#1
Posted: 7/16/09 at 1:18pm
Has anyone seen Pittsburgh CLO's performance of Les Miserables? I hear it's getting great reviews: Here's one of them.
"
"Les Miz" is a test of endurance, for both the audience during that two-hour first act and the principals who must carry it. The weight fell squarely on the strong, able shoulders of Fred Inkley, a Broadway veteran as Jean Valjean, who made his Pittsburgh CLO debut Tuesday night with the commanding presence and vocal range that the role demands. We suffer with him as he agonizes and ages before our eyes. He was matched toe-to-toe by Robert Cuccioli's relentless, unyielding Javert.
The young principals among the cast made strong impressions, particularly selfless Eponine, who was embodied by Ashley Spencer, a finalist in the TV competition "Grease: You're the One That I Want," and Kevin Earley as the student leader Enjolras. Matthew Scott (Marius) and Kate Loprest (Cosette) had the right amount of earnest longing as the young lovers who may get a chance at tomorrow.
The CLO production that runs through July 19 at the Benedum Center includes a beefed-up orchestra of 23 musicians. But this show was all about the performances and the voices -- on display to the point of straining or shouting at points. There were a couple of other minor opening-night glitches, with a momentary dead mic or a spotlight that didn't immediately hit its mark. The lighting was mostly on target, though, creating the illusions of space and atmosphere, as in the scene where Valjean rescues Marius and carries him through the sewers under Paris. The big, familiar ballads -- Fantine's "I Dreamed a Dream," Eponine's "On My Own" -- were performed with the curtains drawn behind the spotlighted singers.
Tim Hartman, as the devious, devilish Thernadier, got to be "Master of the House" in his bawdy tavern, and there were those brave boys at the barricade, with that big, bright red flag to wave. But this was a rather intimate revolution, with the appropriately gloomy sets fading into the dark. The CLO focus was squarely on the Herbert Kretzmer/Claude-Michel Schonberg score and the work of some formidable performers."
Sharon Eberson can be reached at seberson@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1960.
First published on July 9, 2009 at 12:00 am
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09190/982660-325.stm#ixzz0LRcFv3TF
etting great reviews.
"
"Les Miz" is a test of endurance, for both the audience during that two-hour first act and the principals who must carry it. The weight fell squarely on the strong, able shoulders of Fred Inkley, a Broadway veteran as Jean Valjean, who made his Pittsburgh CLO debut Tuesday night with the commanding presence and vocal range that the role demands. We suffer with him as he agonizes and ages before our eyes. He was matched toe-to-toe by Robert Cuccioli's relentless, unyielding Javert.
The young principals among the cast made strong impressions, particularly selfless Eponine, who was embodied by Ashley Spencer, a finalist in the TV competition "Grease: You're the One That I Want," and Kevin Earley as the student leader Enjolras. Matthew Scott (Marius) and Kate Loprest (Cosette) had the right amount of earnest longing as the young lovers who may get a chance at tomorrow.
The CLO production that runs through July 19 at the Benedum Center includes a beefed-up orchestra of 23 musicians. But this show was all about the performances and the voices -- on display to the point of straining or shouting at points. There were a couple of other minor opening-night glitches, with a momentary dead mic or a spotlight that didn't immediately hit its mark. The lighting was mostly on target, though, creating the illusions of space and atmosphere, as in the scene where Valjean rescues Marius and carries him through the sewers under Paris. The big, familiar ballads -- Fantine's "I Dreamed a Dream," Eponine's "On My Own" -- were performed with the curtains drawn behind the spotlighted singers.
Tim Hartman, as the devious, devilish Thernadier, got to be "Master of the House" in his bawdy tavern, and there were those brave boys at the barricade, with that big, bright red flag to wave. But this was a rather intimate revolution, with the appropriately gloomy sets fading into the dark. The CLO focus was squarely on the Herbert Kretzmer/Claude-Michel Schonberg score and the work of some formidable performers."
Sharon Eberson can be reached at seberson@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1960.
First published on July 9, 2009 at 12:00 am
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09190/982660-325.stm#ixzz0LRcFv3TF
etting great reviews.
.
