Best Les Mis Concert
Best Les Mis Concert
Thomas Jefferson
Chorus Member Joined: 11/22/19
#1Best Les Mis Concert
Posted: 2/23/22 at 11:41pm
I know this has been talked about before but I don’t think this particular question has been asked.
What’s your favorite filmed concert of Les Mis and why? This includes the 10th anniversary, the 25th anniversary, and the 2019 Staged Concert. Which do you think has the best cast, and which do you think is the better production overall including cast?
Personally I enjoy the 1995 and 2019 ones better than the 2010 concert, but 1995 clearly has the best cast. That doesn’t necessarily make it the best concert, though.
I also think I enjoy Alfie Boe more than Colm Wilkinson at times, but I can see how Colm is definitive.
#2Best Les Mis Concert
Posted: 2/24/22 at 6:36am
the 2019 Staged Concert is my favorite primarily because of the orchestrations, and for most of the cast --- IMO, Alfie Boe is all that as JVJ, Carrie Hope Fletcher is a fantastic Fantine, I adore Madame Thenardier here, and the ensemble sounds incredible. Michael Ball was just adequate as Javert, and Matt Lucas grates on my every nerve. His improvising and 'one-upping' annoy me to no end. "Fantine snuffed it?" really??? that was a colloquial in early France???!!??
The tenth anniversary comes a close second. I avoid the 25th anniversary and like to pretend it never happened.
The best one thou is playing in my head --- with Phillip Quast as Javert, and anyone else as Thenardier in the 2019 staged concert on the original turntable stage at the Broadway Theatre
Slotted spoons don't hold much soup
Updated On: 2/24/22 at 06:36 AM
AllThatJazz2
Broadway Star Joined: 6/15/17
#3Best Les Mis Concert
Posted: 2/24/22 at 7:11am
For me, it will always be the 10th Anniversary concert. It got a ridiculous amount of play in my house growing up and was one of the definitive gateways into theater for me as a child.
#4Best Les Mis Concert
Posted: 2/24/22 at 8:53am
The 2019 Stage Concert! Carrie Hope Fletcher's "I Dreamed A Dream" was simply stunning! Not to mention Alfie Boe's tear-jerking "Bring Him Home". Granted, the 10th-anniversary concert was also spectacular, specifically with Colm Wilkonson who was just AMAZINGLY TALENTED!
The idea is to work and to experiment. Some things will be creatively successful, some things will succeed at the box office, and some things will only - which is the biggest only - teach you things that see the future. And they're probably as valuable as any of your successes. -Harold Prince
Owen22
Broadway Legend Joined: 2/24/11
#5Best Les Mis Concert
Posted: 2/24/22 at 9:27am
The first one; it had a combination of the best of the most recent casts, including a brand new, gorgeous young singer as Fantine who was playing the role currently in the West End: Ruthie Henshall. I didn't even miss Patti.
Thomas Jefferson
Chorus Member Joined: 11/22/19
#6Best Les Mis Concert
Posted: 2/24/22 at 10:00am
The pattern I’m noticing here is that nobody really prefers the 2010 concert.
that makes sense
Sutton Ross
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/20/13
#8Best Les Mis Concert
Posted: 2/24/22 at 11:19am
The 25th anniversary concert was my very favorite from the staging, to the sets, and especially the perfectly cast cast. Norm? Samantha? Alfie? Get out of here!
Minus the Jonas, of course.
#9Best Les Mis Concert
Posted: 2/24/22 at 11:21am
The 10th anniversary cast is the best, but the 25th anniversary concert has a better chorus, orchestra and aesthetics
#10Best Les Mis Concert
Posted: 2/24/22 at 11:25am
I know she wasn’t officially filmed, but Lucie Jones portrayal as Fantine in the west end concert version is simply gorgeous and her option up during I Dreamed a Dream is absolutely breathtaking.
In our millions, in our billions, we are most powerful when we stand together. TW4C unwaveringly joins the worldwide masses, for we know our liberation is inseparably bound.
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ErmengardeStopSniveling
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/20/18
chrishuyen
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/12/14
#12Best Les Mis Concert
Posted: 2/24/22 at 2:08pmIndividually, I think I like the cast for 2010 best, outside of Nick Jonas (who on his own is serviceable, but next to everyone else just pales in comparison). But for the best overall, I'd say 2019.
Det95
Featured Actor Joined: 10/14/19
#13Best Les Mis Concert
Posted: 2/25/22 at 8:43am
I love Les Mis, it's my favorite show. That being said, while I adore the 10th anniversary concert I hate how much material they cut. It's probably my least listened to recording of Les Mis for that reason.
Thomas Jefferson
Chorus Member Joined: 11/22/19
#14Best Les Mis Concert
Posted: 2/25/22 at 9:35am
That’s why I like to listen to the Complete Symphonic Recording! (It just needs to add I Saw Him Once and maybe the full version of Little People).
jo
Broadway Legend Joined: 5/15/03
#15Best Les Mis Concert
Posted: 2/25/22 at 10:08am
This was the Les Miserables concert we never saw! Held at Windsor Castle for a state banquet hosted by Queen Elizabeth 2 for the French Prime Minister. Chosen by Cameron Mackintosh to sing the role of Valjean was Michael Ball.
#16Best Les Mis Concert
Posted: 2/25/22 at 10:19am
I'll add another vote for the 25th Anniversary, though maybe I'm biased because it was actually my first exposure to the show ever, and it remains close to my heart.
It really captures the show's epic feel without sacrificing the believable human emotion. This may be controversial, but I like the slick, modern feel to it, and I also think the cuts to the script are good (with a few exceptions).
Love that cast, minus Jonas lol. Although, having said that - last time I watched it I remember thinking that Jonas's "Empty Chairs" was actually not so bad.
#17Best Les Mis Concert
Posted: 2/25/22 at 1:22pm
The 10th anniversary has the best cast but I do enjoy the other two for various reasons. Having said that, the 2019 concert leaves a bitter taste when I remember the only reason it existed at all was to keep the show going in the West End while the original production was dismantled and unceremoniously replaced.
TheOrpheumCircuit
Swing Joined: 6/17/22
BorisTomashevsky
Broadway Star Joined: 4/30/22
#19Best Les Mis Concert
Posted: 7/12/22 at 11:48am
10th Anniversary.
Simple, clear, direct, exciting. The essence of the original production as it originally was. Directed by the original directors. Not trying to be anything bigger or flashier than it needed to be. No Nick Jonas singing flag. No Ramin singing sharp. No ruined - RUINED!!! - orchestrations.
The feeling of celebrating something current. Since then, the concerts have a feeling of celebrating something that’s always been celebrated. A photocopy of a photocopy of a photocopy.
It has heart. It’s the only one I need. And I don’t roll my eyes once when I watch it unlike the others.
