Yikes. I don't even know where to begin with this...
Ramin Karimloo was out. Aaron Walpole was on as Valjean. His first few numbers (especially the Prologue and Who Am I?) were VERY rough. He basically spoke the lyrics, and when he tried to sing it sounded extremely scratchy, and he did not hit the notes. He got better as the show progressed, and his Bring Him Home was phenomenal. Still, I was vastly underwhelmed with his performance. Nothing memorable about his Jean Valjean. Still disappointed that Ramin Karimloo was out, but it is what it is.
Caissie Levy... I love her to death and was SOOO excited to see her, but her performance was bland. Betsy Morgan, who played Fantine on the tour and is in the ensemble here, did so much more with the role than Caissie Levy did. When I heard Morgan's voice during her solo for Turning, it made me miss her even more.
As other have mentioned, Keala Settle and Cliff Saunders are so over the top it's ridiculous. Yes, the Thernardiers are comic roles, but good god almighty they were all over the place.
Nikki M. James is completely miscast here. She just does not have the voice for the role. There's nothing more to say on that.
Andy Mientus and Will Swenson were the beacons of light in this production. They managed to turn in performances that actually made me care about their characters. What a concept! Both were truly amazing, and Will Swenson's Stars was chilling perfection.
The set is the exact same thing that toured the U.S. for two years. It's cheap, unwieldily, and NOISY. The pieces track on and off while making loud clunking noises. This KILLED certain moments. The stage is left completely empty for a lot of scenes. The lighting and projection design were extremely dark and left a lot of scenes cast in shadow. The set worked for the tour when the show was doing one week runs, but they really needed to vamp it up for the Imperial Theatre because what they have now is not cutting it.
"Scenery chewing" has come up a lot on here, and I see why. Pretty much 90% of the cast (including the ensemble) are so over the top that it is almost like they are parodying the show. Quite frankly, I was surprised there were still pieces of the sparse and cheap set still standing when the curtain came up for act 2.
Whizzer said it best, "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."
"There’s nothing quite like the power and the passion of Broadway music. "
There haven't really been any huge defenders in the thread either, which may be saying something.
