Les Misérables: There will never be anything better.... — Page 8

I thought you were gonna name better ones?

HEHE, jk

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I saw it 7 times. I can say that I never have to see it again in my life, because by the seventh time, not only were the actors tired, so was the music.
BUT, the best performance of Valjean I have ever seen (Next to Dave Clemmons) was Dudu (David) Fisher. He was the first Arabic? Valjean, and he came to America to do the tour, and his rendition of Bring Him Home was so FRIGGIN AMAZING. The applause was so long afterwards - I would say, at least a minute, which is long for an applause - But it (being my 6th time seeing the show) was the first time that song ever brought tears to my eyes.

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Honestly, I used to keep track of how many times I'd seen Les Miz. I lost track somewhere after 16. :)

For me, there is Les Miserables, and then everything else. It's in a class by itself. It was the first "Broadway" show I ever saw (on tour, anyway), and it changed me forever. There's little to be said about the show and score that hasn't already been said here, and I'm not going to get into the good/bad for Broadway debate...I just want to gush.

Through a very gracious friend of mine who works at MTI, I was able to see the final B'way performance of Les Miz. Needless to say, I bawled my eyes out from One Day More, onward. It was a fantastic cast, and I particularly enjoyed Randall Keith, Kevin Kern, and Jayne Patterson. The added finale material was "eargasmic" (to coin a phrase du jour)! I got to share the event with my partner and my mom, with whom I first read the book in high school. So, Les Miz holds a very special place in my heart.

That said, Ivan Rutherford is my favorite Valjean that I've seen, with William Solo coming in a close second. As for recorded Valjean's, my favorites are Robert Marien (Paris) and Hans Peter Jansens (Belgium).

And as a footnote: What the bloddy HELL is Kaho Shimada doing on the CSR??!! She's awful in Japanese, and she's even worse in "English." There. I feel better. :)