Les Mis 25th - BIG DISAPPOINTMENT- Page 2

[onedaymore]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 6:15am

Lea Salonga overweight? Hardly. She sounded amazing.
Nick Jonas was absolutely effing terrible.
Norm Lewis was wonderful.
Alfie Boe was good until "Bring Him Home"...it was so weak.
The Thenardiers were "meh"
Eponine was good. Not outstanding, but good.
Cosette was boring, but when isn't she?
Ramin Karimloo was, well, Ramin Karimloo. amazing. :)
And the choir in t-shirts? Weird and inappropriate.

My .2 cents on this concert.

[ReggieonBway]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 6:25am

God, you're an idiot. It's one thing to not enjoy the show (Nick Jonas certainly tried his best to make sure of that) but to insult Lea Salonga? So she isn't 22 and stunning anymore, why do you care? She's nowhere close to overweight. Alfie Boe is a much better singer than Colm ever was. (John Owen-Jones is my favorite Valjean, but that's beside the point)

And it's rich that you complain about someone's looks and then discourse on how the two attractive reality stars were cast to get the "younger generation" into Les Mis. Ironic? And newsflash: Every musical theater person on the damn planet knows Les Mis.

[sueb1863]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 6:37am

The choir in the 10th anniversary concert wore T-shirts, too.

Yes, the 25th anniversary concert was much more of a mixed bag than the TAC, but right now it's the #1 bestselling movie overall on Amazon.com, so they must have done something right!

[Eris0303]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 8:57am

The choir in the 10th anniversary concert wore T-shirts, too.

I was just coming to say the same thing. And, I liked how they were red, white, and blue. I didn't find them to be distracting or inappropriate in the least.

Nick Jonas has been discussed repeatedly on the board so I won't comment on that. But, I found the rest of the cast to be fabulous. And I don't know who they were trying to draw in w/ Cosette and Eponine because I didn't know who they were but I thought they were great. Especially Eponine. I thought she was great and deserved to be there.

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 9:41am

adamgreer, Colm Wilkinson is Irish and Patti LuPone is Sicilian.

[best12bars]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 9:55am

I wasn't a fan of this 25th Anniversary concert. The voices were, for the most part, too legit and fairly generic, although quite capable. But they were not interesting or raw enough or "rock" enough for this score. I did miss Colm Wilkinson's voice especially. I thought Norm Lewis came the closest to matching the style and presence of the original casts (UK/NY) and the 10th Anniversary concert cast.

I would be interested to hear a concert of this music sung by only rock singers. I think it would really take off. With this particular score, the more "schooled" they sound, the more boring it gets.

[theminutepast]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 10:00am

I think the 10th Anniversary concert was leagues better than the 25th Anniversary concert. It has overall better singing and better staging; although, I did like the change of the actors not being onstage.

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 10:08am

I wasn't particularly impressed with the concert, and I can see where the Kermit comment came from - Alfie certainly does have that tone to his voice!

[jsg03jd]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 10:21am

I actually prefer trained voices singing the score to Les Miz instead of Colm Wilkinson's caterwauling, which at times, I admit, has its appeal. I loved Alexander Gemignani's lyric tenor in the revival but Alfie Boe brought that kind of singing to a much higher level. It was thrilling to hear Boe sing Valjean.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 11:45am

I was thrilled to be able to hear the role of Jean Valjean sung by someone other than Colm Wilkinson whose voice has never interested me. That man never fails to come across as extremely self-indulgent, even in his brief role in the finale, where he just had to hold the last note of Bring Him Home a few counts longer than everyone else.

For my money, though, the best Jean Valjean I've ever seen or heard is Ron Sharpe, the alternate on the current tour. Updated On: 3/14/11 at 11:45 AM

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 12:46pm

adamgreer, that's because he's the original and he CAN for god's sake! He is famous for being able to hold that note for about thirty seconds (longer than pretty much any other Valjean)

The audience expects it, and he likes to prove that he can still do it.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 12:57pm

For my money, though, the best Jean Valjean I've ever seen or heard is Ron Sharpe, the alternate on the current tour.

He was my first Marius - I'd love to see him as Valjean.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 1:02pm

adamgreer, that's because he's the original and he CAN for god's sake! He is famous for being able to hold that note for about thirty seconds (longer than pretty much any other Valjean)

The audience expects it, and he likes to prove that he can still do it.

Colm Wilkinson is only famous in his own mind.

And there was no need, other than to satisfy his own ego, for him to hold that note longer than everyone else at this concert.

[ClapYo'Hands]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 1:18pm

There are thousands of people who would disagree with what you just said.

[BroadwayShowTime]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 1:36pm

"For my money, though, the best Jean Valjean I've ever seen or heard is Ron Sharpe, the alternate on the current tour."

AGREED!

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 3:39pm

It's really hard NOT to compare the 10th to the 25th. The 10th cast was 'stellar',IMO...all of them.

Overall, the 25th had a 'few' high points... To me, Alfie was spot on well cast and did a terrific job, as did my friend Norm. Lea, Jen and Karmiloo(sp) were also quite impressive.
The rest...not so much and Jonas boy was a stunt casting slip up, imo. Dreadful to watch.

I did not care for the directing choices in some scenes. I realize this is in concert form, but too often songs were sung into the air of the audience rather than directing the 2 or 3 singers to interact together at least by eye contact or even a touch here and there. The confrontations between Valjean & Javert were the only real instances where the emotions had an impact.

While it was solid, it was also a somewhat a cold "get the song done right and get off the stage" presentation that could have been altered slightly to allow the audience to buy into the emotions had they connected with each other.

Other than that, it was much like the 10th in the actual staging. The extended chorus was glourious as was the beautifully conducted orchestra.

I was not as impressed with the finale as some were.

I don't think we could ever duplicate the talent and chemistry of Colm, Ball, Lea, Judy, Quast ...again.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 4:08pm

"But seriously, you HAVE to be kidding. Calling Lea overweight is absolutely ridiculous. Plus, her performance was great."

Agreed. The dress isn't exactly form-fitting, plus the camera adds weight to you. Of course she isn't going to look perfectly skinny (and I don't really see an overweight problem to begin with).

[SporkGoddess]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 5:22pm

People didn't really look at each other in the 10th Anniversary, either.

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 5:34pm

Does it really matter who thinks Lea is too heavy ...or how long Colm holds a note...or who you think would have sung the roles better...?

Can't people just give their opinions about the performance on hand. Honestly, there are a lot of super talented actors that have played the lead roles as good if not better than the cast of the 25th concert... do we always have to reduce threads into a pissing contest? LOL!

BTW, I really liked Gavroche & young Cosette.

I still got the chills imagining being in that audience hearing those songs raise the roof.

[BroadwayBelle2]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 5:41pm

I liked the 10th anniversary concert they did in 1995 much better! I also prefer Lea Salonga as Eponine, but think she did a great job as Fantine.
Updated On: 3/14/11 at 05:41 PM

[Broadwaynz]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 5:58pm

For myself, I really loved the 25th anniversary...I would have loved to have seen it live! I loved the overall pacing and drama of the concert. Cosette, in my opinion, was one of the real highlights of the show -usually, I find that role kind of blends into the show like wallpaper but in this concert version I felt Cosette was one of the most interesting characters. I am also a really big Lea Salonga fan!! Just my opinions :)

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 6:02pm

Well, without looking at my 10th again, I won't argue the point. But to me, in this particular event actors stood side by side singing to and about each other without looking more than an occassional glance. It seemed a very disconnected way to sing together. IE: Marius & Cosette and the Marius, Cosette, Valjean after the wedding. I'd really need to see it again to give more examples. But this was my impression of it.

[My Oh My]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 7:43pm

The 25th anniversary concert was very enjoyable, but the more I think about it, the direction did not help.

I remember watching the 10th anniversary concert back when it first aired on PBS, and I thought the actors not looking at each other was odd, even awkward, too. But every now and then, something would remind me it is a concert. Having the actors' mouths glued to the mic while trying to establish eye contact would have been even more awkward.

I thought the direction for the 25th anniversary concert worked well in the large ensemble numbers, but the fact it was made to almost resemble staging only worked against the concert format. I noticed I grew increasingly frustrated by the lack of eye contact and now I'm sure it was due to it having all this movement and blocking as in a traditional stage show of a musical, but with everyone singing out to the audience and ignoring each other. They probably should have stuck with one concept instead of trying to mix formats which only results in them clashing.

In that case, a staged presentation much in the style of the 2008 Hollywood Bowl concert might've been a much better idea. The actors wouldn't be glued to mics, could actually move around, and the staging and blocking would incorporate nicely instead of making all the inconsistencies stand out.

Ken Caswell's 10th anniversary concert direction may have been more straight forward and not as flashy, but it did achieve what's important here, and that's focus on the characters and their stories. The 25th anniversary was attractive but it was at times a bit distracting and I didn't feel as connected with the character's emotional journeys and was less engrossed in the tale than when I've watched the 10th anniversary concert.

The changes to the orchestration I'll never forgive. The huge orchestra on display was just that--a display. The majority of the time only a handful are playing at the same time and they only all play together for the musical interludes or instrumental sections. As soon as the singing starts, it sounds like a 5 piece band. And that's just size, which I'm not really all that concerned about; the changes to the orchestration to a reedy, bright, cartoonish sound isn't Les Mis to me. It's really strange watching it, while missing it at the same time--it sounds like the same show but it's missing its 'character,' if you will. It just isn't the same without the masterful, expressive, complex, and beautiful John Cameron orchestration heard in every production until recently, and gorgeously expanded and preserved for the 10th anniversary at the Albert Hall.

The casting is clearly geared toward raking in the dough rather than celebrating the musical hitting a milestone. I didn't have much of a problem with any of them, as they all did well. I really blame the powers that be for having such tacky taste and thinking audiences nowadays want that level of skill in a musical that requires much more experience and a different sound. This pushing of pop elements into the show is tiresome. The musical itself already contains more than enough pop elements and is very much a part of its style and inherent to the piece.

Further shoving that down our throats gets annoying. The dumbed down orchestration aside, some of the casting choices were misguided. Nick Jonas did a fantastic job with what he has to offer, but those who cast him didn't stop and think about the different demands of the type of music he's been singing and recording in studios all this time since his turn as Gavroche, and how it's difficult to integrate that into a score like Les Mis' and making it seamless. The poor kid gets blasted for being awful when he actually wasn't bad at all.

The people in control need to quit experimenting with a proven piece and trying to make it something it is not.

I saw Alfie Boe as Valjean in the show proper, at the Queens, and he was very good, as was Sam Barks' Eponine--certainly leagues better than in the concert where they couldn't help but come off a bit boring at times.

But, again, inconsistencies only work against, not for it, and Alfie Boe's almost stereotypical operatic voice is the one thing that still bugs me; it tends to sound out of place in a score like Les Mis'.

Nick Jonas' very pop vocals are drowned out by the opera-flavored piece and only undermine the sheer power of the score and falls short.

Alfie Boe's Pavarotti-like sound is too legit for a pop-flavored piece like Les Mis and the score's opera elements aren't enough (and only further lost with the crappy new cartoonish orchestration) for that VOICE.

Colm Wilkinson = Best of both worlds.

As is Michael Ball, the original John Cameron orchestration, and everything else now lost in this celebration of everything that works toward what is now Les Mis Lite.

Updated On: 3/14/11 at 07:43 PM

[EponineThenardier]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 8:22pm

My two changes I would have made:
Drew Sarich as Valjean and Hadley Fraser as Marius

(although Boe was great, but I prefer Sarich, and Fraser will soon be playing Javert)

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 3/14/11 at 9:48pm

~ My Oh My, I enjoyed reading your comments. Doing Le Miz in concert is not without its challanges because the score almost demands interaction between actors which falls short as they are pretty much glued to the mics. ::picturing how silly Phantom in Concert would look also glued to mics::

Head mics with some reasonable blocking would probably have provented this with both concerts. Funny I didn't notice it as much in the 10th concert. It just seemed much more evident to me at least in the 25th Ann. Concert...distractingly so.

Respectfully disagree that Boe's legit voice is not a good match for the score. My friend Craig Schulman, also a legit opera trained singer, played Valjean for several years on Bd'd and tours. He was a most passionate Valjean and brought a level of emotion to the role I've not seen duplicated in many.

Agree, that some of the 'character' was missing with this grand spectacle. They were indeed playing to the crowd's desire to be impressed. The direction was overly busy and lacked consistancy.

The overhead projections of the sewar and street scenes works well in a smaller theater as the 'new' Le Miz tour is using quite effectively. Not so much in the cavernous Royal Albert Hall,imo.

Still....I would have given a pinky to be there... LM junkie that I am .