LesMis Tour Cast change- Page 2

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 7/1/11 at 12:52am

Slightly off topic, but does anyone know if those Victor Hugo sketches used for the projections are published anywhere?

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 7/1/11 at 1:07am

i'm going this Saturday! exciting! and odd... i've always loved the acoustics at the Ahmanson... has it just started to get really bad? the last show I saw was South Pacific last year and I sat in the balcony and nothing seemed wrong

[AlfieByrne]

Posted: 7/1/11 at 3:37am

I think McVey is a decent Valjean, but I much prefer Randal Keith who was the last Valjean in the 3NT. But McVey was good, nonetheless. He got an extended ovation after "Bring Him Home"

As a whole, the cast isn't that good. Justin Scott Brown (Marius) was hugely disappointing with his weak pop tenor voice that lacked richness, especially in contrast to Mark McVey. Additionally, age-wise, Betsy Morgan is right for Fantine. But again, her voice was too shrill. I didn't get to see Chasten Harmon, as the understudy was on for Eponine. The u/s was adequate, but nothing special.


The staging was refreshing. I've always hated the barren set (of course, except for the barricade) with the tiring lighting of the original production. The staging for Gavroche's death felt strange (**SPOILER** Because of the lack of turntable, Gavroche simply went through the barricade to upstage, hidden from view. Both "Little People" and its reprise were trimmed down. So after about two gunshots, he died upstage of the barricade, and then there was a dramatic bright backlight on Enjolras who screamed "NO!" and the whole thing seemed rather bizarre and melodramatic). But other than that, I liked the staging.

The sound system design is terrific at the Ahmanson. Definitely go see it there, instead of waiting to see it in Orange County, which has HORRIBLE acoustics.

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 7/1/11 at 3:55am

wait the OC has terrible acoustics??? i don't think that place is all that bad... i've seen several shows there and have never disliked the sound.. eh to each his own... i do think the theater is designed rather oddly... but i think i will see Les Mis there next year... hopefully they'll have a newer cast!!!

and I loved Randal Keith as Valjean!!!

[AlfieByrne]

Posted: 7/1/11 at 4:42am

At OCPAC (or now the Segerstrom Center), if you're sitting in the orchestra, it'll be hard to hear anything due to the poor location/orientation of the house speakers and most tour performers these days are already relying on the mics to amplify their voices. If you're under one of the "tiers," there are enough speakers right above you to truly hear the performers.

[ravnquest1]

Posted: 7/1/11 at 10:25am

Ok, once again:

Every tour travels its own sound system and sound engineers. Most of the time you can "tie in" (add to) your road system with whatever the house has. Sometimes you have to do so, and the under and over balcony speakers someone mentioned at OCPAC are a good example, although some larger tours (like Jersey Boys) still carry their own underbalcs and will use theirs. This is becoming uncommon now, because obviously the more you carry the longer it takes to put in, take out and truck around. Also, if you are sitting under a balcony and notice the sound primarily coming from speakers in the ceiling instead of from the stage, the underbalcs are probably too loud.

Whether or not a show sounds good or bad is about 95% due to the sound people that travel with the show and 5% acoustics. Some people aren't very good, some people are great at making a show sound good, and there are a few that don't care and those results generally aren't good. There are a handful of rooms across the country that aren't very good- sounding, but by and large you can make most anything sound good if you have the skill and the time to do so.

You can factor out the sound design and designer, because most touring sound systems are fundamentally the same. Once the show finishes tech and is on the road, the creative team rarely makes a cameo, so it's up to the road crew to maintain the designs and make what they have work in every venue. That's the challenge and the fun of being on the road.

I realize that the Ahmanson does some premieres and regional work, so for example the PA for "Leap of Faith" should have been designed for that room.

Having recently done South Pacific in both the Ahmanson and Segerstrom hall (OC PAC), both rooms are not on the list of rooms with bad acoustics. The Ahmanson, since its re-model, is one of the deadest rooms around. Everything always sounds amplified (and sometimes over amplified), because nothing travels off of the stage or from the pit- its entirely up to the PA to get the show out there and you can't rely on any natural presence of anything to make the show sound like it's coming from the stage. This is good for rock-type shows because the room sucks up a lot of sound, and you can get away with a louder mix.

Segerstrom on the other hand is one of my favorite rooms in the country, it's big but big in a good way, the sound travels well and it makes the sound system less noticeable. There is enough of a house system to compliment a standard road rig, and it all sounds good. Everything sounds naturally good in there, and less is often more- you don't need to really push to fill the space. Anyone who says this room has bad accoustics hasn't traveled around, or sound on road shows is worse than I think it is.

[theaternut]

Posted: 7/1/11 at 12:37pm

I must say.. while watching this I went from moments of pure boredom to amusement on how they staged a few things. I totally agree with the "central casting" reference. Very generic and uninspired choices. Of course... this could all mean that I just have seen this musical way to many times and just need to choose to stay away from any future productions.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 7/7/11 at 2:02pm

I saw it last night and thought it was a wonderful, fresh take on the show. The projections added so much, and I really liked their use in the sewer scenes.

There were some sound issues at the beginning of the show. The show sounded muffled and it was very hard to understand the entire opening. It suddenly cleared up about 1/3rd of the way into the show. Javert was hard to understand throughout most of the show. I did enjoy his suicide and the way it was staged.

I thought Fantine was way too young. She rushed through the entire opening of I DREAMED A DREAM and had some odd tempo choices (And, Javert did the same thing at the top of STARS).

Eponine sang the angriest version of ON MY OWN I have ever seen, and I did not care for the pop quality in her voice.

The chorus was also making odd choices whenever someone had a solo, changing the tempo, dragging certain phrases through the mud. No one stuck out as special. They were all interchangeable.

J. Mark McVey was simply perfection in the role.

I loved the Thenardiers, who gave the right amount of comedic scum to the evening

I didn’t miss the turntable, but I did miss the beautiful wedding costumes. The ones on this tour look like something out of community theatre. Each dress was one flat color, no trim or detail of any kind.

And I agree with an earlier poster who mentioned the death of Gravroche. It wasn’t really clear what was going on and unless you knew what was happening. The scene is so heartbreaking, so why did they stage it that way?

And, oddly, I didn’t buy any swag. None of it impressed me enough to spend my money.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 7/7/11 at 2:46pm

The reason the beginning of I Dreamed A Dream sounds rushed is because when they re-orchestrated the show, they got rod of the dramatic pause before Fantine starts singing. I enjoyed that pause because as you said, it does sound very rushed right now, but it isn't the actress' fault.

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 7/7/11 at 3:12pm

Sorry, but she sounded like she was racing ahead of the orchestra, just plowing on through it, speaking as quickly as she could.

[luvbrdway]

Posted: 7/7/11 at 6:29pm

They still doing the simulated sex? If so, I hope they are at least putting warning out to those thinking they can bring their young kids. I called the box office when it was in Tempe to complain and they said they had lots of complaints.

J. Mark McVey = perfection.

[adamgreer]

Posted: 7/7/11 at 8:10pm

There's a song in the show about hookers. And half the principle cast dies, including a child. But you were worried about an 8 second simulated sex act that occurs in the background of a seedy inn?

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 7/8/11 at 7:57am

Give the sex thing a rest.

It was hardly noticeable, and I was looking for it, and only since it was mentioned here.

With everything that was going on during that scene, THAT was the things that you were focused on?

Someone has issues.

Updated On: 7/8/11 at 07:57 AM

[aasjb4ever]

Posted: 7/8/11 at 10:11am

I saw the show very early in the tour, I guess when the show was still "fresh?" and it was gorgeous and one of the greatest experiences I've had in the theatre.

Re: the sex; Seriously? It was just a funny running joke. That's all.

[Aurelia2]

Posted: 7/8/11 at 10:37am

As long as Chasten Harmon is still Eponine, I'm happy.

[luvbrdway]

Posted: 7/8/11 at 11:48am

Well, if it only went on for 8 seconds and was hardly noticeable, maybe they have cut part of it out. I noticed it about half way through the song - not sure how long it had been going on.
I loved the show. Just didn't feel that needed to be added. I mean, it's been pretty successfull for 25 years without the simulated sex.

[LALALand]

Posted: 7/8/11 at 11:59am

Saw this cast in LA, completely agree with TheaterDiva. I think that Fantine is rushing her songs as an acting choice. She is way ahead of the music through most of I Dreamed a Dream (i had to calm my friend by reminding her Fantine was going to die in 10 minutes). Eponine is just miscast. Her voice doesn't fit the songs at all. But I found her acting pleasant (even found her angry take on the character interesting.)
As for the sex, they are fully clothed and it's done comically. It's not really a big deal.