Anyone see Les Miz at Signature Theatre?

[Renee2]

Posted: 12/16/08 at 11:31am

I'd like to hear what you thought about this very dark production of Les Miz at Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA. I took my family there on Saturday at was not impressed. First the good news, Tracy Olivera as Fantine, Felicia Curry as Eponine and Chris Sizemore as Enjolras were fabulous. However, the two leads Greg Stone and Tom Zemon just didn't have the chemistry, and their singing was hardly inspiring. Mr. Stone rarely showed any passion as Jean Valjean, and he spoke some of his lines instead of singing them. The entire performance, he sang in a soft high tenor and his rendition of "Bring Him Home" was so soft that I could hardly hear it. Even "Master of the House" was totally unfunny. It's the comic relief that everyone needs in the show and it was totally humorless. And don't you think Les Miserables is dark enough without having everyone wear black costumes, and even have black costumes at the wedding scene, except for Cosette, which also was humorless. And what was with all those dangling chairs hovering over the stage? How do you take the emotion and life out of Les Miserables ande make it boring? Well, it's been done here. No passion here. I will say that the technical aspects of the show were terrific and the orchestra was awesome, but when the 2 main characters show no heart or passion, you are in for a long 3 hours in the theatre.
Updated On: 12/16/08 at 11:31 AM

[Schmerg_The_Impaler]

Posted: 12/16/08 at 11:50am

I liked it a lot, though I do agree that Greg Stone was the weakest link of the cast. But I'm surprised you thought Master of the House was unfunny. I also saw the show on Saturday, and I thought it was by far the funniest "Master of the House" (and funniest Thenardiers in general) that I have seen.

I was also impressed with Andrew Call as Marius, who had a lovely resonant voice. He wasn't as charismatic as most Mariuses, but his portrayal seemed to me really close to Marius from Victor Hugo's novel. And I thought Tom Zemon brought all kinds of interesting new traits and quirks to Javert-- really changing up the role. I thought the was fantastic, even if his singing wasn't that strong.

And I wouldn't say there was no heart or passion, but since it was a black box, everything was toned down a lot and the emotion was more subtly intense than the broad theatricality of most Les Mis productions.

I agree that some of the set and costume elements were a little weird (Eponine's "little blue hat" being black?), but I thought it was a nice touch having Cosette being the only one in color. Because she's supposed to be like a little ray of sunlight that, like, brings color and meaning and light to both Valjean's and Marius' lives, and I thought that was an interesting touch.

Updated On: 12/16/08 at 11:50 AM

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 12/16/08 at 11:50am

https://members5.boardhost.com/lesmis3nt/msg/1228607146.html

https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?boardid=1&boardname=bway&thread=985444

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 12/16/08 at 12:28pm

I'm seeing it in a week! So excited!

[KChenowethfan]

Posted: 12/16/08 at 9:27pm

Has anyone seen the show from the side of the dress circle in the $30 obstructed view seats? How much is missed?

And yes, I have sat in the dress circle before. However, I know that the theatre is configured differently for every show.

The idea of paying 70-80 dollars for this does not appeal to me.

[BroadwayStage05]

Posted: 12/16/08 at 9:54pm

I saw it this past week..I was in it this past summer up in New Bedford Mass. Lets just say, my friends and I left at intermission. Les Mis is a singer's show and the fact that half of the leads, couldnt hold their own...it was sad ! Set was crazy, ensemble was fun !

[rapplega]

Posted: 12/16/08 at 11:30pm

Great reviews from Wash Post and Variety

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/16/AR2008121603112.html

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117939224.html?categoryid=1265&cs=1

[hockeynut2]

Posted: 12/17/08 at 11:28am

Check all the reviews of Les Miz, including the new ones posted from DC Theatre Scene and Potomac Stages in one place THEIR REVIEWS on DC Theatre Scene.
ALL THE LES MIZ REVIEWS IN ONE PLACE

[p.s.]

Posted: 12/17/08 at 12:18pm

I was in it this past summer up in New Bedford Mass. Lets just say, my friends and I left at intermission ... and the fact that half of the leads couldn't hold their own ...


I was at Sunday's matinee. I especially enjoyed Tom Zemon's Javert, Stephanie Waters as Cosette and Andrew Call as Marius. I did not particularly like Felicia Curry as Eponine, but her second act On My Own was beautiful.


I don't understand how someone who has performed in Les Miz in the past could not return for the second act, which was better than the first. Half of the posters on all Les Miz review threads in history complain that half of the leads couldn't hold their own. That is not reason enough to walk out.

I happened to leave at intermission, too, but only temporarily to run across to the Harris Teeter supermarket for Snickers bars.


p.s. This production was so dark that there were no stars during Stars.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 12/17/08 at 12:24pm

Well, that's going a bit far, but I guess if the tour could replicate a planetarium...

[Schmerg_The_Impaler]

Posted: 12/17/08 at 5:32pm

Wolf Trap's matinees had the opposite problem! It was an outdoor theatre, and it was so bright that you couldn't see the projected stars except for in one shadowy corner.

I loved Tom Zemon's "Stars." It was very different... not as lyrical as I usually hear it performed.

[Spider Woman]

Posted: 12/17/08 at 7:40pm

Peter Marks liked it... more than liked it, actually... I wanna see the list of people who slept with him to get that review... I have my suspicions as to I who is on it, but I want confirmation.

Uber-excited for Signature -Brava!!!

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 12/18/08 at 2:34pm

http://www.talkinbroadway.com/regional/dc/dc393.html

[pdjennings]

Posted: 12/18/08 at 3:07pm

Extended!

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/124445.html

[laura is broadway]

Posted: 12/18/08 at 3:29pm

Oh wow, finally a different take on Les Mis. It sounds really exciting, does anybody know where I can get anymore pictures from this production? I wish I could go see it..

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 1/9/09 at 1:17pm

http://www.starexponent.com/cse/entertainment/attractions/article/jewel_in_a_black_box/27609/

[EponineAmneris]

Posted: 1/9/09 at 2:17pm

Can't believe I missed this thread until today!

Interesting stuff. I wish I had the opportunity to see this in person.

[Schmerg_The_Impaler]

Posted: 1/9/09 at 3:02pm

"Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA, has extended the run of its innovative new production of Les Misérables by four weeks through Feb. 22, 2009, due to ticket demand."

EponineAmneris, there is still some hope!

[ChiChi]

Posted: 1/9/09 at 5:09pm

I actually have a lot of interest in seeing this. I'm going to see the Phoenix Theatre production out here. It was apparently a joint venture with the Arkansas Repertory Theatre. From the looks of it, however, it won't be as innovative as Signature's.

[javertim]

Posted: 1/9/09 at 6:09pm

I thought Greg Stone was decent. He kind of reminded me of a really watered-down J. Mark McVey. Tom Zemon, on the other hand, was all kinds of wrong for the part. Notably, he played the part like a mafia hit-man and seemed to delight in the pain and suffering that was being experienced by the wretches around him. I guess this could be chalked up to direction, though. Still, his voice was very high, nasal, weak, and just all around unpleasant. I honestly don't understand how he landed the part, save for having some experience in it.

The Thenardiers (Christopher Bloch and Sherri L. Edelen) were quite close to perfection. I definitely enjoyed Monsieur more than Madame, but they were a great pair. They let the material get the laughs rather than constantly mugging (which I cannot stand). Great!

Chris Sizemore was an appropriately firey Enjolras, although I cannot recall the last time I saw one who was shorter than his Marius counterpart, so I was a little thrown off there. On that note, it also took me a few minutes to get used to Tracy Lynn Olivera's more substantial than usual Fantine. However, something I couldn't get used to was how she played the character as a strong, tough woman who seemed like she could kick everyone's ass. Oh, well. At least she had an outstandingly beautiful voice.

I wasn't overly impressed with either Andrew C. Call (Marius) or Felicia Curry (Eponine), the former possessing a fine voice but absolutely no charm and the latter seeming to be overly-excited at every single moment. Don't get me wrong -- Ms. Curry is an amazing artist with a beautiful, powerful voice. ... I just don't think this was the best part for her.

Everyone else was fine. The woman who plays the hair hag is possibly the scariest I've ever seen.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 1/9/09 at 7:50pm

Chris Sizemore had a killer voice, but I was pretty letdown with the whole show. For a show based on 'spectacle,' there wasn't much. I kept expecting more to happen with the set, but nothing did. The music sounded 80s enough, and the acting wasn't horrible, but it just didn't have any sort of spark for me.

[Schmerg_The_Impaler]

Posted: 1/9/09 at 7:53pm

Javertim-- I felt like Andrew Call was playing the character as more like Marius from the book. Because I know he can be charismatic, like in "Glory Days," and I felt like he was trying to make Marius kind of cold, awkward, unsure of himself, and detached like he is in the book. I don't know, I thought he was really good, but I might be overthinking the performance.

[javertim]

Posted: 1/9/09 at 11:13pm

Marius is supposed to be the romantic lead and I just didn't get that from Andrew Call. I didn't put much into my above review, but in addition to what I did say about him, I just found Mr. Call to be sort of one-dimensional and boring. True, he does have an amazing voice with a very appealing quality to it (I kept thinking that it reminded me of someone but couldn't pin it down). Also, I found his take on the character to be cold all-around, and I certainly don't remember book Marius being cold to Cosette; Eponine, sure. In fact, one of my favorite Marius's of all-time -- Dan Bogart -- was very cold toward Eponine and I loved that take.

Also, I just kept thinking that he had a "villain's face." And I know that's completely stupid. ... But he just had that look about him that would have gotten him cast as the mean, cocky, ultra-jock in 80's high school movies.

I kind of think it would have worked better -- at least for me -- if he and Chris Sizemore had switched roles, although I thought Mr. Sizemore made a killer Enjolras.

[p.s.]

Posted: 2/10/09 at 10:51am

I resisted posting this in the You Know It's Community Theatre When ... thread, but now that this production has received so many Helen Hayes nominations --

I saw the show twice, and I got really upset the second time when I noticed that one of the prisoners (the one front and center) was branded 01234. How insulting!

What kind of number is that? Was that the guy's zip code? Are they goofing on the audience? Inside joke? This was 1815, Digne. Not 01815.


p.s. I watched especially carefully when Thenardier lifted the watch from Marius's body: Would it be a Mickey Mouse watch? Digital?
Updated On: 2/10/09 at 10:51 AM