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| Ghost |
Review of the current London castHello, I was in London a few weeks back and saw Les mis. Here's my review of the current cast.DREW SARICH - I was not completely satisfied with him. He has the tendency to over articulate the lyrics and go very nasal and snarl at times, which in my opinion is completely wrong for the character. His vocals were sometimes good, but many times his stylings seemed very much out of place. The guy has a perfect Jesus Christ Superstar -voice, if he plays Valjean he should atleast try to change his style. I'll give him credit for trying out new things and trying to somewhat re-invent the character, though. EARL CARPENTER - He was just brilliant. One of the best Javert's I've ever seen or heard. Up there with Quast if you ask me. From his Phantom -clips, it's apparent that he has a weak upper-register, but his voice fit like glove for Javert. I also enjoyed with suicide-dive which looked somewhat believable. ALLYSON BROWN - Not too great, but not bad. Her voice was not the most pleasent one, so IDAD lacked some beauty. I liked the fact that she gave Fantine a slightly more raw, bitter edge than others, though. JIMMY JOHNSTON & JACKIE MARKS - Excellent. Johnston was brlliant in "Oklahoma" and didn't dissapoint here either. He didn't offer anything new, but gave a solid performance. Same can be said for Marks, who was in the original cast in 1985. JON ROBYNS - His voice was rather unpolished and juvenile and he often resorted to unpleasant shouting, but with time and training, I think he can some day be an excellent Marius. LEANNE DOBINSON - Nothing I would add or remove from her performance. The role is rather bland, but she sang very well. Mind you, I have seen some bad Cossette's too, so I do appreciate a good one. DAVID THAXTON - He was very good. His singing was excellent and controlled. The only problem I had was that he seemed to lack some of the charisma the character requires and tended not to stand out enough in the crowd scenes. Maybe they should dye his hair? NANCY SULLIVAN - a very good Eponine. Sang and acted very well. That's about it, really. In London they keep making slight lyric changes and cuts and approaching some scenes differently all the time. Are they bored with the material? All in all, Les mis is going as strong as ever with a cast that has virtually no weak-links at the moment. The audience was also estatic which is always nice to see. Well done. |
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| Fantine |
Earl Carpenter? I didn't know that he was Javert now. | ||||
| bigR |
Re: Review of the current London cast
Err... isn't he blond already? 
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| Ghost |
Something like that, but maybe dark hair would make him standout better. And yes, I know Enjolras in blonde in the book. |
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| mastachen |
So... the consensus is that this cast is a lot better than the previous cast?
Edward Baruwa has now gone on to play Gary Coleman in Avenue Q. Imagine that! |
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| LesMisForever |
I have explained my opinion and gave review at lenghth in the other thread, but i just like to say that i don't agree with that conclusion. In short i think Drew is horrible. The worst Valjean i have seen, and Allyson Brown is very poor Fantine. That pretty much ruined the first half hour, which is normally one of my most favourite parts of the show. Javert, and Enjolras though are great! |
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| mastachen |
I just got a new decent quality audio from this year - for those who've seen it in London, is this Les Mis on crack, or did the conductor had an important date that night? He practically races through the score. Stars has been sped up so that it's less than 2:50 long! In My Life and AHFOL combines for only 6:05, and The Well Scene, The Bargain, Look Down, The Robbery, and Javert's Intervention (all in one track) combine for a grand total of 13 minutes. Why the rush? | ||||
| bigR |
maybe it was a matin�e and he was afraid he wouldn't have time for dinner? 
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| eponine5 |
I don't know what happened  When I see it the show is still 3 hours (including the interval)
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| bigR |
Actually, 3 hours including the interval is awfully quick. Rotterdam has the same cuts than london and when I went to see it it was 3'15/ 3'20 hours including the interval. I don't remember exactly how long it was when I went to london in april but I know that it felt really rushed. This "under 3 hours london rule" is doing a lot of damage to the show. |
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| mastachen |
So the rush isn't just a figment of my imagination then?
The Broadway revival topped out at 2hrs 55mins minus the curtain call. I seriously doubt the London production is that long now. |
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| Orestes Fasting |
Yeah, the Broadway revival clocked in at just under three hours, but the cuts were slightly different. The conductors also shaved off time by cutting off the applause early--which is great in theory, but in practice you could never hear the beginnings of some scenes because the audience wasn't done clapping. | ||||
| Elin |
The current Norwegian production lists a running time of 3 hours and 10 minutes. | ||||
| Phanom |
Yes he is! I saw him on Aug 4th and he was STUNNING. He was absolutely amazing |
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| bigR |
Is there a current norwegian production? I had no idea! Where is it? (I'm probably travelling to oslo in january and it would be great if I could catch it!) |
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| Elin |
Bergen, until Dec 31. Very few tickets left.
http://dns.no/prog.asp?id=93 An Oslo production opens Feb 4, 2009 (around the corner from where the original production played in 1988). http://www.oslonye.no/forestillinger/15188.html |
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| bigR |
omg, why I didn't know that? Are they big replica productions, like in Rotterdam? I wonder why no one has said anything about it!!
Bergen is too far away, and too expensive, but I already had plans to go to Oslo to visit a friend in january, so I guess I can push the dates back a couple of weeks and be there in february!! 
but again, why no one said anything about those productions? |
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| marlyly |
How often do they change the cast? I've got tickets for the 18th Nov this year and I'd really love to see Earl Carpenter as Javert, so is he still likely to be playing the role then? | ||||
| eponine5 |
I don't know if he has a scheduled holiday then, but he'll definitely be in the cast. it's Drew Sarich who's leaving some time in november, although I don't know exactly when.
I saw this cast the other day and they're amazing! |
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| High-baritonne |
Because most people don't have any big interest in what is playing in Bergen and Oslo. But I should have mentioned it. I am going to see it in November, since I know two of the cast members. Sigurd Sele is playing the lead, and Elizabeth Moberg is playing Fantine! I can't way to see them, they are both so wonderful! I think I'll write a review after I've seen it. The set is new, and it is not following any particular directions from the London production. The director is Lisa Kent, who is also directing the Norwegian premiere on Miss Saigon this summer! |
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| marlyly |
Are Moberg and Sele in the cast already, or if not do you know what date they're joining the cast?
That's reassuring to know - I saw Les Mis last year (October sometime) and the cast was so dissapointing, and the review from the OP makes it sound as if the new cast aren't much better. It's good to know the cast are decent this time. |
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| mastachen |
^ The cast is exactly the same.
But I think a lot of the difference in opinion is that some people judge singing over acting and others judge acting over singing. You'd get uneven reviews that way. |
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| marlyly |
^  do you mean same cast as in same actors, or the quailty of the cast is the same (fingers crossed its the second one)
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| eponine5 |
Last year, October 2007, was a completely different cast to the current one. | ||||
| mastachen |
Oh, yes that's right sorry. | ||||
| bigR |
My trip to Oslo was definitely changed from january to february. That means that I'll be able to see the show. Do you know if it is a big replica production or more like a regional production like they do in the usa? I guess it will be on the smaller side, because otherwise it would have been more publicited but, anyway, it is always fun to see what other people do with the show... |
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| bigR |
The worst thing about the under 3 hours rule is that the conductor can't do anything to correct the way the show feels so rushed with the cuts.
In Rotterdam they had the broadway revival cuts, but when I went to see the show it didn't affect that much the tempo as the london cuts do. For example, the intro music to �ponine's errand was cutted, but then, because there was not under "3 hours rush" that conductor choose the make a long pause, as long as the musical intro should have been, allowing the mood to change before going from gavroche to �ponine. |
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| mastachen |
I just watched a bootleg of the production.
I think Nancy Sullivan and Leanne Dobinson both do a very good job. I love Leanne's voice... and the little giggle she does during In My Life. I do think Nancy needs to slow down and take a breath. Her Eponine probably likes to talk a lot. Jon Robyns's voice is bad upon bad. David Thaxton is overrated, but I like his vest during Red and Black... which looks yellow, but the coloring might be bad on the bootleg. Drew Sarich is a very good actor. The Javert, Richard Woodford, is pretty bad. He missed beats in all of his songs and ended up having to rush through lines to catch up. |
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| eponine5 |
I've seen tons of audience reviews of Richard Woodford, it's as if he's on as Javert all the time! Which is odd, since I wouldn't guess that Earl Carpenter was one to miss shows a lot. It's a shame he wasn't on that bootleg.
I agree that Jon Robyns is surprisingly disappointing. |
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| Catherine |
I kind of disagree. I don't think Thaxton is overrated at all, I thought he was wonderful, and I thought Robyns was surprisingly good!
Different tastes eh? |
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| eponine5 |
Ah yes, Thaxton is woooonderful!
Maybe Jon Robyns has improved since I saw him. When I saw it most recently Matthew Gent, the understudy, was on as Marius (he was like a mini Michael Ball. Well, how I imagine he was back in the day before...  )
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| AyuChan90 |
mg i saw the show 2 weeks ago and i loved it!!
i especially liked drew sarich and jon robyns (he was actually the reason i went there xD). both had an really beautiful voice, i think! and i just love jon anyway! ;D oh and nancy was awesome,too! but what a shame drew left the show.... =( |