Les Miz cast changes -- POST THEM HERE! — Page 8

Lea Salonga's recap: http://bigsis222.multiply.com/journal/item/78

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So Alex is leaving for good then. WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.

I wonder why they changed it, originally it was just scheduled as a vacation, no? Interesting.

So Alex is leaving for good then.
I wonder why they changed it, originally it was just scheduled as a vacation, no? .

Alex DID take a regular, scheduled vacation. And he is now back from vacation. In addition, he himself has decided to leave the show to pursue other things [I don’t believe he has anything definite lined up, but that may be so], and he WILL BE leaving on July 21.
In the meantime – he is back from vacation energized and better than ever. It has been said that Alex has been “mailing it in” in recent weeks. If that WAS true, it no longer is. His performance is more emotionally heated than ever, and continues to be, by itself, worth the price of admission.

Lea Salonga’s performance alone is also worth the price of admission.

The cast changes that have already been effected / or are in the process of taking place / or are temporarily in place -- all of that -- seem to have invigorated everybody. It was said, back in November of last year, that this revival “appears to be functioning in a state of mild sedation” and “lacks the fiery passion in performance”. Well, if that was true then, or even recently, it is no longer true. Last night’s performance was the best I’ve seen. The cast properly exuded energy and involvement that kept the audience themselves totally involved, not all the time with pulse rates racing, but always emotionally absorbed.

Drew no longer just ACTS the part of Javert. He IS the character. [I’m not an actor. I know this sound stupid. (and blah blah blah, it’s called acting!) -- but] Drew’s actions and expressions, at all times while onstage, put him totally within that existence. And his singing of course is especially remarkable.

And I swear, there were times (Confrontation) where I saw his mouth open and he must have been singing but I couldn't hear anything coming out of his mouth.
Parts of Confrontation are in counterpoint. In particular, when Javert sings “Men like me can never change, Men like you can never change” it is hard to hear Valjean; and as Valjean sings “I am warning you Javert, I’m a stronger man by far” it purposely oversounds Javert’s verse. I especially paid attention to Javert’s part last night and I heard it all, though not being so familiar with those words I didn’t absorb every word of it.

Drew starts rehearsals today as Valjean. I will definitely be back at the beginning of August to see him. [Giving him one week of actual performances to make sure he’s had time to nail the part.]


By the way, Steven Trafton as Grantaire sang and played ‘Drew’s guitar’. I thought ‘Drew’s guitar’ was owned by Drew. It isn’t. It belongs to the Company.

Max von Essen gives an even stronger, more invigorating, certainly clearer performance than Aaron Lazar. I think I actually heard every word he sang.

I loved Celia's Eponine (Hail Celia!). But Megan McGinnis is without fault as well.

And very happy that Ann Harada remains. Her initial performance (in April), which was the first time she performed with everybody in full costume, was plain (sort of clueless). Now she is properly vulgar and comedic.

James Chip Leonard plays a suitably sinister Thenardier, without the cuteness that Gary Beach stuck in [and he DID carry the dead body himself]. I look forward to Chip Zien as well. [I miss James’ Bishop.]

I feel that Adam and Ali must make the best Marius / Cosette combination ever.

Brian D’Addario is still an “endearingly avid”, “galvanizing” Gavroche.


The show is better than ever, and worth seeing again.


p.s. Certainly those who saw, and reviewed, this ‘revival’ only in previews or early performances should revisit the Broadhurst Theatre.

Updated On: 6/28/07 at 03:23 PM

Babe! Quotes, and other adjectives and descriptions, are using words and phrases from Ben Brantley's N.Y. Times review. I would like to see him, especially, revisit the production.

p.s. I actually expected you to provide that information.

I saw Drew as Javert again and wasn't as impressed this time round. He gets too into the character--he needs to tone it down, or risk coming across as a Disney villain. Throughout most of the show I was only getting two emotions from his Javert: either coldly contemptuous, or absolutely spitting with rage. The only time he showed any range of emotion in between was in the Suicide, which was wonderfully acted up until the scream at the end. Which kind of ruined it, no offense.

I suspect part of it might be direction; this production has had a lot of Angry Javert and not so much Stoic Javert. (Except Ben Davis, but, well...) Norm's was shouty, Drew's is psychotic, and Robert Hunt on tour was in the same vein as Drew, only more restrained.

Max von Essen has become more confident as Enjolras, especially in One Day More and Act II, and he puts in an enjoyable performance overall. He doesn't have Aaron Lazar's charisma, though, and he's not doing anything terribly interesting with the role. Vocally Aaron was much more powerful, but Max's voice is clearer and more controlled--Aaron's tended to run away with him pitch-wise.

Haviland Stillwell was on as Fantine on Monday. I saw her first performance and she's come a quite a ways since then. Her Fantine was and is very angry and almost bitter, but I got a better sense of the underlying hurt this time around, and she seemed more confident in general. Vocally not quite as strong as Lea or Nikki Renée Daniels, but a nice performance overall. (The wig looked a little odd on her though--either too light for her skin or not a warm enough tone, couldn't tell from the mezz.)

James Chip Leonard is a wonderfully sleazy Thénardier. He looked like he was having so much fun onstage, and the humor flowed naturally, unlike Gary Beach's forced gags. And very flirty with Madame. I wouldn't mind seeing him bumped up to principal.

I liked Megan McGinnis as an understudy and as Celia's de facto alternate when she was ill, but I'm less comfortable with her as principal Eponine. Her interpretation is flawlessly pulled off, but it's a little strange to have a production where Cosette is spunkier than Eponine--getting to see it once or twice when Megan's on as understudy is fun in an unconventional way, having it be the default lineup is just weird. I'm happy for her, and she's miles better than Mandy Bruno, but it doesn't quite fit.

And Alex might be rejuvenated after his vacation, but it just intensified all the things that bug me about his Valjean. If "emotionally heated" means rocking back and forth like an autistic five-year-old in What Have I Done, snapping at Cosette unprovoked, and fake-sobbing his way through Bring Him Home, I'd rather see him sleepwalk through the show.

Ann's not as much of a dud as at the beginning of her run, but she's still not great.

There's not much to say about Adam and Ali; they were great at the beginning of the run and nothing has changed between then and now. Their adorableness is one of the few constants in this show. *g*

I don't think Drew came off as pyschotic. Not at all, actually, and I was expecting some serious kind of crazy after what people had told me. I was disappointed. The scream made me laugh, but I did enjoy his 'swim' afterwards. He's so fluid in all his movements and he moves like a dancer sometimes, and I think that's one of the things that really makes him stand out. My footage is from the 4th or 5th time that he was on as Javert so I'm sure he has improved tons. But from what I saw, he couldn't get the low notes at all without completely changing the integrity of his voice, and he would spew out random words or parts of lines one minute and the next he would be completely drowned out by the orchestra. It was moi distracting to me.

I'm so sad that Alex is leaving, it is pretty abrupt. I thought I read somewhere here that he was going to take a 3 month vacation and Drew would be his cover for that time, and then all of a sudden Drew was replacing Alex for good. I was hoping that he'd stay a year. Oh well. It didn't seem to me like he'd been enjoying himself for the past couple of months anyway, so on to bigger and better things...

Well Drew (technically) is only staying on as Valjean for three months, July 23rd - October 21st. But that is mainly because all of the principles' contracts will expire on Oct. 21st. He might renew (at this point I have no idea if he will) and stay on longer or they'll get someone else.

I was confused about whether Alex was leaving of his own will or not and I'm assuming it is because he wants to go on to better things. He'll have done the role for 10 months and let's face it, it's not a walk in the park, I'm sure he's tired of being "tired" all the time.

Nothing new, but ...

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/109182.html

My post, after 6/27 8:00pm performance:
James Chip Leonard plays a suitably sinister Thenardier, without the cuteness that Gary Beach stuck in [and he DID carry the dead body himself]. I look forward to Chip Zien as well.

Well, I saw/experienced Chip Zien last night (Fourth of July). His Thenardier is so completely hyper, he is like a caricature of a caricature. [I don't know if that's good or bad.] He scampers all over the place. He yells an awful lot, and seems to recite/scream/say the first line or first couplet of every stanza -- and then sings the ending.

His height and size do come into play. Size Matters -- Not only didn't Chip Zien carry the body himself, nobody carried the body. Victor Hawks is gone; Ben Crawford played Javert [He has grown into that role. He plays a powerful, comfortable Javert]; and Stephen Trafton (playing Brujon) merely dragged the body along the stage floor.

Overall, I reserve judgement. I think I may grow into liking him more, but he probably should slow it down a bit as well. Ann Harada, by the way, is really very good now as Madame T.


Michael Minarik played Grantaire. Was that really his first day in the part? He doesn't play guitar, but he looks more like a Grantaire character than Drew. He interacted well with Brian D'Addario as Gavroche.


p.s. SPOILER ALERT! (Can there be a spoiler alert in this thread?)
The third (final) loud shot at Gavroche misfired (click, click - like an unloaded weapon). Then, finally, a loud retort. Brian, not knowing if the gun would ever sound, started down with a moan, and then finished suddenly when the shot finally rang out. Very nice reaction.

Thank you. I did see that:

Michael's first performance as Grantiare (sp.) is on July 4th at the matinee.

I meant to ask whether this was his first day ever, anywhere, as Grantaire.


p.s. I would be surprised.

Got sand in your &$%# again, Lizzie?

why would you be surprised?