Archive for Musicals.Net Musicals.Net |
| Fantine |
Les Mis Rotterdam review!I had a fab night. We had really nice seats (right on the path so with loads of leg room), in the centre. It wasn't too close and it wasn't too far from the stage. Perfect.RENE VAN KOOTEN - Jean Valjean 10/10 He has a fabulous voice. He is a bit like John Owen Jones. There isn't much to say about him. I did not hear one single mistake or weakness in his voice. His acting was good. I didn't really pay much attention to him though because I was already convinced of his awesomeness. As to the Light effects, I really liked how when he sang something about a circle or something like that, the lights made a circle around him which made him look really tiny. Nice. WIM VAN DEN DRIESSCHE - Javert 8/10 I wasn't really impressed with him up until a little past Stars. Which is a shame. I prefer a darker voice for Javert but I guess the contrast between his voice and Rene's was kinda nice. Wim has a very unique sound. I definitely enjoyed him more in the second act. He acted really nicely, he wasn't frozen like some Javerts. He really went beserk at Javert's Suicide. Maybe a little too much because he was sort of crying frantically and I can't really imagine Javert doing that. I was looking forward to his plunge into the Seine but it wasn't as impressive as how I had seen McCarthy pull it off in London. McCarthy actually dropped himself on the floor and made real use of the turntable, actually looking like he was taken by the river. Wim just kind of stood there and then slowly kneeled down, then lay down and that was it. Is this the way it is staged nowadays? Or am I hallucinating? Another thing: I'm SURE I heard him sing "There" at the start of Stars. My heart jumped and I was like: "Did they bring this back in English?!" but then he went on in Dutch. I must've misheard. "There" and "Daar" do sound alike. Especially with singing I suppose. NURLAILA KARIM - Fantine 8/10 Impressive, tiny, actress. HUGE voice. My only remark here is that I think she sounded a little bit too pop-ish, almost rock. I'm not sure how I can explain it properly in English, but she finishes most notes with a little wave like people do in pop songs. Where a classical singer would sing "Mijn droom zo anders dan de heeellll" she's singing "Mijn droom zo anders dan de HE-e-eeelll" with a little jump in the middle. I'll try and find an example or something. This is kind of bad, but I had a real hard time to prevent myself from laughing out loud when she died. Valjean held her, she had her arm reached out, and then she just died. It looked ridiculous. What happened with the "Waaaake" and then just falling peacefully back into her pillow? PIETER VAN NIEUWEHUYZE [understudy] - Marius 8/10 I think I cursed really loudly when I saw the cast list and noticed that Jamai Loman wasn't going to be performing. He was basically the only cast member that I was really looking forward to seeing. But, Pieter was awesome! He sounded a bit frail at first but he warmed up and he sounded just perfect. Really rich and warm voice. He sounded exactly like Jamai. Kind of Michael Ball like. He was a bit too friendly towards Eponine for my taste though, bawling his eyes out when she died. And since when do Grantaire and Marius have such a loving bond? Grantaire was continually hugging him... SUSAN SEEGERS - Cosette 7/10 Not too fond of her. She got better in the second act though. But then I think: Come on, it's such a small part already! She sounded rather weak but she had a strong high C. She had a really awful wig too! The poor thing! It was cut in layers so that she only had like three long strands of hair on her back. I'll be reviewing the rest later. |
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| milamber_alw |
It's great that you enjoyed the night!
You're right about Javert's death - it wasn't so impressive at all. But speaking about the begininig Stars - WOW! It's true  I amplified one sample and he really sings "There". If you compare it to the "daar" he sings later - it sounds completely different...
And to Fantine's death - I'm happy that I wasn't the only one who found this moment funny and stupid. It's really the Red Dwarf-style of death 
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| Fantine |
OMG! I wasn't mistaken! He is definitely singing 'There'. WTF?! No really, wtf?! WHY ON EARTH?! Why not sing the whole musical in English? WTF! EDIT: Whoops! 
The lyrics are actually... 'Ver' and that's what he sings. It's not English. It's correct. Gosh I totally freaked out for a minute. |
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| Fantine |
C�LINE PURCELL - Eponine
9/10 She was amazing! Although I had never seen C�line live I always had the impression that I would definitely not like her. But I did! I was so afraid that she would be another one of those cutesy (*cough*DianaKaarina*cough*) kind of Eponines, but she really wasn't! She was a total street rat. I was particularly interested in her interactions with Montparnasse (you did that to me, LesMisLoony!) and she really was not afraid of him, daring him (like she sings at one point during the Attack on Rue Plumet). She was a bitter Eponine but she wasn't really feeling sorry for herself. Her acting was great as well and her voice was powerful. C�line managed to totally move me around. I think she was one of my favorites. (Although I'm now kind of disliking Eponine and I think that she is rather dull - which has nothing to do with C�line btw). Her death was perfect. She went for 'the almost kiss' but she didn't overdo it. She simply reached out just a wee little bit - but enough for the audience to realize that she was trying to kiss him - and then just fell back a little, again without overdoing it, since I recall some footage of Eponines who fell back roughly. CARLO BOSZHARD - Thenardier 9/10 It was awesome to see him in such a dark role for a change! And he really did show every inch of Thenardier's dark side. I'm glad he dropped a bit of the overdone accent he used in earlier previews. I was actually amazed by his singing voice (although not really heard as Thenardier obviously) at the end of 'Dogs Eat Dog'. Of course he managed the comedy quite alright. I just think he could have used a little more dirty stuff (like puking his nose and ears) during MOTH. And what is up with the staging of DED? It seems he has adopted the silly hand thing from the London Thenardiers. Although it wasn't so silly when he did it, thank God. MARJOLEIN ALGERA - Mme Thenardier 10/10 AWESOME! She is a com�dienne and she had perfect timing! Great expressions, perfect look, just fantastic. No wonder that she's been nominated for a Dutch Musical Award. FREEK BARTELS - Enjolras 9/10 Great voice, great guy. Looks reminded me of Ramin Karimloo. (So h�las, not a blonde Enjy). He cracked on one note somewhere in the beginning (I think during Look down or something), but he was fine afterwards. His acting was also great. Real leader and yet caring about those around him. Maybe caring even a little too much. I was sad that there wasn't much chemistry between him and Grantaire though. He died with his eyes open. That's always a bit extra on the side. He was easily recognisable in the ensemble roles as well. Well who wouldn't remember those dark eyes? 
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| milamber_alw |
That explains a lot! I really thought that they did it like it was in Ducth Cats when the whole Oude Stijfselkat was in Dutch but at the end they sang "For she's a jolly good fellow..." I did never understand why they did this 
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| Fantine |
RICK MACHENBACH - Gavroche
10/10 Lovely little guy. He was really convincing, not afraid to perform for such a large audience. Real confidence and good strong voice. Sadly I wasn't really moved by his death as I have been before when I saw the show in London, but that probably had more to do with the fact that some STUPID UGLY TEENAGERS started laughing shouting things like "Gosh, did he die already?!" in a sarcastic way. It was SO annoying! Seriously, I would have climbed up the stage, grabbed one of those rifles from one of the barricade boys and shot them to death, only to climb up on the balcony (where they were seated) to bat them even further into pieces with Javert's police stick. Ahum, where was I? Oh yeah. At first it looked like the guys weren't able to catch Gav's bag, but luckily they did. GABY DE SMIDT - Little Cosette 7/10 She did her best but she wasn't a hundred percent clear. Uhm how do you say that? She missed a couple of notes. But it must be hard. Someone should tell her not to rub the tables so hard when she sings because that really showed through her singing. She was a cute little thing though. RUTGER BULSING - Grantaire 10/10 OMG awesome guy! Totally the Grantaire look, beautiful voice! I loved him! He was a little too friendly with Marius though and there was too little interaction with Enjolras (for my taste). JOCHEM FESTE ROOZEMOND - Bishop 10/10 Wonderful, wonderful voice. I think he made me weep. He looked a little young though, but I really don't mind that because I'm used to the TAC
JURKO VAN VEENENDAAL - Bamatabois 10/10 Gosh he made me laugh. He was terrible lol! (In a good way obviously). Such a dandy! MARCEL VISSCHER - Montparnasse 10/10 And last but not least (this one's for you LML) 'Parnasse! He was really sneaky, definitely trying to force Eponine into doing things she didn't want to do. He had a really specific way of walking too. And he flipped his knife a lot obviously
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| Fantine |
As to...
THE CUTS I didn't really notice them. But then I am most familiar with the TAC and not with the stage production so I wouldn't even notice if they cut all the scenes that weren't in the TAC!
ORCHESTRA Good sized orchestra! 18 members, right, Ben? And yes they were the new orchestrations. Some things I really liked (More power during The Sewers) And some things I really missed (like the violins (I think) during Javert's Suicide in the intro). One of the big tunes, I've forgotten which one it was specifically, was changed with an octave or so, which just didn't sound right. It sounded as if they made a mistake.
LYRICS There were a few small changes here and there. I know about IDAD and OMO because those are the songs I know well in Dutch. The following verse in IDAD was changed: ��n zomer heb ik hem geloofd Hij sliep naast mij, 't was als een wonder Hij heeft mij van m'n jeugd heroofd 't Werd herfst, ik ben alleen ontwaakt But I really can't remember the exact lines. It was something like: he turned me from a child into a woman. EDIT: These are the new lyrics: Een zomer lang bleef hij mij trouw Hij sliep naast mij, �t was als een wonder Ik was een kind en werd een vrouw �t werd herfst, ik ben alleen ontwaakt I like that change. And a small change in OMO: Hij zegt geen woord, we lopen voort naar 'n leven in de verte Is changed in: We lopen voort, zonder een woord, naar 'n leven in de verte COSTUMES They were the same as the old productions. So no new dress for Cosette. SONGS Little People was changed into Ten Little Bullets (which I like better). That's about it I guess! Ben, thank you so much for that lovely chat we had  We'll keep in touch!
PS. I'll be scanning some pictures somewhere in the near future. There are literally 75 pages... But in this book there is the best Cosette/Marius picture you'll have ever seen
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| Fantine |
I'm glad that everyone is SO interested in my review. Ahem.
There are some soundclips on youtube... On My Own (Heel Alleen): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oa9g7lpylBI Bring Him Home (Breng Hem Thuis): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU2_MUutsfY I Dreamed a Dream (Mijn Droom, here you can see that popishness I was talking about): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Exs1FwtprU Empty Chairs at Empty Tables (Lege Stoelen, Lege Tafels - sung by the understudy Pieter van Nieuwehuyze): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpnK7zDbaVg |
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| eponine5 |
The Dutch cast sounds really good! And since you're not fuming over the orchestrations, it sounds like they must sound better than they did on Broadway. 
But they changed the lyrics to Mijn Droom!? No! That was the only song I knew the lyrics to in Dutch! (I was really bored one afternoon.) |
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| kozafluitmusique |
Oh my gosh, i want to see this, but it's too much...grr. | ||
| Quique |
Thanks for the review, Fantine!
Was the production like the original? Just curious as I thought John Napier's original designs would.'t be used in future productions after the revival. As for the orchestrations, they sound good in some places. I still hate the modified OMO ones, but the rest are good. |
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| bigR |
Thank you SO much for the review Fantine! I haven't been online for a while and I did not see it!
You make it sound like a really brilliant production! I am so excited about it!!!! But I still have to wait 2 whole months before I fly to the Netherlands. I can't wait. It's like if it wasn't a single week link in the cast. Adnd add to that a powerful orchestra! Also, if you did not notice any of the cuts, maybe some of them weren't them? (hoping against hope). I mean, if you are that familiar with the TAC I'm sure that you would have noticed Come to me butchery at least... If you didn't, well, there still hope! |
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| Fantine |
Quique, I believe it is exactly like the original. I'll try and get my scanner up and working soon.
BigR, the beginning of MOTH is cut, but I didn't notice (or didn't pay enough attention to the beginning of Come To Me). There are cuts, that is for sure though. And Little People has been replaced with Ten Little Bullets. |
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| bigR |
Oooh, cuts 
but on the bright side, 74 pages souvenir brochure!
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| Fantine |
Yeah it has some fantastic pictures! And the most lovely Cosette/Marius picture I have ever seen, which has now become my favorite
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