Valjean understudy - Holy WOW!

Saw the new Les Mis last night and it was spectacular. I didn't see the last tour but it's completely different from the original production and it's thrilling. The cast is superb... the weakest link is definitely Nikki M. James but overall it's pretty stellar!

I was a little upset at first that the Valjean understudy was in... Aaron Walpole, but holy yowza... this guy was effing fantastic! He literally stopped the show after "Bring him home." People were shouting bravo and they wouldn't stop clapping for a minute or two... he had to stand there and just take it. I've never seen a stop in Les Mis before. Pretty remarkable especially for the understudy.

Samantha hill is also wonderful she could be singing at the MET soon if she wanted. Great surprise!

How do you think the show will fare at the Tonys? Any acting nods on its horizon?

I went in thinking "we just had a les mis revival and there's no way this will be competition at this year's TONy's." But I walked out thinking... damn this is going to give Hedwig and Violet actual competition. I think we will definitely see a couple of these get tony nods. My fave was definitely Keala Settle... that girl is just amazing. I doubt she'd get a Tony nod for this but voters love her... There's also a definite possibility for Caissie Levy. Her acting was wonderful, but it's not the best I dreamed a dream you'll ever hear...

I saw him Monday night. He had a rough start, but he got better as the night went on, and his Bring Him Home was incredible. I saw Nathaniel Hackman understudy Valjean on the tour, and he was INCREDIBLE. They really need to let him go on!

---

There are two Valjean understudies. Has Nathaniel Hackmann gone on yet?

He went on when he was on tour, but has yet to go on on Broadway. Aaron was on this week Monday-Wednesday.

I, too, saw Aaron last night and was absolutely blown away. I saw Ramin a couple weeks ago and found his performance to be pretty over the top. A lot of loud singing, a lot of sharp notes, a lot of playing more conversational scenes to a theatre much larger than the Imperial. Overall, I was pretty disappointed in Ramin. Aaron, I thought, was more grounded and natural. He has a completely unexpected but beautiful voice. I was thrilled by him.

I saw Aaron Wednesday night too, and I thought he was fantastic. As I famously said on the other thread, I was prepared to leave at intermission if we got the understudy, but he ended up being one of the main reasons I stayed. (I did feel like some of the physicality was staged for Ramin, who's obviously a different body type, but that's small potatoes.) No doubt Aaron was making a lot of new fans this week, myself included. I don't think this show is going anywhere anytime soon, so I'd love to see Aaron take over when Ramin leaves.

---

In terms of body types, I wonder if the alternate JVJs are taller than Ramin -- he always struck me as too short for the Phantom, whom I picture as tall and lithe (and older) and for JVJ, whom I picture as tall and brawny.

Regarding Samantha Hill, I saw her on Broadway in, I think, her second performance as the alternate Christine Daae. She blew me away, and I wasn't surprised when she became the main Christine and Marni Raab became the alternate.

BTW, is "alternate" the correct term for an actor who plays some in some of the performances every week? Does it matter if they switch off equally or if one is clearly primary?

---

Aaron placed 3rd on a season of 'Canadian Idol' back in the day. I was always impressed by his ability to act pop songs (however subtly), and his voice is tremendous. Only after seeing him on TV did I realize I'd already seen him as a gangster in Guys and Dolls at the Stratford Festival, where he understudied Bruce Dow as Nicely Nicely. Glad to hear that he's going on as Valjean and winning folks over.

Hoping to see him August 10, SO EXCITED!!

Samantha hill is also wonderful she could be singing at the MET soon if she wanted. Great surprise!

Have you been to the Met?

Updated On: 7/25/14 at 01:09 PM

No knock on Ramin, but he had so much hype I was kinda meh to him. There was no way he could have lived up to the expectation. Aaron I knew from Jesus Christ Superstar and Rock of Ages which are such different vocal styles that he just blew me away. Easily my favorite JVJ experience live in person