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| Eponine93 |
Yet Another Revival ReviewAs most of you guys know, I saw the revival at the March 11th matinee (which was yesterday). This probably won't be as long as you like, but here are my honest thoughts on all the characters.Alexander Gemegnani (Jean Valjean)- Wow. That's all I can say. Wow. I had heard a lot of very, very, very nagative things about his performance. From all the clips I saw of him (especially in the Broadway World.com trailer) I agreed with the negative reviews. When I entered the theatre, I wasn't particurally eager about seeing him and was dissapointed we weren't seeing an understudy. However, this guy blew me away. I remember once there being a discussion somewhere on these boards about if male belters exist or not. Alex definitely qualifies as a belter. I don't usually make judgements about male voices, but he has a beautiful, beautiful voice. It was loud and powerful, without too much vibrato, but still had a nice tone. I love his voice! I was also impresed by Alex's acting. In reality, he is far too young to be Valjean. However, keeping this in the back of my mind, he totally had me convinced that he was Valjean's age. In all of the clips, he seemed to be almost animal-ish, which is what I've heard people describe him as. However, he didn't appear like that onstage. The only part where I had problems with his acting was at his death at the very end. It was only then that I realized he was 27. Finally, he was super-sweet at the stage door, which is always nice. Lea Salonga (Fantine)- OMG. OMG. OMG. She. Was. Freaking. Amazing. Oh. My. God. *deep breath* She definitely gave the best performance of "I Dreamed A Dream" I've ever heard in my life. We all know she has a lovely voice. But I think her performance went far beyond the fact that she is an awesome, incredible singer. A lot of Fantines usually seem to grow very angry as they grow louder during the climax of "I Dreamed A Dream." Even though IDAD is my favorite song of all time, I don't usually agree with that interpretation, because I feel Fantine's hopelessness and horror doesn't really translate into anger until after she becomes a prostitute. However, Lea portrayed Fantine as totally desperate, hopeless and sad during IDAD. I was sobbing by the second verse. Even though her voice grew louder during the climax, she managed to keep sounding hopeless and sad. The rest of her performance was brilliant as well. I only had two problems with her. Fantine is just too small of a part for her. I kept looking around to see if I could find Lea in the ensemble, but I don't think she appeared in the ensemble. The other problem was the stage door was a nightmare after, crowded mainly with people who wanted Lea's autograph. I actually didn't get her autograph, because I couldn't get close enough to her. In her words, it was "like a mosh pit out here." Now that I've given two very positive reviews, I'm going to give a pretty negative one. Norm Lewis (Javert)- Please, get him out of this show! Norm has a nice voice, but he simply is not a good enough actor to play Javert. Someone said it seems like he's uncomfortable with the role, and I completely agree. He can do the role, but I think he's lacking in energy and confidence. There wasn't anything that visibly made me cringe but he just seemed to be there. He definitely didn't match the energy or performance levels of everyone else in the show. I also hated how he shouted the last note of his suicide. That note should be sung. Period. On a happier note, he was one of the sweetest outside the stage door. Gary Beach (Thenardier): I really enjoyed Gary's performance. He's an amazing actor who I was fortunate enough to see in The Producers when he returned this summer, and he awed me with his talent again. Vocally, he definitely wasn't the most talented in the cast. However, he was hilarious. I loved everything he did, especially during the Thenardier Waltz: "...haggle for darling Colette- Cosette." He was also very nice outside the stage door. Jenny Galloway (Madame Thenardier): Also amazing. You've all seen the TAC video so you all know how she does the role. And she's even better onstage. She's a wonderful performer and did a wonderful job with the role. Adam Jacobs (Marius): First of all, let me say that this man is hot. He's not the best singer or the best actor out there. But I totally understand why Eponine liked him. His performance was solid. I happen to like his voice and enjoyed his "ECAET." He's a great actor. However, I think if he looked different he wouldn't have gotten the role. He and Ali Ewoldt made the cutest couple ever. Ali Ewoldt (Cosette)- I had heard a lot of very positive things about her, so I expected to really enjoy her performance. I agree, she is a great actress. I loved the way she portrayed Cosette. Her acting made me actually sort of like Cosette. I really enjoyed her performance- until she opened her mouth. I am not a fan of Ali's voice. At all. To be as nice as I can, whenever she sang I wanted to smack her. She's obviously quite trained and works very hard, but the actual tone of her voice was whiny and annoying. Her high notes were better, because the further she got into her head voice, the less annoying her voice became, but I couldn't stand any of her singing except the very high notes. She and Adam make a cute couple and she seems very sweet, but her voice makes me cringe. Megan McGinnis (Eponine understudy): Megan was the exact opposite of Ali- great singer but not a good actress. She portrayed Eponine as shy!Eponine, instead of pushy!Eponine. I disagreed with a lot of her acting choices. However, Megan has a lovely voice. My only complaint about her voice is that it wasn't right for Eponine. Even though she hit all of her notes, she was obviously more of a soprano than an alto. I actually think she would have been better suited for the role of Cosette. Her performance was tolerable, but not great. And, saving the best for last, (although I know I'll be biased) Aaron Lazar (Enjolras): This man is Enjolras. He was born to play the role. I love his voice and his acting was phenominal. I know I could probably say a lot more about him, but it will all turn out fangirly. He's amazing. Also, he was sooooo sweet at the stage door. I talked to him for a few minutes, mainly about his blog and stuff. What I really appreciated is that I actually made a T-shirt with all quotes from the show on the front, and then all empty space on the back for the actors to sign. I also wrote: "PS, I'm an Enjolras fangirl." Aaron drew a line to it, wrote "Thanks, Love Enjolras" and then signed his name on a different part of the shirt. It was so nice of him. Wow, that was a long review. I know my view differed from a lot of people, so feel free to discuss. |
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| The Very Angry Woman |
Re: Yet Another Revival Review
She's there. Fantine doubles as a bullet boy unless there are extenuating circumstances (like when Laurie Beechman returned to the show as she was dealing with a cancer relapse). |
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| LesMisForever |
Nice review 
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| Eponine93 |
Re: Yet Another Revival Review
She blended in well. Then again, our seats weren't that close, so I wasn't always able to make out the faces of every boy at the barricade. |
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| Orestes Fasting |
Re: Yet Another Revival Review
If you see it again, she's the one in the green coat. |
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| Eponine93 |
Yeah, my sister actually spotted her and didn't tell me (grr... considering we were sitting next to each other) Now, I think I remember. Does she come down from the side on stage right?
OF, I though you hadn't seen Lea yet... Well, I'm not going to see it again unless I can convince my grandpa to become a ticket scalper and sell me his ticket so, overall, it doesn't really matter. This will be the fourth time my grandparents have seen Les Mis. My grandpa can remember the exact seats from when he saw it the first time, with the original cast, where he went to dinner that night, what he ate, and the portion sizes. I asked him to name his favorite character, and he didn't know any of their names. *headdesk* |
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| Orestes Fasting |
I haven't, but the Fantine actress is always the workman/bullet boy in the green coat. | ||||||
| The Very Angry Woman |
http://www.laurenkennedy.com/photos3.html | ||||||
| Orestes Fasting |
Sorry to come back and be cherry-picking random things from your review. You'll probably get five more replies like this, as I notice things. 
I agree--when he was in full voice. Alex belting sounds great, but Alex in falsetto is just kind of icky. Kind of like his acting; when he's on he's great, but when he doesn't think it's important he just kind of phones in. Unfortunately, a lot of my favorite Valjean moments--the Waltz of Treachery, the letter, Bring Him Home--were either "unimportant" acting-wise or involved lots of falsetto or both.
Colette--Cosette is a pretty standard joke. Saw it in London, saw it on the tour, both times with better timing than Gary and Jenny. But yeah, he was great at the stage door; he seemed really comfortable with his fans, who were plentiful.
Haha, that is priceless. Aaron was pretty reserved with the fangirls all the times I stage-doored at the revival, but once you get him in conversation he's really sweet. |
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| Eponine93 |
I like it when people randomly cherry-pick, it adds for good discussion.
I think when I saw Alex, he was pretty much on and focused the entire time. I remember reading a few reviews of Lea from last week, and they all mentioned he had an understudy on last week, but he seemed really refreshed and comfortable. But, yes, his falsetto is not pretty. Once again, though, he's 28. I think if, ten or fifteen years ago, he gets more acting experience and goes back in the role, he can be really amazing. I think out of the whole cast, he has the most potential. Well, he and Aaron. And I am not just saying that because I am in love with Aaron... Alex is proof that you don't need to look good to succeed on Broadway. I know not every Broadway star is georgous, especially in shows like Les Mis that require serious acting, but I noticed the more of them seem to be. For example, I doubt Adam and Ali would have gotten the parts if they didn't 1. make a good couple, and 2. look good seprately as well. But it's nice when you get someone like Alex, who looks like a regular person off-stage that gets such an important role in a production which is seen a lot. OF, I want to know what you thought of Ali. I've heard you say a lot of positive things about her, and while I respect your opinion, I really don't agree with it. Do you like her voice? |
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| Orestes Fasting |
Yes, I do. I like how light her voice is; it makes a good change from some of the loud, heavy-voiced, over-amplified sopranos I've seen in ing�nue roles in the past. (Anyone who can project enough to fill a theatre and be heard over an amplified orchestra should either tone it down--her choice--or not have her mic turned up as loud as the rest of the cast--the sound technician's choice. I am so sick of having my eardrums assaulted whenever a Cosette with operatic training opens her mouth, even if it's not a tenth as bad as what happens in Phantom.) |
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| kitty17794 |
I really like Ali, judging from what I've seen from clips. I never really cared for the Cosette role, but I like her in it. She seems sooo sweet.
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| Eponine93 |
I liked her acting, and what she brought to the role. I saw an interview with Adam Jacobs where he described her "like a bird, light and delicate" or something to that effect. I love how she brings that very naive quality to Cosette. Her acting made me not hate Cosette.
Her voice is very pure and not over-trained or overbearing, but I hate it's actual tone. It's like Kristin Chenowith's speaking voice, for lack of a better simile. You see great acting and you expect something really beautiful, and then you get this very annoying tone. I understand what the producers were trying to do with her, but nothing can really make up for the fact that her voice is rather shrill. I didn't expect it to be so, well, annoying, from all the clips I've seen. I think I actually winced when she opened her mouth. I think I'd like very much to see her acting and then have another Cosette do her singing. Her high notes are ok, but honestly, her lower notes and the tone of her voice is just so annoying. It's a nice change, but I am not a fan of the tone of her voice. Which is a shame because she made Cosette really sweet. And I loved the fact that she wasn't really loud or heavy. It's just that I'd almost prefer a heavy-voiced Cosette than Ali, who has a light voice but not the best tone. I loved her interpretation of the character, I just think her tone was a little shrill. |