Javert tips...

[fiyero8132]

Posted: 4/27/05 at 2:23pm

Hey! I'm 14 and I'm playing Javert in Les Miserables School Edition in June. I was wondering if anyone who has played the role before could give me tips or anyone who has ideas for the role... Be specific please! Also, the show is double-casted so we are alternating between shows. Could anyone recommend anything that I could mess around with vocally to change it up from what the other guy playing Javert is doing? I want to be the best Javert :) Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks guys.

[Gothampc]

Posted: 4/27/05 at 2:26pm

Don't play Javert as a bad guy. Play him as a guy that always follows the rules, above everything else.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 4/27/05 at 3:31pm

The music is beautiful as written. Don't "change it up". That doesn't make you better, just different, and also untrue to what is written on the page.

Have fun and break legs.

[Mother's Younger Brother]

Posted: 4/27/05 at 4:00pm

The best Javert I ever saw, Gregg Edelmann on Broadway, played the role as though Javert always KNEW (in the back of his mind) that his obsession with Valjean was unhealthy. He was visibly aware of the insanity of chasing Valjean relentlessly for years on end with no result, but being compelled by rules and the idea of justice, it grew into something that he could no longer control. He HAD to find Valjean not just to satisfy justice, but to satisfy the addiction within himself.

It was REALLY cool, and the most complex, HUMAN, portrayal of Javert I've ever seen.

Congratulations on getting the part! :)

[Shawk]

Posted: 4/27/05 at 4:31pm

Javert can be played any number of ways that work, but of course which way you choose is going to depend on how other people in your cast choose to play their roles and what you are comfortable with and works for you.

Javert can be a cold, implacable force of nature, or he can be a fiery, angry man who keeps those emotions tapped down because he knows they aren't appropriate, or anything in-between. Or he can just be a bully, but I have never much cared for that interpretation.

I'd suggest reading the Javert portions of the novel, if you haven't already.

[EponineThenardier]

Posted: 4/27/05 at 4:41pm

enunciate, enunciate, enunciate!!

Certainly I've never heard you sing, but with the school editions I've seen, no one could understand what they were saying becasue they were slurring their words. No to say you will, of course! But just keep that in mind.

Congrats on getting the role! have fun!

[Sumofallthings]

Posted: 4/27/05 at 4:46pm

One of the most effective ways to play Javert is as a closeted homosexual ala Roy Cohn.

[Ourtime992]

Posted: 4/27/05 at 5:25pm

I'm a psychologist, so forgive me if I'm too psychological, but I've always looked at Javert as diagnosable with obsessive-compulsive disorder. I think it fits. What drives him is not anger or revenge, but immutable adherence to black/white standards. It's not cold and calculating like a murderer, it's painfully anxiety provoking. He grew up in the prison system and to cope with the horror around him artificially defined what is good and bad. To have done differently would have been overwhelming, and as an adult he adheres to his rigid standards because breaking them would make his world collapse (indeed, it does when he sees Valjean's nobility, and kills himself). Emotionally I think it's a lot like when a baby is being held by its parents and someone tries to take the baby away. Think of what that baby must feel in that moment, the terror of losing its sense of security. That is what Javert feels when the security of his overly strict morality is called into question, and he defends it passionately. As Mother's Younger Brother has said, this is how Gregg Edelman played Javert, and it was brilliant.

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 4/27/05 at 5:32pm

The one thing you must not do is play him as the bad guy - true villians never think that they are wrong - the love and feel just like everyone else - they are simply misguided - play him as a man on a mission, but don't act as though he's evil or nasty - that simply would not work.

[ashley0139]

Posted: 4/27/05 at 7:08pm

One thing I have always liked that some Javerts do (I think that the guy on the symphonic recording does it) is that all of his consonants are... harsh... I guess the word is. He almost over-enunciates but I always thought that fit the role perfectly. Listen to that if you can because it sounds great!

[LariTheLoud]

Posted: 4/27/05 at 8:09pm

I'm a psychologist, so forgive me if I'm too psychological, but I've always looked at Javert as diagnosable with obsessive-compulsive disorder. I think it fits. What drives him is not anger or revenge, but immutable adherence to black/white standards. It's not cold and calculating like a murderer, it's painfully anxiety provoking. He grew up in the prison system and to cope with the horror around him artificially defined what is good and bad. To have done differently would have been overwhelming, and as an adult he adheres to his rigid standards because breaking them would make his world collapse (indeed, it does when he sees Valjean's nobility, and kills himself). Emotionally I think it's a lot like when a baby is being held by its parents and someone tries to take the baby away. Think of what that baby must feel in that moment, the terror of losing its sense of security. That is what Javert feels when the security of his overly strict morality is called into question, and he defends it passionately. As Mother's Younger Brother has said, this is how Gregg Edelman played Javert, and it was brilliant.

As someone who's going into psychology as a career (and as a Javert fan in general), I COMPLETELY agree with this and have insisted that he has OCPD for a long time. :) Couldn't have said it better myself.

I really don't have anything to add, otherwise.

And Ashley, the guy on the symphonic recording is Philip Quast. And yes, he's awesome as Javert; many consider him the epitome.

[The Distinctive Baritone]

Posted: 4/27/05 at 8:25pm

One of the best pieces of advice on acting I've ever gotten was this: People don't go around with "concepts" of themselves. Everyone has an identity and a way they want to present themselves to people, but (for example) Javert's not going to walk around saying to himself "I'm a bad guy" or "I'm an a**hole"--he just is one. Play the actions and let them speak for themselves. Character is the result of how we come ACROSS to someone, not how we think of ourselves. But you're only 14, so don't worry too much about all this yet! Just have fun.
Updated On: 4/27/05 at 08:25 PM

[ashley0139]

Posted: 4/27/05 at 10:11pm

Philip Quast. Right! That's it. I actually am not particularly fond of that recording, but I love him.

[jollipops]

Posted: 4/28/05 at 12:33am

I have to agree with Eponine...enunciate! There is nothing worse than a Javert that strings his words together (and believe me in that role it is very easy to do). I am not sure which bits the school edition has cut out but if The Suicide is in it's entirety make sure you work extra hard on this. Most people remember javert for this song more than they do 'Stars'. It is the ultimate last hurrah!