suited to the role as Colm Wilkinson, but that bar has never really been matched since, and Boe does a pretty great job regardless. His voice is smooth, emotive and flawless: his acting might be a little weak but considering this isn't a full stage production I think it's hard to judge him for that.
I know Norm Lewis's Javert is a little divisive, but actually I loved his performance. His voice is absolutely divine, and his rendition of 'Stars' was one of the show's standout moments and brought tears to my eyes.
Katie Hall as Cosette was... perfectly okay. I feel it's unfair to judge her too harshly because she was brought in as a replacement a few days before the concert. She can be a little shrill at times, but it's perfectly possible she's having to tone down the power of her voice because of her duet partner. Nick Jonas as Marius is absolutely awful. There's no sugarcoating it. He's the epitome of stunt casting and while he was a very good Gavroche as a kid, as an adult he just doesn't have the depth or range of voice that his role requires. He's so visibly straining throughout the entire show that his face is screwed up into constipation when he's supposed to be in love, or preparing for battle, or upset. He's a little better in Empty Chairs, probably because it's slower: the most painful parts are those when he has to belt out notes quickly.
Lea Salonga as Fantine is predictably fabulous. I cried at both I Dreamed A Dream and her death scene; her voice is truly beautiful (as everyone has been saying since the beginning of her career), and she is wonderfully emotive. Samantha Barks as Eponine is also a delight; her voice isn't quite as developed here as it would become later, sometimes tending to the shrill, but her On My Own is truly gorgeous and she has that slight outsider edge that characterises the best Eponines.
I am an unapologetic Ramin Karimloo fan, and he is probably my favourite Enjolras of all time, so it's no surprise I love him here. His voice is powerful, layered and with perfect tone, and he has the perfect passion required for the role (unsurprising, considering he'd started playing it a decade before this show). My only gripe is his slightly bizarre costuming, but I'm not going to complain about the bracelets and open shirt even if they are weird choices. Hadley Fraser continues his tradition of being notably better than many of the main cast in a relatively minor role as Grantaire. He is definitely my favourite Grantaire: his voice is brilliantly complex, he manages to bring real depth to the character with barely any time and his dynamic with Ramin is brilliant (again, unsurprising as they've done about five shows opposite each other). It might have worked out well if they'd had Hadley play Marius, actually, as he's done before.
I like Matt Lucas's Thénardier well enough. He's clearly having a great time, which masks his slightly subpar voice. He plays both the comic and the villain very well: I just wish he blended them a little better, but again the lack of full staging is going to limit that a bit. Jenny Galloway is a perfect partner for him as Mme Thénardier. She might have been playing her for forever, but there's no reason to complain when she does it so damn well.
I do think that Les Mis is a little bizarre as a concert, especially in the second half, which is really vastly improved by the staging of the barricade. It felt pretty lacklustre watching the red and white lights swing around the stage in an attempt to capture this. However, I guess that's a gripe that can't really be resolved and they did well with the options they had.
The ending is a real highlight, as first four JVJs (John Owen Jones!!) sing Bring Me Home, then the original London cast sing One Day More. David Burt as Enjolras is substituted for Ramin here (I'm definitely not complaining).
Overall, Nick Jonas's performance is really the only major problem, with a few other minor annoyances. With a better Marius, I'd probably move it up to an 8 or 9.
score 7/10
celiamerson 17 February 2020
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw5491812/ |
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18-2-2021 06:05:07