Back from Les Miserables at the Hollywood Bowl- Page 2

[Dancin Thru Life]

Posted: 8/10/08 at 12:51pm

YIKES!

How can they seriously do this show without "Do You Hear the People Sing?"?????????

I always kind of liked that as one of the main themes and driving forces of the show.

What was the "rally cry" of the people?

Hmmm.......

[singingbackup]

Posted: 8/10/08 at 1:12pm

The rallying cry usually is "Where's Park & Ride bus #458?"

[broadwaybaby81]

Posted: 8/10/08 at 1:14pm

I went yesterday night and it was FABULOUS! Never can get enough of Les Mis! Stokes and Michele were definitely standouts for me. The concert was worth every penny and hours of LA traffic and getting out of stacked parking! LOL! :)

[Patash]

Posted: 8/10/08 at 1:18pm

ROTFLMAO. When someone starts with "I wasn't as bored as I expected to be" can anyone anticipate a single compliment coming forth? Thanks for following through on your preconceived opinion.

[DAME]

Posted: 8/10/08 at 1:30pm

"When someone starts with "I wasn't as bored as I expected to be" can anyone anticipate a single compliment coming forth? Thanks for following through on your preconceived opinion."

You are very welcome.

[theaternut]

Posted: 8/10/08 at 1:34pm

"Well.. I saw this last night.. and while I was not as bored as I thought I was going to be..I found the whole thing second string. Almost like the bus and truck company was in town but left their turn table behind. J Mark McVey was very good. Not the best I have seen.. but very good. There was something magical about hearing Bring Him Home at the Bowl. Brian Stokes was ok. He sings beautifully. But his acting is so stiff. The girl who played Fantine was terrible. She just could not sing it. She sucked. John Lloyd Young seemed bored tonight. Nice voice. He came off a little bit like he was Fonzie doing the part. And I didn't realize he is so short. And the Thernadiers were both AWFUL. They just did not register at all. It was definitely a nice night out.. But those who did not get to see it.. you didn't miss a thing. My guess is this version and all its cuts will pop up in dinner theaters across america."

I pretty much felt the same way. I am glad I saw it. but.. nothing to write home about.

[Popular]

Posted: 8/10/08 at 1:53pm

Sorry you both didn't enjoy.

I am obviously with the majority who loved it or I wouldn't have started the thread.

My one pet peeve at the bowl is people getting up and leaving during the finale so they can "beat the crowd" out. It's so disrespectful and distracting. Where the heck are they going when it's stacked parking?

[theaternut]

Posted: 8/10/08 at 1:57pm

Popular,
I agree. But that is always the case at the Bowl. Where do people think they are going? Both stack parking and the buses last night were out of control. It took us over 40 minutes to get out of the parking. And our friends who did the bus not only had to stand in line forever for their bus but once they got to where they parked it took them a while to get out of there too.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 8/10/08 at 2:02pm

They do sing "Can You Hear The People Sing" just not the FULL version of it.

It's there.

Popular, sorry we missed each other, and I had the wrong number in my phone for Elphaba...

Dame, you never call...

[DAME]

Posted: 8/10/08 at 2:06pm

Diva,
I didn't have your number with me. And seriously... 17,000 + people. You think I am going to try to work my way to that stage door? PM me the dirt. I want to hear it.

Updated On: 8/10/08 at 02:06 PM

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 8/10/08 at 2:10pm

They do sing "Can You Hear The People Sing" just not the FULL version of it.

No they don't. That's not the name of the song!

[Iris Chacon]

Posted: 8/10/08 at 2:19pm

I just want to add my name to the list of those who were not impressed.

[Peter]

Posted: 8/10/08 at 2:20pm

Inasmuch as I love Les Miserables, and I was glad to see this, it was far from the best Les Mis I've seen. Having said that, I was in tears several times during the show, but that comes more from a few of the performers and the songs, rather than the staging.

Other than the song "Stars", it just doesn't translate well to a huge setting like the Bowl and I left appreciating the original staging all the more. McVey made an excellent Valjean and his "Bring Him Home" was heartbreaking. Both Stokes Mitchell and Llyod Young seemed detached from the proceedings and while Mitchell lacked the power I expected from him, Lloyd Young at least sang the part well. Melora Hardin's acting was good, but her singing of "I Dreamed A Dream" was pretty bad I thought. The biggest surprise of the evening was Lea Michelle who got the most cheering from the audience with her 'On My Own" and she provided an endearing, sympathetic protrayal.

All in all, I'm glad I went. It had its moments. But far from the best Les Mis I've seen.
Updated On: 8/10/08 at 02:20 PM

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 8/10/08 at 2:23pm

I liked the show overall, but what bugged me the most -- I didn't understand why, with all the space they had, they still pretty much kept to the standard Broadway/3NT use of space. I mean, there was plenty of room to expand Thénardier's inn, or the factory, or the cafe, but it was still like they were at the Broadhurst or some tour venue. Instead of taking advantage of the Bowl's immense size, they just kind of...ignored it.

[EponineAmneris]

Posted: 8/10/08 at 3:42pm

I was hoping for glowing reviews... Guess mixd reviewa re better than purre negative

Wish I could have been there

[legallygreen2]

Posted: 8/10/08 at 4:41pm

I'm trying to get a feel for how much they cut. Does anyone remember the running time/how long it was? Was there an intermission?

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 8/10/08 at 4:45pm

There was an intermission. The show started at 8:30 last night and had ended by around 11.

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 8/10/08 at 11:40pm

So I saw the show on Saturday and here are my thoughts.

The sound system was kind of bad. It felt like some mics were louder then others and it just hurt my ears (especially the Thenardiers).

The captions were REALLY bad, especially if you sat in the very back like me and my friend. She barely had time to read it and it too small print from far away. And plus you never really knew when they were using it because they'd go 20 minutes or so and then all of sudden they'd used it then you'd have to read i right away.

I didn't like the cuts. It made the musical even harder to understand what was going on. I had to explain to my friend what was going on because she missed some stuff. And it's weird they didn't include a synopsis in the program. That really should have been in there.

The orchestra was incredible.

The ensemeble was incredible.

J Mark McVey was indeed incredible (haha i keep using that word). I actually prefer Randal Keith but whatever. His Bring Him Home was beautiful.

Brian Stokes Mitchell was perfection. I love this guy's voice and I loved hearing him sing the songs. The suicide scene looked really good.

Melora Hardin was probably the reason I was looking forward to this the most. I love The Office and I love her as Jan. Her singing was ok. There were some pitch problems but I will agree and say that she completely made up for it with her acting. Her death scene was extremely sad and when she reappeared at the end of the musical there was something ethereal about her acting and singing of her lines that made me want to cry (and i never cry at the end of this musical).

Lea Michele I was looking forward to hear also because I liked her in the Spring Awakening recording. I may be in the minority here but I wasn't terribly impressed. The girl can sing, don't get me wrong, and her acting was actually impressive, but despite that there's something about her voice that was lacking. Maybe it's because she didn't have a vibrato (at least I could barely detect one and it bugs me when singers don't have one) and it made the song On My Own sound very thin and airy. I cant explain it. I know the girl can sing but she didn't have that oomph I was looking for in that song. She is incredibly hot though... that's a bonus!

John Lloyd Young impressed me the most. I loved his voice and thought he was perfect.

Tom Howe as Enjolras was good.... not much to say, the role was cut conisderably short.

Michele Miaka as Cosette basically had nothing to do! In My Life was cut horribly short and she did nothng in Act 2 except appear at the wedding. I don't want to judge her because she only sang for like 10 minutes out of the whole production, which was rather sad. I'm in the minority of people who like the character of Cosette and here they just sidelined her.

The Thenardiers were OK too. They weren't terribly funny or had the best comedic timing (the whole Colette/Cosette joke fell TERRIBLY flat on Saturday).

Other than that a great night at the Hollywood Bowl. My friend and I parked at the structure and just walked down the street. I will NEVER park at the Hollywood Bowl... that place is just too damn crazy!!!!

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 8/10/08 at 11:55pm

How the frick can you cut Cosette's part even more? Cut the little of it in the full musical and there's nothing left.

Poor girl. I hate that such an important and wonderful character in the book gets so completely screwed over in the musical. I bet they didn't cut much of Eponine's part.

And, wait, Lea Michele doesn't have a vibrato? She has a very nice one in the Spring Awakening OBCR.

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 8/11/08 at 12:04am

let's see... for cosette they essentially cut out the entire scene with valjean during IN MY LIFE... she only sings...

Strange how people fall in love so fast (rest of the lines just too lazy to type them all).... in my life I'm no longer along now the love in my life is so near find me now find me here. That's essentially all she sang!!!! They sang all of Heart Full of Love then she only sang "that was my cry you heard papa, i was afraid of what they'd do they ran away when they heard my cry..." She sang all her lines in the finale. Then she didn't sing again until the end of the show where Valjean dies! They didn't even sing Every Day...

and I felt lea michele had some vibrato on Spring Awakening that suited that show.... but les miserables is different... whatever... i don't know anymore... let's say just say that she didn't have the OOMPH that i wanted in her voice for her big solo... but her other dialogue singing scenes were beautiful to hear!

[Elphaba]

Posted: 8/11/08 at 12:25am

well, guess I'll comment.

I've never seen Les Mis, but have always wanted to so was very excited about it....but, turns out I just don't like the story.

I love the London, Broadway, and Paris cast recordings....love the music, and frankly was impressed with the various actors last night, BUT.....I also was a bit bored. I found parts really schmultzy, and found it way too long, even though I didn't realize at the time, that an hour was already cut out of it.....

I just wasn't drawn into the story itself....I need to read the book, which I think I would love.....but it did not live up to my expectations storywise.....and maybe had I not been wanting to see this for so long I would feel differently.

I'm glad we went, but.....just wasn't my thing....sigh
There were parts that reminded me of that Napoleon thing that was done in Toronto.....again, storywise.

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 8/11/08 at 12:28am

Oh, please do read the book. It's amazing, and the musical doesn't even come close (no musical adaptation could, IMO). But you should read it unabridged; the best stuff is in the extra parts that are taken out.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 8/11/08 at 12:42am

This concert version was so chopped up and took so little advantage of the text explanations that it should definitely NOT have been anyone's first exposure to the musical. It was more made for people who already liked and knew a great deal about the show, since judging from the comments I heard passing by the (mostly) men's bathroom line, the entire thing was rather baffling to newbies. Which is unfortunate.

[dotmarie]

Posted: 8/11/08 at 12:53am

Did anyone else catch the typo on one of the captions? They misspelled "Marius" as "Maruis."

[DAME]

Posted: 8/11/08 at 2:35am

I thought it was the wine.