"Les Miserbales" Previews- Page 5

[TheatreKid3]

Posted: 3/3/14 at 11:59pm

I wholeheartedly agree and thought they were planning on moving the number to it's movie placement. "I Dreamed a Dream" carries so much more weight and has a tremendous impact. Having seen it done that way, the original placement doesn't make me feel near as much and honestly make Fantine sound like she is whining over very little compared to what is to come.

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 3/4/14 at 7:37am

I think before they even consider moving I Dreamed a Dream, they should at least figure out how all of the female ensemble members would be able to go from factory workers to prostitutes very quickly!

[brdway411]

Posted: 3/4/14 at 11:50am

Saw the show last night for the first time in 20 plus years. Could not sit through the movie (had to leave). I don't really remember that much of the original. Other than the turntable being replaced with a "flat" set and "Little People" getting cut to nothing, What else has changed. Seemed like the original show to me. BTW I like what I heard last night. I do miss the turntable. Certain scenes did not have the same impact I remember from the original show.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 3/4/14 at 11:57am

It includes all the overtime cuts from 2000, I'm pretty sure, but if it's been 20+ years since you saw it, those are unsurprisingly undetectable.

[justafan2]

Posted: 3/4/14 at 12:04pm

How rich is the orchestration?---it was VERY scaled down in the last revival--small string section. Have they added a fuller orchestra for this production?

[brdway411]

Posted: 3/4/14 at 4:13pm

Both boyfriend, who has never seen it before and myself thought it sounded full and rich...everything was mixed well and besides a few missed mic cues it sounded great..

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 3/4/14 at 4:23pm

"How rich is the orchestration?---it was VERY scaled down in the last revival--small string section. Have they added a fuller orchestra for this production?"

This revival has completely new orchestrations.

[brdway411]

Posted: 3/4/14 at 4:24pm

Here is the orchestra list...first time posting a pic...so this may not work. Lol
Didn't work






Updated On: 3/4/14 at 04:24 PM

[sueb1863]

Posted: 3/4/14 at 7:40pm

Yeah, they really can't move IDAD on stage because the chorus women use the time to change into their whore costumes and makeup.

Not sure how long this revival is going to run, the movie was a hit but I don't think it was a big enough hit to support a long run on Broadway of a live stage version. Maybe two years?

[Jeffrey Karasarides]

Posted: 3/4/14 at 8:08pm

I think if the production itself stays strong with audiences, it should at least have a decent run (and hopefully longer than the last revival)!

[Miss Mona]

Posted: 3/4/14 at 10:54pm

Fantine is a single mother with a sick child who is unjustly fired from her job. Only a little moron would call that whining over nothing.

[TheatreKid3]

Posted: 3/4/14 at 11:15pm

^ Never said it was over nothing. You added that part. Just after having seen the impact it has on her after everything else has happened, it makes the current placement look much less meaningful by comparison.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 3/5/14 at 12:02am

Wow. That was bad. That was really, really bad.

There were a few moments here and there that worked, but for the most part it was three hours that just did not want to end.

I happen to like the score to Les Miserables quite a bit. Sure it's bombastic and some of those lyrics! Oy! But I can forgive a lot with strong singing, and that was in short supply this evening.

The prologue was especially rough. There was much wailing, screaming and caterwauling. By the end I couldn't stop thinking of that lyric from The Last Five Years when Cathy sings, "Who've sitting like I have and listening all day/To two hundred girls/Belting as high as they can." Loud is different than good. People weren't with the orchestra, sustained notes were flat (but still loud), and it was all just a mess. Even the much ballyhooed Ramin Karimloo didn't impress me here.

It actually wasn't until Cosette grew up that I started to warm to Karminloo's performnace, and his second act was pretty strong. "Bring Him Home" was the one genuinely well-performed number of the evening, but by then I could only care so much.

Caissie Levy was pushing and trying too hard. Even when you're wailing on a pop ballad there's something to be said for adding a touch of subtlety or surprise to your delivery. Otherwise you end up sounding like the 8th runner up on Idol.

Of course the real offenders of finding any nuance were Keala Settle and Cliff Saunders. Good God! I mean Mary Testa would have been horrified by what she saw up there tonight. Settle was SO good in Hands On a Hardbody, but here's it's all, "How can I be as over the top as humanly possible and try to eat what little scenery is on this stage!"

As someone else noted the actor playing Gavroche has a distracting lisp. He's got vim and vigor, but I was seriously ready for Valjean to teach him "Gary Indiana" and fast.

Overall the cast had a habit of emoting their way through the songs rather than singing them, verging on a Rex Harrison style at times. This isn't a cabaret act. Ditch the back phrasing. Cut out the mannered deliveries. Just sing the damn songs.

I thought the most consistent performer was Will Swenson. He was the one of the few who didn't indulge in some of the bad habits I mentioned, and even if he didn't make a big impression, he didn't offend and for this production that's practically a triumph.

I was most excited to see dear Kyle, risen from the ashes of moving the Hit List note cards around with Cousing Debbie. His Marius was good- I think he is a charming performer with a certain impish quality. Maybe not best suited for this role, but I would happily see him again in a better role in a better show.

The set is often bare, the lighting is dark and it all makes for a gloomy evening. As one of my friends I went with just texted me, "I want my night back."

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 3/5/14 at 12:06am

^ augh. That's what I thought of the tour. Seeing this on Monday mainly for the new cast. Which it sounds like they're not up to scratch.

[dave1606]

Posted: 3/5/14 at 12:15am

I really, really did not care for this revival. Les Miserables has always worked for me to some degree. Even the last revival worked for me. I love the score, and love the story. But this current revival is cheap, soulless and entirely miscast.

The worst part about this revival is that everyone is overacting. Ramin has a wonderful voice, but every movement was so over-exaggerated that any power he brought was negated. He did fare better in act 2, and I must say his Bring Him Home was wonderful, but for the most part I was dissapointed.

Cassie Levy really did not work. As a usual fan of her work, I was really surprised to see her screaming most of her notes.

Nikki M James sang the entire show in a very different voice than her own and it did not work.

Keala Settle is chewing so much scenery they ran out of props. Literally. The stage is so bare. Will swenson brought very little to Javert. He wasn't bad, but I felt like there wasn't much to his performance. Andy Mientus fared the best for me.

My biggest issue is that this production just doesn't justify the show being brought back. The staging is so lackluster in every way that not only doe it not bring anything new to the material, it actually detracts form it. I missed the turntable on several occasions as the staging seems so slowdown without the constant movement.

The one thing I can say is that the orchestra and sound mix were very good. They sounded very rich and the mix was great.

[WhizzerMarvin]

Posted: 3/5/14 at 12:20am

I missed the turntable too, dave.

There are two directors for the production, and you'd think between the two of them that they could get the overacting under control. Perhaps they are the ones encouraging it though.

[bwayphreak234]

Posted: 3/5/14 at 12:36am

On the road, the only strong points of the production were Betsy Morgan's Fantine and Andrew Varela's Javert. It sounds like Levy and Swenson are just passable. Which saddens me since I love them both and have enjoyed their performances in the past.

It sounds like the set is still the bus and truck cheap tour set with no improvements minus the extended proscenium. I REALLY missed the wide open stage and turntable when I saw the tour for this production. All of the action was jammed into a proscenium that was EXTREMELY narrow for no reason, and just contained a couple staircases with rubble attached that just awkwardly reconfigured to recreate the (supposedly) multiple settings.

Updated On: 3/5/14 at 12:36 AM

[RW3]

Posted: 3/5/14 at 12:56am

Laurence Connor is also directing the Miss saigon revival in london. This has me worried.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 3/5/14 at 12:56am

I saw it on tour last year and I liked some of the choices, but overall I felt like the design lacked. I thought the performances on the tour were all pretty good if a little "blah," but doesn't sound like it's much changed.

There was just no "wow" moment, which I think this show needs. If there isn't then there better be some damn good performances. And...yeah.

[RW3]

Posted: 3/5/14 at 12:59am

The race for the Tony Award for best musical revival has just gotten a whole lot clearer.

[brdway411]

Posted: 3/5/14 at 1:00am

I was really disappointed by the barricade. It just comes out. I loved the turntable and watching the 2 booms lower to form it. Was also not impressed with the bridge jump.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 3/5/14 at 1:02am

I actually really like the design of this barricade -- you don't see all of it at first as you did in the first replica production where it served as the background for "Look Down." You'd see it then and suddenly it would show up and somersault itself and stay there for most of Act 2. Here, it mostly makes it first appearance IN Act 2.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 3/5/14 at 1:04am

"Laurence Connor "

And didn't he do the current Phantom tour? Not to be completely mean-spirited, but he comes off a bit as someone CamMac can hire cheaply to do very basic work (I know there was some fighting about how much he borrowed from Prince--if it was him--with Phantom.)

In theory these versions of the shows with simpler designs were meant to be done partly so they could tour to cities that could not have housed or afforded the more expensive productions. I hate to sound like these shows are all about spectacle (though in some ways they are, IMHO) but it does feel disingenuous of Mac to then use the cheaper productions in New York, or London (in regards to Miss Saigon.) And it's ironic given how back in the day he would go on and on about how he thought even the touring productions needed to be as lavish as the sit down productions of his shows.

[RippedMan]

Posted: 3/5/14 at 1:19am

That's what I'm saying. You basically took some great performances on the road and replaced them with "names" but it's the same damn show that I paid $30 to see in Florida. There's no "artistic" reason for bringing it back. Just to bank off the movie.

[binau]

Posted: 3/5/14 at 2:08am

None of them are names though. I really can't imagine them thinking they were going to cast them because they are popular or anything.

I am glad to hear that the show can apparently be better though. I assumed it was because of the placement of the song but I Dreamed a Dream just doesn't resonate here. If Levy is nominated I am convinced anyone who played the role would have been.

Updated On: 3/5/14 at 02:08 AM