Archive for Musicals.Net Musicals.Net |
| EponinesRain |
Ridiculously long revival review. Hey, you asked for it!Les Miserables review: Broadhurst Theater on Broadway, New York.Sunday, September 16, 2007 @ 3 pm Disclaimer: I know it may be unfair to compare casts since each performer brings something unique to a role, but just so you know where I�m coming from�the only other Les Mis show I�ve seen was with the 2006 West End cast. It starred John Owen Jones, Cornell John, Kerry Ellis, Hayden Tee, Barry James, Claire Moore, Shonagh Daly, Julia Moller, and Shaun Escoffrey. Also, since I�ve only seen the production once before, I�ve been living off of the TAC recording, TAC DVD, and Youtube clips  . (Hahaha, I didn�t notice that I wrote �living� until much later. Freudian slip? :p) That is to say, my ear may be more accustomed to those performances and so something might personally sound very odd to me, when it actually may be just fine. Also, since I haven�t seen the show as many times as a lot of you, some of my thoughts may fall under the Dead Horse thread! 
Finally, I know that it�s so much easier to critique than it is to perform, so pardon me if I�m picky about the most trivial things (�Omg, she must be ODC.�), or if I�m being way too harsh on your favorite performers. I�m no music or theater expert and have a lot of respect for anybody who can pull this show off 8 times a week! So, make of this review what you will. Okay, here we go! The Cast: Drew Sarich (Valjean): Maybe I�ve been affected by some of the comments made at this forum, but some of Drew�s gesticulations were indeed odd to me. He�d point/look straight out to the audience, which is fine b/c some of the students did so, too; but he did it in a way that seemed to break the fourth wall. It made �Who Am I��err�fun to watch? Has anybody also noticed the head-bobbing thing he does sometimes? :p His very American pronounciations didn�t do for me, either. Again, I�m used to listening to West End performers so maybe his American accent is fine to some, but it just made me cringe. I�m not asking for a Cockneyed, or British or French accent�but Drew�s sharp Rs and �Puh-loo-may� grated against my ears. Well, at least �Rue Plumet� wasn�t done phonetically, like Megan�s �Rue de Villette�. (They should refer to Moci�s FAQ thread, haha.) And yeah, I know that I�m being very particular about Drew�s performance, but I mean�it isn�t that I want word X exactly like this, or that I want him to act like Y at this exact moment�I�d just like want to watch Valjean�s journey unfold onstage, not an actor explicitly portraying Valjean through the help of costumes and make-up. I�d like to be lost in the diegesis. He also played Valjean much angrier and more defiant than I�m used to seeing, especially with Javert. I mean, I would have liked to see Drew make Valjean more forgiving and understanding of Javert�s situation, as in he knows that Javert is black & white and just doing his job. But, Drew was always rough and angry with Javert, treating him more like a villain than the tragic hero that Hugo intended. Also, I�m used to the gruff, much denser sounding Valjeans, and a relatively young, lanky Drew Sarich made a strong, aged JVJ just slightly unrealistic. To be fair, Drew�s BHH blew me away- he was brilliant in vocals and acting here. I never cared much for the song before (gasp!) but he�s turned that around. His BHH made my eyes mist, hehe. He�s a tenor, anyway, no? I also liked his scene in the sewer and commend him and Adam for all that choreography, what with having to lift Adam over his shoulders over and over again. I think he was much better in Act II, when he wasn�t so overtly trying to fit into neat boxes as a criminal, a criminal with guilt and shame, a criminal turned good, etc. Anyway, Drew had a decent performance overall; I mean, he wasn�t bad�just not great. Again, I�m probably subconsciously comparing him to the popular John Own Jones, so I�m sorry if I�ve stepped on some toes. Robert Hunt (Javert): Not much needs to be said here as he was pretty much flawless in my eyes. His �Stars� and �Javert�s Suicide� gave me chills. This was my parents� first time watching Les Mis and they kept on saying that Rob Hunt was a much better performer than Drew. An unfair comparison, maybe, but I do believe that Rob stole a lot of the show. His acting was spot-on; he was never once out of character. He also brought out the zealot that is Javert with remarkable passion, but was never over-bearing. Again, it�s unfair and trivial, but maybe I had less to nitpick with Rob Hunt b/c he sang with a British accent, which is what I�m used to hearing. Lea Salonga (Fantine): First off, even though I checked Lea�s blog calendar multiple times prior to the show to make sure she was performing that day, the fangirl in me was paranoid that she�d get sick or something and I�d miss her. (*Blink* Wow, that makes me sound so selfish, heh! Err, I wish the Salonga-Chien family good health and happiness year-round!  ) But the coolest thing happened as I was walking towards the theater: before I knew it, I was literally walking to the music of �I Dreamed a Dreamed� because Lea happened to be singing it at a special �Broadway on Broadway� event on 44th and Broadway that afternoon! I heard her voice, saw her face on the big screen, and heaved a sigh of relief, haha. Of course, a sea of fans roared and applauded with approval as soon as she finished. 
As for the show, I said that Rob Hunt stole a lot of it�well, so did Lea. But here�s the thing, though her vocals are unparalleled, it�s her acting that solidified her performance for me. She has this beautiful clear-as-a-bell voice that is a lot thinner than, say, Ruthie Henshall�s or Kerry Ellis�, who sound about the same and who I�ve heard repeatedly. By thinner, I don�t mean weaker, mind you. Just more delicate, maybe. I mean, there�s no question that her voice is totally in control, and my goodness, does this woman have an incredible range or what! Yet, I was moved to tears in �IDAD�, �Come to Me�, and in the finale because of her facial expressions and her perfectly organic gestures. She didn�t just sing the libretto, but she brought out the essence of each piece. Like, you could hear the desperation in her voice and see it on her face, without thinking of Lea at all. She transitioned from despondent lover to Red District whore to bedridden mother so smoothly and naturally that she brought the complexities out of Fantine, without over-doing anything. She was in character the entire time (even playing the bullet boy with much gusto!) that there�s no question why she�s so Tony-worthy. So, I always knew that Lea was an incredible singer, but this showed me why she�s an amazing performer. Gary Beach & Ann Harada (M. & Mme. Thenardier): I expected much worse because of some of the reviews I�ve read here and on other forums, but Gary and Ann actually made me laugh! I thought that they fed off of each other very well and understood much of how and when to execute certain lines to get the humor intended by the lyricists. The only problem was Ann�s slightly Asian accent, which faded as the show when on, and the fact that Gary only played a comical Thenardier. He wasn�t scary, and even twiddled his thumbs along with the music to make people laugh during �Dog Eats Dog�. He was also quite funny during �The Attack on Rue Plumet�, which is different than I�m used to seeing. Gary was simply a sly, goofy Wile E. Coyote. Pretty one-tracked, but I didn�t really mind. Does anybody know if this was Gary�s first night back, btw? He got loud cheers as soon as he appeared on stage, and throughout much of the show, too. Maybe family and friends were at the show? *shrugs* But yeah, they were pretty hilarious in facial expressions and body language, and got one of the loudest cheers at curtain call, if that says anything. Megan McGinnis (Eponine): Oh, Megan. So sweet and shy. I don�t really have much against her, as she has a very nice voice. I was just kind of bored by her; she was a little bland for my taste. She played Eponine more sad and wistful, without touching on the �hard to scare� side of her. I think she even elbowed�errr�is it Montparnasse?...kind of gently and with a smile, haha. And I mean, that�s one way to play Eponine, but I would have liked to see some more spunk to her, as I�m used to the crazy, angry, and feisty �Ponines, like Lea, Sutton, and Shonagh. Again, it�s not that any of these performers aren�t great singers. After all, how can I make a claim to anything they�re doing since they�re the ones on B�way! It�s just that a little more expression would have gone a long way. I think Adam�s Marius really helped her along and his performance revealed more about Eponine�s character than Megan did by herself. Though, she did play her a little space-cased and naive through her postures and gestures, so that was nice. Her OMO was pretty good, but it didn�t leave a lasting impression on me. It got me tearing up, but I think I was recalling passages from the book and just sympathizing for Eponine from that, instead of from Megan�s singing. By the time ALFOR came on, I was pretty bored and just scanned the stage for Lea and others. So, now that you guys mention it, I think she would be a pretty good Cosette! That fits her vocal range better, anyway, right? So, wonderful voice but characterization needs a bit-o-work and she�ll be in tip-top shape!
Adam Jacobs & Ali Ewoldt (Marius, Cosette): Honestly, I don�t think that Adam is as bad as some people make him out to be. Maybe I lack musical theater expertise, but after all the bad rap I�ve read about him, I was actually thoroughly impressed by his performance. He was very authentic and natural as Marius. As aforementioned, he did a great job responding to Megan�s Eponine, as if he came straight out of the book. He looked genuinely confused and surprised when Eponine tried to kiss him in ALFOR, and he kept his distance, emotionally, from her throughout the show. He also didn�t bray like a donkey, as he used to be infamous for that, and I thought his timing was pretty spot-on. His ECET was excellent and got a lot of cheers and applause. I adored Ali�s Cosette, but maybe it�s because she was one of the performers I was more excited about seeing prior to ordering my tickets. You guys said that she did a lot of character work, and I think that it really showed. She didn�t over-act, and as mentioned before, she coordinated well with Adam to make for a humorous, �Aww, that�s so cute� beginning in AHFOL. She did a great job portraying the pensive, then shy and nervous Cosette in that garden scene. The look on Ali�s face in the finale when Cosette realizes that JVJ has passed away was also priceless. It was just so real and evocative that it made my heart ache. Ali�s voice was a smidgen shrill to me, but I heard that sopranos need to be sharp like that, anyway�so I wasn�t all that bothered. My mom sings in a community choir as a soprano, and she thought that Ali was top-notched, so...I dunno, maybe I�m biased, but I thought these two were great. I often found myself with a dopey grin on my face whenever they were onstage! Max von Essen (Enjolras): Probably the same problems as I had with Megan�s Eponine. Max was just kind of bland to me, and maybe it�s wrong of me to be so assuming of these performers, but he just wasn�t very believable as the leader of a student revolution. He wasn�t as commanding and resolute as I would have liked. Overall, great vocals, though it did sound like he was straining for the higher notes. What�s Max�s range, anyway? He played Jean Prouvaire before this, no? Hrm, I can�t complain about much else with him, and he did have good interaction with Michael Minarik�s Grantaire.  (Btw, darn you slasher fans for planting certain images in my mind while they briefly embraced in �Drink with Me�!). He was just a little too passive as Enjolras for me; seems more suitable as Marius, yup. Oh, and I think he�s a cutie, too�so, yay for being like Enjolras in that regard, haha.
Real Quickly: Michael Minarik (Grantaire): I can�t write a review and not include this guy- he was awesome! He was so drunk off his arse�doing very random things at any given time�that it was hilarious. I also liked how Michael mocked Enjy, goofed around with Gavroche, and got Grantaire�s pessimism across in �Drink with Me�. So, his acting definitely scored points with me, and he was very good vocally, too! :p Zach Rand & Kylie Liya Goldstein (Gavroche, Young Cosette): I�m impressed when any child under 10 can pull off a professional show, so I don�t have too many complaints. Zach was feisty and confident as Gavroche, which I liked, but he was like a mini-Drew with the American accents. Kylie was perfect as young Cosette. She didn�t always hit all the notes, but that made her even cuter and easier to sympathize with. TidBits: - Since I wasn�t very familiar with the show, I didn�t anticipate how moved I�d be when seeing all the dead students on the barricade, esp when it turned to reveal a slain Enjolras, with Gavroche a stone throw�s away, also dead. The lighting for that scene was perfect. - I'm not one to cry-- I rarely do with movies-- but my eyes seriously brimmed with tears in IDAD, Come to Me, Do You Hear the People Sing, ODM, OMO, BHH, and the Finale. - The sets, especially for the sewer scenes, reminded me of the brilliant minds that are John Napier, David Hersey, John Caird, and Trevor Nunn. - The new orchestrations are bleh and the shortened songs are blah. I was singing along in my head for �Castle on the Cloud�, ready to start the second line, only to be cut off with Kylie going straight into the �There is a lady all in white� bridge. I didn�t mind �Ten Little Bullets� as much as I thought I would. - Did they downsize the ensemble? Something seemed to be lacking to make ODM less grand this time around. It still brought a smile to my face and tears to my eyes, but it wasn�t as spectacular as I remembered it to be. Hmm, it�s probably just me. Stage Door: I�m too introverted and shy to make good, coherent conversation with the performers, so many of them just signed my playbill and left. That�s more than enough for me, though! 
- Adam was the first of the principal cast to come out, to a crowd of screaming girls, no less! He looked a little surprised because of that and just chuckled a bit. Very nice guy, very handsome, signed my playbill and said �Aw, thanks� when I found the courage to commend him on his performance. - Ali is such a sweetheart and is so gorgeous up-close. We had a very brief chat about dedicated Les Mis fans and she kept thanking me for coming to the show, as she signed my playbill. I�m still kicking myself and my camera for running low on memory as to miss a photo-op with her, blah. - Megan is also beautiful up close. Very shy and quiet. She just signed playbills for the row of us and smiled a lot. Very sweet, though.
- Ann Harada was very friendly and easy to talk to. I told her that I thought she was hilarious, without trying to sound too much like brown-nosing, and she also looked truly grateful and happy to sign playbills. - I also knew that Lea had finally come out because the crowd went wild and started screaming her name once she stepped out the door. She took the time to sign many fans� playbills and take pictures with them. Given that she had a long day from being on that �Broadway on Broadway� special, I thought that was awfully thoughtful, patient, and kind of her! I rattled my brain for something intelligent to say to Lea when she approached me, but all I blurted out was �Could you sign my program and take a picture with me?� Then, stupid me, I went on to tell her how I�ve come all the way from L.A. to see the show and she just smiled. Heh- maybe she gets that all the time. But, she was awesome enough to pose for a picture with me, and she even signed my big booklet souvenir thing without me asking! 
- Wanted to get Robert Hunt and Michael Minarik�s autographs, but they kind of just slipped away. Drew was also inundated by fans, following Lea, and I wanted his autograph, but I had to catch dinner reservations. I hear he�s a sweetheart, too.
Okay, my literary diarrhea is over. Thank you for bearing with me. I finished this in one afternoon and one morning. This only proves to me how I have no life, heh. |
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| Orestes Fasting |
I agree with most of what you've said. I've had mixed feelings on Drew's Valjean ever since I first saw him--his acting is wonderful aside from the weird angry parts, but his unshakeable American accent is grating. My friend said it was like hearing Drew's voice come out of Valjean's body.
Speaking of the fourth wall, two weeks ago I had front row for the first time ever. Boy, was that an experience--especially since I kept looking up to find Drew staring at me. Haha. Rob Hunt was a bit too intense for me on tour--sometimes it seemed like he was spitting out every word--but now that he's toned it down I adore his Javert and his huge voice and the nuances of his performance. He doesn't have much stage time, but when he's onstage he always makes use of it, even if he's not the center of attention. In the First Attack he even directs the sniper, and I love the scene where he corners Valjean after the runaway cart incident, because his whole attitude reeks of "If the mayor really is Valjean, I want to make him squirm." Rob is brilliant. Lea... Lea is a solid Fantine. I wasn't as bowled over by her performance as many of her fans, but I definitely like her for all the reasons you mentioned. And because she kicks butt as hallucinatory dying Fantine. Lots has been said about Megan and I pretty much agree with everyone who says she'd make a better Cosette. When she was an understudy, it was a nice occasional treat to see a shy, sad, serious Eponine, but it doesn't sit as well with me for her to be principal. I really can't stand Gary's performance. It's become less awful to me over time, but there's just something so wrong about someone playing Th�nardier purely for comedy and then missing all the jokes. Ann's definitely improved since the start of her run, but she played much better off Chip Zien, whose Th�nardier was obnoxious and overbearing enough to be a good match for Ann's terminally exasperated Madame. Adam and Ali are cute. Really, really cute. I can't help but feel like Ali was the one who did more work on her character, but Adam's entrance in AHFOL is perfect. Adam's not bad--nothing about his performance bothers me except the occasional nasal 'ee' vowel and his habit of singing to the mezzanine--but I kind of feel like his Marius is really cute and not much more than that. Max is just not Enjolras to me. His voice is too light, his stage presence doesn't have that aura of command that Aaron Lazar captured so perfectly. Towards the start of his run, though not as much anymore, he almost risked fading into the background. I always feel bad ragging on his Enjolras, because I suspect I'd like him a lot as a romantic lead. And he does have great interaction with Minarik's Grantaire. But when I think of good-looking Enjolrati, I tend to think 'dangerously and heartbreakingly beautiful,' not 'adorable like a puppy.' Michael Minarik, meanwhile, WINS THE UNIVERSE. Just... watch him in the ensemble. He's amazing. He does the most random silly crap as Grantaire and the drunk in Master of the House and a Look Down beggar, then he turns around and breaks your heart in Act II. And I'm not necessarily talking about Drink With Me either, though the "I didn't mean it that way!" kicked-puppy look he gives Max just makes you want to hug him, I'm talking about things like, oh I dunno, clinging to Gavroche's miniature flag after the kid dies and then saluting Enjolras with it in the final battle. Almost burst into tears then and there. |
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| The Very Angry Woman |
Re: Ridiculously long revival review. Hey, you asked for it!
Wait, what? This must be new, since I've seen Robert Hunt as Javert probably 8 or 9 times, plus a few times in the ensemble and once as Th�nardier, and he never sounded like anything other than American to me. |
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| EponinesRain |
Yes- that's exactly what I was trying to say!
I agree. It wasn't rendered speechless like I had anticipated, but I can't say that she's overrated or not an amazing performer. She still gave me many chills. I guess it's just a different emotional experience for each spectator.
Ah, yes. I know what you mean.
The end. Hands down. Dude, I need to learn how to be succint like you and others on this board. You put down the essence of my review in less than a page- haha. I never did get that "less is more" thing.
Hrm, I could have sworn that he adopted a British accent, but maybe it's just my flawed memory and reconstruction. I guess Rob just wasn't as distracting or jarring to me as Drew was in pronounciation, so in comparison, he sounded much better on my ears. Sorry, it could just be me. |
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| herkind |
Rob's voice is simply more classicly trained so while he doesn't sing with a British accent he sings properly without sitting heavily on his vowels. | ||||||||||
| EponinesRain |
Ah, that must be it. My mistake, then. You know us Californians...anything sounds like an accent, hehe. Thanks for clearing that up, herkind.
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| The Very Angry Woman |
Hey, I'm Californian!
I saw Max von Essen as Jesus a few years ago and then saw him as Enjolras this past summer -- the same question I had when I saw him as Jesus came up again. "Why would anyone follow this guy?" Not bad, just not what's needed in the role. I doubt he's consistently miscast in things or he wouldn't keep getting work, but it's too bad I saw him twice in two roles that weren't quite right for him. |
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| Quique |
Great review!
How were your row M seats? Too far? Or good? |
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| EponinesRain |
Well, you don't count. You're like uber-smart and perceptive about most anything! :p
Right. No doubt that he has a nice voice. I just couldn't understand why he got a principal part. He faded into the background with the rest of the students. I also thought that our Combeferre, Courfeyrac, and Feuilly had more bravado and denser voices than Max.
As you and Orestes assured, row M seats were great! Well, I would have liked to sit closer, but I can't really complain. We were close enough to see facial expressions clearly so that's all that mattered to me. The Broadhurst Theater really is an intimate theater! I was pleasantly surprised that we were relatively close to the stage, even at 13 rows back! In my local theater, row M would have been where that refreshment bar was, all the way in the back. And thank you, Quique and Orestes, for putting up with all my questions while I ordered my tix!
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| Quique |
Yay! Glad to be of help. =)
Your opinion of Lea is the same as mine - she was great. She actually cried during IDAD and her arrest. I have never seen a Fantine actually sob during those numbers. And no, it's not only that that made her great, her overall acting was very emotive and had much depth. She was wonderful. |
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| lckysvn777 |
She really cried in those scenes. I was sitting in the 2nd row on the right side so I could see pretty good. LoL |
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| EponinesRain |
Yeah, Lea sobbed during our show, too. And it wasn't the type of fake sobbing, either. It was very organic. I almost wished that the actor for Bamatabois could be rougher with Lea, b/c she was putting in so much and he seemed barely hostile.
You know what I think it is? After viewing this clip of Lea on that Broadway on Broadway thing I mentioned, I can tell that she lives and breathes each song every time she sings it. She doesn't need the costume or the lights or anything to feel the music. Like, she allows her instincts to take over so that what she presents is very sincere. http://youtube.com/watch?v=niv6uk9QkJw |
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| Quique |
They used the original orchestrations for that. 
Why they don't just dump the stupid, ugly new ones and revert back to the originals is beyond me. |
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| Orestes Fasting |
Wait, Dan Bogart? His Bamatabois is one of the scariest I've ever seen. (Maybe Stephen Trafton was on? )
I do agree that the blocking for that scene could use a little more violence, but that's mostly out of the actors' control. |
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| EponinesRain |
Perhaps "barely hostile" is the wrong phrase. After further thought, Bamatabois did shove his cane into Fantine, which garnered some gasps from the audience. He also sneered and seethed through his teeth. I've just seen scarier from David Thaxton- he made the hairs on the back of my neck stand straight! I saw David before I was familiar with the show and character, mind you, so I might have been more suprised then.
Yeah, I understand about the blocking. Plus, I don't want any of the performers to really get hurt! Yeah, it was Dan Bogart. The only covers we had that night were Q. Smith and Rona Figueroa in place of Becca Ayers and Christy Faber, respectively. |
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| mastachen |
I was amazed at Lea's acting too. I thought Marissa McGowan did a really nice acting job too. She had tears falling during ALFOR, but she didn't attempt to kiss Marius before she died. Still, I thought she stole the show. Also I was sitting in the front row when I watched, and during Look Down, one of the beggars came out, looked me in the eye, held my gaze, and sang 'look down, upon your fellow man' with an outstretched hand. I felt like I had to give her a dollar or something, and when Gavroche came out and the beggars left, I felt bad that I didn't. |
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| herkind |
Do you mean that Marissa was crying during ALFOR or had other people crying? I liked her when I saw her too but I really wasn't impressed with her ALFOR. It was a bit of a letdown after a very nice OMO. | ||||||||||
| mastachen |
^Both actually.
There were two ladies sitting behind me started sobbing in IDAD and didn't stop til the show was over. They were also the only people in the theater that laughed at Gary Beach's Thernardier, and were in hysterics when Ann Harada did her "thinks he's quite a lover..." line. I know its a good thing to be really into the show, but they were loud so it was a bit distracting. |