LES MISERABLES Reivews- Page 5

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/28/14 at 1:04pm

You can see the last party who posted even if they are on ignore

I see your point and agree.It will be better in the long run if someone keeps ranting and gets no response..

Thanks.

[themysteriousgrowl]

Posted: 3/28/14 at 1:09pm

Yes, that will be better, and you can just communicate with them via PM, as you normally do, to let them know you can't read their posts. And are missing whole entire threads devoted to making fun of you. Carry on.

But seriously, “We joked immediately that the turntable was gone” is great, and I hope we never find out what the joke was.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/28/14 at 1:26pm

Even with a plethora of Les Miz recordings out there, I would be shocked if this did not get one.

[oasisjeff]

Posted: 3/28/14 at 1:30pm

I'm not an ardent Les Miz fanatic, but has Ramin been on any Les Mis cast recording yet? If not, then this must be recorded. Although, if he's on a different cast recording where they sing On My Own at a slower pace, I might get that one instead.

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/28/14 at 1:39pm

I did a quick check on Amazon and did not see one so you may need to get this one if and when they do it.

By the way. they have a long sleeve t shirt for sale with the # 24601 on it. Great to wear and have people scratching their head trying to figure out what it means (to one of the 2 or 3 people who have not seen it).

Even though you are not a Les Miz fan , you should see this production. By the way, were you able to access the photo on facebook?

[oasisjeff]

Posted: 3/28/14 at 1:49pm

I did see this production. That's how I know On My Own was too fast.

I left Facebook.

Updated On: 3/28/14 at 01:49 PM

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 3/28/14 at 1:53pm

OK

I use my wife's facebook account for games. I had one awhile ago. Computer crashed and when I got it back up had password issues. I wanted to call customer service and a billion dollar company apparently does not have one. I gave up in frustration.

[bryan2]

Posted: 3/31/14 at 9:23am

I have a question to someone who has seen the new production. Is it just the photos and clips but Fantine while singing IDAD is so clean and pure looking and looks like she never touched an ounce of dirt...also the girl playing Eponine looks about 30 in all the photos... I saw the original in London and NYC and 2 other versions and Fantine always looked a little worn and battered when she sang IDAD and I get nothing from Cassie singing this other than she can sing...(I usually like her)....It might be just the pub shots..can anyone tell me....thanks!!

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 3/31/14 at 9:53am

You were alive in 1985?

[bryan2]

Posted: 3/31/14 at 8:21pm

You are an asshole in 2014

[wskrs4]

Posted: 4/3/14 at 12:03pm

I finally saw Les Miserables last night, so I'm a bit late to the party. I was a little distracted by the tourists in front of me whispering through the entire show and eventually pulling out an iphone to record "Do You Hear The People Sing" and the finale/curtain call (!), but I have some thoughts nonetheless.

I saw the original production (after it moved to the Imperial), the brief "revival" with Lea Salonga (which I HATED, mainly due to the orchestrations and Norm Lewis as Javert), and now this. I have to say, while this was better than the last revival, I just felt like it was lacking. I remember being so impressed with the show when I first saw it. I don't really understand the reviews stating this production is "darker" and "grittier" than the original - if anything, I thought this was padded by pastel colors and pretty set pieces, and not the stark grayness of the original. (Let me say, I was not looking for a carbon copy, but it seems like a lot of things were thrown out only to be replaced with something less than what was removed.) Also, I just didn't feel like anybody really suffered too much. Nobody was dirty enough or poor enough, ESPECIALLY Fantine. She just seemed a little too sanitized, if that makes any sense.

The orchestrations were fairly good, though the acoustics at the Imperial are really good. In another theater, I’m not sure they would have carried as well… I sort of miss the bombastic quality of the 90s. I was REALLY bothered by the lack of any captions to tell the audience where you were - it really messed with the feeling of the passage of time. I know the show, but I it was still confusing and the few times I had to actually think to get my bearings took me out of the show. Also, the most minor of minor things: I really didn't like the new font for the show. All of the signage, etc., is the old font, but the flowery "les miserables" on the scrim annoyed me. Additionally, I thought some of the projections were very helpful and definitely added (like the sewer), but some just made me seasick (like in "One Day More"). I also thought the stage was often too dark and I didn’t understand why they made an already small-ish stage even smaller by suffocating it with the side set pieces.

I found myself REALLY missing the turntable and big barricade, which I didn't think I'd miss at all. It was easy to forget about UNTIL the battle scenes, and especially Gavroche's death and the moments after everyone dies (Enjolras' big death pose, etc). I remember being pretty upset when they all died and Gavroche died before (maybe because it was drawn out), but I really didn't care in this production, and Enjolras was pretty lack luster in both life and death. Marius and Cosette were both adequate but not amazing. (By the way, does anybody know why Charlotte Maltby was replaced?) I never had an issue with her before, but I think Nikki James was completely miscast. Her voice was shrill, didn't blend with everyone else AT ALL, and while her acting was fine, I just couldn't get past the vocals. That said, I thought she did a really great job dying, and I did like the little change when she pushed Marius out of the way. Ramin Karimloo was amazing. To me, he still read young for the role, but sang it beautifully. It was nice to hear a “Bring Him Home” that didn’t sound like the actor was straining to hit the notes. Also, I thought Will Swenson was really great. I read what people were saying at the beginning of previews, and I don’t know if he’s changed since then, but I thought he acted it really well and sang it beautifully. Nobody is Philip Quast, but I thought he came closer than other Javerts I’ve seen.

I'm not sure the timeline of when designs for this show were done, but if felt an awful lot like it was a weird hybrid between the show and the movie. The sets were really reminiscent of the movie. I also miss some of the cuts they made (not sure how long the show has been going on in various productions with the cuts, but I still miss them). Look Down has always been a favorite of mine, and it’s been shortened to almost nothing (again, lost opportunity to show suffering). Lastly, and this bothered me THE MOST of everything, was the wandering. So much aimless wandering. Often, the actors seemed directed to turn and walk across the stage in the middle of songs for seemingly no reason except for that was what they were given as far as blocking goes. To move or travel, you should have motivation, and a lot of the time it seemed like they were doing it so they didn’t have to stand still.

Overall, I enjoyed this production, but I sorely missed the original and didn’t realize it UNTIL I saw this one. I think if I hadn’t seen the show before, I’d be a lot happier with what I saw. I think there are two “Les Mis” camps: the original/10th Anniversary concert, and the newer productions/25th Anniversary concert. I guess I prefer the former.

[jkstheatrescene]

Posted: 4/9/14 at 8:35am

I'm also pretty late to this party, but I really didn't like this production. Here's why:

http://jkstheatrescene.blogspot.com/2014/04/review-les-miserables.html