drew sarich as javert on 4/28 and 4/29 — Page 2

Thank you. I am interested.
It seems like you are saying Tuesday night and both of Wednesday's performances.
Can you say why Ben Davis is out?


p.s. I have seats for Thursday night. Is there a (good) chance Drew will (still) be on as Javert?

Ben came down with a viral infection.
http://forum.lestatmusical.com/index.php?gettopic=1121&p=4#12973

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Me too, but it can be a good source of information sometimes...

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I saw Drew tonight.. he was alright.. I liked him in act two more.. although his line.. "In the days of my youth".. was almost laughable... he looked younger than the other students..ha.. Doug was great as Marius I thought. Why doesn't drew cover Marius.. seems he would fair better there?? Mandy is not good.. pretty thou.

Just saw today's show. Though Drew is a tad too youthful looking and his voice not quite deep enough, he still won me over with a terrifically acted character. Really liked the choices he made and his Suicide was a real highlight. And his singing was technically strong and never off-pitch. Liked his interactions with Valjean as well.

New Eponine (Mandy Bruno) is IMO horrid. More than half the notes were off-pitch and she didn't do anything with the character. And, my god, she struck a pose when Gavroche sang "That's Eponine...". It was so cheesy.

Doug Kreeger was pretty good as Marius. Pretty voice, nice acting, liked him better than Adam Jacobs.

Didn't like Max von Essen's Enjolras. He's a good-looking man but he had some awful hairstyle (wig?). Also, his voice sounded very weak - he was hitting the notes, but you could barely hear him. And he really made no character choices either - way too bland to inspire all these students to follow him.

All MHO, of course.

Or you could give him a chance StarStuck, you might decide you like him

I've heard Norm talk about his whole new approach to Javert and I love That so much, I hate to see them just throw Drew in to do it.
Norm will just be my favorite, I'm sorry.
Drew just strikes me as too nerdy.

And yes, Anna, I agree.
Norm is probably one the friendliest, huggiest people I have ever met, especially at the stage door.
And since you know that's how he is it can detract you from Javert.
But that's all part of what he was going for, the whole "Javert isn't necessarily a Villian, but just a man fighting for what he has known as right, and then questioning it" and so on, he's not just the bad guy anymore.

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Drew was again on last night (Thursday May 3). He was "originally" scheduled to be on as Javert for Mothers Day weekend, but I guess because Ben Davis reportedly has the flu, Drew has been continuing.
Is Ben still scheduled to be out with the flu for Mothers Day weekend? Or has that flu period been rescheduled?

Anyway, I have to agree that I liked Drew better in Act II.
Possibly, it just took me some time to get used to seeing his face as Javert's.


Just a few other things:
Ann Harada is most improved as Madame T. Her opening performance (4/24) was pale, but now she is actually good (and fun).
I previously guessed that Mandy Bruno appeared to be about 5' 9". She is 5' 5", but still looks on stage much taller than Celia. [How short is Celia?]
Kylie was Young Cosette; Carly was Young Eponine, and she acted, with motions and facial expressions not previously observed -- An adorable future star.

p.s. As always, either Alex or Lea alone is worth the price of admission.

No offense. I wish Ben Davis well. And I did enjoy his initial performance on April 24.

I am happy that I got to see Drew, at least once, as Javert.


p.s. He didn't swim at all. He pretty much seemed to die on impact.

First Aaron, now Ben. Man, I wouldn't want Drew to be my understudy, haha.

Don't forget Hugh Panaro.

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Is Robert Hunt still with the revival? You'd think they might give him stage time while Ben is out since he knows the part very well (3NT).

I saw the show 4/29 and I nearly choked when I saw the board in the lobby.

That being said I really wasnt a fan of his Javert. I feel like its weird for him to even be a Javert u/s. His voice is kind of weird for the role. Most of the Javerts I have seen or heard have deeper voices and I felt like Drew tried to make his voice sound deeper and it ended up making him sound hoarse and it was weird. There were a few moments where he did sound really good but I wonder why they arent having Ben Crawford do some of the shows.

As for the rest of the new cast, I actually really enjoyed Max Von Essen. His hair is really horrible but he sounded so good Sunday. Ann Harada takes some getting used to but I think she'll really be good in the role. Mandy Bruno is horrible. Id like to say that given a few weeks she'll be better but I dont think she will be. And Doug Kreeger was amazing. I actually think he sounded like Adam Jacobs at some points but he is really really good and is such a nice guy.