"Les Miserbales" Previews- Page 6
"Les Miserbales" Previews
eatlasagna
Broadway Legend Joined: 10/6/04
#125Les Miserables
Posted: 3/5/14 at 2:14amso is this one of those shows where the turntables are so iconic to the staging and set design that you just can't do it any other way?! I feel like everyone just wants the turntables back...
TheatreKid3
Broadway Star Joined: 3/25/12
#126Les Miserables
Posted: 3/5/14 at 2:45am
^ I don't think that is necessarily true. The consensus is that if you're going to take an iconic piece of staging a way, you have to find some creative way to supplement that to not make us miss it. Instead it sounds like they've just staged it without it and stopped. Nothing new or innovative at all. They didn't add anything, just took the turntable away.
If a show's staging success is dependent on any one piece of scenery, chances are it's more an overall problem with the show - which is something I don't think LES MIS has.
#127Les Miserables
Posted: 3/5/14 at 3:21am
What are you talking about?! They added projected scenery! That's better than one of those old school turntables any day! And by better I mean cheaper . 
#128Les Miserables
Posted: 3/5/14 at 3:53amDon't forget about how authentic it is now because the projections are "based" on Victor Hugo's art!! *Exciting*
#129Les Miserables
Posted: 3/5/14 at 6:10am
Please keep in mind that this production is more about the actors than the singers!
I've seen this production on tour twice, I really liked it! It felt like the definition of revival!
And you people are so simple-minded, you're all just going to hate this production all because it's different!
Updated On: 3/5/14 at 06:10 AM
#130Les Miserables
Posted: 3/5/14 at 6:32am
Well that's too bad, since it's a sung through musical!
I agree, though! This definitely is the definition of a revival!
#131Les Miserables
Posted: 3/5/14 at 7:25am
"It felt like the definition of revival!"
I would check out the most recent revivals of Cabaret, Chicago, South Pacific, Hair, and Pippin and maybe re-evaluate your definition.
"you're all just going to hate this production all because it's different!"
It has nothing to do with it being "different". It has to do with the actual production being mediocre at best.
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "
#132Les Miserables
Posted: 3/5/14 at 7:58am
"I would check out the most recent revivals of Cabaret, Chicago, South Pacific, Hair, and Pippin and maybe re-evaluate your definition."
Why do you think I called it the definition of revival? Because It really belongs with those productions as they've done a completely re-imagined production!
#133Les Miserables
Posted: 3/5/14 at 8:22amThis doesn't sound like a re-imagining at all.
"...everyone finally shut up, and the audience could enjoy the beginning of the Anatevka Pogram in peace."
#134Les Miserables
Posted: 3/5/14 at 8:24am
"And you people are so simple-minded, you're all just going to hate this production all because it's different!"
Ha, that's not true at all. The Sunday in the Park revival was one of my favorites ever, and it was completely different from the original. No one is disliking it because it's different. Theatrekid hit the nail on the head with, "if you're going to take an iconic piece of staging a way, you have to find some creative way to supplement that to not make us miss it. "
I personally don't want to see exact replicas of original productions when I go to a revival. If that was the case I would just go to Lincoln Center and watch old videos. Being "different" isn't the issue here.
Kad- It isn't a re-imagining at all. It is a scaled-down, simplified, cheaper version of the original. To its credit it doesn't look cheap and tacky like say the recent Jekyll & Hyde revival. This just feels empty, almost like an Encores production. It would be more forgivable if the singing and performances were better.
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!
Updated On: 3/5/14 at 08:24 AM
#135Les Miserables
Posted: 3/5/14 at 9:13am
This is definitely a Les Miz for the groundlings (who were shrieking their heads off non-stop last night, competing for attention with what was happening on stage). All that Whizzer says on the previous page is true; I disagree with him on Will Swenson, but then I've never thought he demonstrated better than college-level skill, with a really iffy sense of pitch. Karimloo jumps octaves, adds stratospheric fortissimo high notes, rips his shirt open to the waist, and does everything else except fly.
And yet, I think that this may be the best way to approach this piece, which is, after all, mindless operetta for the bourgeoisie. Hamming it up, pulling out more stops than one might think existed - it's really appropriate for this rather schmaltzy, sentimental, thought-free material.
The new orchestrations sound much bigger and livelier and MGM-ish than the original ones, and, I think, also work better.
So, although I rolled my eyes a lot (and frequently wanted to get up and shout to the audience, "would you all please stop clapping and screaming 90 seconds before the end of every song?"), it was, for me, the most effective version of this show I've seen.
Queen of the Night
Featured Actor Joined: 6/12/07
#136Les Miserables
Posted: 3/5/14 at 1:38pm
I have to agree with Theaterkid3. I have seen the original staging numerous times and the new version twice and I have to confess that I was a little disappointed with the new staging. The one really iconic moment that this show's staging cannot recreate, emulate or even come up with an answer for, is that scene in the second act after the fighting is over. In the original, the orchestra softly played the "Bring him home" instrumental interlude as the barricade on the turntable slowly revolved showing the bodies of the dead. That image of Enjolras hanging backward with his arms outstretched and bathed in white light with the red flag behind him....that was SO powerful. Everyone got a lump in their throat and many were moved to tears. It was such a great theatrical effect. The bodies on the stationary barricade and then some being hauled across the stage in a cart, just doesn't resonate the same way. We need something to fill that void.
Not to mention that I did like the original way the barricade was formed. The lowering of the two towers on the sides of the stage and interlocking in the middle was a very cool effect. And the turntable just seemed to keep things moving.
#137Les Miserables
Posted: 3/5/14 at 1:50pmI loved some of the more subtle things as well--like Napier (and the lighting designer, to be fair) and how they showed the sewers, etc...
neonlightsxo
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/29/08
#138Les Miserables
Posted: 3/5/14 at 1:53pmI haven't seen it yet but...they cut Enjolras draped over the barricade? That is deeply upsetting.
#139Les Miserables
Posted: 3/5/14 at 1:58pm
I enjoyed this on the UK tour, I think some aspects work really well and some of the projections are stunning. However there are some changes that make for a weaker production and I can't understand the logic.
1 - Removing the dates and locations
2 - The barricade deaths are far less effective or emotional
3 - Gavroches death
#140Les Miserables
Posted: 3/5/14 at 1:59pmReading through this thread, it seems that there are many who would have preferred a "faithful" re-mounting of the original staging.
#141Les Miserables
Posted: 3/5/14 at 2:22pm
This was the first time I had ever seen Les Miz staged, so I really don't have a basis for comparison like others here. That being said, I thought one of the positives of the night was definitely Ramin Karimloo. My roommate and I both agreed that he gave a great performance, especially in the second act. I believe it was Whizzer that said, "Bring Him Home" was a highlight and I would definitely agree. Not to get too off topic, but I think I'd like to return and see what changes (if any) are made, has anyone had any luck with rush?
#142Les Miserables
Posted: 3/5/14 at 2:37pm
I don't know if its so much that people want a faithful restaging of the original, its just that this production is a weird mutation of the original with a few new ideas. A completely new staging would at least present a completely new take on it and a fresh look at the show.
But here you have a mongrel of a show, where some of the changes are to the shows detriment making key scenes far less emotional and lacking impact, and the lack of dates make the show harder to follow for those coming to it fresh. If anything its the producers that were too scared to do anything too radical.
At least with the recent Phantom tour it was pretty much a fresh take (some that really worked in my opinion)
#143Les Miserables
Posted: 3/5/14 at 2:42pm
Reading through this thread, it seems that there are many who would have preferred a "faithful" re-mounting of the original staging.
That was pretty much the last revival, though, which felt too safely familiar. I saw the first replica production on average 5 times a year for... (mumble)teen years, and while I don't like everything about the Powell/Connor remounting, at least it justified its existence a little more than the last one.
"This thread reads like a series of White House memos." — Mister Matt
#144Les Miserables
Posted: 3/5/14 at 3:40pmneonlightsxo: I haven't seen the Broadway version, but if they are staging it the same way as the latest tour, then yes, Enjolras is no longer seen draped over the barricade. Instead, Javert is inspecting the scene of the barricade and, as the instrumental "Bring Him Home" reprise swells, a cart (to carry away the dead rebels) is turned around to reveal two rebels: Gavroche, slumped in the back, and Enjolras, surrounded by a single beam of golden light and falling back in the classic "crucified" pose.
#145Les Miserables
Posted: 3/5/14 at 3:54pmYeah that's similar to how I remember this current Broadway revival.
"You can't overrate Bernadette Peters. She is such a genius. There's a moment in "Too Many Mornings" and Bernadette doing 'I wore green the last time' - It's a voice that is just already given up - it is so sorrowful. Tragic. You can see from that moment the show is going to be headed into such dark territory and it hinges on this tiny throwaway moment of the voice." - Ben Brantley (2022)
"Bernadette's whole, stunning performance [as Rose in Gypsy] galvanized the actors capable of letting loose with her. Bernadette's Rose did take its rightful place, but too late, and unseen by too many who should have seen it" Arthur Laurents (2009)
"Sondheim's own favorite star performances? [Bernadette] Peters in ''Sunday in the Park,'' Lansbury in ''Sweeney Todd'' and ''obviously, Ethel was thrilling in 'Gypsy.'' Nytimes, 2000
#146Les Miserables
Posted: 3/5/14 at 3:59pm
"1 - Removing the dates and locations "
This REALLY bothered me with the revival. There was no concept of passing of time. This revival just assumes that everyone has seen the show before. I really do not understand cutting the dates and locations being projected in between scenes.
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "
Joaco_
Swing Joined: 7/31/11
#147Les Miserables
Posted: 3/5/14 at 4:02pmAnyone tried to get rush tickets?, are they sold out very early?, I am thinking on getting them tomorrow.
#148Les Miserables
Posted: 3/5/14 at 9:50pmI often prefer original productions, even if it is true that recreations of them more often than not can seem soulless. But it would be kinda ridiculous to mount one of Les Miz so soon. But as others have said, in most ways this is just a cheaper to tour watered down take on the original... CamMac seems to have purposefully hired (and I know this is mean) no-name directors whose main experience is being assistant directors on various tours of the earlier shows (this goes for Phantom and Miss Saigon too) which seems very cynical to me. So the show is cheaper and easier to run (I imagine.) But?
#149Les Miserables
Posted: 3/5/14 at 10:14pm
I have to agree with newintown for once, although unlike him, I like Les Miserables. But the material is at its weakest when it tries to be a work of serious artistic portents, or worse, a legitimate opera. When the characters are played with too much operatic gravitas, they become bloated and hoary archetypes. Javert becomes the Old Testament God in officer's uniform, Valjean becomes a plaster saint, and the Thenardiers become every comic relief clown from Shakespeare through Frosch with a detour through Dickens.
Though the movie performances veered between brilliant and spotty depending on who you ask, at least they approached the characters as unique individuals and not as archetypes. Russell Crowe's tormented and self-doubting Javert was weakly sung but portrayed with more ambivalence than the average one, and Sacha Baron Cohen took Thenardier, a role which is both overwritten and underwritten, and turned it into something other than a buffoon.
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