I went to see Les Miz tonight with my roommate who is slowly becoming a Broadway person- this was only the third show she'd ever seen on Broadway, (she's seen Chicago once, and Wicked once), she has never seen any touring company of Les Miz, she knew none of the music- she'd never even heard "On My Own" until tonight (nope, not even the awful Katie Holmes/Dawson's Creek rendition). She's pretty much as much of a Les Miz newcomer as you could get.
So during intermission the conversation went a little something like this:
Me- "So...what do you think?"
Her- "So, um, Fantine? I mean, she's not good. What's with the whole breathy thing? And the voice. Has she done other shows before? Why does she sound like that, is that supposed to be her having street cred or something? But everyone else is so good, yay! But the Fantine- I wish I could've seen it with a good Fantine."
And I felt pretty much the same way- I mean, except for the 'has she done other shows before' question.
I've been reading this thread over the past few days, thinking that there's no way this is going to be as bad as some are saying it is, that maybe since I've 'only' seen Les Miz on stage five times, all of them on various tours, that I won't notice and be as critical of the Fantine performance as someone who saw it more often than that on Broadway, etc. But it was really bad- honestly I felt that her Fantine was distracting enough that I have already, within the space of just the past two hours, told people I know to wait until she's taking those weeks off before going to see Les Miz.
Everything else tonight was brilliant- I almost cried during "On My Own" and "Bring Him Home," I did cry during the Finale. I loved seeing Les Miz on stage again, and finally being able to see it on Broadway. I just wish it had been with a good Fantine.
As they say, your mileage may vary.
eta: my roommate borrowed my iPod on the ride home to listen to "I Dreamed a Dream" from the OBCR, which is when Fantine finally got an "oh, ok- I like it!"
Updated On: 10/28/06 at 01:20 AM
