Archive for Musicals.Net Musicals.Net |
| Timmy_Wishes he was Quast |
London - New ideas?It's been a while (say 18 months max) since i saw les mis BUT i saw it yesterday in the matinee and thought it was better than before, i was particulary impressed by the ensamble.I honestly believe the direction was very sensitive and improved from before. Some nice bits came with Grantaire pushing Enjolras away from Marius after ALFOR and he comforting Marius. Some nice touches in MOTH as well, particualry with the characteriusation of some if the customers such as the second customer that Thenardier welcomes coming onto the first, which made me giggle!! Though i DID NOT like the stupid slow mo bit. It distracted from Thenardier and what he was saying! Gavroche was fantasic. For the first time ever i was genuinly upset at his death. Post ATEOTD one of the factory girls went to comfort fantine but the main factory girl called her away and some men spat at fantine. I don't remember this from before but i thought it set up fantines dispare and lonliness during IDAD even better. The principles were phenominal as always. I also noticed some nice lighting additions. (these may have been there before i just hadn't noticed). In particular druing the LOve Montage seqeunce (In My LIfe, AHFOL). When Val Jean enterd the house a shutter became lit Stage left. AND when the gate revolved the light moved to stage right! I was VERY impressed. Anyone else seen London recently and noticed some of these things or others? |
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| Quique |
Re: London - New ideas?
You just didn't notice it before because that has always been there as long as I can remember. It's a nice, simple, yet as you said, impressive effect. |
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| Timmy_Wishes he was Quast |
I thought i just hadn't noticed it!!
I guess thats what happens when you don't see something for a while then go back...it makes it feel really fresh! |
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| Gargamel |
Yes it was already there when I saw the Paris revival many, many years ago. I loved that! 
The show is filled with little details like that, and also ther is a lot of things we don't think of during the show that have to occur. For example, during Do you hear the people sing, they start in the ABC caf�. Then they all stand up and go outside. The stage rotates so we can see them "outside". A few seconds later, the set of the caf� is removed, and all the chairs and tables are gone... They hag only a few seconds to remove all of them. |
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| Quique |
You could see one of the shutters lighting up as the revolve changes view of the gate in this Brazilian production clip of "In My Life" (seen beginning at 03:31)...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_UOGmZD164 |
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| eponine5 |
What did you think of the cast?
I thought they were very good, particularly Gary Watson as Marius and Melanie La Barrie as Madame T. My complaints though are about Cassandra Compton, who seemed to sometimes...I don't know, 'forget to act' may be too extreme an expression, but that's the impression I got from some moments, especially in On My Own. I'm also not so sure about Claire-Marie Hall. She didn't really seem to do anything with the role... But I was impressed by the ensemble. Did you notice the drunk at the wedding? I'm not sure whether that cast member does it regularly, but he spent the entirety of Beggars At The Feast disco-dancing and tripping over his feet, right at the front of the stage! 
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| Timmy_Wishes he was Quast |
Yes i saw the drunk! He was awesome! LOL. Oh dear i just was blown away.
I didn't see Garry Watson...i saw Joel someone (can't find my programme right now) and he was reasonable. Athough he just forgot to do ANYTHING and i mean anything during Empty Chairs...it was almost like he'd forgotten the blocking so didn't dare move! I was most upset! Agreed Claire did nothing. She just "was". Cassandra Compton seemed to be warming to her role. Her protyal was sensitive and well considered. Even in her death she wanted to maintin her control and diginit over her relationship with Marius. She had by far the best depserate last attempted kiss that i have ever seen. I shed a tear for dear Eponine then. However in contrats her lack of acting in the finale wasn't imprssive nor was apparent lack of blocking knowledge in OMO where she repeated herself at least 3times! |
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| Orestes Fasting |
Re: London - New ideas?I've heard that some of the Broadway revival blocking has been imported to London, and this pretty much confirms it. The Master of the House slow-mo, the factory girls comforting Fantine before IDAD and the men being rude with her, the drunk at the wedding, and a few miscellaneous other things--I think there was a blocking change in Come to Me so Fantine stays in bed instead of staggering around--are taken straight from Broadway. Grantaire doesn't pull Marius away from Enjolras after ALFOR on Broadway, but it's not terribly different: Enjolras tries to give Marius a hug, Marius pulls away and goes over to Grantaire and has a drink.What haven't they taken from Broadway though? I know there were quite a few blocking changes for the revival, and I haven't heard about all of them making it to London... a few I think someone would have mentioned if they'd done them: - Whores and their clients conducting their business onstage during Lovely Ladies - Rhyme in Come to Me has been fixed; it's now "Come to me, Cosette, the light is dying..." - The drunk sticking around after Master of the House to ramble at Th�nardier, and having to be kicked out as the Waltz of Treachery begins - One of the Look Down beggars responding to "Only one man and that's Lamarque..." with "General Lamarque!" - Grantaire knocking over Lesgle's drink in the ABC Caf�, and Enjolras grabbing him on "Our little lives don't count at all" - The "Grantaire, put the bottle down!" line has been reassigned to Courfeyrac - Marius giving Eponine his jacket before he climbs over the gate in the Rue Plumet - Can't remember any major Act II changes except Drink With Me, which has students playing assorted instruments as well as Enjolras giving Grantaire a talking-to after he sings his verse. I'd be tempted to think some of these were the choices of individual ensemble members, but they've all lasted through cast changes and the swings and understudies do them too, so they're probably standard in the Broadway production now. |
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| Timmy_Wishes he was Quast |
- The drunk sticking around after Master of the House to ramble at Th�nardier, and having to be kicked out as the Waltz of Treachery begins
THIS made it acrosss the atlantic as did the following. - Grantaire knocking over Lesgle's drink in the ABC Caf�, and Enjolras grabbing him on "Our little lives don't count at all" - The "Grantaire, put the bottle down!" line has been reassigned to Courfeyrac What i'm most pleased is how i felt the ensamble were back in charge of the show. Afterall it was John Caird who said that the ensamble nature of the whole thing that made it magic. |
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| eponine5 |
I didn't see the onstage business in Lovely Ladies with the new cast, although I did notice it on the last day of the previous cast. I was in the Upper Circle then, though, and they did it at the back wall behind the rest of the ladies, so it could have happened without me seeing it from the Stalls...
Oh, and the factory workers have comforted Fantine after At The End Of The Day in previous London casts. And I've seen other drunks at the wedding before this cast. It is sometimes hard to tell what is blocking and what is the choice of the performer. Jeff Nicholson, Grantaire in the previous cast, seemed to grow more and more suggestive towards Enjolras during his run, and eventually on his last day he kissed Enjolras on the cheek. 
I don't know whether it's regularly in the current cast, because I saw the Enjolras understudy, but in Drink With Me the last time I saw it, Grantaire and Enjolras hugged. |
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| groda |
Re: London - New ideas?
Went the other day, it's still Enjolras' line, it hasn't been changed. |
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| Orestes Fasting |
Re: London - New ideas?
With the last one, you'd know if they had it before. On Broadway they do it way downstage, off to the sides but within spitting distance of the first few rows. There's usually nervous giggling in the side sections. |
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| LesMisForever |
I have seen the show last week.
I didn't notice any major differences. The new cast is worse than the previous one in my opinion. The biggest drawback is Enjolras, probably the worst Enjolras i have seen. The guy doesn't have a strong voice at all, and it is a real mystery to me how he was cast there. Even Thenardier had a better voice. He didn't even look the part. He looked old to me. Very disappointing. Eponine...didn't impress me either. She has a voice that is hard to describe. Probably i would say "raw", which kind of fit the character if she was only talking. I didn't like her singing very much (The understudies of the previous cast were both better than her IMO), and her OMO was rushed IMO. I didn't see the new Marius, but the understudy did a solid job. Cosette..well, she sat prettly at that bench 
Thenardier were doing things little bit differently, and they amused me little bit, but MOTH lost its magic long time ago for me, and i admit that i ALWAYS feel little bit sad when it gets the usual rapturous applaus. JOJ was in really good form, and he got longer than usual applause, but by now i am starting to suspect that his BHH is starting to aqcuire a "cult" status. I am not sure this is good. Don't get me wrong, i LOVE his rendition as anyone, but i don't like idolising. All in all a good afternoon. P.S: there was one thing i liked. When Fantine was holding Javert's boot, and begging him, he moved it away really sharply. |
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| Orestes Fasting |
I never listen to Master of the House on recordings, but live it's one of my favorite numbers. Why? Watch the ensemble. It's their big chance to be massively entertaining, so it's almost always more fun to watch them than Th�nardier. (Last time I saw the show, Michael Minarik and James Chip Leonard spent the entire song fighting over Chip's hat. Minarik kept trying to steal it. This is on top of Nehal Joshi doing the chicken dance on the table, Dan Bogart's facial expressions, and Minarik lifting one of the girls' skirts when she was up on the table dancing.)
When was the last time London had a good Enjolras, anyway? It must have been the late 90s. I'm so looking forward to seeing JOJ. The only criticisms I've ever heard of him are that he's bored in the role or overrated--and I can't really picture him being bored after getting transplanted into a whole new production. |
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| LesMisForever |
OF...about 2 years ago we had an EXCELLENT Enjolras in Ramin Karimloo. He looked, sound, and acted the part (He was incredibly agile on the barricade). He was really charismatic, but sadly he didn't last long. | ||||||
| Orestes Fasting |
Aaaah. I knew he'd been in the show, but not that he'd been principal. Must've been a pretty short run then. | ||||||
| LesMisForever |
Yes, he had a short run. I don't excatly remember what were the reasons. | ||||||
| Moci |
He started later than the rest of the cast because he was still in 'Phantom' and he left before the cast change to play Chris in the UK tour of 'Miss Saigon'. |
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| mastachen |
Moci, I love your signature. "All this over a loaf of bread" LOL | ||||||
| Moci |
Thanks. I nicked it off a t-shirt that I saw on ebay, but that would have looked like a tent on me, unfortunately. If I remember correctly, there was also "'Les Mis' 'ain't over 'til the dead ladies sing" and "Life is too short, 'Les Mis' is too long' both of which I'm also rather fond of. According to the ebay listing they were worn by crew members on a UK tour, but I never bothered to verify that. |
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| may |
Lackadaisical is what comes to mind... perhaps he relies too much on his voice... it was the same when he was in Showboat... lovely voice but not much passionate acting hence this somewhat bored feel about him... |
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| groda |
I honestly don't get this at all, I've seen a bunch of Valjeans and JOJ is hands down the best actor of the lot IMO. Especially at the end, he plays old and frail and dying with such conviction it's quite a shock to see him all spry and grinning at the curtain call. |
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| The Very Angry Woman |
I have three of those shirts, all from the US tour. |
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| Moci |
Did they sell them as merchandise then in the US? I've been looking for one that will fit me ever since I first saw them, but no such luck. |
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| The Very Angry Woman |
They never did, but someone who I believe has the original silk screen template sold them on eBay. | ||||||
| Moci |
Thanks, I'll carry on keeping an eye out. |
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| LesMisForever |
I beg to differ. Personally, i value voice more than acting in musical theatre, but in the case of JOJ he is really very good in both. I can somehow understand "overrated". I don't agree with it, but i can accept it. However, bored seems to me absurd. |
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| Fantine |
He was passionate in all the stuff I've seen in him. Maybe he just had an offday. | ||||||
| phantomphan85 |
I have GOT to go see Les Mis again, it's been far too long. | ||||||
| marlyly |
I wasn't actually impressed by Watson at all. I'd seen Les Mis a few years back (2004 perhaps?) and although I don't know the name of the actor then (he had brown curly hair, thats about all i remember) I was really swept away by his performance, but when Watson sang 'Empty Chairs at Empty Tables' I just didn't feel anything for it. I thought John Owen Jones was an amazing Valjean (his voice was so powerful with such a great range), but I couldn't understand a lot of what Hans Peter Janssens said (not sure whether it was an accent, or what, but if I hadn't already known the words for Javerts songs already I would have completely missed that part of the story). Claire Marie Hall didn't do anything for me as Cosette (but I'm not a big fan of her character anyway as I don't feel she connects enough to the audience so that probably wasn't soley due to Hall) but I thought Cassandra Compton done a brilliant job as Eponine - very emotional. |
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| Orestes Fasting |
HPJ is Belgian, and I've heard comments on his accent before. But I had problems understanding the lyrics when I saw it in London, so in part it could be the acoustics of the theatre? | ||||||
| groda |
That'd be Gary Tushaw. Can see why you wouldn't like Watson if you like Tushaw, I too dislike one of them and was very impressed by the other, but in the opposite way from you! |
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| lckysvn777 |
Re: London - New ideas?
There was more than nervous giggling when I saw it back in July. I was in the 2nd row on the right side and the lady aside of me covered her eyes. LoL. I laughed cuz Michael Minarik has this hilarious look on his face after Haviland Stillwell(I believe) got off of his lap. He then fell over on the stage and almost off the stage. |
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| Orestes Fasting |
That was Nehal Joshi, actually. His facial expressions were priceless.
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| lckysvn777 |
I don't know if you were replying to me but if you were it was Michael Mikarik not Nehal Joshi. Nehal usually is on the left side of the stage not the right(When you are sitting in the audience). |
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| Orestes Fasting |
Um, there are two sailors who come near the audience in Lovely Ladies. Nehal Joshi and Haviland Stillwell did it stage left/audience right, when Fantine sells her locket, and Jeff Kready and Kate Chapman did it stage right/audience left, when she sells her hair. Michael Minarik is barely in the scene at all--he pops up near the end in a top hat and glasses, to watch Fantine get arrested. | ||||||
| lckysvn777 |
I don't mean to argue with you but it was definately Michael. I met him at the stage door and we had a laugh about him almost falling off the stage. Both times I saw it from the second row and both times it was Michael. |
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| Orestes Fasting |
Huh, weird. I wasn't there in July; maybe they temporarily changed the tracks when he joined the show or something, but I've never seen the guy playing Grantaire that far downstage in Lovely Ladies. What part of the song was it in? | ||||||
| lesmisloony |
Just thought I'd pop in to say a) I love this topic, and b) I have the "It's not over till the dead lady SINGS" shirt. Got it off eBay. It's a funny idea, but the shirt itself is a little odd in that the words on the front sit really high and... well, it comes off looking a little strange. And c) I must look for ALL of those things when I (squee!) see the show next month ! | ||||||
| Sweeney Hyde |
Have the actors play the instruments.
XD |
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| LesMisForever |
It took few years , but at last someone agrees with me that Gary Tushaw was very good Marius.
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| lckysvn777 |
I don't really remember. I was too busy trying to watch Lea Salonga and trying to watch Ali and Megan too. But I couldn't help notice Michael in the corner with Haviland since they were right in front of me. |
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| Orestes Fasting |
Cue mental image of Fantine breaking out a tuba for Lovely Ladies. |
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| Sweeney Hyde |
(good LuPone reference btw) |
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| lesmisloony |
Biggest laugh of the day... brilliant. Hey, what if one of the students whipped out a guitar for Drink With Me? Wouldn't that be... crazy? |
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| Timmy_Wishes he was Quast |
"...there is no way to go *hits triangle* on!? *struggles to pitch. Hit's triangle again* on!? *struggles to pitch. Hit's triangle again* on!? *Fantine enters with Tuba and plays* Ah! ONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!"
Ah what a magical scene that would be...*imagines* |
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| mastachen |
I can see Valjean at the center of the stage... in darkness except for the spotlight on him... playing a grand piano, singing Bring Him Home.
Oh yeah, and Marius is sleeping on the piano. |
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| lesmisloony |
Hahaha, FTW!
Fantine sitting down at a harp for IDAD? (I know she plays the tuba, but she can multitask, right?) |
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| Moci |
If you could get past the squirrel on his head... |
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| lesmisloony |
*can't find a picture of squirrel!Marius* | ||||||
| Moci |
The picture doesn't quite do the squirrelness justice though. |
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| lesmisloony |
Hahahahaha he looks like the kind of guy who would hvae a fake ID that reads McLovin... *passes squirrelly the scissors* | ||||||
| Fantine |
Julia is the prettiest Cosette I've ever seen though 
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| lesmisloony |
Oh. Heh, I didn't even notice the Cosette in that picture. It's rather difficult. But yes, she is quite pretty. |
