LES MIZ Cast Replacements?

[Broadway Bob*]

Posted: 1/12/15 at 6:22pm

I'm thinking of see LES MIZ Valentine's Weekend and with Nikki James just leaving the show, I was wondering if anyone knew when other cast members were leaving? Ramin? Will? Keala? Andy? Thanks and sorry if this has been discussed elsewhere.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 1/13/15 at 3:11pm

In the press release about Nikki James leaving, they stated "new principal cast members would be announced at a future date" which leads me to believe there are some other leads departing in the near future.

[PepperedShepherd]

Posted: 1/13/15 at 5:23pm

Telecharge's Event Overview page states that Ramin will be off the week of Jan 18-25 and will not perform Thursday evenings in January and February. So it doesn't look like he's going anywhere for at least a couple more months.

[LarryD2]

Posted: 1/13/15 at 6:27pm

Andy Mientus is leaving next month and Chris McCarrell is being promoted to full-time Marius.

[VotePeron]

Posted: 1/13/15 at 7:10pm

Edit: Chris tweeted saying it would be his last show as Joly, not in Les Mis. OMG! Updated On: 1/13/15 at 07:10 PM

[Visceral_Fella]

Posted: 1/13/15 at 10:26pm

I know it's not going to happen, but I wanted Arbender to be promoted to full time Marius That voice!

[DottieD'Luscia]

Posted: 1/13/15 at 11:58pm

^I totally agree. I saw it Friday evening when Arbender was on as Marius and he gave such a beautifully sung and acted performance. It was my first time seeing this particular production, and I was pleased by how much I liked it, considering I didn't particularly care for the tour of it a few years ago.

[Visceral_Fella]

Posted: 1/14/15 at 12:13am

I wish there was a way to know when he was going on. I want to see the show with him.

[ClumsyDude15]

Posted: 1/14/15 at 2:14am

I've seen all of the understudies for Marius and no one sings the role quite like Arbender does. Also, as someone mentioned how beautifully acted his Marius was, because he does a wonderful job all around. I know Arbender tends to post on Twitter and such when he's on, and I've had the pleasure of seeing him in the role twice. If you have the chance to see Arbender, you should.

I also have to say Matt Rosell is another wonderful Marius, and I really loved his performance. I haven't seen Chris as Marius since he had his first planned set of dates, but he was really great.

Updated On: 1/14/15 at 02:14 AM

[gooftroop]

Posted: 1/19/15 at 10:57am

Interesting,

I am Arbender and someone recently showed me that people are actually discussing my performance. I just want to say that I am honored. I mean, ya never know if people notice or even care. and for those who do notice and care, ya never know if they like it.... I am just glad that people notice and liked it. now i can smile for the rest of the day...

[JonahKost]

Posted: 1/19/15 at 11:18am

Is it actually true that Chris is replacing Andy? I saw his tweet about Joly but he never specified if he was going Marius full-time. I hope he does.

[mikey2573]

Posted: 1/19/15 at 1:14pm

I saw LES MIZ on Saturday and was surprised again at how moving it was. The understudy for Valjean was on (I think his name was Aaron Walpole) and he was very good. But the whole production is excellent (as I said in another thread).

One of the things I do when I go to the theater is I watch the actors in the background who are not supposed to be the center of attention. If you do this at LES MIZ you may actually see little scenes going on that compliment the story. An example would be the LOVELY LADIES number when the brutal John enters and you see the pimp trying to discipline his prostitutes who are trying to help Fantine.

Another example is during the song DRINK WITH ME where one of the students (the drinker) sings the cynical verse about fearing to die and your death meaning nothing. The other students are angered by this and Enjolras tries to console him, but he pulls away and crosses to stage left. Gavorche follows him and hugs him and it is Gavroche who manages to console him. This probably happens at every performance but I had never seen this before. Again, I was looking at the action taking place in the background and it really paid off.
These little things going on in the background of the action show a great concern for detail and really make this production top notch. I hope to go back and see this again very soon. I was another who was not happy with the 25th Anniversary tour, but they've really tweaked it and fixed the things that didn't work and now I think I like this better than the original staging with the turntable.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 1/19/15 at 2:13pm

I loved this revival, the talent was incredible, and it was just a really, really well done production overall. I notice the background actors as well, I also saw Gavroche comforting him as well.

[imeldasturn]

Posted: 1/19/15 at 2:53pm

Arbender is phenomenal, he should be the next Marius (not that McCarrell who can hardly sing it).