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mastachen

Jean Valjean

One of the things that i thought Les Mis always had going for them was that their main character, Jean Valjean, was played by someone who had relatively impressive resumes beforehand.

Take for example, Colm Wilkinson, who did Evita and Phantom before Les Mis...(although according to wikipedia, he only sang the concepts cuz he wanted to pursue a solo career... speaking of concepts, the man is awesome in the concept album of jekyll and hyde) or the current London Valjean, who, according to his bio, is the longest running phantom in west end history.

The first time i watched Les Mis, I saw Randal Keith, who aside from playing Valjean alongside Colm Wilkinson in Asia, also played all 3 main male roles in the Phantom of the Opera in the past (what is it with Valjeans and them being the Phantom of the Opera?)

so of course when i go see it on Broadway I expected to see someone of some spectacular caliber, considering the fact that other ppl with tony nominations/wins were in the cast: Lea Salonga and Gary Beach, and Daphne Rubin-Vega was a tony nominee too, but she was already gone when i went to watch.

I wasn't as impressed with Alex Gemignani's resume, maybe b/c he wasn't in the Phantom of the Opera, but he wasn't on that night anyways.


So the Jean Valjean I got was Jeff Kready! Broadway Frickin Debut! Nice.
LesMisForever

Hi

Welcome to the forum Very Happy

Did you like him though?
It is not always the case that those debuting are bad, nor those with awards/nominations are good.

Daphne for example was criticised by the overwhelming majority.
Orestes Fasting

Alex Gemignani is certainly not his resume. Laughing He's good the first time or two around, but I got sick of him really fast.

How was Jeff Kready?
Electricity24601

A resume does not an actor make. There are some truly terrible people out there with good resumes and some wonderful people with horrible resumes. Even so, I can understand your disappointment at not seeing who you expected. Though as OF pointed out, I tend to think that Alexander is one of those that isn't as good as his resume would suggest.


Quote:
The first time i watched Les Mis, I saw Randal Keith, who aside from playing Valjean alongside Colm Wilkinson in Asia, also played all 3 main male roles in the Phantom of the Opera in the past (what is it with Valjeans and them being the Phantom of the Opera?)

He played Christine? Very Happy
Mademoiselle Lanoire

Mastachen said "main MALE roles", not "main roles". Read it again.
Glissando

3 main males in Phantom? The Phantom, Raoul, and...Buquet? Piangi? How are they a lead?
mastachen

Randal Keith played the phantom, raoul, and monsieur andre...


when i was watching les mis with jeff kready in it, during intermission, the man next to me asked his daughter, who couldnt have been more than 12, what she thought of jean valjean. the girl said he had a weak voice. and i kind of have to agree. he wasn't a powerful singer, and not a very good actor either. it seemed like he was just going through the motions. wasn't very impressive.

the other people i saw were lea salonga, ben crawford, marissa mcgowan, adam jacobs, max, ali, gary, and ann harada... gary didn't draw as many laughs as the thenardier of the national tour did. but everyone else, especially the first three i mentioned, were pretty awesome.

adam's a nice guy. at the stage door, it took me almost an entire minute to find his photo in the playbill cuz the pages weren't right next to each other, but he patiently waited for me as i fumbled through it. kinda felt bad for monopolizing a bit of his time, and a bit embarrassed. lea was chatty... she had a mini-conversation about cast changes with my sister, which left me kinda jealous. o.o
The Very Angry Woman

mastachen wrote:
Randal Keith played the phantom, raoul, and monsieur andre...


Technically, he understudied all three of them. He never regularly played any of them in the 5 or so years he was with the show.
Electricity24601

Mademoiselle Lanoire wrote:
Mastachen said "main MALE roles", not "main roles". Read it again.


Sorry... it was an ungodly early hour in the morning for the summer lazy bum that I have become (i.e. 7:30ish).

Quote:
Technically, he understudied all three of them. He never regularly played any of them in the 5 or so years he was with the show.


Trust TVAW to know all her facts and get technical on us. Very Happy
Lazarus (Adam G)

Wilkinson was good in Jekyll and Hyde? That's news to me.
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