Am I Crazy?

Quique · Am I Crazy?

OK, I'm REALLY, REALLY irritated and depressed over the new orchestrations! Am I alone in this? It seems as if I am. I am sooo against them, I'd protest! It's awful! Such a blatant degradation of the show! How dare they! Yes, I am furious over this.

I ask again - am I alone in this?

And if I am, then screw you all! lol. Laughing

Aimee

Not alone.

[mad maybe] but not alone. Wink

Electricity24601

Definately not alone.

Everyone always complains about the synthesizers, but I love them. (At least compared to the revival stuff) They really capture the power and drive and beauty of the music. A full orchestra would be best, but the stupid little piddley thing they have at the revival is just bad.

happyguava

Not alone at all! I really don't like what I've heard of the new orchestrations at all. The original orchestrations were amazing. The new ones are just... not what Les Mis is all about!

AndrewShatterhand

I don't really like the new orchestrations that much either; they lack a certain amount of power that the original orchestrations had (although the smaller orchestra could be blamed for that). They really need to cut down on the percussion a bit, the last time I saw the show that's all I could hear!

There are *parts* of the new orchestrations that I like though like Valjean's arrival after Fantine's arrest.

Timmy_Wishes he was Quast

(sorry to drag this old (ish) topic up) Having perused the new-look offical site for Les Mis on broadway i happened to chance upon the video clips and watched/listen to some of the show. It has to be said i wept. There is no "pom pu pu pom" to MOTH anymore...it just sounds like a collection of tin pots being politely tapped together by a few old ladies to be honest, and then On My Own. At the best of times i find this song passable...don't get mne wrong i enjoy a good perfomance of it. However the new orchestrations give the song no depth. The actress(es) who are currently portraying this role or will in the future portray this role with the current orchestraions good luck to them. With little/no support from the pit we're going to get more and more melodromatic performances of this song. We should line up the re-orchestrators and have them shot! "A change is as good as something new!" Well i tell you what it's one or the other Cameron not both....

flying_pigs

Link: http://www.lesmisnewyork.com/video.php

If anyone was interested.

Orestes Fasting

Quique

I think I love you, Timmy_Wishes_He_Was_Quast (despite the irritatingly long username, lol!!!)

I hadn't read what you wrote until now. That's exactly how I feel. The new orchestrations are absolutely terrible. They're thin and insufficient support for such an emotionally powerful piece. The show sounds empty, devoid of emotion.

I've never believed in silly petitions cause they never enact change, but I think I'm passionate enough about this to begin one simply to know I did something about it.

Orestes, was she really that bad? That's all we need...a bad Eponine along with bad orchestrations, lol.

EDIT: Ahh. I saw you added to your post...make that a bad cast AND bad orchestrations! Shocked

How's the new Enjolras?

Orestes Fasting

I think you guys have it on the dot. I've become desensitized to the thinness of the reorchestrations in general, but there are a few points where the undercutting of an extremely emotional moment throws you right out of the show. I'm most upset about them getting rid of the string part that comes in on "Yet why did I allow that man..." in both What Have I Done and the Suicide. What kind of crack were they smoking?!

And just because I'm desensitized doesn't mean the thinness isn't there. I've become so used to the revival version, having seen it 15+ times, that I was listening to a full-orchestra version of the oboe solo last week and almost cried when the music swelled.

The new cast:

Ben Davis is fantastic. Unlike Norm and Drew he has a nice booming voice and no histrionic tendencies. (Drew, I love your Javert, but both you and Norm are prone to overdoing it.) For once I didn't even notice the gutting of the Suicide orchestrations because I was focusing too hard on Ben. He is very expressive despite how stoic his Javert is, but it's a lot more controlled than the other Javerts I've seen recently.

Mandy Bruno is horrifyingly annoying. Think... Diana Kaarina, complete with ludicrous smiling all through OMO, then magnify the overacting and add a voice that reminded me of the Barbie Girl song. The first time I saw her, she looked like she was halfheartedly copying Celia's creepiness in Look Down, but she's totally ditched that by now. I'm sure her spunky, perky Eponine will be a hit with the Eppie-boppers.

Max von Essen isn't bad, he's just bland. He's got a nice voice and he doesn't do anything wrong, he just has about as much charisma as Aaron Lazar's left shoe. With the cast dragging so much after the changeover--I think Ben, Lea, and maybe Ali are the only really good people left--Max's tendency to fade into the crowd when he should be the focal point of the barricade scenes just makes the show even more lackluster and directionless.

Ann Harada, unfortunately, isn't mean enough to pull off a good Mme T. She seemed to be going for a poisonous sort of sickly-sweet, but her nasty edge isn't strong enough for it to work. Also, I know people were joking about her using the Christmas Eve voice for Mme T, but the scary thing is that she does. The accent is toned down a little, but same voice. Pulls me right out of the show. Plus she's just... not that funny.

-

For the past two months the fact that the revival is Les Mis Lite has been masked by the incredible performances of Lea Salonga, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Aaron Lazar, Jenny Galloway, and Ali Ewoldt. Now that three of them--arguably the best three--are gone, the revival feels muted, toned down, less energetic. I'm not surprised they injected so much life into a stripped-down version of the show; hell, it could have been a Doyle production and they still would have been amazing. Now they're gone and the feeling that the show is dragging isn't just from comparing them to the new cast. Enjolras and Madame Th�nardier are fairly small roles, but put someone really good in either and you can pull a halfassed production back to its feet. Having boring people in both roles just killed the revival.

I mean, Mandy Bruno annoys the living s**t out of me, but at least that's provoking a reaction. Ann and Max both send me right to sleep.

Lea and Ben do mitigate the effect to some extent, but when one of them dies halfway through the first act and the other has less than 25 minutes of stage time... there's only so much they can do.

Quique

Thanks for that. Diana Kaarina, you say? Ugh!! I hate her already, lol. Her half-smirking was just too much the two times I saw her. Now throw in annoying voice? Ick. The sad thing is, most people prefer Eponine to have that annoyingly squeaky voice. It's as if they think it's necessary for the character.

Too bad Max and Harada are meh. I had faith in them. Grr.

I'm glad Ben is great. It's nice to know someone is committed/talented enough to pull attention away from the lack of orchestral support. There have been many moments where I've seen the show and the orchestrations are the last thing on my mind, due to a rivetting performance, but it's rare. Now I'm really curious to see him.

I've rarely heard you comment on Alexander's Valjean. I don't know, just based on the short clips I've seen of him, he doesn't impress me much. I know that I shouldn't say anything until I see his full performance, but he seems way young and miscast to me so far.

Timmy_Wishes he was Quast

eponine5

Why did they decide to change things in the first place? Just for the sake of saying it's a new production? To make it more modern? I did like some of the other changes, like the lighting for example, because they didn't just scrap the old lighting that won a Tony Award, but they added new effects that they obviously had ideas for and improved the old ones. But the new orchestrations do nothing, and the orchestrations in the soliloquy made me want to kill myself! (funny, huh?)

And now the cast isn't even good? Orestes, when I read what you said about Mandy Bruno I actually shuddered. Confused

You should all come to London! Quick! While we still have John Owen-Jones and the original orchestrations! Very Happy

Quique

Timmy_Wishes he was Quast

"Dear Sir Cameron Makintosh,

If it ain't broke, why fix it?

With Love

MDN Les Miserables Forum Members"

kitty17794

Can we even consider what they've done a FIX, though? Laughing

Quique

Yes.

A FIX that would put more money into their pockets, grrr.

You'd be surprised to know how much they're saving with this downsized orchestra. I'm sure it's in the thousands. It's obvious they reorchestrated the show in a sneaky attempt to hide the drastically reduced orchestra. They knew they couldn't get away with stuffing a midi machine into the pit here in the U.S. without opposition from musician's unions. They wanted to avoid the same controversy that confronted them in London when they brought in that Sinfonia thing.

Orestes Fasting

Eponine93

Orestes Fasting

Alex isn't awful, but he's not that great either. And I think his interpretation is suffering as the show goes on; when the role was still fresh for him, he had it pretty well in his grasp in Act I, and wasn't too bad for the rest of the show. Now I think he's exaggerating a bit to make up for the monotony of doing the same thing eight times a week, and I've especially noticed that he does the weepy thing more nowadays. Back in December he sounded on the edge of tears in the finale, and gave a little cry of horror when he got up after the final battle and saw the bloodbath, and with just those two moments it was actually quite touching. Now, though, he sounds like he's trying not to cry in Bring Him Home, in Every Day, in Valjean's Confession, and even more in the finale. He's killing it through overuse.

Bottom line is that Alex isn't bad, but he's not one of the high points of the production for me, and he's not really doing much to pull it out of the hole it's sinking into. I did notice that he has better chemistry with Drew and Ben than with Norm, but unfortunately this leads him to get even more angry with Javert in Act II, at a point where Valjean should have mellowed out enough to not swear at Javert and shove him against the wall for suspecting the worst of him.

Vocally I am still not impressed. Well, impressed that he can practically break the front row's eardrums every night on "Jean Valjean is nothing now, another story must begin," but his falsetto always sounds icky to me. Not to mention he cracks fairly often in BHH--it blends into the weepy act fairly well, but I don't think it's deliberate. (And I'm pretty sure I can tell when things are deliberate; Lea's Fantine has a couple vocal "flaws" that she's almost certainly doing on purpose.)

I don't really notice his age. He doesn't look like I picture Valjean looking, but not in a way that throws me out of the story. They do a good job aging him and he does move like an old man by the end of the show.

Dammit, why does every offhand comment I make about the cast turn into a tl;dr ramble?

Eponine93

We're going to have this debate again and again aren't we...

I enjoyed Alex the first time I saw him, because I heard so much bad stuff about him and expected him to be awful. It was a pleasant surprise. If I get a chance to see him again, will I enjoy him as much? I don't think so...

Adam is one of the high points of the revival, though. His Marius is very cute, in an almost goofy way. My only problem with him is that I don't think he mellows out after the barricade scenes. I loved his part in Red and Black and his AHFOL, but his ECAET seemed really insincere. I love his and Ali's chemistry. Apart, I'm not crazy about either Ali's vibrato or Adam's braying but when they're together I'm able to overlook it in the fact that their voices are nothing special because their chemistry is great.

Quique

I keep putting off my trip to NY. I'm getting nervous now, I don't want to miss it. Mad

EponineBarker

NotoriousFunnt

Hello! I shall come back from the mist of obscurity to do what I do best: rant about the diminishing of pit orchestras and their importance in Broadway shows today! Yay!

So this is pretty much THE reason why I haven't gone to see the revival and will continue not to do so. I know some may consider it a preposterous reason...goodness knows enough people *have* said to me, "NF you're being ridiculous, not going to see a show you love just because there's less of a pit and different orchestrations!" but...but this is something I can't just accept and move on with.

The moment I heard Les Mis was coming back, I was one of the happiest damn people ever. I called all my friends at like 11:30 at night to tell them, showed my French teacher the news the next day...oh man, you know, I was going to be there THE day it opened, college or not! (I go to college about 2 1/2 hours away from where I live) I was such a happy, happy dork. Then I heard that the orchestrations were going to be changed. Then I heard about the diminished pit orchestra.

I decided then that I wasn't going to see the revival at all. I told my violin teacher and my friend who plays viola, and they agreed that they wouldn't either. I know what I say and do isn't going to matter at all to the show...my not going isn't going to change a damn thing, and I know this. I know also it's probably foolish of me to stand here and blatantly refuse not to go because of the changed orchestrations and reduced pit and it means nothing in the larger world of theatre. But I tell you one thing...I don't care.

I think it's wrong, from the very start I did. Part of it is of course my own dang nasty musician morals...I'm a sophomore in college, a music education/oboe major, been an oboe player for a long time...I've played in a pit orchestra (did Ragtime last summer...killer show, that) and right now over at college I'm in a major Philadelphia youth orchestra and this past year my orchestra partnered with the Philly orchestra and we actually got to play with them...so yeah, with all that, naturally my dang nasty musician morals are at an all-time high. So of COURSE I think it's wrong, changing the orchestrations and cutting the pit. It's not fair to the musicians...it's not like there's a shortage of us who want to go into pit. Hell, if they asked me to be in the pit of Les Mis, I'd pay *them*. And I know plenty of other musicians who would die to be asked.

It's not fair to the show...not fair AT ALL. Les Mis is a beautiful show...one of the greatest shows ever made. My friend who lives in my hall...I gave her the CSR this year and she agreed it was amazing, and she's not even a music major (she's psych and business). Les Mis is NOT meant to be shorthanded in anything. It's too beautiful for that, too rich for that. There's so much emotion in the show and so much intensity and life...by changing the orchestrations and cutting the pit, you're taking a MAJOR part of the show, one of the things that gives it the life and emotion we love so much, and taking it away. It diminishes the show greatly. My same friend, she said to me that Les Mis was the only show she's ever heard where the orchestra was AS important as the cast. And again, that's coming from a non-music major. And I agree...I've not met many shows where one can say that about it. It's one of the reasons I love Les Mis so much...as an oboist, it makes me beyond happy to see a show with a pit orchestra that's SUCH an integral part of the show. It helps give the show life. The cast and orchestra are dependant on each other, and that's rare in theatre. But it's what makes Les Mis great. By doing this, you're cheating Les Mis. It's unfair to the show, something that phenomenal that made such a great impact on the world, to keep something from it that makes it as great as it is. It's unfair to something that beautiful to keep it from showing its full potential to the world. The Les Mis we all fell in love with was the REAL show, a show where nothing was taken away from it simply because they felt they wanted a "change" or a way to make it cheaper.

And most of all, it's unfair to the people who go to see the show. It's cheating them, too, out of an experience that is truly incredible. What makes me so sad is the fact that these people will NEVER know what I know...they'll never be able to experience Les Mis the way I did and feel the full emotion and intensity that I did and that I'm sure all of you did as well. They won't see and feel the show to the point where the music makes you weep, it's so beautiful. And it makes me sad that they'll never KNOW that they're missing it. They'll see this show and think it's great but won't ever know that once this show was *more* than this. They'll be being cheated out of something great and never know they're being cheated. It's not fair to them...I want them to see what it really is, not just a shadow of what it is.

And what does this say about the future of pit orchestras? Nothing good. If something like this can happen to as great a show as Les Mis, what's going to happen to the rest of Broadway? It scares me, because...because then one day I'll wake up and all of Broadway will have no more pit orchestra and be replaced with synthesizers and prerecorded music...and no one will know the difference. And no one will *care* that there was once a difference.

No, you're not the only one disappointed about the new orchestrations or the reduced pit or anything involving the lessening of the importance of a pit orchestra in Les Mis. It is the reason I haven't been to the revival and is the reason I have no intention of ever going. I know it won't make a difference, as I am just one person, one random oboe player. But it's something I believe in, and I refuse to see a show that supports something like this, no matter how much I passionately love the show.

Ok. You know I can go on about this all night, so I'll end this here.

Orestes Fasting

Have you heard any clips of the new orchestrations? There are one or two things I still actually approve of--like the new Stars intro and the rearrangement of Master of the House to emphasize the orchestra above the synth--but for the most part they're, um, special. I don't think I've ever bothered to describe them in-depth before, but here goes:

First of all, it is absolutely criminal what they did to the string section. It sounds so thin. Ugh. They've tried to make up for it with really strong brass and percussion, which works in the overture but goes downhill after that. At some points you can barely even hear the singers over the percussion, let alone the rest of the pit. One of the few nice things is that the synthesizer is less obvious--it's still providing a lot of the sound ( Mad

) but it doesn't sound as... synth-y, especially in the parts where it used to be really really obvious like Master of the House, Dog Eats Dog, and the DYHTPS intro. In line with the reduced size of the pit, most of the halfway decent parts of the new orchestrations are for solo or duo instruments: the viola (I think that's what it is, I'm awful at distinguishing) echoing Valjean's parts in Fantine's arrest, a couple of nice guitar parts, and piccolo and percussion doing a fun little fife & drum DYHTPS for the entr'acte. I mention these things because I can count them on one hand, whereas I can't even begin to describe the flood of appalling things that have been done in other places.

The paring down of the orchestra sucks big time, and to add insult to injury, the general approach to the orchestrations is sucky. Really sucky. So many powerful, flowing sections have been replaced by the entire pit banging away repeatedly at one single note and it's horrifying. If you're feeling masochistic I can send you clips of what they did to Stars and Javert's Suicide. In IDAD they have the privilege of banging away on two notes instead of one. It ain't pretty. A lot of the new orchestrations go beyond the level of what's needed to reduce the orchestra and into "omg, they butchered it!" territory. And the amount that the pit actually plays has been reduced, since the intros to a bunch of songs have been cut in half, in the hopes that the audience won't notice the cuts if there are no words. Many people might not consciously notice, but it contributes to the general feeling that the show is rushed and abbreviated, and has had the edges snipped off it in a lot of places.

Unsurprisingly, the interlude after the final battle kinda sucks. The oboe solo at the beginning is still totally the best part, but they cut a 'verse' from it, and the big swell in the music sounds pitiful with only one violin. The rest of it... I don't know what they did to it, but it doesn't have the power it used to.

Two thumbs down and a frowny face for the new orchestrations.

Fantine

You write beautifully Smile

Quique

Notorious and Orestes, I agree 150%! So much of the show's emotional intensity has been lost. It now sounds really 'quiet,' it doesn't speak to me as it used to.

Like Orestes said, there are bits and pieces that actually sound OK and there are even parts that were not reorchestrated (Bring Him Home, Bishop sequence, A Heart Full Of Love). I think the worst parts are One Day More, Look Down, On My Own, Finale, and Soliloquy. I can't believe they dare change the definitive original orchestration to those.

Orestes I LOVED your detailed description on some of the orchestrations. I've done that before over at M-F.net (I only analyzed the changes made to On My Own) and felt as if nobody cared and probably thought I was insane, lol. That's why I haven't really gone too deep into it as you have. Thanks for basically saying everything I've been wanting to say regarding the small, but important details.

Yes, I'm very bummed about the new orchestrations but I'm going to try not to allow that to completely ruin the experience for me. And if it does, then I'm rushing to London to make up for the bad experience, lol.

NotoriousFunnt

Quique

Fantine

Hey NF, I hope you stay Smile

Most of the 'oldies' are gone... javertsw, ChingLing, Sairin etc... Where have they gone?

Electricity24601

Fantine

Thank you

I hope they will leave the orchestrations intact for the Dutch revival... But I guess since they are talking about a "new" version of the show, that my hopes are in vain.

LesMisForever

Oh! i also miss Sairin, Javertsw, and Moci.

NF...i am glad that you showed up again. I will always remember your enthusiasm about that Oboe solo. It opened my eyes to it, and added to my experience of the show.

OF indeed writes beautifully, i think you should check her website. I disagree with most of it (The girl doesn't like the Solos Shocked

), but it is beautifully written. I sent her once upon the time an e-mail about it, and i am still waiting for an answer lol.

I am rather ignorant in music. I enjoy it without being able to give analysis, but even i become to be able to appreciate live music.

It really makes one mad at those producers. I mean CM must have hundreds, and hundreds of millions. Surely he can afford to pay for proper orchestra.

Orestes Fasting

Eep, you sent me an email and I didn't reply? I don't even remember reading it; maybe gmail ate it or something.

LesMisForever

Fantine

NotoriousFunnt

I'll consider staying, haha...I just came back here because I knew if anyone could finally tell me what exactly was in the pit, it would be people here. None of my friends at home were able to give me an answer and it was quite frustrating! So I came and I got my answer and I *am* thoroughly enraged by it, as would be expected from my wild oboeness which really hasn't changed much since I first came here Wink

But I'll consider sticking around now...just 'cause it *is* nice to see some of the people I used to know here are still here. And I remember all the others, too, and sitting here in front of my computer I really *do* wonder where they all vanished to. Anyone remember AcrylicDrama here? I haven't seen her in years...she disappeared one night and never showed up on AIM again and I'm thoroughly curious of what happened to *her* just 'cause I talked with her on AIM for so long and it was strange she never came on again.

Tell Sairin I said hi too Smile

But I'll consider hanging around...just 'cause...well, who else is going to obsess over oboe stuff and general orchestra related things Smile

Fantine

Moci

LesMisForever

Moci....Nice to "see" you again posting a long post Very Happy

NotoriousFunnt

Hi Moci! Ahh yay all you guys who I knew before and am happy to see again Smile

Oh boy. So I just listened to the new orchestrations. Yay for NF's angry oboist rants!

1. THEY SHORTENED THE OBOE SOLO OMGWTF? Not cool, Cam Mack, not cool! If there's one thing I know, play almost every day of life and have kept the sheet music with me for four years, it's the oboe solo from Les Mis. When there's a change, yeah I notice it. And there was a change. It was shortened in the beginning. Wtf. Just no.
And then later on in that bit, you can TOTALLY tell how little of a brass section there is. The one brass player sounded very out of place even though I know he was supposed to be there.

2. Prologue=wtf? It sounded so tinny and weak. It sounded like I was listening to some weird local production instead of BROADWAY. It sounded rather honkey and not at all like the OMG intro that I'm so used to. This many solo instrumentalists? Doesn't work for Les Mis. Never will. Oboe solos? 'Course THAT works. But lone trumpets? Lone violins? DOES NOT work in a show this huge. And wtf is up with the percussion in this? It sounds like there's one guy on a bass drum the whole time. And that's IT.

3. I'm so not digging the change in the transition from "stealing a mouthful of bread" to "and why did I allow this man" in Valjean's soliloquy. Love that song. But the transition was horrendous in those two sections! I want that string melody that was there before Sad

4. What did they do to the IDAD intro oboe solo? They got rid of that? Pfft, Les Mis, I ain't playing in YOUR pit anymore.
That aside, Lea was great in IDAD. The orchestrations, not so much.

5. "Anorexic" is the perfect description for the new orchestrations. What ARE these things? I don't know, but it certainly doesn't sound like a Broadway pit at all, especially not one for Les Mis. I've played in local shows that had a fuller pit and pit sound than this nonsense.

6. Where IS the percussion? All I heard is some dude on a bass drum.

7. Okay, beginning of Come to Me has an English horn solo. We can keep that, eh? Wasn't there before but it's cool now. Shame that's the only nice thing I can say about the new orchestrations and it's only, what, two measures?

8. Noooo "Look Down" was one of the songs that I remembered most vividly when I first saw Les Mis! What did they DO to it? Oh, I weep for the lost wonder that the orchestra had during this song. But this? What IS it? This isn't Look Down anymore!

9. Okay "Stars" had an intro before. It really did. It actually had an orchestral backing, too, you know, which was cool. That song REALLY suffered from the lack of/changes in orchestration. A LOT. I love that song but I think it was one of the songs that suffered the most in this show. It makes me sad, it's so weak and so limp. Javert is singing and there's a limp, dead fish behind him that occasionally spikes on a solo trumpet. Just no.

10. NOOO they did the same sucky transition for Javert's Suicide as they did in Valjean's Soliloquy. WHY BROADWAY PEOPLE WHYYYY??

11. Oh, Les Mis finale. Oh fair beautiful Les Mis finale that made me bawl my eyes out my first time. I will miss you. I will greatly miss you because you always had my vote for Best Finale In a Musical EVER. Always did, you know. It's such a shame that when you died, they tried to ressurect you as a Finale Zombie and you now must stalk the Broadhurst for the rest of your undead life searching for brains, or a real pit orchestra/orchestrations, until once again you are sent back to your grave. But fear not, Finale. I will remember you as you were before you died and will know in my heart of hearts that this zombie is after all just an undead finale instead of the Finale I knew.

Anyway. I think I'll stop there 'cause I can go all night. All I can say is, I miss Les Mis and it was such a shame it went off Broadway those years ago. I love that show a lot and wish it was still around so I can see it again.

Quique

^ Thank you for that. Again, saying everything that I've been saying this whole time, only with more detail. It feels nice knowing I'm not the only one enraged over this.

I keep naively hoping that it will sound much better live, which is one of the things helping me look forward to seeing the show more than I probably should.

Live theatre is a unique artform with different layers of communication. Each expressing something in a different distinct way. The orchestrations is one of those layers and the orchesta adds the beautiful and subtle nuances that make it the dynamic form of expression that it is.

That layer has been almost completely stripped away. They think people are mindless out there and will overlook it. Well, not me.

Aimee

Orestes Fasting

Just for the record, the bass drum isn't actually as overwhelming as it sounds on that recording. It was taken from right on top of the percussion section and there is a lot of bass compression to keep the audio from clipping, which makes it sound really weird around the percussion.

However, in general, yes, there is way too much percussion and not enough... anything else really.

NotoriousFunnt

Aw. Yeah, I think I'll stick around...it's kind of cool seeing all these people I used to know and being all OMG you're still here Very Happy

Yeah it makes me so sad that Les Mis turned into this. When I heard it, it didn't sound like a Broadway production at all, just like some local production where they couldn't find enough people to make a full pit. And it shouldn't *sound* like that when you're on Broadway! It's sad because Les Mis was always a favorite show of mine and one of the reasons that I continued to get serious on oboe. I mean Phantom started me being a musician...it made me realize that music was what I meant for and made me choose to try and be a serious oboist. But then I saw Les Mis and that continued to make me determined to do this. I'm in college studying oboe now and it's been my dream for *years* to be in the pit of Les Mis because that was just my ideal place, the best place in all musical theatre for an oboe/English horn player. And then to see Les Mis become like *this*? I don't want to be in the pit for this! It bears very little resemblance to the pit that for years I've been bound and determined to become a part of. And what, is this the future of Les Mis? Will all the Mis pits be like this from now on? It makes me so sad 'cause I always wanted to be a part of that and now...the idea that I don't anymore is just such a strange idea.

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