My review of last night's Les Miz and a question.

[Marway44]

Posted: 7/22/07 at 6:18pm

Hi gang,

PLEASE DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU DON'T WANT THE SHOW SPOILED FOR YOU IN ANY MANNER.

As you know last night was Alex's last show. I thought it was his best performance yet. At first his laughing before "Who an I" bothered me back in November, but now it works for me. And I love his reaction when young Cosette hugs him. I will miss him in the show, but wish the best to Drew. Speaking of Drew, lets begin with Michael Minarik as Grantaire. He was ok, but Drew played it more drunk, and was funnier, but he was adequate.

Lea changed her performance from April. Now she does a lot of crying and more coughing. She was just spectacular! Her "I Dreamed a Dream" was a little harsher this time. She showed more in the song how miserable her life was. Their was not a dry eye in the house when she died.

Robert Hunt was Javert and I personally thought Norm Lewis was better and more powerful in the role. Robert's voice was a little high for the part, but he sang "Stars" beautifully. I do have a question though about him. Does anyone know why he does not age as the show progresses like Valjean. Norm always had more gray hair, and all the other Javert's before him in the original production. I can't figure why he didn't age. If anyone knows, can you please share this.

Megan has improved big time as Eponine. I saw her understudy Celia back in April and was not thrilled. She is still no Celia, but was terrific in the role. Her voice is beautiful, and her acting was superb. I am glad to see an understudy get bumped up to full time.

James Chip Leonard is always terrific as the Bishop, and has the perfect voice. And Ben Crawford made a great sleazy foreman.

Carly Rose Soneclar was young Cosette and I wasn't thrilled with her voice. I found a word or two slurred and I don't know why, but I didn't find her black eye believable.

Now lets get to the Thenardier's. Chip Zien brought a little more conedy to the role than Gary Beach, but I prefer Gary in the role. Chip is short, and it looked funny that this short guy is ordering around big and tall Brujon. He spoke just about most of his lines, and used a high pitched voice. I did find he got the laughs and has great comic timing. He and Ann Harada complemented each other perfectly. But Ann I did not like. She just was not funny when said "or I'll forget to be nice". Jenny was so much better. She tried to hard to get the laughs, especially when she sits down to sing at the of end of "Master of the House". But as I said she and Chip were great together. You believed they were a couple.

Ali and Adam were great as usual, and Ali was so funny in the beginning of "A heart full of love" when she quickly turns away from Marius. Adam plays the role better now, when he first starts singing the song because you can tell he's at a loss for words and is making stuff up on the fly. I love the way he started the song with a long "uhhh" that led into "a heart full of love".

I was not thrilled with Zach Rand as Gavroche either. I liked Brian much better. I found Zach's voice to be low at times, but he did "Ten Little Bullets" perfectly and played it with much more pain and suffering as he was dying.

Now let's talk about Max von Essen as Enjolras. He was the major disappointment to me throughout the whole show. His voice very low and he showed no leader quality what-so-ever. I thought he was just plain awful. Even when Adam was playing the part with a cold he was better. I was surprised after he was so good in "Dance of the Vampires". You would have never known it was the same person. And I know he has a powerhouse voice, so why he didn't use it is beyond me.

I didn't like Mike Evariste as the pimp. He voice was low and just didn't fit the role. And I did not care for Daniel Bogart as Bamatabois. I found him low as well.

The ensemble was great. Their soaring voices blew the roof off many times and resulted in thunderous applause. The all sound terrific together.

All in all the show is holding up great, but that's as of last night with Alex in the lead. I'm sure Drew will be fine, but time will tell. I look forward to reading your reviews of him next week.

And please if anybody knows why Javert no longer ages, please do tell.

Thanks!




Updated On: 7/23/07 at 06:18 PM

[Becoz_i_knew_you21]

Posted: 7/22/07 at 6:33pm

Les Mis being spoiled. HAHAHAHA.

[ashbash1990]

Posted: 7/22/07 at 6:34pm

I saw Robert Hunt on tour and i don't think he was worse than Norm in the role...

[TapTapTapioca]

Posted: 7/22/07 at 6:34pm

Is Mandy Bruno still in it?

[lawyerman]

Posted: 7/22/07 at 7:50pm

"Lea changed her performance from April. Now she does a lot of crying and more coughing. She was just spectacular! Her "I Dreamed a Dream" was a little harsher this time. She showed more in the song how miserable her life was."

so... more like Daphne?

[jennyish]

Posted: 7/22/07 at 8:01pm

I love Alex, and while I'm excited for Drew to play Valjean, I'm very sad to see him go.

Thank God, Mandy Bruno is not still in the show. Megan McGinnis has been promoted to full-time Eponine, and while she's no Celia, I must say I liked her. Something about her portrayal seemed very real.

I quite liked Robert Hunt as Javert--he wasn't anything revolutionary, but he was great. No idea why he doesn't age, though.

Ugh, Max von Essen was such a disappointment, especially since my first time seeing it I got tickets hoping to see Aaron Lazar (his departure was announced almost immediately after I bought them). I saw the show for a second time on Thursday, and he seems to improve marginally, but I spent most of the time deploring his lack of revolutionary spirit.

[Marway44]

Posted: 7/22/07 at 10:44pm

TapTap,

Mandy is no longer with the show, because she was fired last month. This show can be deadly to performers jobs, as we have seen in the past.
Updated On: 7/22/07 at 10:44 PM

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 7/22/07 at 11:08pm

marway...can you elobarote on that comment? what do you mean by dangerous?

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 7/22/07 at 11:09pm

Just remember who left the cast around the same time Mandy Bruno did.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 7/22/07 at 11:11pm

During the original run, a few years in, Mackintosh fired the entire ensemble (and made them all re-audition for their jobs). Granted, they were the touring ensemble, just promoted, most whom had been doing it for a long period of time.

Bruno was let go along with Ben Davis after a month or so of performances. He didn't like them.

[Marway44]

Posted: 7/22/07 at 11:11pm

eatlasagna,

Remember at the time when the show turned 10 and half the cast was fired, and just recently 2 people were fired from this production. One of them claimed he didn't even get notes to improve his performance.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 7/22/07 at 11:14pm

Granted, they were the touring ensemble, just promoted, most whom had been doing it for a long period of time.

Actually, a lot of them had not been with the tour -- many were replacements of the OBC.

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 7/22/07 at 11:14pm

My bad, Lizzie!

[eatlasagna]

Posted: 7/23/07 at 1:51am

oh wow... i remember the 10th anniversary fiasco but i didn't know two people were fired recently.... i was wondering why the original poster didn't review ben davis... that's kinda sad... so what was the deal... they just fired them out of the blue?

[COOOOLkid]

Posted: 7/23/07 at 2:04am

Whoa. When did they put up Broadway's site of the official website of Les Miserables?

They even have many videos of the original revival cast!!!!

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 7/23/07 at 2:10am

eatlasagna: there's a great deal of info in the links below. There were previously entries on Ben's blog detailing what happened, but they've since been removed (very recently).

https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?boardname=bway&thread=938785
https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?boardname=bway&thread=938564

[mikeyb16]

Posted: 7/23/07 at 8:35am

Any idea when Gary Beach is back in the show?
Updated On: 7/23/07 at 08:35 AM

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 7/23/07 at 1:12pm

Anytime would be too soon.

But if he is coming back, Chip Zien's run is set to be 10 weeks.
http://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/news/jun07/lesmiserables29jun07.htm

[Marway44]

Posted: 7/23/07 at 7:51pm

Still does anybody know why Javert doesn't age anymore throughout the show? It's really bothering me.

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 7/23/07 at 7:54pm

Robert Hunt always used a grey wig for the 1832-on scenes while on tour. (See link.) But his face does not take well to aging makeup.

http://robert-hunt.com/LM4.html


I didn't like Lucia Spina as the pimp. He was low and just didn't fit the role. And I did not care for Daniel Bogart as Bamatabois. I found him low as well.

WTF? Lucia Spina IS A WOMAN.

What do you mean by "low," anyway?

Updated On: 7/23/07 at 07:54 PM

[TLKfan]

Posted: 7/23/07 at 8:04pm

From seeing Robert on the tour quite a few times I noticed that in NYC right now his hair was hardly grey. It definitely was more grey on tour, but I have no real answer other than he did have more grey on tour.

[BSoBW2]

Posted: 7/23/07 at 8:04pm

I am still trying to see Gary Beach as Thenardier. He was out both times I saw the revival.

I was really excited to see Ben Davis and then he got sacked.

So maybe I will try to see it again when Beach return - although the thought of seeing Chip Zien is pretty great, too.

But Drew Sarich is taking over? Gosh, I don't know if I can sit through a show with him at the helm.

[Marway44]

Posted: 7/23/07 at 9:36pm

Thanks Lizzie and TLK! I see what you are talking about when you say he does not age well. Perhaps that's the reason. It makes sense and answers my question.

And Lizzie, thanks very much for pointing out my careless error on the name. When I say low, I mean his voice was low and if you didn't know the words it would be hard to hear and understand.

[GClef2]

Posted: 7/23/07 at 9:47pm

When you say their voices were low, what do you mean?

Were they flat (underpitch)? or weren't loud enough?

[Marway44]

Posted: 7/23/07 at 10:07pm

GClef,

By low I mean their whole tone was low. Usually the person playing these parts are more powerful. Like the Pimp, when he got mad: he wasn't forceful enough with his voice. And the foreman, usually their is more power in the formans voice. I guess I am just being to critical, and need to stop doing so much comparing. But a great example of "low" would be Max. He had no power, no boom in his voice, and no leadership qualities.