Les Misérables

Les Mis due for Malmö, Sweden. Lots of cast rumours so far, but none is actually confirmed, I think*. Swedish papers mention John Martin Bengtsson as Enjolras (he was, hands down, the best Enjolras I've ever seen, in Det Ny Teater's 2009 production). But he is cast as Fiyero in Det Ny Teater's "Wicked", so neeeh.

http://www.expressen.se/noje/1.1962129/les-miserables-klar-for-malmo
http://www.expressen.se/noje/1.1941507/lassgard-erbjuden-storroll-pa-malmo-opera





*Though Rolf Lassgård is said to have been offered one of the lead roles. Which is strange. He's not really a singer. Sure he's been in Chicago (Bill Flynn) and Hairspray, but those roles aren't as vocally challenging as neither Valjean nor Javert?

Les Mis in Sweden, yay! Sounds really interesting, hope to hear more about the cast soon.

I saw Les Mis again tonight (tour I mean and only because I got a company seat) and it was actually better than last week. I sort of got peoples interpretations of the characters better tonight, and of course JOJ was back after being stranded in Egypt. I had really annoying people behind me however and one of them was a real know-it-all who informed the others in her group after one asked "Who is Victor Hugo?" "Oh he also wrote Phantom but he is very old now." Yes, he is old, VERY old... some people *honestly*

I had very annoying people behind me on Saturday too. One woman was giving her husband a running commentary throughout the show. There was also a guy who made loads of noise rustling a bag of sweets during all the quiet bits, the bishop's bit, for example. He couldn't have been that hungry, 10 minutes into the show! And don't get me started on theaters selling popcorn. Still, it was an excellent show. JOJ and Earl Carpenter were particularly good (wasn't too keen on Earl's wig, it was too short and a bit messy looking.) I got the understudy for Marius. I can't remember his name, but he was great. I wasn't crazy about the Thenardiers. They weren't evil enough for my liking, although they were quite funny. I liked the rest of the cast. I'm actually going back tomorrow, but I have no good reason for doing so!

dolly-ry wrote:"Who is Victor Hugo?" "Oh he also wrote Phantom but he is very old now."

Haha, my stomach aches from laughing

Helen wrote:I'm actually going back tomorrow, but I have no good reason for doing so!

You don't need a reason If I had the chance to see it several times I would definitely do it!

dolly-ry wrote:and of course JOJ was back after being stranded in Egypt.

Wait, the dude was stranded in Egypt? I just had a mental image of JOJ walking around the pyramids calling out some 'hello's'!

*insert "Morning mood" by Edvard Grieg*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gH1JMdWpJ54

(which is to describe the Pyramides and desert in sunrise)

Helen wrote:I wasn't crazy about the Thenardiers. They weren't evil enough for my liking, although they were quite funny.

That sounds familiar. The last Thenardier couple I saw was extremely funny...especially during the bargaining with Valjean for little Cosette, but there wasn't much menace to them at all in general. The only time Thenardier was even remotely sinister was during "Dog Eats Dog," but it seemed random since he was just a sleazy buffoon up til that point.

Also...the idea of JOJ wandering lost amid the Pyramids is

JOJ was stranded in Egypt for the first week of Edinburgh (apart from the Saturday) because of the volcanic ash cloud. He wasn't stranded alone wandering the pyramids don't worry

I think the understudy Marius was Luke Kempner Helen? You would have saw his first performance (or second considering whether you went to the matinee or evening.) I agree on Earl's wig, it looked unkempt and greasy, not at all what you expect from a Javert really. And I agree on Lynne and Ashley as the Thenardiers. I didn't enjoy Dog Eat Dog as much as I usually do as it really needs a menacing Thenardier to carry it off.

I was sitting next to Gareth Gates wife last night... rather hillarious. And part of the "know-it-all who didn't infact know anything" group also was humming along to all the songs, it was really annoying and when Gavroche said "General Lamarque is dead" one of them went really loudly "WHO?" Oh for goodness sake they just told you who in "Look Down" but whatever.

And don't get me started on the popcorn...

dolly-ry wrote:
I think the understudy Marius was Luke Kempner Helen? You would have saw his first performance (or second considering whether you went to the matinee or evening.)

Luke Kempner, that's his name! I was at the matinee, so it would have been his first. He did really well, I'd never have guessed that it was his first performance. When you were there, was the sound a bit dodgy? Sometimes I felt that a lot of the microphones weren't turned up loud enough and as a result the music drowned out a bit of the singing?

Wait, the dude was stranded in Egypt? I just had a mental image of JOJ walking around the pyramids calling out some 'hello's'!

I'll have that image in my head all through the performance tomorrow!

ML6 wrote:

dolly-ry wrote:and of course JOJ was back after being stranded in Egypt.

Wait, the dude was stranded in Egypt? I just had a mental image of JOJ walking around the pyramids calling out some 'hello's'!

I had a bearded vagabond image too, but of course, he was wearing a ski cap in the desert.

The sound was really bad last Wednesday, very quiet but nothing compared to how it was on Tuesday Evening... most of the mics were turned up enough but they weren't picking up the start of most peoples lines meaning a lot of songs had half the words missing (especially notice in big group numbers such as One Day More and Look Down.)

I went again today. The sound was better, but that may have been because I was closer to the stage. Gareth Gates was on, I liked him. The Thenardiers were still funny but not evil. I spent a lot of their scenes watching the ensemble. JOJ and Earl were on top form, but Earl's wig needs to be changed. It's awful.

Apparently JOJ and Gareth Gates are singing songs from Les Mis on BBC Radio 2 tonight at 8pm British time:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00sfwjl

Er, yeah, so I know very little about the Jonas brothers but one of them is going to be Marius in London for a few weeks and is probably going to be the Marius for the 25th Anniversary Concert at the O2...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1282008/Jonas-Brothers-star-Nick-make-West-End-debut-Les-Miserables.html

Group trip to the O2 anyone?

Helen wrote:

dolly-ry wrote:
I think the understudy Marius was Luke Kempner Helen? You would have saw his first performance (or second considering whether you went to the matinee or evening.)

Luke Kempner, that's his name! I was at the matinee, so it would have been his first. He did really well, I'd never have guessed that it was his first performance.

Isn't he going out with Niamh Perry from LSD LND?

Scorp wrote:Er, yeah, so I know very little about the Jonas brothers but one of them is going to be Marius in London for a few weeks and is probably going to be the Marius for the 25th Anniversary Concert at the O2...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1282008/Jonas-Brothers-star-Nick-make-West-End-debut-Les-Miserables.html

Group trip to the O2 anyone?

Just read about this too. Must admit I don't know much about the guy, but that he's been involved with the show before hopefully means he's not totally crap since they decide to use him again Especially if he's going to be a part of the O2 Concert cast. I've read a lot of different rumors but has any of the cast actually been confirmed for the concert?
Definitely in for a group trip this concert is a must see!

All I know is that the Jonas Brothers are a teeny bopper band along the line of Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus. Think Disney child star and that's what Nick Jonas is like. I know he has been Gavroche but... I don't know, he will be good in a concert I guess BUT he is also doing three weeks in the show so yeah...

Some of the Les Mis cast will be singing on French radio today in their Les Mis Special.
You can listen live HERE

wow! I love le mis, and one of my best friends, Garret Henderson starred in the Wichita Production!

So is anyone bothering to go and see the concert at the O2? The ticket prices are so steep that I'm not sure it's worth it. What is the venue like? If you sit that far away, is it even worth it? I went to the O2 back when it was the Dome (that was pointless, lol) but not since it became the O2. The cast don't really mean much to me and as it is I'll be seeing the tour at the Barbican so not sure if I will want to Miz it up again.

Also, is anyone booking for the original production on the night of 8th October? That is if the Miz fans haven't booked up that performance already.

3 productions in one city simultaneously = craziness but typical Cameron Mackintosh. Will PoTO be similarly celebrated next year? Doubt it...

Trailer thingy here: http://www.broadwayworld.com/videoplay.php?colid=136866

Scorp wrote:So is anyone bothering to go and see the concert at the O2? The ticket prices are so steep that I'm not sure it's worth it. What is the venue like? If you sit that far away, is it even worth it? I went to the O2 back when it was the Dome (that was pointless, lol) but not since it became the O2. The cast don't really mean much to me and as it is I'll be seeing the tour at the Barbican so not sure if I will want to Miz it up again.

I wanted to go but then the tickets went on sale and wow... 150 for what I guess should be a really good seat, that's pricey. But on the other hand, if you bother going you don't wanna pay 30 and end up in a seat somewhere there you can't see what's happening on stage. Maybe we will get a DVD of the event anyway and it might be more worth it to watch it at home I've spent quite a lot of money on musicals this year so far, and going to see Phantom om the 9th October and Les Mis at the Barbican in September. Not sure I will actually bother to go.

EarlFan wrote:

Scorp wrote:So is anyone bothering to go and see the concert at the O2? The ticket prices are so steep that I'm not sure it's worth it. What is the venue like? If you sit that far away, is it even worth it? I went to the O2 back when it was the Dome (that was pointless, lol) but not since it became the O2. The cast don't really mean much to me and as it is I'll be seeing the tour at the Barbican so not sure if I will want to Miz it up again.

I wanted to go but then the tickets went on sale and wow... 150 for what I guess should be a really good seat, that's pricey. But on the other hand, if you bother going you don't wanna pay 30 and end up in a seat somewhere there you can't see what's happening on stage. Maybe we will get a DVD of the event anyway and it might be more worth it to watch it at home I've spent quite a lot of money on musicals this year so far, and going to see Phantom om the 9th October and Les Mis at the Barbican in September. Not sure I will actually bother to go.

Yeah I think I'll give it a miss too, I really can't justify the price, especially when there are so many plays I want to see this year. And there was I thinking prices were steep for the Barbican!

Scorp wrote: And there was I thinking prices were steep for the Barbican!

Haha, yeah

Just read that the 25th anniversary recording will now be released in July. Yay! That's soon Looking forward to the release!

The 25th Anniversary tour is booked in LA in July... 2011. w00t!

I'm not thrilled about the stunt casting (the Jonas Brothers make me sick, I've never heard of the people playing Valjean, Eponine, and Thenardier, and I didn't like Lewis' Javert), though Salonga is a strong Fantine, and Galloway is always good as Mme. Thenardier.

SenorSwanky wrote:I'm not thrilled about the stunt casting (the Jonas Brothers make me sick, I've never heard of the people playing Valjean, Eponine, and Thenardier, and I didn't like Lewis' Javert), though Salonga is a strong Fantine, and Galloway is always good as Mme. Thenardier.

THANK GOD. Someone else who didn't like Norm Lewis as Javert! I thought I was the only one! His Javert is WAY, WAY too nice. Javert has to be clipped, obsessive, and to the book. I will say that Roger Allum is the only person I loved in the role, and its a shame he has not reprised it.

I just don't really like Lewis' voice, and yeah, he is too sunny in his actual demeanor to be mean as the Javert character. Philip Quast is my favorite, though Allam is also awesome.

SenorSwanky wrote:I just don't really like Lewis' voice, and yeah, he is too sunny in his actual demeanor to be mean as the Javert character. Philip Quast is my favorite, though Allam is also awesome.

Roger needs to come back. Perhaps he can be persuaded? I've been meaning to write him a fan letter, since I'm long overdue for this years batch.

I just booked myself two cheap seats in the Upper Circle of the Queen's for the night of 8 October; figured that would be a more affordable and quite possibly more exciting way of celebrating the 25th anniversary than attending the O2 concert, especially since it's on the night itself rather than in advance. Any takers for the other ticket?

**

Finally got to see the new touring production at the historic Châtelet on Tuesday. 11th time seeing the show in total I think, and now my third city in which I've seen Miz after New York and London. Not the best seats in the world (too expensively priced, all this Mis stuff...), but I think I saw almost everything. In brief: John Owen-Jones has really, really matured into a superb and convincing Valjean. I thought he was fantastic in the role as it was when I last saw him perform it in the original production, but somehow he has got the role nailed down to every little detail. I just can't see how you could improve on it; it is utter perfection. Earl Carpenter also really impressed me as Javert. I think I am in the minority in saying this but when I first saw him as Javert at the Queen's a few years ago I didn't really care for his performance. Somehow he has improved both vocally and in the acting department too to become a very fine Javert. Jon Robyns possibly makes a better Enjolras than he did a Marius, although I don't think he's 100% quite right for the role. Gareth Gates, while not the best Marius I've seen, laid any fears to rest about his ability: he can sing AND act very well and his youthfulness suits the part, as does Katie Hall's for Cosette. I wouldn't mind seeing either of them take on those roles in the West End production. I don't know who the current London Marius is but from the EPK footage, if it's the same one, I think I prefer Gates in the role. The only cast member I was not so sure about was Madelena Alberto as Fantine. I found her rendition of 'I Dreamed A Dream' a bit lacking in layers and nuance. There was no sense of sadness, loss or defeat, just a load of belting, even if she does have a pretty voice.

Overall I really enjoyed the new production and -- is this blasphemy? -- I thought many aspects of it were an improvement over the original. Matt Kinley's projections are excellent and fit in very well with the design; it is far cry from the disastrous and distracting 'video game' mess that the projections in The Woman in White amounted to. The best thing was that they really gave you a sense of time and place for each scene, nicely evoking the now gone old pre-Haussmann Paris, which the original production doesn't do. Fantine singing 'I Dreamed a Dream' against a background showing the dark side of the industrial revolution taking place in a fast-changing Paris gave a nice new context to the song. I thought the factory setting was more obviously evoked with the new set and especially the students' club was more obviously depicted than it was in the original.

That said, was I being blind or are the legends stating the town and year now gone? I think they should keep those and put them back in; as good as the projections are, they don't make those legends redundant...had it been my first time seeing the show I might have been confused as to how Cosette suddenly grew up so quickly). There were two moments in particular where I thought the projections really served the show: one was in 'One Day More', with the background of the streets moving as the people marched. It actually looked as though the cast WERE marching down the streets, rather than just walking backwards and forwards as to me it has always looked in the original production. The other was Javert's suicide. The combination of those projections and the new bridge that Javert jumped off = a truly WOW moment for me. It was so well done that I'm not even quite sure how they did it! It actually looks like Javert has jumped off a bridge and drowned...it's a great special effect that manages to 'wow' you just like the best moments in Phantom do, yet without destroying the simplicity of the staging.

Of course there are some elements of the original production that I missed -- the revolving barricade, the projected dates, the Thénardiers doing their lines in 'One Day More' from the gutter rather than here from a balcony -- but they were mostly minor things. I don't think Les Mis is anywhere near as dependent on its original staging as Phantom is, so I could happily see this new production in place of the original I think. Some scenes were lifted straight out of the original and staged almost identically anyway. I noticed that the costume designer hasn't changed, which I thought was a bit odd. Some costumes remain the same (e.g. Valjean's army uniform that he wears during 'Bring Him Home') but others have changed, in some cases for the worse I think. I prefer Cosette's black dress in the original to what she wears in this production. It would be interesting to see what a die-hard Mizzie would make of this or whether these changes are intolerable to such a fan.

Mick Potter should take a bow for the sound design -- crystal clear and the sound really felt full and properly audible throughout the theatre (which felt rather large to me after being so used to seeing Mis at the Queen's, it took me back to the days when the show was performed at the Palace). They should get him to update the London production, especially since he was responsible for the digital upgrade in Phantom.

Unfortunately I think a lot of the humour was lost on the audience. The surtitles in French didn't do a great job of communicating the humour such that the only people who laughed at clearly comic moments were the English-speakers in the audience (e.g. translating 'or I'll forget to be nice' as 'or I'll be less nice' doesn't quite do it). It didn't seem to matter though; the audience was on its feet at the end, it seems even the locals really enjoyed it. And of course the wonderful thing about seeing Les Mis in Paris is that you don't get people coming out of the theatre saying 'Wow, I've learnt so much about the French Revolution!', which to this day bugs me to no end in London.

After some deliberation I decided to go to the stage door, whereupon JOJ completely creeped me out by identifying me as Scorp as soon as he walked out of the stage door! How he knows my username is beyond me and that he remembers me surprises me as well, since the last time I spoke to him personally was at the stage door of the Queen's in the very, very early days of his run as Valjean there just after he had left Phantom...so that was, what, 2006? Ended up calling him a weirdo. I asked him what his upcoming projects were and he said he did have a few but had to keep quiet about them for now. He's doing that Three Phantoms tour thing again apparently (which I've never seen...has anyone here been?). Asked if he'd come back to Her Majesty's, he said, "we'll see...". One can only hope. But that confirms that he won't be the one taking over the mask from David Shannon in September.

P.S. I was in quite a Miz mood afterwards, so the following morning while I was waiting around for someone I did some roaming and found this...a cannon ball lodged in an old medieval building. The cannon ball is dated 28 July 1830 - it would have come from the riots of the July Revolution that Les Mis depicts: