Archive for Musicals.Net Musicals.Net |
| Eponines_Hat |
oooh! you will get Natalie!Fantine! You're gonna love her!
No idea about accommodation options, sorry. I usually use tripadvisor or venere.com. Good luck finding something! |
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| l'ivrogne transfigur� |
Ooh, I was thinking of possibly coming down that weekend... Is anyone thinking of going to Nancy's thing on the 28th? |
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| Katfeyrac |
Unless something goes terribly wrong, I'll be there that weekend too 
Yay Natalie. |
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| Eponines_Hat |
Yep, I think I will go. She was great at the Soho Sessions. Would really love to hear her do Coldplay again |
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| Eppie-Sue |
WHEEEEE! The matinee was great, but the evening show was amazing. Epicjolras.
Will try to review at one point. |
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| flying_pigs |
Sounds epic!
How many understudies? Just Jeff and Helen? |
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| Eppie-Sue |
Jeff, Helen and Greg (who is getting better and better, even though I still prefer Martin Ball. How lovely that Th�nardier is another role where I don't mind if I get principal or one of the understudies)...
Funnily, there were no actual bloopers, and it was still as entertaining as ever. Especially in the evening. I mean, not EVERYONE was amazing, but there was a lot of light and only a bit of shadow. Great energy tonight. I think I'll review tomorrow. Gosh, I'm dead tired. ETA: review will have to wait a little bit, I was half-way through and then Firefox died on me, stupid thing. Don't have the nerve to start again immediately. |
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| Eppie-Sue |
I've got something for you. It's not the review, but it's the... centre of the new ODM picture. One day, I will actually scan both pages and put them together, but for now, you have to live with half the cast. And it took me ages to get rid of the crease that went right over Emily and David... and the lyrics.
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| MizzieFan |
Thanks for the picture! Anyway, who is missing except Antony? I am not really good at recognizing people and faces 
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| Eppie-Sue |
Gavin  Gavin and Antony are both missing from the ODM picture, which is inexcusable... without Combeferre and Feuilly!
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| MizzieFan |
Doesn't really seem fair they took pictures without them. They could have waited a day or two?
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| Eponines_Hat |
preeeettyyy! Thanks Eppie-Sue!
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| Eppie-Sue |
Heeeh.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxQF4caYYps That's from yesterday's show. With the pretty picture! I feel famous, even though I only photoshopped it. |
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| flying_pigs |
XD The "Marius, you're late" really made me laugh for some reason! |
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| l'ivrogne transfigur� |
I'm sure he sings that line differently every time I hear it - sometimes he sounds really annoyed, sometimes he's just bored, sometimes it's a kind of wry amusement etc |
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| Eppie-Sue |
speaking of lines sung differently... I really like the "let us welcome it gladly with courage and cheer" here ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxQF4caYYps#t=05m24s ) and I've never heard it before. Madeleine and I looked at each other going O.O Oh I will review now. I'm feeling all fangirl-y. |
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| Eppie-Sue |
FINALLY: The review, before you guys slaughter me in the Fangirling Thread. And because I've been told "how are we supposed to know there is a new review when you just edit?", this comes as a new and shiny post! On a new page even!
So, yes, the cast Helen as Eponine Jeff as Javert Greg as Th�nardier Killian and Mark H. alternately in Jeff's and Jonathan's tracks Brenda in Helen's track Katy in Sophie's track Okay so. I think I'll just review very generally and pick out the things that stood out for me. That said: David. Oh, so epic. I was already perfectly happy after the matinee, because it had been amazing and I remember thinking "WOAH THERE" at the One Day More entrance, and you never know what to expect at evening shows on a matinee day, especially if it's the end of the week and the eighth performance and all that, they must all be knackered at the end of the show. That said, we got Epicjolras in every shape and form in the evening. "Lamarque is dead" was incredible. It might just have been the best I've ever seen, right up there with the birthday show one (which still reigns as The Best Thing That Ever Happened) mainly because it was MENTAL. It was the kind of LiD where you feel the need to applaud, but you can't possibly do it because the moment is so grand. The way that entire scene builds up - in one minute - is perfect, he completely loses it at "His death... is the sign we await!" and, bloody hell, he is terrifying. It's awesome. And he did something fantastic at "Let us welcome it gladly with courage and cheer" (as mentioned a bit earlier)� and oh, CAAAAAALL and just epicness galore. Flag-whipping on the cart and the ODM entrance and every little bit on the barricade. It's like seeing it all for the first time, and it is completely believeable and there isn't one second that doesn't feel quite right, that stands out in a negative way, that throws you off. And he f'ing works with the character, he interacts, the performance feels whole because there is no discrepancy between what he's doing and the context, and between his singing and the meaning behind it. Oh heaven. Heaven. I�m all fangirl-ed out now, should have done this part at the end. Okay so. George�s Bamatabois hat fell into the orchestra pit! What can I say, I�m very easily entertained. And it was GREAT. I thought Simon Bowman wasn�t good at all. Honestly. I know, I know, I keep saying this, but he wasn�t on time with the music for the first fifteen minutes, then his voice kept giving in during BHH so he was half-shouting some lines, squeaked at the end of the last note� it was just not very pleasant, I�m sorry for saying this. JEEEEEEFF! Jeff totally deserved the applause after the Suicide both in the afternoon and the evening (I�ll never start it again though. My God it was embarrassing!) � and oh I love his �another brawl in the square�, and how he ACTS �Stars� and how he doesn�t run around like a headless chicken to get to the Final Confrontation and how smug he is.
I liked Helen as Eponine a lot better in the evening, I � didn�t care for her at all in the matinee, sadly. I don�t know what it is, but I don�t get the feeling that she�s in love with Marius � so much in love that it�s beyond all reason. Greg was pretty amazing as Th�nardier. I don�t even like his voice that much, but I thought his acting was wonderful, especially in The Bargain, all the little things he adds, the praying hands when he can�t do the sign of the cross and all that, it works very well. I don�t particularly like him in The Robbery and, unfortunately, DED, but there is one bit in Rue Plumet Attack that is so amazing, I want to see it EVERY TIME. Every time he walks past the gate, he walks like a proper gentleman, and then turns into the ratlike figure again once he�s in the shadows. OH THE ATTACK ON RUE PLUMET. I love this cast so much� How Simon�s Babet and Thomas�s Montparnasse are the only ones keeping it together, getting infuriated when there is any kind of noise, hushing others, pulling George�s dumb Claquesous back from the bars � and Killian as Brujon is just brilliant, muttering to himself.
MotH was especially funny in the evening, or maybe I was just having more fun than usual because I was next to Madeleine � but everything seemed funny. I can�t even say �X owns that scene�, because literally everyone is hilarious. Brilliance, utter brilliance.
Hm, trying to think of more� might edit this later. But there you are. And because it's such a pretty picture and I'm very proud of the scan... THE NEW ODM PIC! AGAIN! It's come to haunt you. 
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| beyondthebarricade |
Ohh it sounds just brilliant. Good show there. Is Bowman always the weakest link? And I suppose Rebecca was bloody good, as well. | ||||||||||
| aquirkofmatter |
I've been working all day, so now instead of sleeping I'm writing about last night.
Last night, there was Epicjolras. I thought so, anyway (and so did Eppie-Sue, it seems!) But David's always on top form, and I'm not going to dwell on him because I think Eppie's got that one covered - but for me, Jeffert totally stole the show Stars was amazing, and was actually one of the only points throughout the whole show the people behind me didn't talk at all. Even through IDAD they started talking about Susan Boyle (even though they both claimed to have seen it four times before and therefore should know that it's nothing to do with that woman), in ATEOTD and the Cafe scenes they were spouting random crap about the plot and getting it completely wrong, differently, both times; and during OMO they were commenting on the impressiveness of the set. I felt for the people next to me who said they didn't know the show and who had paid to watch it rather than hear people ralk rubbish about it.
I don't sit in BB22 very often, but when I do it always ends up being Greg as Thenardier, I don't know why... but I love it for that reason. Just before Stars, he backs away with a 'thank you your Lordship, thank you sir...... silly old sod.' I've heard it before, but can't recall Martin ever saying it. Maybe he does, but I'm just ignorant. Oh, but Stars. Pure love. And Suicide! I think possibly the best I've ever seen Jeff die. I was close to clapping myself when I heard applause coming from Eppie-Sue's direction - I knew it was her!  Well it was deserved, anyway (people didn't have to join in, did they?!)
I think I preferred Helen as Eponine last night to when I first saw her in August, but I did miss the big ooomph that Nancy gives at the end of OMO; in comparison Helen's is slightly lacklustre imo. Apart from the sobbing woman, I loved every bit of the Barricade scenes last night. Martin Neely, in particular, was awesome. In the cafe, too, he was fantastic. I do love his Grantaire, and with both Alistair and David the interactions were so perfect. I even think his Pimp is great, Rupert Bear trousers and all! There's something so sleazy about him that is just right, and that tour!Pimp didn't seem to get at all. (His Factory Foreman gives me the giggles, though, I think it's the 'tache.) Oooh, and I thought Alistair was so good last night - but Emily seemed to be in panto-acting-mode, and didn't quite hit some of the IML/AHFOL notes. I know I've said it before, but I don't like her voice at all; I loved how effortless Katie made it all, her voice would just... soar. Emily doesn't do that. Random things: Bowman nearly knocked himself out on one of those fake brick things at the front of the stage; Mark & Simon need to be more careful when they throw him, that could lead to something interesting happening [and bringing down the safety curtain to drag unconscious!Valjean off wouldn't help, because it doesn't go that far forwards]. Killian!Lesgles is an absolute sweetheart to Gavroche, and when it finally got to 'Come back Gavroche, don't you dare!' I was a little bit teary, because it felt like he really meant it. There was a lovely "What are you doing with that gun? You're not shooting anyone!" moment just as Valjean arrived, with Killian getting Gavroche to hand over his 'bullets'. Gavin whacking George with a wooden spoon in MOTH, and then the determined look on George's face, will never stop being funny. (I'm more than slightly immature). And then there was the guy who approached me in the interval and asked if I'd looked into the pit, and were they really playing instruments or just sitting there while it was all programmed. I thought 'if it's all programmed, why go to the extra expense of paying people to sit in the pit??' my brain then also said 'I would do that job; stiff neck 'n'all.' |
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| Eppie-Sue |
This made me laugh even more than the sight of David!Captain (in Lovely Ladies) actually looking at his shoes when Rebecca sang "you can wear your shoes" as if going "Am I even wearing shows? Oh I AM !"
... yeah, I don't know either. Jeff was great, I agree. I tend to get used to him now, he's been on SOOO MUCH in the past four weeks. (then again, I guess I should get used to David as Enjolras... ah well) But "he gave me back my life" without the strange gasp and shouting of "MY LIFE!" and doing that weird thing with his hands is... that's just really really pleasant. <3 Jeffert. ETA: Bowman should just go and rest his voice... If Simon Shorten got to go on, I would be one happy Eppie (what a silly rhyme)! But if Martin Ball isn't fit again, it would be a bit of a crazy show, what with four of five male principals off! (and two swings covering at least four tracks - Jonathan, Jeff, Antony and Simon) |
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| flying_pigs |
Managed to get BB 20-21 tickets for tonight and so glad I did, AMAZING show!
Will review properly in the morning but I'll leave you with a few random things! -Rachel, Amanda, Daniella, Natalie and Katy where all off! So Brenda was covering four tracks by herself! But for some reason wasn't in the Wedding so there was a grand total of four couples at the wedding! Emily, of course, didn't really have people to dance with so Greg was randomly there walking around the stage with her! Oh, and Simon caught the bouquet and Killian started clapping and whopping, so funny! -Mark H was in Jeff's track, Greg in Antony's track and Killian in Jonathan's track and they were all amazing! -Jeff and Antony were magnificent! Stars, Suicide and Empty Chairs were just wonderful! Thaxton was fantastic, it was all there. I was happy
-Joe kept trying to take Mark Hedge's scarf in MOTH and Gavin kept hitting George with the spoon. Basically the whole scene had me in fits of giggles! And finally, as this has kind of turned into a review, guys I am a bad fan!!! Antony acted being shot so convincigly, so I was watching him and didn't notice the jump until David was halfway through the air! Oh and DT did "we strive..."*bang fist on table* again, hope it stays! Ok I'll shut up for now! Oh and Nancy did the speech and was so sweet! |
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| Eppie-Sue |
I can NOT believe you went and I wasn't there. D: shame on you. ah well. I was even considering going, but as there were no understudies that had the "MUST SEE NOW" effect on me (Jeff and Antony will, after all, be on for the next shows, too, and will be on again), I walked away from the theatre. (Yes, I managed.)
But woah, female ensemble shortage. That's quite a few of girls off! Poor Brenda!
... it never does.
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| flying_pigs |
Hehe I'm sorry! It was kind of last minute! But good self-restraint!
Ooooh, I really want to go again. But will have to wait until Easter
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| aquirkofmatter |
Give or take Martin being off [I like both him and Greg], this is what I'm hoping for on Wednesday. The swings could do it, of course they can! And I want to see Simon again (or, at least, a good Valjean  )
Brenda wasn't in the wedding on Saturday either... but if Rachel and Natalie were both off, did Brenda end up buying Fantine's necklace and her hair, or did one of the other girls de-whore to do that?
That's basically what happened to on Saturday night (except Killian had the scarf and Mark was involved in the scarf-taking...) MOTH will never cease to make me laugh. Particularly Gavin, George & the wooden spoon! I can't wait to see Antony again on Wednesday now!
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| Eppie-Sue |
I think I've seen Katy done both of the roles before... actually, I think the women look too much alike. The one buying the necklace shouldn't have a brown ... coat over her head as well. She can have hair! Why can't she have hair!? |
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| aquirkofmatter |
I can't see any reason why she couldn't, and I suppose if the female ensemble's four down she'd probably have to. It's just odd, that's all. And you're right, the don't both need to be hooded... she could have hair
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| flying_pigs |
Brenda was both, it greatly amused me!
Oh and another thought, Gavin covered up Laura's ears when Lorraine said "raise it up the master's arse!". And George kept trying to steal Simon's drink. And succeeded in the end! God I that scene! |
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| riverdawn |
I think the reasoning is that they are supposed to be old women, but they are being acted by young actresses. By covering them with a hood, it's easy to make them look old simply by using body language and voice. If one was un-hooded, she would have to be made up to look older etc. This way, anyone who isn't sitting in the BB seats and looking into the hoods to see who is inside just sees two old women. |
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| aquirkofmatter |
Yeah, I thought that. Particularly from the U/C, say; you wouldn't be able to distinguish faces as well from down there. Even when I sat mid-D/C, you couldn't really see them under the hoods (but then my contact lenses were getting to the end of the month, so they were dying a little bit!) |
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| flying_pigs |
Ok, so I can't sleep so I'll just review now Be aware it gets pretty rambly towards the end!
I was sat in BB20, never sat that side before so was pretty excited! Think I prefer that side, not really sure why though! Simon Bowman: Well, I didn't love him or hate him really. I love his strong, belting, powerful notes. But his higher range isn't as strong. E.g. "took my fliiiight" wasn't too impressive. And he didn't do the big not at the end of "Who Am I?" But I'm sure he could easily do it! I loved his acting throughout (although we did still have a few random hand gestures, but not as many as I had anticipated!) Oh and random observation, I'm pretty sure his finger is only bandaged in the "Confrontation"? Weird! So, to summarise, was my first time seeing Bowman and I liked (most of) his performance!
Jeffert: So after almost five years of trying to catch his Javert, I finally succeeded! So much love! I love his acting and he really makes Javert believable! You really see the human side to his Javert but also his very strong, sure of himself policeman side. "Stars" was amazing and received loud cheers! It was different to any "Stars" I'd seen before, and I'm not too sure why! But I loved it. He was soooo good in "Fantine's Arrest" and all of the barricade stuff! "Suicide" was again, great. I didn't want him to die, I wanted him to continue singing forever! Rebecca: Good, as always. You can always expect a solid show from her. You really feel for her Fantine, especially as she's treated so terribly. I think it was Greg or Mark who spat at her after ATEOTD In fact, there was a lot of spitting throughout the show!
Martin: My mum loved him (it was her first time seeing this cast!) And he was great, although I was kind of watching the ensemble in MOTH XD But I do love how plays the character for laughs one minute but can become all sinister the next. Love him! Lorraine: Amusing, as always! Another who goes from funny to scary very quickly! I felt so sorry for possibly the smallest Cosette I've ever seen! Although I seem to say that after every Cosette I've seen! Anywho, love Lorraine in The Wedding! Even though it's mainly done for laughs, I don't care! David: Awesome! There is so much depth to his character and everything was there. And I finally saw him whip the cart with the flag, woo! I find it so heartbreaking to see him go from exciteable, strong, in charge Enjolras to the part just before Gavroche's death as the stage is turning, when you see how realisation dawn on his face. As I mentioned, missed half the jump but still felt the effect when you see him flying through the air in your general direction! ODM entrance was LOUD! But that's the way we like it! And the "Final Battle" was fantastic! I actually got a bit teary-eyed when the students all died which has never happened before! So to sum up: amazing as always! Very loud cheer at curtain call! I love him, we love, everyone loves him! Antony: I was so excited to see him! His Marius is a lot more...manlier than Alistair's. Even when he's falling in love! Loved his interaction with everyone, especially Emily. "Empty Chairs" was the best I've heard in a long time, so much emotion and power! Hayden Tee will probably always be my favourite Marius but Antony definately comes a close second! Go see him if you can! Emily: I love her acting, but I'm sure that's been said before! Lovely voice, she's improved so much since I saw in 2006. Still not sure about the wig, think I prefer the old one! But yeah, such a lovely Cosette! Nancy: OMO was definately her weakest song today, well acted but not her best vocally. Loved her in "The Robbery" and "Attack on Rue Plumet" though and ALFOR was heartbreaking, Nancy and Antony were so good! Ensemble: -Well they work together so well and provide so much amusement and entertainment! I love Dylan as a convict, got silent giggles when "MARK of Cain" happened, thanks guys! -Got the giggles again when I saw David peeking out from behind Simon S's leg in the Bishop scene! ATEOTD was interesting with so few girls, but Sophie is great as the factory bitch! -I love Thomas, Killian and Dylan as the sailors in "Lovely Ladies" and Joe looks so proud of himself when he manages to get one of the whores! "Lovely Ladies" also had six whores, Brenda played both crones which was very amusing! And does anyone else find "Runaway Cart" very amusing?! -MOTH was the amazing madness as it always is! George being the best drunk ever and trying to steal Simon's drink and trying to sit on Greg's lap. I love Mark H as the second traveller, his face goes from smiling to disgust as soon as he see's Th�nardier, "what is this?!"! Gavin hitting George repeatedly with the wooden spoon had me giggiling all the way through! And of course the table on the right with Joe trying to steal Mark H's scarf and drunk Killian giving all the drinks he could reach to Helen, "take this one, and this one, aaaaand this one" in his cute irish accent .
Other random points as this is turning into a really hard to read ramble: -I love Simon's Babet and Thomas's Monty! -Killian was so cute with Gavroche at the Barricade, forcing him to give him all his bullets. Also had a bit of a scuffle with David during "they will do what is right." -I love how proud Mark looks through a lot of his scenes as Courfeyrac! Although he has such a manic face during "shoot the baaaastaaaard!". -Mark H was a great drunk at the "Wedding", not as good as Jonathan but who is!? Well Killian maybe! I did love how it took him so many attempts to drink his drink! -There was only five girls in Turning and four couples in the Wedding, wasn't the greatest turn out! Greg was just escorting Emily around the stage whilst the others danced! -And the Finale was the best, so much power by everyone! Ok this is kind of long and I think I got a bit carried away 
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| beyondthebarricade |
Well, the show sounded good as usual. When could it not be?
And don't you write less! People like me have to live on these reviews, well until June anyway. By the way, my friend mentioned something about how the inside of theaters in June when it's summer being very very very warm especially as the theaters are old so it wasn't air-conditioned. Is that true? |
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| Eppie-Sue |
I don't remember that being an issue for the audience, at least not when I saw the show in June... maybe backstage, which, of course, then mainly affects the actors, not us... |
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| riverdawn |
I saw it in August which was quite warm this year, and don't remember any particular problem with the heat. | ||||||||||
| beyondthebarricade |
Thank you! I thought so, I didn't think the heat gives problems. But my friend was like "The heat in the theaters in summer is unbearable you shouldn't go in summer!" I didn't quite believe him, so I thought I'd check. If it's hot backstage, the performers are unlucky because backstage is tiny. | ||||||||||
| aquirkofmatter |
YES! He was doing that on Saturday too, it was so sweet I thought I might've been going crazy, I'm glad someone else noticed!
It is and it isn't - the Queen's is air-cooled, so it's not too hot, but it's not air-con cool... unless you're under the overhang, because the air gets trapped and it can get quite warm. So the others are right, but generally it's the front stalls and front DC are cooler, and the further back/up you get the warmer it is. |
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| l'ivrogne transfigur� |
I was just rereading some of the early posts in the thread. It's interesting to see how much opinions have changed. There was quite a lot of dislike for Katie Hall, for example, and now most people really like her. Either she really grew into the role or people got used to her. Also Martin Neely - it's all Martin hate back there and why is Jeff sitting right there and not Grantaire??? - that's kind of changed too.
I'm glad people are able to revise their opinions - and continue to enjoy the show no matter what! (Just thought I'd drop that thought in there )
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| Hallie |
Hey
I was just wondering if anyone could post the link for the website that tells you all the holiday dates for the cast...I know I've seen it on here somewhere before but cant find it. Sorry I don't post more often on here too - wish I could but I haven't seen the show since December and that was only my second time of seeing it...I wanna go back so bad!! But for now Im living on your reviews, which are great by the way : ) Xx (",) xX |
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| Lauraa |
I usually look on here
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| l'ivrogne transfigur� |
Westendunderstudies.com
You don't have to see the show a lot to post here, honestly. Doesn't make you less of a fan. And there's plenty to talk about without going to see it a lot.
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| KatyRoseLand |
I'm on such a high from this afternoon's show. It was SO great and I hadn't seen it for ages which made it even better.
I will review when I get a moment! |
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| Hallie |
Cheers for the links guys...and you're so right, you can be just as obsessed even if you have only seen it twice lol...*must resist erge to talk about David Thaxton...* hehe
Xx (",) xX |
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| Eppie-Sue |
back from tonight's show which was really good... not one remotely bad thing in there, actually, every note was hit (except for the, um, actual "Who Am I" note, obviously), Rebecca was really, really strong, Nancy was amazing, David was pretty epic and I will review at some point I think. Oh and Antony and Jeff! I rejoiced.
ETA: Also, regarding cast change in June... talked to Nancy and David and absolutely nothing has been decided yet. Nancy said it's likely she'll leave, David said they have to ask him and he won't say anything till then. So right now, everything is possible, actually, and the whole process won't start until March, at least. oooh and Nancy's holiday dates are... 18-20 February 15-20 March and "some time in April but I don't know that" ETA 2: I have to mention today's speeches or I'll forget. So, apparently (according what aquirkofmatter told me), Antony did the matinee speech and, if I heard that right, said something about them trying to raise money with an 'Kiss an Enjolras' booth which, unfortunately, had 'only brought in 25 quid' so they 'dropped that idea'. XD tonight, David got back at him in his speech (which started off with: "Now, before we begin our third act..." then there was the whole bit about Haiti, obviously): "There is a little incentive - the person who puts the most money in this evening gets to win TV's Antony Hansen!" Burned. Poor Antony xD They're never going to let him live down the "Any Dream Will Do" reputation in this cast. xD (and they have raised 10,000 pounds last week. Not bad at all...) |
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| aquirkofmatter |
No, no, he wasn't even worth that much! Just �4.25. That's much more like it (You must've misheard cos of that hat over your ears!)
I've just got back and I was planning on reviewing, but I have to say that that's pretty much all that my matinee review would consist of [apart from the idiot who was TEXTING WITH KEYPAD TONES ON during the Finale. And IDAD.  ] And as that's pretty much all summed up there, I am, instead, going to sleep. I will write something more thorough tomorrow, I expect.
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| Eppie-Sue |
Yeah, I blame the hat. That's what you get for trying to stay warm. I only remembered the "25" part anyway. But you get the idea
Antony was positively mortified at the "TV" comment. xD |
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| l'ivrogne transfigur� |
Poor Antony indeed. Do you know how long they're going to be doing these speeches for?
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| riverdawn |
4.25? I'm pretty sure that booth would have raised more money than that.
But yeah, poor mortified Antony. It all sounds like fun. |
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| beyondthebarricade |
LOL I think you would need a bunch of screaming fangirls to run to the "Kiss an Enjolras" booth. Really, I expected that to raise more money. Wait, was that an actual booth?!
Haha true, poor poor Antony. And trust David to be the one rubbing it in. But Nancy's been on the "I'd Do Anything!" show too! Ahh, mass media kills.
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| flying_pigs |
Haha, on monday, Nancy said the person who donated the most would win Miss Lorraine Bruce!
I loved Nancy's speech: Nancy: "Did you enjoy it?" Audience: "Yeeeeaaaahhh WOOOO!" Nancy: "Phew!" |
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| Eponines_Hat |
lol Sadly, I think it was a joke. Just like David's offer to give Greg Castalioni away last week, and this week Nancy offered Lorraine Bruce as a prize. And Katie Hall, Alastair Brammer and Leanne Dobinson were on telly, too. |
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| mm10 |
Just back from couple of days in London and saw Les Mis Thursday night. I�ll start with SB � I�m not going to go on and on about him as I�m sure everyone knows my feelings now just to say that I was very relieved he was on and again I wasn't disappointed. I did notice a couple of awkward �hand gestures� once I was actually looking for them but they probably seem less obvious the further back you are sitting. Also don�t know why he isn�t doing the �one� note at the end of who am I, that is a mystery � as someone else said I�m sure he is capable of it so why isn�t he doing it? American woman on one side of me said BHH was her favourite number and she clapped loudly at the end of it so I guess she liked it. She stood up at the curtain call so I stood up with her � creasing my lovely new colour brochure as I threw it to the floor in my hurry to get up! 
As for everyone else, saw Jeff and Anthony last month and have to say I think I preferred them although HPJ was OK - was quite shocked that no one clapped after his suicide (what is that song actually called?)!! Took particular note of David Thaxton after all the talk about him and yes can see why everyone is so taken with him. Thought Eponine was a bit �shouty� towards end of OMO but her acting was very good. An elderly couple on the other side of me were making comments to each other throughout the first half and heard the woman say it was very hard to follow. In the interval the man asked me if I�d seen it before, I replied �yes, several times�. He looked at me in utter amazement so I felt I had to justify the comment so I said �well it has been on for years�, again another look of amazement. Then he said �where�s the girl out of the X Factor�. Was trying to figure out who he meant and then he said �you know the big girl�. I thought OMG he means Jodie Prenger they think they�re at Oliver.  Then finally he said �Susan Boyle, isn�t that her name�.  Do people actually think she�s in it??? His wife started reading the programme and read out that it opened in 1985 then the man said �that�s 25 years� � have they been living in a bubble?? As I squeezed past to go and buy my brochure I heard him say to his wife �she�s seen it several times�
Martin did the speech for Haiti � think SB said something to him like �it�s your turn� That�s pretty much it, wish I could remember more but there is just so much to take in I don�t know how you all do it. |
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| Eponines_Hat |
Seeing it weekly might have something to do with it
YAY NATALIE WEEK AT THE QUEENS! |
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| beyondthebarricade |
It's called... Javert's Suicide. It can also be called Soliloquy. Valjean's What Have I Done is also called Soliloquy because it's of the same melody and they run in the same direction after they were both shown mercy, and some lyrics are the same (eg. I'll escape now from that world, from the world of Jean Valjean), but of course, they end differently.
Anyway. Yes. Susan Boyle fans can annoy the hell out of you. I think there once was someone who thought she was on American Idol or some crap like that. At least these people bother to watch the show. The YouTube on the cast's apperance on her special are literally painful to read. But get used/put up with them, they'll hang around till the next "good" singer comes up. Even so, it's impossible to believe they could have missed Les Mis everythings for twenty five years. |
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| l'ivrogne transfigur� |
I'm glad you like his performance. I'm afraid I still can't see it myself, although I will happily admit that there are some performances when I get close to liking him, or at least not minding him. It depends on the day, and the part of the show. And probably my mood to a certain extent. I just really don't like the prologue and soliloquy with him, and I'm afraid that his getting off to a bad start makes me judge him quite harshly for the rest. |
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| Madeleine |
Just back from the show. David was off so we got Mark as Enjolras, who just surpasses himself every time and is completely brilliant. Jeff was Grantaire, which is always nice to see, and Natalie was Fantine. She sounded a little ill but her acting was amazing, and she's my perfect Fantine.
Although the highlight of the show was probably Killian's ad libbing in MOTH: "I'm drunk....I. Am. DRUNK!" 
And Dylan's head banging that makes his wig stick up, as he dances off at the end of the wedding. It never gets old. 
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| riverdawn |
Thanks for the quick review, Madeleine.
I'm heading back to the UK next week, and I've already gotten tickets to go twice , one of them deliberately for one of David's holiday dates, because I want to see MarkJolras again. I've just seen him once and I remember liking him, but I want to see his interpretation again now that I know more about the show.
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| aquirkofmatter |
I saw the show yesterday, and everyone seemed really energetic and enthusiastic, it was great to see
Nancy's On My Own was brilliant, so emotional! As was ALFOR, she had tears in her eyes - and Alistair was just on fire, it was an awesome performance. David was back, after Monday and Tuesday off, and was back to his usual standard! Rebecca's on holiday this week, so Natalie was Fantine; IDAD was beautiful, absolutely beautiful. I think I prefer Rebecca's acting [though not the fake spit] but her singing is slightly better. Killian covered Martin's track up to Look Down, did Jeff's [plus loudhailer guy] in the Paris/student bit while Jeff covered Grantaire, and Jeff went back to his own track for the wedding. Mark was on for Joe ("FREEDOOOOM!"), and Greg was on for Gavin. Katy and Brenda were covering Natalie, Laura and Rachel between them; but mainly Katy was in Laura's track and Brenda Natalie's. Jeff's Grantaire... well. He was fantastic. Very different to Martin's, but great. In the cafe scenes he seemed a bit, I don't know... detached from everything going on, but he was very interested in his newspaper! His part in R&B was hilarious, topped off by Jonathan saying "Grantaire! What are you like drunk?" very loudly! (Clearly, he's like that!) At the Barricade, he's was a lot more attentive, DWM was beautiful, and he's a lot more enthusiastic at helping Feuilly down to check the ammunition - Antony nearly landed in the orchestra pit! Martin Ball, although a little confused about what part of MOTH he was singing at one point, was hilarious. Even after being pulled to the ground by Simon Bowman in the sewers! David missed a spoon in clearing up during The Wedding/Beggars and so Martin picked it up and stuck it in Lorraine's cleavage, with a huge grin on his face! I absolutely love him as Thenardier, it never feels like you're watching the same performance over and over, like some of them do. (I can't really say much else, because I slipped and made my bad knee worse yesterday, so spent the day dosed up on codeine and drinking coffee to keep me awake - the combination of the two made me go a little bit loopy!) |
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| riverdawn |
Thanks for the review! I hope your knee is feeling better.
Sounds like the show was a fun combination of good performance with some bloopers and ad-libs. I'm not sure how I feel about Jeff's Grantaire now. I remember really enjoying him, and he was pretty hilarious messing around with the newspaper and stuff.... but I now sort of agree with those who said that this somewhat detracts from the characterization of Grantaire, because while he can be a bit of a drunk - he should also be paying attention to Enjolras.... so I dunno. I think there are good and bad sides to it, I guess. 
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| Eponines_Hat |
Saw the show on Tuesday and there was HEAPS of E/R! between Jeff and Mark!jolras. Jeff gets the adlibbing prize for the night - some great comments as Grantaire - especially comments of "ohhhhh retaliation!" during Marius' Red and Black verse. On that note, it was the first time that I had seen Mark, and I was genuinely impressed by his performance. He really commanded the stage and seemed to really fit the Enjolras character more than I would have imagined. His voice was perfect for the role (I think he should give up the high b flat for the final battle though - didn't really work) and so much subtle E/R! subtext. The only sad part was that I really missed him as Courfeyrac. He is so great in that role - his "Shoot the Bastard" is great. I would love to see Killian as Courferyac when Mark is filling in for Thaxton - I think that would work really well. Natalie was fabulous as Fantine. Her vocals weren't perfect on IDAD - but I think it was because she was really giving it all emotionally in that song. It sounded like she was really just holding on from totally breaking down and sobbing. She is such a great Fantine IMO - and, yes, a lot of it has to do with the fact that she is so pretty! It seems kinda important for that role. But the dignity she really brings to the character in the factory scene really makes her "fall" as a whore, so so powerful. |
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| Orestes Fasting |
Saw the show yesterday, am seeing it again both times today (yeah, I know...)
Jonathan Williams as Valjean, Natalie Day as Fantine, Jeff Nicholson as Grantaire. Jonathan is WONDERFUL, possibly one of my favorite Valjeans ever. I suppose I have a lot of favorites and it's impossible to choose just one of them, but he is definitely among them. His Valjean is so real, so subtle, so incredibly touching. (Also incredibly modest at the stage door, even when confronted with half a dozen fans going )
Also loved Natalie as Fantine, especially Come to Me which was heart-wrenching. Jeff's Grantaire... first, can I say incredibly slashy with Thaxton in Drink with Me. Jeff kept trying to make David take the bottle from him, which he finally did and there were hugs and hair-stroking and everything. He also visibly woke up with a hangover in Dawn of Anguish, haha. Killian the super-swing was on in Jonathan's track. I keep failing to realize who he is, but I did notice him... as the one going "Before the night is over, I'm gonna-- (threatening hand gestures)" to his armwrestling partner in Master of the House. |
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| Hallie |
I know its a long way off but Im so excited because I've got tickets to go see the show again!! June 19th evening performance!! Bring it on!! Xx (",) xX | ||||||||||
| l'ivrogne transfigur� |
It will be a fantastic show, being Cast Change and all
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| Hallie |
I know, I can't wait. Im in the dress circle, row a!! and I've got seats 14 and 15...my mates coming too. She's never seen it before!! Xx (",) xX | ||||||||||
| Eponines_Hat |
Amen to that! Saw him today and was just reveling in how powerfully moving his "less is more" approach is. He doesn't go for any wacky OTT hand gestures or over-emphasis of the lines... and gives a much more moving performance for it. He had me in tears in "Valjean redeemed" which has NEVER happened and his BHH always always makes me cry - it is so moving. And I just love how he makes his voice sound like a gruff old man towards the end of the show! Bless him for being a sweetie at the stage door. I hope he realises that the fans love him and want to see more of his JVJ. I keep saying it but someone needs to given him that role permanently. Like NOW! And Natalie is just wonderful as Fantine. I just love watching all the subtleties to her performance - the wtf is happening look when JVJ has her taken off to the hospital is a great one - but she is also really interesting to watch in the Finale as she takes in the whole Marius/Cosette thing. She's just fab! <3 |
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| Orestes Fasting |
I wonder if Natalie's read the book, or at least Fantine's scenes. I was getting such powerful Hugo vibes off her performance in Fantine's arrest--something about the way she keeps imploring Javert and ignoring Valjean. It was so well done, pitiful and heart-wrenching.
I hope Jonathan and Antony get promoted to principal Valjean and Marius come cast change. They both deserve it. And both Natalie and Sophie have what it takes to be principal Fantine. (I seem to have some sort of Valjean understudy karma--I've seen the London production eight times since mini cast change on three different trips and only seen Bowman once.) |
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| aquirkofmatter |
On Wednesday, we spoke to Antony and he mentioned that about a week of rehearsal time is spent learning about their characters - working out who they are and personality traits and suchlike; we were talking about the students, but I'm sure they'll do it for all the characters.
I'd like to swap, please! I've seen it... more than eight times [I don't know!] since mini cast change and I've only seen Bowman. I can't wait for Jonathan to get an actual official week-long Valjean run; it seems like Bowman doesn't actually want any holiday! EDIT: Also! The EPK will finally be released on Friday The official website's getting a makeover and will be launched on Fri, complete with the EPK. Apparently it's about 4 minutes long and ATEOTD has lots of Antony in, looking not-very-tramp-like.
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| mm10 |
If that happened to me I'd be gutted lol BTW does anyone know why he's been off last couple of days (sorry - had to ask! )
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| l'ivrogne transfigur� |
Don't say that! Cast change can't be too far away for me - I'm dreading it! 
Saw both shows on Saturday - they were both really good. I haven't much to say that hasn't been said before, really. Jonathan was awesome. I love him so much. Why is it that he can get those wonderful top notes, and Bowman has to resort to shouting them and/or cutting them completely? Jeff's always such fun when he's on as Grantaire, you can tell that he loves it, but I did miss Martin. Especially as the pimp in Lovely Ladies. And I loved Mark's face when Simon came in as first traveller in MOTH. I can't really describe it, it was such an amazing WTF face. There was lots of line-flubbing. Jonathan forgot his line in the bargain, so there was a very long pause with the orchestra holding on the chord, and then he finally came out with 'your feelings do you good, sir'. Or something like that. Martin Ball completely fluffed his 'someone's got to clean them up, my friends' and in the evening HPJ missed out the 'better be warned'. None of them were too disastrous though.
This is so true. What I love about Jonathan's performance is, in many ways, what he doesn't do, rather than what he does do. |
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| Hallie |
Oh, you know I only mean Im excited to be seeing it again!! hehe I dont want the cast to change either!! Can't imagine seeing anyone else : (
Xx (",) xX |
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| beyondthebarricade |
Yes I heard before! WHOO. I'd like to think of it as Les Mis giving me a birthday present with the revamp of the website by putting the current cast on it as my birthday is on the day they launch it!
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| HannahM |
Very excited for this. I'm finally getting chance to come back down at the end of the month to see the show and I'm bringing a couple of friends who've never seen the show before, so this will be great to give them an idea of what its going to be like. @beyondthebarricade Happy Birthday for Friday
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| Ricey |
I could have sworn they just showed a bit of the EPK on the Alan Titchmarsh show during a musical section. It was deffinatly the current london cast. Unless I'm imagining it. |
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| l'ivrogne transfigur� |
They did. It can be found on ITV player here, at about 14 mins. |
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| riverdawn |
Yay! This has made me so psyched that I'm back at the Queen's again on Saturday.
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| flying_pigs |
Oooooo, love the EPK! Anyone know if that was the whole thing or just part of it? | ||||||||||
| Elbow |
Just part of it, I hope! | ||||||||||
| HannahM |
I've just checked and the Oliver EPK is 3 and a half minutes. I could be wrong, but I seem to remember that they're done by the same people. Hopefully the Les Mis one will be about that length too. | ||||||||||
| Elbow |
Just got back from the show.
I really enjoyed it tonight, I went with my friend who has never seen the show before and knew nothing about it and she really enjoyed it. I am really tired so won't say a lot, but firstly (and this came probably as much of a shock to me, as it will do to you) I enjoyed Simon Bowman's performance. Yes. I did. I haven't seen him in the role for probably over three weeks and he seemed to have improved quite substantially in that short time. He was also having a strong night. Yes, there were many things that still annoyed me, but I wasn't cringing at every moment. His interactions with Emily were nice and his Soliloquy was the strongest I've ever heard from him. He's either grown on me, improved loads or I've lost my mind. Who knows. HPJ. Good God. Why won't he just do something a bit different sometimes!? Why is he so wooden? And why, when everyone else with an accent (for example, Dugdale or Killian) has to put on an English accent, is it okay for him to sing in such a strong accent? A lot of what he sings doesn't actually sound that clear. Thaxton was great tonight. Lots of banging fists on desks and STRIVE and other great things. There was a bit of a to-do after Do You Hear The People Sing... I'm not sure what, I couldn't see in BB7, but I think maybe Thaxton may have dropped the flag (?) because there was lots of very loud "NO YOU PICK IT UP!" "I DON'T WANT TO PICK IT UP" coming from various students, as they were going off into the wings. Jonathan shouted "I bet your Mother's proud" again in The ABC Cafe He also tried to stab himself repeatedly with a flower in Beggars At The Feast.
Greg was on as Thenardier, and he was pretty great. In Attack On Rue Plumet, whenever he walked past the gate he walked past in a rather pompous "Yes... I'm just casually walking past this gate..." sort of way, a nice touch, I thought. He has a very strong voice. Mark Dugdale was off I was sad, but Killian was on as Courfeyrac though. Mark Hedges was covering for Simon Shorten and Brenda was covering Natalie.
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| riverdawn |
Thanks for the review, Elbow!
Yeah, I'm actually curious about that. I'm wondering if after not seeing him for a while, I might find him improved.
Well, to be perfectly fair to HPJ, I suspect it is generally a lot more difficult to learn to do a perfect accent in a language in which you are not a native speaker, than to learn to do a specific accent in your own language. Also, this is just a guess, but I suspect that for UK actors it is easier to "fake" other UK accents, because while they don't speak them normally, they are regularly exposed to them since childhood in their surroundings, on TV etc. I'm saying this because I'm thinking about how well actors like Ewan MacGregor, for example, do various English accents - as compared to how strained and unnatural they sound when they do an American accent, and also how poorly most American actors do when they need to put on an English accent. All this being said, however, I think that while the accent itself is not a huge issue - the fact that HPJ is often unclear when he sings is a bigger issue. Meaning, I don't much care if he sings in an English or Belgian accent (especially as he's playing a French character anyway ) - but I do care that he doesn't manage to enunciate more so that every word is clearer. This bothers me especially in the first half his Suicide scene, where the song is really fast and it's very difficult to understand what he's saying.
Hilarious! And I'm glad to hear he sometimes drops the flag even when I'm not there.
Thanks again for the review! |
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| kemathenga |
I hope we are going to get a splendid show on monday. Due to double work at school for me my daughter has been scanning this forum for the past weeks and kept me on the update. Although she would love to see Joe Evans again as Marius she is also curious for Alistair Brammer.
Anyway, I'm firmly resolved to just lean back and enjoy every second of the show no matter who is own and not try to capture the details too much. It's crazy enough to go to London just to see a musical two times within six weeks and we can't possibly pay attention to everything on stage. I'm sure it will be great, though.
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| beyondthebarricade |
Haha lucky I would kill to see the show! I don't know if I'm actually in a position to comment about this, but Alistair is good nowadays. I've heard his performances a few months ago, and he has really improved. Antony's really good too! And I think the Les Mis people make sure that both the principals and understudies (well, most of them) are good enough to perform on stage. |
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| riverdawn |
So, yeah, I had horrible jet-lag last night and couldn't fall asleep until really late, thus wasting most of the work day. I therefore decided to take a walk in Oxford to try and sort out my clock and tire myself out. After a while, I found myself near Oxford's train station, and decided in a moment of spontaneity that there couldn't possibly be a better way to tire myself out than to go to London and see Les Mis.
So, yay! I can review again, earlier than expected! So, show tonight was good. It was fun to be back in the audience after two months away. There was no understudy sheet hanging before the show and no announcement was made at the beginning, so I assumed it would be an understudy-free show. I prepared myself to re-assess Bowman (after Elbow's review), and as the performance started I was pleasantly surprised and amazed to see Valjean *not* doing all those things I usually find annoying in Bowman's performance. After a while, I began to get a bit suspicious that this was probably not Bowman after all (you have to remember, I haven't seen the show in two months. I don't quite remember what people look like) - and my suspicion was confirmed by some friendly faces at intermission. When we got back from the interval, they did announce that in fact Valjean was Jonathan Williams. So very pleasant surprise for me, and I'm happy I decided to make the trip to London [though I am wondering what happened to Bowman to make him cancel at what was probably the last minute]. So, Jonathan was really great! His Bring Him Home was lovely, and I particularly liked that he *acted* Valjean's aging, acting like an older man in the Paris scenes. HPJ's singing was pretty good for the most part. His acting was somewhat less wooden than normal, with some appropriately raised eyebrows and a sense of outrage at certain moments. Rebbecca Seale was excellent, and looked particularly "dying" in the death scene. Nancy was great. On my own was very powerful, and I also really enjoyed her acting in the other scenes, especially the Attack on Rue Plument. The Thenardiers were enjoyable as always. Martin's DED was wonderful. Poor young Cosette dropped the broom in the middle of Castle on a Cloud, and then proceeded to totally flub her lines (probably as a result of the broom dropping). Alistair was very much improved compared to what I remembered him. He seems to have gotten over some of the nerves, and this has improved the singing and the shaking - and of course his acting was great all along. He does seem to be acting a little more mature now, so that you get a sense of a Marius who is becoming a man. I do still like Antony's Marius better, but I very much enjoyed Alistair's performance today. David was lovely, as always, from the first ARIIISE to the the is FREEE (which was truly awe-inspiring today. Caught my breath). LID was also awesome. Student interaction was great today. In the cafe scene there was a whole lot of cross-singing going on between DavidJolras and MartinTaire, and I particularly liked that MartinTaire sang "give me brandy on my breath..." and DavidJolras just completely ignored him at that point, and Martin had this sort of desperate look on his face, like he was trying to be deliberately provocative to get Enjolras' attention and frustrated that he was failing. But for a change (for me) the highlight of the interaction was between DavidJolras and MarkFeyrac. They were basically building this whole story there. Just before David and Mark left the stage to go to the wine shop in the wings, I'm pretty sure Mark said something like "we should kill that man!" (Javert), and then after Javert was "killed" and MarkFeyrac did his whole gun-thumping thing, DavidJolras gave him this particularly evil look, and the "Courfeyrac you take the watch" was way angrier than usual. Therefore, it wasn't a surprise that in the first part of DWM, when DavidJolras goes to mollify MarkFeyrac, it didn't work and they were still angry at each other until the very end of the song when they finally shook hands. I just love how they keep this whole thing in mind throughout scene after scene! And...erm... yeah.... I'm sure I'm missing lots of other stuff which I can't remember right now, but overall I really enjoyed it. |
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| Madeleine |
It was very confusing when there had been no understudy sheet, or announcement, and then suddenly Jonathan was stood there as Valjean. What a lovely surprise though! Apparently he found out about 15 minutes before the call or something, which would explain the lack of announcements.
I decided tonight that Jonathan is my favourite Valjean, and that I even prefer him to JOJ. I never thought anybody would overtake JOJ for me, my first Valjean, who I tend to be fairly biased towards, but Jonathan has managed it! Jeff is so distracting in the Cafe scene, but in the best possible way. His ad libs are hilarious. I had to stop watching him in the end because I was about to lose it and start giggling. He gets this look on his face and you can tell he's about to come out with a funny remark.
They're amazing. They both put so much into it, every time. My favourite bit has to be as they leave the stage at the beginning of ALFOR, just after "He's safe.", which I've seen them do a couple of times now... Markfeyrac: You're making a mistake-" Davidjolras: IN THERE. NOW. It's a shame we don't get to see the inevitable argument that follows this little exchange! |
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| riverdawn |
Was it "You're making a mistake"? Because from where I was sitting it looked something along the lines of "we need to kill that man!" - but of course I was further away from the stage so a lot harder to hear/see the little adlibs. Also, forgot to mention in my review: it was certainly a pleasant surprise to go down the escalators to the Bakerloo line after the show and see the new(er) poster with the barricade scene and David going all "Yay! Revolution!" It was all still the old posters with the waif when I was in London last. Big smile for me.
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| mm10 |
I didn't know there was an understudy sheet - where would you see it? I know they display the board with the cast on it is that what you mean? |
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| Lauraa |
Does anyone know where you will find the EPK when it�s released? Will it be on lesmis.com?
I can�t wait to see it!
And the last reviews make me really want to see Jonathon Williams! |
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| HannahM |
I believe it's in the box office on the desk (left hand side) underneath the glass. Pretty sure you can see it from the foyer too, but don't quote me on that. |
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| mm10 |
I've never noticed - thank you! Handy to know
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| aquirkofmatter |
So, I caved this morning and bought a ticket for tonight hoping to see Jonathan as Valjean... Killian's going on, apparently. I'm very glad I caved!!
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| l'ivrogne transfigur� |
As Valjean?! |
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| riverdawn |
Yes, unfortunately I couldn't stay for tonight's performance (I saw the matinee, which I will review in a sec) - but the great teaser for tonight's reviews (which, I have been promised, will be detailed) is that Killian is going on AS VALJEAN!
Bowman is still off, Jonathan isn't feeling well and claimed his matinee performance was "his worst ever" (if it was , it was still spectacular, but more on that in a sec), and so Killian is going on as Valjean. I was so so so tempted to stay on for the evening show, but I really had to leave (plus there was standing room only and I can't really stand for three hours) - so I made various people promise us detailed reviews to make up for it. And now, I shall go and compose my review of this afternoon, which was amazing.
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| l'ivrogne transfigur� |
Sorry, indulge me a moment: not fair not fair not fair jealous jealous jealous AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH
I would *kill* to see that. Quite literally. Poor Jonathan, of course, but ... 
And the question I've been meaning to ask is ... has David dropped the flag yet since you've been back?
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| riverdawn |
Yeah, I know what you mean. I really wanted to stay but I totally couldn't.
I'm sure Killian will do great, though. Everyone was going around saying "yeah, he'll be amazing". It was very hard to tear myself away and head home. Also - no, as yet there has been no flag dropping. The flag has been beautifully caught both times I've been. I believe rumors of my "jinx" were premature. Although, who knows, maybe it'll just transfer to MarkJolras, who I am seeing next time I go.
Anyway, on to my review: So, I went to see the Matinee today. I had planned this weeks ago, so I didn't know that Jonathan would be on as Valjean, but I was very happy about it after Thursday. I was sitting in the BB20s, which I'd never done before, and it was cool to see the show from this angle. I do have to say, though, I now know what Quique and others meant when they talked about the french horn. It is quite dominant sitting in that location.
Anyway, so for some reason I was particularly touched by the show today. I had tears in my eyes in half the scenes, which doesn't usually happen. I think I'll give the credit to the various actors because I think they did really well. I think I'll just go by actor, because it's easier. Jonathan - as I said, he was ill and claimed later it was his "worst" performance ever, but I totally didn't feel any of that. He was lovely! His Valjean is so sweet and kind and believable, and his voice is amazing. He absolutely hits the high notes and the end of his Bring Him Home had me breathless, it was so beautiful. I was literally with tears in my eyes. [ON EDIT: there was just one thing in his performance which made me say "actually, I like Bowman better with this". That thing was the interaction with Little Cosette. I don't know if Bowman is a father, or an uncle, or something - but in the scene after the Inn, when he dresses Little Cosette and gives her her doll and dances off with her, there is something very adorable and fatherly in his interaction. Jonathan was still very good in this scene, but I didn't get the same sense of care and affection. So, just wanted to put that out there, because Bowman gets enough criticism here (much of it by me), to deserve to get praise for the things he does well. So yeah. ] But other than that, LOVED Jonathan. I actually really enjoyed HPJ today. I felt I really connected with his Javert. I can't quite explain it, but there was something in his eyes and his expressions that really made me feel the character. So, absolutely no complaints on his count today. Rebecca Seale was excellent again. Particularly in Fantine's arrest. She manages to capture both how pathetic Fantine is and how she's trying to hang on to her dignity. Alistair was adorable. His Marius was all bashful smiles and excitement. Very sweet. His Empty Chairs was also very powerful (and again, made me tear up). I really like Emily's Cosette. She has this sort of nice maturity about her, like a girl who is already becoming a woman, and can sort of handle herself. I know it's not supposed to be that way, exactly, but it actually works nicely: as though both Marius and Cosette are youths on the verge of manhood/womanhood, but Cosette - despite being younger - is kind of a little wiser. I can't really explain it, but I love it. Nancy was really good today! Her Eponine was just very really well rounded, like you got a sense of the character. Vocally I thought the second part of OMO was kind of breathtaking. There was this completely awestruck silence after she finished "the world is full of happiness that I have never known". It was great. David - well, honestly, I'd be repeating myself if I went to much into it. But yeah, amazing, as always. Unfortunately for me, he did "red/black" in the "sitting behind the table" blocking, which meant that while I could enjoy his lovely voice, I couldn't see him (students in the way). Anyway, rather than gushing about all the lovely things he did, I will give honorable mention to two things I really noticed today: 1) His lower range is so lovely. A lot of people lose a little something when they go from high to low, but with him the clarity of the lower notes is just incredible. 2) I really really like that he holds "will you take your place with MEEEEEEE" until everyone else finishes their entire line. Also, funny bit when as David!Waiter one of the spoons got stuck in Lorraine's dress and he had to humbly apologize while removing it.
[ON EDIT: I use the word "lovely" way too much, but I haven't the energy to rewrite that paragraph, so you'll have to forgive me]. Martin Neely is fast becoming one of my favorite actors on that stage. In Red/Black, as Marius his singing his bit of "Had you been there tonight...", Martin had this look on his face, like "what I do with this? How do I get Enjolras to notice me more? How do I piss him off with this so he pays attention to me?" And then his face lit up, look of determination and "REEED!" Also, I am now almost certain that as Enjolras is going up to wave the flag and die, he goes "don't leave me!" There also appeared to be an argument between Grantaire and Enjolras over giving Valjean the gun (before "take this and use it well"). I'm not sure if I've just always missed this or if it's something new, but there seemed to be something with Grantaire holding the gun and Enjolras trying to grab it from him and them arguing. I couldn't tell if it was over Enjolras' perception that Grantaire wouldn't know what to do with the gun, or whether it was Grantaire saying "are you crazy? why are you giving a gun to this man?" but either way, it was interesting. There was still the whole interaction between Enjolras/Courfeyrac which is just becoming more elaborate and interesting. Also, honorable mention for Mark Dugdale as wedding guest. George (I think that's his name. The "This one's a queer" guy) did this little spin and flew into Mark and his dancing partner. This causes MarkWeddingGuest to go something along the lines of "ha! Your husband's a queer!". I'm not sure exactly what was going on there but it was funny. Another honorable mention to Jeff, who just does the best ad-libs in the whole show. In addition to the usual "Sir, it's MUCH TOO HEAVY!" and all the rest, I also noticed that after "let all the women and fathers of children go from here" and just as the next attack begins, he yells at his "wife" (I assume) "RUN! RUN AWAY!" Erm.... yeah... I think that's all I've got for now. Hopefully someone reads this review before the evening reviews come in. I'm sure once the whole Killian!Valjean excitement starts, no one will care about the matinee anymore.
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| pastaeater |
Thank you for the review Riverdawn - I really enjoyed reading it.
Can I just beg - if anyone does manage to see Killian as Valjean........please please please take pity on us on here and review it!! |
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| riverdawn |
Don't worry. Several people are definitely at the evening show, and I have made them swear all kinds of oaths that they will, in fact, be giving detailed reviews.
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| l'ivrogne transfigur� |
Thanks for the review Can't wait to get back down.
That's interesting. I actually prefer Jonathan in this. With Bowman, it always feels a bit overdone to me, like that kind of cute father-daughter thing is the only aspect to the relationship. It just feels a bit shoved in my face.
That's why I prefer sitting in BB6-8. IMO, you get a much better view. And yes, his voice is fantastic. And he knows how to show it off to best advantage. And, I think, enjoys showing it off.
And David!waiter = win. I always find it amusing to compare the size of his and Gavin's legs in stockings. Is that weird?
Yes. I absolutely love Martin! His Grantaire is pretty heart-breaking, and I love his various ensemble roles as well. I think he's the actor that most consistently makes me tear up (well, mostly him and David together, I guess, although sometimes just his face is enough.) I love how much he enjoys the fact that Alistair is standing up to Enjolras for once. And his 'he's a fool but I love him anyway' face that appears at many points.
Yup. That's George Miller. I would love to be on stage during that scene and hear all their bits of small talk and everything. Would be awesome
Jeff ad-libbing ftw! |
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| riverdawn |
I dunno, it could just be that recently many of our friends are having children, so I have a lot of emotional young fathers around me and you kind of get caught up Anyway, I think it's sweet, but I can see how it might be construed as a bit "over the top". At any rate, I enjoy it. Which is not to say anything against Jonathan, who, as I mentioned several times, I LOVED.
Though, actually, while I really enjoyed the perspective from the BB20s, I also think I prefer BB6-8, if only because that french horn really can get quite distracting. |
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| l'ivrogne transfigur� |
That's true. But it's still plenty good enough from BB8, which is probably my favourite seat. And when I do a 2 show day, I always try to do one from each side, whether in BB or the D/C slips. Best of both worlds
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| Eppie-Sue |
OMG.
I know, I said I'd stop posting on here, but these are special circumstances. ---- hell. I have never spent my money so well. Yes, Killian was on, as Bowman is "stuck in Wales", Jonathan lost his voice and Simon Shorten is on holiday. And he was absolutely incredible. I'm not saying this in a "he was amazing considering he's not even understudy" way, that was, vocally, the strongest Valjean I have heard in... ages. I'm not biased, I'm not in some kind of strange haze. That was incredible. BHH was epic, his voice was so secure and strong and expressive. I think that's what I loved most, the expressiveness. He even seemed to know what he was doing with the part, his acting was incredibly convincing. He's not even understudy! He hasn't even been on as Enjolras, his other 2nd cover next to Javert, yet! I'm absolutely speechless. The others - there were lots of us there - will review, too, I'm sure, but I thought I'd give you the gist as they might take a bit longer to get home. I suppose Elbow will be next. This was amazing. Epic. Everyone else was so, so good, too. They were all on fire. Bloody hell. ETA: This guy needs to be principal. Enjolras, if David leaves in June. And when he's a bit older, he has to come back. Javert. Valjean. I'm not joking, he can do anything. I think I was even more impressed by his Valjean than his Javert, if that is remotely possible. |
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| Elbow |
Killian was just fabulous. Amazing. Is there anything that man can't do!? | ||||||||||
| flying_pigs |
Wow, thanks for the first review!
I'm so jealous that so many of you saw him go on! Superswing Killian saves the day again! |