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I have been a musical theater fan ever since I had been a little kid. I was simply an outcast because of that in my school. Everyone was listening to "pop" music with "rap" and all that. I was more into musical theater.
Everyone gasped as my teacher told us that we were watching Les Miserables 25th anniversary for our Literature and Music class, I was not surprised at all, though. I had subsequently asked my teacher to host a film viewing because Victor Hugo was indeed a wonderful writer, and Claude-Michel Schonberg is a brilliant composer.
I have watched the 10th anniversary of Les Miserables featuring Colm Wilkinson as Valjean, Philip Quast as Javert, Ruthie Henshall as Fantine, and so on. I have also watched different adaptations of this musical. I have witnessed High School students put on this production, I have seen this production in different theater companies and yet, none have seemed to get me to applaud for them.
This cast seemed promising with powerful voices all around such as Alfie Boe, Ramin Karimloo and Lea Salonga. On the other hand, a few members from cast seemed a little out of place such as Nick Jonas, it was a big surprise for me to see a pop singer on stage. I have watched the Jonas Brothers and their voices seemed airy even with all three of their voices combined! What more with one lone Jonas Brother? It was simply dreadful, his voice was so weak, that I noticed he had to lean towards the mic for him to actually be heard. But, then again, Monsieur Jonas did do his best, but it was quite an embarrassment for himself as he was not ready due to his tender age, and lack of power.
His leading lady, Katie Hall (Cosette), did not seem appropriate for the role, in my opinion. Her voice was too shrill. Yes, yes, she had the looks, but what I always notice is the voice. Her high notes seemed forced and squeezed. She didn't have weak voice such as of Jonas, here, she had power, but her voice's resonance was terrible.
Samantha Barks was good, she had a powerful voice, she hit the notes flawlessly in her rendition of the beautiful tear-jerking song "On My Own". It contained such great emotion that I had to run over to my bag to grab a tissue to wipe a few stray tears. Alfie Boe, goodness, can there ever be a better Valjean? He contained everything that I was looking for in Valjean, he had some sort of aura in him that made me pity his persona while he sang. Ramin Karimloo was perfect for the role, as he presented a fearless Enjolras, he had a slight crack on his last line : "Until the earth is free!" but it definitely helped in shaping his character, he showed a hint of pain in that line, as we all know,the student revolutionaries are indeed going to die. Madame and Monsieur Thenardier were hilarious, that's what you call effective acting.
During the 10th anniversary, I saw Lea Salonga as Eponine, she was good, yes, but she did better when she played Fantine. Her low notes are round, while her high notes in her famous aria, "I dreamed a dream", were angelic.
It was my first time seeing Norm Lewis on stage, he was by-far, the best Javert I had ever seen. He simply fit the role by a loophole, a wonderful baritone, he was. Grantaire was OK. He did well, but he wasn't that memorable.
The lighting was very good, the costumes were very effective, impeccable timing, beautiful acting, but then again, it was lacking.
Compared to the 10th anniversary and the crappy High School Productions I watched, this performance gave new justice to the musical with new state-of-the-art technology and lighting, new costumes, a new cast and a majestic ensemble.
It was worth watching, yes, I am now looking forward to watching Les Miserables 2012, at least I have a basis already that I can use in submitting a review for that rendition.
score 8/10
bumanlagmaureen 24 December 2012
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2724654/ |
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18-2-2021 06:05:05