UniquePerspective
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UniquePerspective's ReviewSo...I saw the revival today, the 2 o'clock matinee, and now it's time for my review. Overall, very excellent, the ensemble as a whole really had energy and was into the spirit of the show
(Note, I'm mentioning the names that probably most of you know A. as a formality, and B. for those who don't know)
Valjean, played by Alexander Geminagi, was easily one of the most emotional performances, and overall was very good, I just wonder if you could cut down maybe one burst of emotion. Great "Bring Him Home"
Javert, played by Norm Lewis, was a pure excellent performance, probably the best of the whole show. The voice, the energy, the character, Lewis had it.
Cosette, played by an understudy, Marissa McGowan, wasn't necessarily the Tony winning performance of a life time, but it was good. I've always thought the character of Cosette is kind of overrated anyway, so it's really hard to give a review. But, she did her job and did it well. Her best was probably at the end stuff, with the finale and the Cosette/Marius/Valjean scene.
Eponine was played by Celia Keenan-Bolger. Really the only negative thing I'll say is that sometimes her low notes appeared to be too low, and almost had masculine elements. However, the acting was withing character, and her singing fit in well besides the negative points. Her best performance, to me, was "A Little Fall of Rain." "On My Own" was also very good.
Marius, played by Adam Jacobs, truly I don't really have anything negative to say about. Another all around good performance. His best was probably either ECAET or at the barricade
Fantine, played by Daphne Rubin-Vega, didn't really flow as well as the character should, mostly in R-V's voice. Fantine isn't meant to be that raspy, and she doesn't seem as emotional as other Fantine's. However, her "At The End of the Day" stuff wasn't that bad, and was probably her best.
Thenardier, played by understudy James Chip Leonard, had the humor (though not as goofy as other ones I've seen.) and the voice of Thenardier, but not really the evilness early on, although Dog Eats Dog conveyed it pretty well.
Jenny Galloway was another excellent performance as Mme. T. She was perfectly sarcastic, snide and crude, and had the humor too. In the top 3 of performances.
And...also in that top 3, Aaron Lazar as Enjorlas. As somebody mentioned before, he has a hint of Maguire in his voice, easily emotional to the fact that it's almost over done, but Enjorlas can be somewhat over done.
The kids...Little Cosette, I couldn't figure out who it was, has the shyness of the character down, although Little Cosette is sort of a character that isn't noticed as much to me. Gavroche definitely spunky, also goes along well with the character.
With technical stuff, I love the spinning circle that they use to rotate props and scenes. Works very well.
Overall: 3.5/4
And, well, there's my review. Off the subject, who else went to the show I did? I was in the orchestra, I believe row P.
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eponine5
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I'm seeing it in December, and I don't really mind seeing the understudies as I'm sure (though not certain so don't sue me for making this assumption) that some actors take a few days around Christmas off. But didn't Marissa McGowan used to be Eponine understudy in the tour?
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The Very Angry Woman
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| eponine5 wrote: | | But didn't Marissa McGowan used to be Eponine understudy in the tour? |
She was. She's now a swing and double cover Eponine and Cosette.
| UniquePerspective wrote: | | Eponine, played by Celia...don't know her last name... |
Lose your playbill or too lazy to look it up?
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UniquePerspective
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Specifically, laziness provoked by my tired state from when I wrote the review. But I shall redeem myself now by adding the name.
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Aimee
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Thanks for the review, even though I can't see it, it's nice to see others opinions on the show.
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What Is This Feeling?
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I saw it almost two weeks ago at the November 15th matinee. I thought it was brilliant! Brilliantly directed! I met Norm Lewis, Aaaran Lazar, and Jocob Levine, little Gavroche!!!!!! They all signed my Playbill, I was totally speechless.
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Eponine93
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| Quote: | | I met Norm Lewis, Aaaran Lazar, and Jocob Levine, little Gavroche!!!!!! They all signed my Playbill, I was totally speechless. |
I hate to bring up my thing about Jacob Levine, but was he nice about signing your Playbill? Or did he attempt to strangle you in the process?
If he was nice, I would be very sore indeed. Although if he was one of those people who was only nice to people when he was famous, I wouldn't be surprised. All I know was when I knew him before he was on Broadway, he wasn't exactly my favorite person in the universe.
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The Very Angry Woman
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| Eponine93 wrote: | | If he was nice, I would be very sore indeed. Although if he was one of those people who was only nice to people when he was famous, I wouldn't be surprised. All I know was when I knew him before he was on Broadway, he wasn't exactly my favorite person in the universe. |
You seem awfully obsessed with this kid.
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Quique
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^ That's what I was going to say, lol.
It's like the 3-4 time she brings this kid up. Doesn't really bother me. Just something I've noticed. =)
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Eponine93
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How would you feel if someone you know was on Broadway? This doesn't happen often to me, ok....
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The Very Angry Woman
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| Eponine93 wrote: | | How would you feel if someone you know was on Broadway? This doesn't happen often to me, ok.... |
Well, I already know since it's already happened a few times, but to answer your question, I'm sure I would feel like fitting it into every message possible on musicals.net and reminding everyone how negative the experience was. It's, ya know, a new perspective on name dropping.
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