24th June ... last day of cast.

Aimee · 24th June ... last day of cast.

Anyone going?

eponine_1832

Tracy

I am going to the evening show, will be sad saying goodbye to some of the cast.
Tracy

Jordan

Mmm... I wouldn't go and see the current cast again. I really didn't enjoy them that much.

Aimee

I want to see Phil Calvill before he leaves.

Sorry to miss you Tracy, I have a quiz night in the evening.

Superstar83

Would if I could afford it but I've got a new iPod to buy and the London Film & Comic Con coming up. So me broke. I went last month to say goodbye anyway, so I don't really need to go again as I've seen them twice already. They are overall a fantastic cast, though. I'll miss them, especially Julia, Shonagh, Kerry and Hayden.

olly

I have school that day, but I'm going to try and make it up to London for the evening so I can catch it. I thought this current London cast has been excellent: the first time they were slightly shakey; it was one of Cornell's first performances as Javert. But the second time was brilliant, as was the third. So, in sum, I think they're a pretty decent group!

Does anyone know, or recommend, that I should book tickets for that evening performance? Thanks.

Tracy

Aimee

Oh good:) see you there.

eponine5

I really wanted to go. I was planning it and had saved up the money and everything, but then I had no way of getting there. I will be so sad to see so many people in this cast go. I went to see them last month, but Shonagh was away! It was heartbreaking that I wouldn't get to see her as eponine again, I know that tons of people don't like her so much, but I thought she was great!.... does anyone know if she is in anything else any time soon or is she going back to being a singer?

olly

Just booked for the Satuday 24th June 7:30pm! I tried on ticketmaster and it came up with zilch so I was getting a little worried, but then called up, and the cheapest they had was �54 per ticket. But oh well Very Happy

Aimee

It will be worth it olly. Smile

eponine5

please tell everyone who doesn't get to go how it went! Very Happy

olly

Oh, I know - you can't put a price on Les Miserables.

eponine5

I know I'm bumping this up, but since it is now the 24th of June, I think it is relevant.
So it actually turned out that in a moment of panic last Tuesday, I ended up booking tickets for the matinee performance after all and I convinced my parents to get me there, although now I am totally broke. Having seen it now, and with the last EVER performance for this cast going on at this very minute, I just want to make a few comments about it and if anyone else saw it today, to compare observations.
Was it just me, or did Lovely Ladies seem like total chaos? I mean even more than normal. Seriously, did anyone else see that one guy pick up that one girl and um... bounce her about a bit, not so appropriately...? It was fun, because I could point out Shonagh Daly in virtually every chorus scene she was in. If anyone else noticed the girl at the front of the crowd in Valjean Arrested who was laughing constantly, that was her. And was that David Thaxton that put his arm around her in the middle of 'At the End of the Day'? She also seemed to be crawling about on the floor for most of Lovely Ladies!
For some reason, the audience applauded Gavroche's Remarks after Stars, even though they had applauded the main song already. The bows were also different from any others I have seen. For one thing, the audience booed at Javert (in a nice way of course). But it was so sad when the cast came back one extra time than they did normally and waved to the audience Crying or Very sad

It's so sad to see them go.

MrMarius

more reviews please.... someone on another sight said the following:

What a wonderful show...
LOTS of mucking around:

a gasp from the gathering crowd after "you maintain he made a present of this silver".. "that is right"

phil cavill covered kerrys face after she died and after he knocks out javert, javert climbed onto kerrys bed and collapsed !!

when monsieur fauchelavent was rescued, he had a white wig and glasses on - excellent.

master of the house was brilliant... highlight was the drunk and the posh diners.

shaun escoffery came on at the end of the court scene as the man "who bears no more guilt thatn you!" CLASSIC

lovely ladies - people pretend shagging extravagently centre stage and lots of fun.

look down... people were scrapping... a lot happening here... lots of siliness.. .

red/black - jeff was having lots of fun with the bottle and being loud. theres a lot more but cant remember.

the show itself was very moving and very emotional. phil cavill is a top valjean.

Anymore reviews? Were there genuine tears? So upset I couldn't go- I had bought a ticket but have to take care of an ill relative so wasn't able to go.
I wanted to give Julia, and Hayden and Shaun a card each saying thankyou for being fantasic for a year. Oh well. Sad

eponine5

Yeah, all that is true, except I don't recall Shaun Escoffery being in the trial, that must have been in the evening performance. But they were certaintly right about the Lovely Ladies!
Another thing I had never noticed before was that in MOTH during the line 'here the goose is cooked' one man had a hugely exaggerated and loud choking fit and Madame Thenardier had to come and sort it out. And yes, the cast did seem far more drunk than usual. Amanda Jane Callaghan (understudy Eponine) was dancing all over the table for practically the whole song, seriously, I was convinced she was going to fall off.
During Look Down when Gavroche was talking about Eponine as being 'only a kid, but hard to scare' Shonagh Daly not only shoved her elbow into Montparnasse, but she continued to beat him up so harshly that it was a wonder 'Parnasse didn't collapse on the ground in a heap of mush afterwards. Also when Thenardier was gathering his gang and Eponine for the Robbery, she lay down on a sack and pretended to be falling asleep until Montparnasse grabbed her (slacking off exactly like the Eponine of the book).
During the Runaway Cart there is always someone who tumbles and rolls all over the stage (I don't know how they do it in slow motion) but this time the woman doing it got her shoe stuck in her skirt.

Tracy

I was at the evening show last night and it was quite emotional. The barricade was particularly moving with most of the girls crying during drink with me and even Robert Archibald (Feuilly) was emotional when singing the opening verse. Hayden Tee and Julia were very sweet in the final scenes and it is very sad to see them leave. Hope to see them in future shows in the UK again. There was a standing ovation from the beginning of the curtain call.

Hope to see Phil Cavill back again as JVJ one day as it was fab having him back - was always one of my favourite JVJ.

Going back in two weeks to see the new cast.

Tracy

eponine5

I'm still half way to tears that that cast is over. Kerry Ellis is going to be in Wicked in January. I don't know where Julia Moller is going (I really hope she isn't going back to Spain) or Shonagh Daly (please say she isn't going back to Ireland) but at least John Owen Jones is staying.
I hate to break it to you though, but Hayden Tee is going to Australia! Shocked

to perform in Titanic http://www.titanicthemusical.com.au/home.html
I don't know about you, but if I can convince my parents, I'm going to try to follow him. Twisted Evil

Not gonna happen though.

Fantine

I didn't read too many special things. The thing that Madame Thenardier does to their costumer happens in a lot of performances.

And I had heard of Hayden going to Australia. I hope he'll enjoy Titanic.

JulieJordan

Tracy

I hope Julia and Shonagh both do shows in England. I cant wait for Kerry Ellis in Wicked she will be taking over in January which will be fab. Would love to go to Australia to see Titanic but cant afford it at the minute - here's hoping that Hayden will come back to the UK after Titanic.

Tracy

eponine5

I realise that I have now said tons about the show. What did other people who saw it think of it and notice?

Aimee

My fave addition was the wig and glasses during the runaway cart scene and John Addison coming on as a nun. That was ace! [I think it was him though I may be wrong.] Phil had to stop himself laughing before 'She was never mine to lose.'

eponine5

Was that in the matinee or the evening performance? Because if it was the matinee, then my god I'm unobservant! But then again, I don't normally bother to look past the nun's hat thing.
Did anyone go to the stage door?

Aimee

The matinee. I don't think many people spotted it to be honest. Wink

olly

My Review of the Evening Performance on 24th June 2006.

Jean Valjean - Phil Cavill
An overall fantastic performace. Honestly, he had to grow on me. I know everyone loves him; but I had to get used to him. By the end, he was rivalling John Owen-Jones and Colm Wilkinson voice-wise. His acting paralelled with his voice really added to the already brilliant atmosphere, and I adored how he portrayed his age as the musical progressed. When he hit those high notes, they were so clean and they sent shivers down my spine. His 'Bring Him Home' was beautiful, and one of the best I've seen in recent times. Having been hospitalised until 2005/06, this was a pretty remarkable performace and I loved his portrayal of Valjean. 9.5/10

Javert - Cornell John
One word: cringeworthy. An absolutely shocking performace from Cornell. I'm trying to find excuses for him for being so terrible on the night. All I can come up with is that he was slightly ill and he wanted to perform anyhow because it was his last performace ever again in Les Miserables (hopefully). I've seen him four times, and every time has been uninteresting and monotonous. His lack of acting skills adds to the bad portrayal, coupled with his poor voice, I was very disappointed. For example, in the penultimate line of 'The Robbery': "Feet...", his voice cracked! Then he immediately moved onto 'Stars' where he was, very often, out of tune! I couldn't believe it! I was slightly angry: I payed a lot of money for that ticket, and I came out, disappointed with my two favorite songs ('The Confrontation', and 'Stars') because of Cornell's weak and meek voice. I'm certainly happy to see the back of him. 2/10

Fantine - Kerry Ellis
An excellent portrayal by Kerry and very convincing. Her voice was brilliant, as always, and during her death scene, I noticed how she altered her voice to make her sound as if she was actually sick and dying. Though this may have been done more, I have not seen this in my recent gallavants to Les Miserables. Convincing as a whore too. I enjoyed seeing her acting, and I will be sad to see Kerry move on. Her 'I Dreamed a Dream' was very moving and really drew me into the song. An excellent portrayal. 8.5/10

Eponine - Shonagh Daly
Definitely one of the best Eponines I have seen perform. The evokation of the idea of unrequited love was very well portrayed and she, again, really drew me into her chartacter. Her acting helped emphasise her poor background, and also helped illustrate her yearning for Marius through her contantly darting eyes, and being around Marius a lot. A very strong voice which highlights her stoic character, and a beautifully 'unclean' voice (ie. 'Eponine-ish'). The one thing I'd liked to have seen her do (this is really picking up on technicalities, now) was when she yelled "Look out, it's Javert!", I'd liked to have seen her hold that note on "Javert!" slightly longer. However, he acting affiliated with her strong voice gives Shonagh a 9/10.

Cosette - Julia Moller
Never been my favorite character in the play; she really pisses me off. The fact that she 'steals' Marius from Eponine, my favorite woman's part, makes me have a worse view of her. However, I though the actress had a wonderful voice and acted her part well, though she wasn't the best I've seen. She didn't to me seem like someone very much in love to me (simarlaly to Hayden Tee), and seemed somewhat bored on stage. However, her dynamic and timbre were impressive. 8/10

Marius - Hayden Tee
A normally good actor, and portrayal of Marius, however, recently, Hayden seems to be slightly bored on stage, and does not emulate love the way one should when playing the character of Marius. The one Marius who I can use as a good example is Michael Ball: an excellent portrayal of a soppy, love-sick boy. Often, I found Hayden to be shouting rather than singing his part, which was disappointing, as he's not normally like this. I think Hayden knows it's time to leave the character of Marius alone for a while and move on. But, through the year, I've been happy with his portrayal, though this performace could've been better. In his 'Epmty Chairs At Empty Tables', his high notes seemed to be on the edge of cracking and thus made him yell the part. 7.5/10

Enjolras - Shaun Escoffery
Every time I see Shaun's Enjolras I smile. He's a brilliant actor with a breathtakingly strong and brilliant voice. He's portrayal of the strong, devoted Enjolras was phenomenal and his numbers really lifted up and already brilliant production. His 'Do You Hear The People Sing' was so focussed and clean, and his expressions and idiosyncracies on stage were so convinving that I loved his character. Though the first time I saw him I was slightly shocked to see him, I've loved his Ejolras every time. I think it's safe to say that we'll all be sad to see him leave. I believe that he should definitely come back to play Javert: he'd make, in my opinion, one of the best Javerts. 9.5/10

Thenardier -
I undoubtedly preferred this portryal of Thenardier than Barry James'. This actor had a stronger, more amusing voice, and his acting skills added to the atmosphere of it. I think either Barry James' has become complacent, or he's just bored with the character. I'm sad this actor hasn't stayed on to be Thenardier. A very funny actor, which I like for the character. He acted well with Tracey Bennet and portrayed Master of the House well. I think his better voice really set him apart from Barry James, and showed him to be better. 8.5/10

Madame Thenardier - Tracie Bennett
Though a good voice, I'd prefer her to be more robust. She was a skinny Madame! This doesn't work. Her size adds to her dominating, daunting character. However, her acting was up to standard and she had a good tint on her voice to highlight her difficult life of theft and drink. She, again, was a funny character, and I thought she worked better with this Thenardier than Barry James. 8/10

So, overall, I was very pleased with the production. I'm not comapring it to the recordings I have; I'm comparing it to the productins I've seen. It was a great shame about Javert, but I'm sure Hans will be better! So, taking into consideration lighting, props, stage, space, acting and voice, I've come up with my overall production score of:

86/100

Fantine

Do you know what pisses me off? People who say that Cosette 'stole' Marius from Eponine.

That is complete nonsense.

flying_pigs

The Cosette was Julia Moller and I think she's a really great Cosette.

eponine5

I agree with you flying_pigs and Fantine. The first time I saw Les Miserables, I have to admit, she wasn't one of my favourite characters, but that is partly because I was too busy feeling sorry and mourning for Eponine, just like a frightening proportion of first time Les Mizzers do. But now, I have sort of gotten over that and the book especially helped me to like Cosette, and she did not steal Marius. I also think that Julia Moller's portrayal of Cosette is close to perfection and she is definately my favourite Cosette. After all, Cosette is in my opinion the hardest part to pull off well.
But Olly, I have to say I completely disagree with your opinion on Cornell John. Perhaps his voice isn't a Quast voice, and he's not the best, but I had no trouble with that or his acting.

olly

eponine5

He didn't do that in the matinee or in any of the other times I have seen it. But I guess that is terrible if he did it on his last night..... and to have someone notice and post it on a forum!

olly

All the four times I've seen him he's been stupendously disappointing. I went, on Saturday, with 4 friends, all of which noticed these things.

eponine5

I realise that there is nothing I can say that will sway your opinion. We'll just have to somehow find a way to live with our different opinions Very Happy

I am not saying that he is my favourite Javert, or the best in that cast, but I do not find his performance all that terrible.
In my opinion, the best in that cast are Shonagh Daly, Hayden Tee and Julia Moller. They are all my favourite for the characters they play.
(yes, yes. I know there are people who will want to shoot me now)

Orestes Fasting

eponine5

The fact that because of Eponine's background and family, she lost the opportunity to become what she could have been is the key tradgedy to her plot. And it is not that Marius didn't love Eponine because he loved Cosette, he actually couldn't have loved her in the same way. (it would have been interesting to see what his grandfather would have said about him if he wanted to marry Eponine though). Perhaps if Cosette had never been in the scene, Marius could have grown to love her enough. If not because she loved him, then simply because of his debt to her father. But the fact is Cosette was there, and the the most famous song in the whole show wouldn't be worth much if Marius had paid attention to Eponine.

olly

Tracy

I too love Julia as Cosette and thought she and Hayden were perfect together on stage and I actually enjoyed Heart Full of love much more. As for Cornell I always found his voice a bit disappointing but enjoyed the intensity in his acting and his interaction with both Phil Cavil and JOJ.

Tracy

Fantine

Sigh. Marius would NEVER love Eponine.

Tracy, who is that in your avatar? He looks like Archie... (Jamie Bamber)...

Tracy

My avatar is Nathan Fillion who plays Captain Malcom Reynolds in the TV show Firefly and also the movie Serenity - I am a bit of a sci fi geek as well as a theatre geek.

Tracy

javertsw

I think it is interesting to think whether the outcome of the Marius/Cosette/Eponine story would be different if Eponine was rich.
In the story as it is, yes Marius would NEVER love Eponine.
But is the point of Eponine just to show how even someone like Marius (who is involved in the ABC society) still doesn't even notice Eponine because she is poor.
Well that makes sense to me...

Fantine

Back on topic: Did anyone take any pictures???

eponine5

When I went to see it, I was wondering how many people in the audience would be videoing or recording it. During applause, when my eyes weren't glued to the stage, I would glance at any bit of light to see whether it was a video camera. Didn't spot any, though.
But I did notice many people taking pictures of Hayden Tee at the stage door.

Etoile

Tracy

I did take some pictures at the curtain call but not sure how they came out and got some during the day and at the end of the evening as people came out so will post any that are good once the films are finished.

Tracy

AndrewShatterhand

Has anyone seen the new cast yet?

I'm curious as to how HPJ is.

MrMarius

check out http://londonlesmis.suddenlaunch3.com/index.cgi?board=news&action=display&num=1151394038
and
www.londonmusicalsonline.com /
http://www.londonmusicalsonline.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=92
for fan reviews of the new cast. HPJ has had mixed reviews Smile

eponine5

All of those reviews seem to be saying that this new cast is the best thing that ever happened. Is it just that the reviews posted in the first few weeks of the new cast are bound to be saying that stuff, or are they actually that good?
I feel loyal to the previous cast.

Ian UK

On first viewing the new cast are much stronger than the previous cast. I have to admit that I wasn't a great fan of Cornell John, Shaun Escoffery and Shonagh Daly as their performances just didn't do anything for me at all (my personal taste - I'm sure some people really liked them). Whether I'm blinded by the first night atmosphere remains to be seen but Monday's Les Mis was by far the best show I've seen in quite a while. I'm really looking forward to my next visit (9th August matinee unless I can squeeze a trip to London in before then!) whereas for the last twelve months Les Mis has been way down my list of shows to re-visit.

Linn

eponine5

Oh, I remember everyone taking photos of Hayden Tee. I didn't have a camera at the time, so the best I could do was get autographs. I got Cornell John, Hayden Tee and Shonagh Daly's. They were all so nice and friendly.

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24th June ... last day of cast.