New Cast of Les Miserables

MrMarius · New Cast of Les Miserables

I went to see the West-Ends opening night tonight.
Impressive in some ways and in others I was a bit disappointed. Not sure if it's fair as an audience member and Les Mis fanatic to judge individual performances on a first night but I am of the mind that as professional actors they should be up to scratch and up to performance standard by their first night. Also I fully accept that there is room for improvement.

My favourites from the previous cast have all stayed on- lucky me- John Owen Jones was his usual superb self. He interacted well with his fellow company members and I particularly liked his relationship with the new Cosette- Clare Marie Hall. Very endearing.

Joanna Ampil- brought tears to my eyes during IDAD and she acted her emotions out so well throughout. The epilogue was beautifully acted with a simple yet emotional look of serenity on her face as she lead Valjean to Heaven.
Very moving

Hans Peter Jansenns- I like his Javert. Not his vocals to be honest but his acting is fantastic. He encompasses the role so well, and every time I see him I like him more and more in that role. His suicide rocks!

Gary Watson- is the new Marius and I thoroughly enjoyed his portrayal. He played the role very similarly to Jon Lee, a very boyish and naive character. Yet vocally he was very different. Stronger. I loved his ECAET, he seemed a little nervous during the first initial interactions during the scenes in Paris between himself and Eponine but as the show progressed so did his confidence. I think he'll make a great Marius.

Cassandra Compton- I did not like her portrayal. It was very contrived and amateur IMO. She hasn't a strong enough voice for the role and her acting made me laugh. I was disappointed as I understood her to have a fabulous voice but certainly not tonight.

Clare-Marie Hall- What a delight! I thought she played the part perfectly. She is very pretty also and has an air of innocence which is perfect for the characterisation of Cosette!
Her voice was lovely if a little quite and I enjoyed watching her falling in love with her Marius. It was very believable.
My favourite new addition.

Melanie Le Barrie- WOW! She had me in fits of laughter from her entrance onwards! Not sure she works well with Chris Vincent- who seemed slightly over shadowed by her.
She has a wonderful take on the character- very comical.

Edward Baruwa- Enjolras. Very good. His voice was marvellous- strong and it sent shivers down my spine. His acting- so so.
Room to grow.
Enjoyed his interaction with the students in The ABC.

The Ensemble were not very strong at all. And I was sorry to see Jenna Boyd was no longer there, although she has been with the company for two years- long enough for a company member with that much talent I think.
They were'nt very strong and at times were out of time- DYHTPS was one of the weakest numbers in the show.

I did enjoy the night however. I always do. I just prefer the previous cast all in all!

Applause

groda

Any changes in blocking? (There were rumours a while ago that the Broadway revival changes would be put in.)

flying_pigs

Thanks for this review. The previous cast impressed me less and less the more I saw them so I'm glad for some fresh faces!

Can't wait until I go in July. And if anyone cares, JOJ is off 13th-14th July.

LesMisForever

Thank you for the review Very Happy

Glad to hear that Enjolras has got strong voice. I can live with so-so acting, but i need my Enjolras to have strong voice.

Not so thrilled about Eponine of course. To be honest, i am never happy when they cast a known name from outside theatre. But, i will hold my judgment.

Flying_pigs ...thanks for the tip.

MrMarius

I saw a few differences in the show. Master of the house was in slow mo which actually worked quite well and Lovely Ladies was done very differently too!
Very Happy

Elin

Not so thrilled about Eponine of course. To be honest, i am never happy when they cast a known name from outside theatre.

Cassandra Compton started in theatre.

Electricity24601

groda

What about Gavroche's death scene? Or any instruments at the barricade? Cuts restored?

What's in slo mo? All of it? Question

LesMisForever

The Very Angry Woman

Quique

WHAT?! Slow motion?

Wtf are they doing with this poor show???!!! F*cking crap, this is seriously pissing me off now.

Orestes Fasting

Oh yeah, the "Charge 'em for the lice, extra for the mice" verse has been in slow-mo for the entire Broadway revival run.

LesMisForever

This is so annoying.

Why CamMak is doing this for GOD's sake?

I just hope this is the only thing!

I am planning to go and see the new cast sometime in July.

dcrowley

I also hate the slow motion sections of this show.... why in God's name would they add more. *sighs* I don't think people have to worry about a movie ruining Les Miz... Mackintosh seems to be doing that himself.

EponineMNFF

The slow motions make me laugh every time. Unfortunately, it's not in a good way. I understand it in the barricade scene where it just seems too dangerous to flip over the barricade that quickly, but in Master of the House? Bah.

flying_pigs

Saw the new London cast last night and was very impressed! Hated the slow-mo in MOTH though, WHY?!

I had a bit of a nice surprise when I looked at the sacred Les Mis parchment, Stephen John Davis was on as Javert! So, that was very exciting! My friend (a Les Mis newbie) and I were sitting in row B in the stalls which were great seats, I was a bit apprehensive as they are really close to the stage but I loved the seats! And YAY! for facial expressions!

JOJ- I think today was the best I'd ever seen him! He was amazing! He captivated the audience with every song and BHH bought the house down! I loved all his facial expressions and his acting when his is not centre of attention so to speak! He gets better and better with every viewing! So yeah, what else can I say? We all know how awesome he is, he really is THE DUDE! Will be sad when he leaves

SJD- OMGHOWGOODISHE?! He is another amazing understudy! I just thought he was soooo good! He acted perfectly, he sung perfectly, he was the perfect Javert! I loved his facial expressions, especially when he was tied up and the students were all talking and he just kept rolling his eyes and smiling in a successful way as if to say 'Ha, you're all going to die soon, I knew that!'.

Jo Ampil- Not impressed at all. I saw her when she was in the 2004-05 cast and she was much better then. She just seemed to have no energy and her voice was always quiet and soft. So yeah, not impressed.

Chris Vincent- Soooo camp! But has improved! Had a few funny moments in MOTH and in BATF. Works well with La Barrie though.

Melanie La Barrie- Hilarious! And she's funny because she plays the role low-key. It's not 'in your face' humour so it's more funny! Loved her in all her scenes, great new addition!

Gary Watson- Preeeeetty Marius! He looks like a man, not a boy YAY! His acting and singing is perfect YAY! Some parts I thought he under-acted but I'm sure when he's properly settled he will be great! A fab ECAET and I loved his acting in Valjean's confession. And he smooched Cosette at the wedding which is always nice! Sadly, his part in Attack on Rue Plumet (Somebody's here) was disapointing, he didn't hold the note Haha, I had to surpress giggles when he was shot, he did a twirl in mid air off the barricade, not very death-like at all! He also cried when Eponine died. He was crying! Sad :'(

Edward Baruwa- Meh. He was ok. He sang ok, he acted ok, he was just ok. Did not like his marching in ODM, looked like a mixture of dancing and jelly-legs. Also didn't hold note for 'earth is freeeeeeeeee' Also, very bouncy round the barricade!

Claire-Marie Hall- Well, she looks like Jo a lot! My friend even asked if they were the same actress! Lovely voice and a great actress, she looked so upset in the finale!

Cassie Compton- She sounds like a pop-star which was slightly annoying sometimes. Especially in ODM, her 'One more day...' bits sounded a bit like Norm Lewis on that backstage tour of Les Mis B/W revival with Aaron Lazar when they're in Norm's dressing room! Apart from that had a really pretty voice, but seemed to sing lyrics as they were written if that makes sense! No pauses or emphasis on certain words or anything. Acting was meh, some parts were good like OMO and ALFOR but the Robbery and IML was too amateur-esque.

Ensemble were great as usual! I was scared during ATEOTD when they came to the edge of the stage and just glare and point at people! One of the students (think it was Gareth Nash) was so upset when Gavroche died, he was like in hysterical sobs with his hands over his head! Loved Richard (Woody) Woodford as Grantaire, not as good as Jeff but still so funny! But he and Edward were really going for the Grantaire/Enji slash, all the hugging and gazing into eachother's eyes Audience were VERY enthusiastic! We clapped after the announcement before the show, we clapped when the students died, we clapped after Gavroche's opening verse in Look Down, we clapped at JVJ and Cosette after Waltz of Treachery, someone started clapping after SJD's 'it is either Valjean or Javert'. He was halfway through the song people! Oh, and little Cosette was so adorable! I want one!

The end! I'll probably think of something later though!

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New Cast of Les Miserables