what_the_heck013
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Tell Me Everything about JavertSo, there's about a 90% chance that my HS is doing Les Miz. The MD asked me if I could hit an F# today... and I know that Javert's top note is just that. And people have been telling me I'm a shoe-in. I just hate getting my hopes up.
I just want to see what everyone's thoughts about Javert are. Anything: opinions, ideas, advice, expectations. Go for it!
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Pannic
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He's basically the textbook example of a Baritone or maybe even a Bass-Baritone in musical theatre. Well, if it's the School edition, just Baritone, because in the SE, he only goes down to an A, I think, wheras in the "actual" show, it's down to an F. But be warned that he's "up there" quite a bit. In his bit in the beginning, he's up at an F alot. Also, his high F in the Suicide is on an "EE" syllable, which I've always have trouble with.
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The Very Angry Woman
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His real name is Snookums.
Really, google it...
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The Pirate King
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Javert must have a nice, rich, deeper baritone tessitura that stays that way even on his high notes. Must have powerful stage presence and must make a lot out of relatively little stage time (around 25 mins, I'd wager) If you have in the past, or can play "the badass" in a show, this role is for you. Make sure you do your homework; there's nothing more irritating than a Javert who just doesn't get it.
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what_the_heck013
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| The Very Angry Woman wrote: | | Really, google it... |
I could google it. That's not the sort of info. I'm looking for. I want REAL opinions from REAL people... not the same character description that everyone copies and pastes onto their website.
The Pirate King, ...25 minutes? really? They cut THAT much? How long is the show?
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LaurelDP
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| what_the_heck013 wrote: | | The Very Angry Woman wrote: | | Really, google it... |
I could google it. That's not the sort of info. I'm looking for. I want REAL opinions from REAL people... not the same character description that everyone copies and pastes onto their website.
The Pirate King, ...25 minutes? really? They cut THAT much? How long is the show? |
I don't know if the 25 minutes thing is accurate. I just did the show, though.
Javert is a very memorable and important part of the plot...
But he basically just walks on stage every now and again, all sexy and stuff, and is like "I'm the law, bitch, and I will strike you down with my stick of justice!". And then he sings about Stars. And then he jumps into a river.
Basically, he's not on stage a WHOLE lot.
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Orestes Fasting
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| what_the_heck013 wrote: | | The Very Angry Woman wrote: | | Really, google it... |
I could google it. That's not the sort of info. I'm looking for. I want REAL opinions from REAL people... not the same character description that everyone copies and pastes onto their website.
The Pirate King, ...25 minutes? really? They cut THAT much? How long is the show? |
Javert's always been a role with a lot of glory for very little stage time, haha. I believe he spends about 27 minutes onstage in the current Broadway production, which ain't shabby for getting second bow and being one of only two people in the cast to have no ensemble roles whatsoever.
With various minor cuts and the Confrontation gone completely, I would not be surprised if Javert's stage time in the school edition were closer to 20 minutes.
Current Broadway version clocks in at just under three hours with intermission; I believe the SE is closer to two and a half.
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Damn_Badgers
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It's not so bad though if you think about it. Because when he is on stage is pretty much singing the whole time. Not just sort of appearing and doing very little...
This is kind of off topic but what would be the stage time for each of the main male roles?
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my_work_my_name
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| Pannic wrote: | | Well, if it's the School edition, just Baritone, because in the SE, he only goes down to an A, I think, wheras in the "actual" show, it's down to an F. |
Just for the record - I played Javert in a Les Mis SE, and he does go down to the bottom F with "You'll wear a diferent cha-ain".
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Damn_Badgers
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I thought Confrontation was cut from the School Edition though? And that line is in Confrontation.
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Timmy_Wishes he was Quast
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It's not the WHOLE confrontation just the good bit...where they're in counterpoint.
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my_work_my_name
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| Damn_Badgers wrote: | | I thought Confrontation was cut from the School Edition though? And that line is in Confrontation. |
What Timmy_Wishes he was Quast says - the Confrontation goes up to "A man such as you" and then segues straight into the "And this I swear to you tonight..." bit. I was gutted the duet (as it were) was cut, but there we are.
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Damn_Badgers
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Oh I see my mistake. That actually makes more sense now that part of the song is still in the production. Because otherwise we would just have Valjean disappearing to Paris without the viewer realising until he actually got there.
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Jennifer Lynn
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Here's a little character info, straight from Victor Hugo, that might help you in your acting choices.
"Javert had been born in prison, of a fortune-teller, whose husband
was in the galleys. As he grew up, he thought that he was outside
the pale of society, and he despaired of ever re-entering it.
He observed that society unpardoningly excludes two classes of men,--
those who attack it and those who guard it; he had no choice except
between these two classes; at the same time, he was conscious of
an indescribable foundation of rigidity, regularity, and probity,
complicated with an inexpressible hatred for the race of bohemians
whence he was sprung. He entered the police; he succeeded there.
At forty years of age he was an inspector...
This man was composed of two very simple and two very good
sentiments, comparatively; but he rendered them almost bad, by dint
of exaggerating them,--respect for authority, hatred of rebellion;
and in his eyes, murder, robbery, all crimes, are only forms
of rebellion. He enveloped in a blind and profound faith every
one who had a function in the state, from the prime minister to
the rural policeman. He covered with scorn, aversion, and disgust
every one who had once crossed the legal threshold of evil.
He was absolute, and admitted no exceptions. On the one hand,
he said, 'The functionary can make no mistake; the magistrate
is never the wrong." On the other hand, he said, "These men are
irremediably lost. Nothing good can come from them.'"
Javert overcompensates for the shame of his birth (both parents were apparently jailed; the father, being "in the galleys" is probably a lifer or near-lifer) by an over-exaggerated code of morality. He isn't a "villain"--in fact, his devotion to "the right" is as deep as Valjean's. You could make a case that he and Valjean are mirror-images of each other; just look at the reversed J and V sounds in their names. The problem with Javert is that he allows no room in his moral code for redemption--and that ends up being what kills him.
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Inspector_Javert
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Just one question - his low F isn't the F in the Big Octave, is it? It's one octave higher... I mean, the "big" F is something what basso profondos do, and it is difficult to hit for a bass-baritone.
For example: in Don Carlo, King Philip hits a low F at the end of the Inquisitore Scene. And that's pretty low...
A high F - so actually f1 in the European system - is a nice top note for a baritone, although in some cases they have g1's or a1's (!) as top notes. For a1, see the Commendatore scene f Don Giovanni - the Don's last "Nooo" is an a1.
I love baritones, even in musicals. They are the men. 
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