Les Miserables

I have never been a fan of this show even though I have never actually seen it. I had a "best of" Cd and it put me to sleep with its insane boring music. However, everyone has always told me that I would like it so much more when I actually saw it, so since it was at Music Circus this season, I figured I would check it out. Allow me to begin with some of the factors I was dealing with while watching it that may have adversely affected my opinion of this show: 1. The woman and child in front of me insisted on whispering constantly and 2. The woman on the end of my row thought humming along to "On my Own" would be a fantastic idea. Also, I may make some Shakespearean comparisons because, well they fit and sometimes I like to pretend I am smart.


This happy little show begins in 1815 where we meet our hero, Jean Valjean (Ivan Rutherford), fresh from serving a 19 year jail sentence for stealing a loaf of bread. Had this not been 1815 France I would have found this to be ridiculous but considering this play will eventually take us to the revolution, it makes sense. He cannot seem to find work because of his past so he decides to leave that past behind, much to the chagrin of Javert (Brad Little), the cop who becomes obsessed with finding Valjean. We jump 8 years and Valjean is explicitly the mayor of a village, apparently it is near his old village (no one said he was smart) and Javert is still haunted by losing him. We are also introduced to a down on her luck Fantine, who has a daughter (Cosette) who is starving and living in bad conditions but Fantine can't seem to get money because she us shunned for having a baby out of wedlock. She sells herself and and before she is arrested she tugs at the heart strings of Valjean and he promises her he will find her and take care of her. Also, for some unknown reason Valjean has superhuman strength and Javert remembers this and when he sees Valjean lift a runaway stage coach, he is reminded of that prisoner. Valjean reveals himself but escapes.


After rescuing Cosette from some truly heinous people, Valjean starts a new life and again we jump time to nine years later. Cosette is a bit older and Valjean is still an idiot because he is still near Javert. Now we meet some young liberal minded men who want to start the revolution and among these people is Marius (Michael Hunsaker). They instantly fall in love, as only those in movies or theater can, but are ripped away when Valjean believes Javert is on his tail yet again. Also the revolution has started and people are being picked off left and right. That is as basic of a plot as I can possibly give, but I know I left some things out.


This musical is still boring, even while watching it staged. The stage constrictions at the Wells Fargo Pavilion make keeping track of everything and everyone nearly impossible. The director apparently told his actors to face every way but where I was sitting because I rarely got faces. The sparse set just doesn't work for me with a show like this. I wanted to see something big and epic to keep up with the giant nature of the score. The orchestra was flawless and the lighting superb but the other technical things were off. Some of the mics were late to be turned on and some turned on too early and a few props seemed to be missing, if you were paying attention (unless they were going Our Town style).


As for the performances well, Valjean is strong but his falsetto wasn't working for me and it actually made me giggle at times. He seemed to be a strong actor in the tender moments but his strong moments didn't really register with me. Javert was a pleasure to watch and listen to, especially in his soliloquy, where like Wosley in Shakespeare's Henry the 5th, he laments how his own ideals have been lost during his life and instead of trying to figure out what to do, he kills himself (a hokey moment given the stage constrictions). One girl I didn't mention during the summary was Eponine (Juliana Ashley Hansen). She is love with Marius, but he sees her as only a friend and at the beginning of act two she sings "On My Own". It is my favorite song in the show and Hansen does not at all disappoint. She was incredibly strong and vulnerable in her conviction to the song and to Marius and played Eponine with more playfulness than I would have imagined and it worked. Of everyone on stage she was the one I felt for and when she was killed, it was the only death that got to me, not unlike Queen Katherine in Henry the 5th as she makes her final grand statement before dying.


As the lovers Cosette and Marius, Laura Griffith and the aforementioned Hunsaker are fine. They don't stand out and make you feel their love and the songs don't help really. The one other guy who incredibly impressed me was Enjolras (Will Ray), Marius' friend. His solo work in "Red and Black" (still a corny ass song) and "Do you hear the people sing" were truly the high points of the show for me. Another high point would be Valjean's "Bring him home." The moment was incredibly tender and while the stage's spinning stage loses it's charm quickly, it works in this moment.


Following in that Shakespearean tragedy format, we are not devoid of a few light moment. Where Macbeth has its witches, we have a husband and wife team that sing the ghastly overrated "Master of the House." It is a funny little number but wears out its welcome very quickly. Also it reappears as a different song later in act 2 (right before the big finale, how very Othello like). While in Othello it was meant to soften us up for the big nasty to follow, this little comic relief right before we see Valjean meet his fate serves as just an obnoxious repeat to what we saw earlier. Maybe it was the two actors, maybe it was the staging, but I could have done without this nonsense.


I have not read the source material or seen the non musical movie version and while this is an incredibly flawed production and musical, the basic story makes me interested int he movie. Watching Javert's obsession take hold of him as Valjean's increasing kindness proves him to be a good guy is an interesting study in right and wrong or good and evil, but in the realm of this musical it takes the form of random choppy encounters. The musical doesn't flow real well, at least this production doesn't. It seems jarring in places where it should move seamlessly like a snake through grass.