The Les Miz revival- Page 2

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 8/22/07 at 4:41pm

Chip is a wonderful Thenardier.

I loved Ann Harada in Avenue Q, but she is horribly miscast in Les Miz. Bring back Fuschia Walker, please.

Lea Salonga delivered a gorgeous performance. The best Fantine I've seen.

Max von Essen was a strong and memorable Enjolras.

Marius, Eponine and Cosette were unfortunately not too memorable. They performed well, but none of them really stood out for me.

I actually remember seeing Drew Sarich as Quasimodo in the somewhat misguided production of Der Glöckner von Notre Dame in Berlin. His Valjean is quite good, but the Javert (I'm sorry I can't recall the actor's name at the moment) seemed too young and contemporary for the role.

But then, nothing can erase the memory of seeing Dave Clemmons and Chuck Wagner as Valjean and Javert (respectively) on tour years ago. They were the best team I've ever seen in Les Miz. Their chemistry was electrifying.

As for the changes in the score, I really hate that they cut the few Little People moments for Gavroche and just reprised his melodic verses from Look Down. ESPECIALLY in his final scene which was far less dramatic and completely anticlimactic. That was the only scene in the show that was truly weakened in the rewrites. It was absolutely awful. The orchestrations didn't bother me a bit, but the Gavroche rewrites are complete garbage.

[gypsiedtokill]

Posted: 8/22/07 at 6:01pm

How is Megan McGinnis? I saw Celia and her Eponine wasn't nearly as endearing as I thought she'd be...

[Marianne]

Posted: 8/22/07 at 6:59pm

Celia's Eponine wasn't meant to be endearing. She was meant to be slightly creepy and slightly stalkerish and utterly without social skills--which I found to be brilliant and a total breath of fresh air. Taking one of the most teenybopperized characters in musical theater and giving her flaws? That takes guts.

Megan isn't exactly a traditional Eponine, but she's more sympathetic than Celia was in the role. She's almost playing her like an ingenue. With Megan opposite Ali Ewoldt, whose Cosette is impatient with Valjean to the point of brattiness, there's a bit of a role reversal--Ali's Cosette is actually spunkier than Megan's sweet, shy Eponine.

[TLKfan]

Posted: 8/22/07 at 8:39pm

I haven't seen a Eponine that I've really enjoyed for a while and Megan was so great. I was just glad to see someone not overly force the notes or words to come out.

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 8/23/07 at 9:54am

Megan was ok, but her shy take on Eponine really put the character on the back burner to the point where you would forget she was in the show. And her voice didn't carry at all. There was no resonance. After listening to Lea belt her heart out in the first act, Megan was a bit of a letdown. The combination of these two things made her practically invisible during One Day More. The notes don't need to be forced to create a rich tone. She simply didn't have much presence, in my opinion.

[massofmen]

Posted: 8/23/07 at 11:12am

IMHO, Megan McGinnis is one of the most wonderfully understated actresses of broadway today. With all these girls being big and bland, screaming high notes to attract attention, and acting like they were doing it for the school of the deaf, I think its amazingly refreshing to see someone actually have a connection to a character. And not just have a connection, but express that to the audience without HUGE antics.
If I see one more girl on stage use their hands like they were flying away I might actually have to take a break from seeing Broadway musical theater. Flapping your hands up and down does not show angst, happiness, or anything else. Well it does show one thing, inexperience and desperation.
Ms. Mcginnis was the best thing about Little Women on broadway because she brought the audience to her, while most other actresses are screaming out to them. Her voice, while intimate, does something electrifying and moving. It is powerful not in its Decibel level, but in its emotional prowess. Her ways of phrasing are rare in this stage of musical theater, and her use of dynamic tactics are beautiful. Thank God she doesn't scream the role of eponine like most of the others did.
If you read the novel eponine is not a ONE NOTE character. she was Screwed by her dad mutiple times, she is a girl with a heart who only gets to show it to one boy, Marius. She doesn't want to be a stret Urchin, and as such shen finds her heart. She finds out what love is for the first time in her life. You don't have to BELT LOUDLY to show the audience this, as ms. mcginnis clearly shows.
I hope she stays around for a long time to show us all what "Keep It Simple Stupid" really means.

[Marianne]

Posted: 8/23/07 at 1:18pm

Haha. You're using the novel to back up Megan's interpretation and not Celia's? Eponine in the book was a messed-up kid in wretched poverty who did a lot of desperate things out of her obsession with Marius. Not an ingenue in rags.

Don't get me wrong, Megan's got a solid interpretation. But wherever it comes from, it's not Hugo.

[massofmen]

Posted: 8/24/07 at 11:26am

wow, i didnt know that you actually talked to her about her take and where she got it from. Thats awesome that you guys are such good friends that you can talk to her about that stuff.
gimme a break

[broadwaylover423]

Posted: 8/24/07 at 12:15pm

Has anyone seen Haviland Stillwell as Fantine? I love both Lea and Nikki's portrayals, so I'm curious about Haviland.

[winston89]

Posted: 8/24/07 at 12:30pm

I have yet to see Haviland's Fantine. But, I want to. I know that she is going on for most of next week. If you go to her myspace myspace.com/havilandstillwell she lists a schedule of when she is going to be on as Fantine. I just saw it for the 10th time yesterday and Becca Ayers was on as Mem. Thenardier. She was AMAZING. Not to mention the fact that it was her first ttime on as the role. And considering the fact that a couple of people in the cast reconize me after going so often. But, Les Miserables has the friendliest cast on broadway so it is nice to see them and get a warm " how you doin" at the stage door.