Les Miserables has long been one of my all-time favorite musicals, and as such, I find it hard not to be biased. It was one of the very first professional productions I ever saw and it opened my eyes to the wonderful world that theater creates. The costumes, the set, the singing and the sweeping emotions engulfed me. I bought the soundtrack and immediately learned every lyric. I dreamed of playing Èponine and sang On My Own constantly so that I would be ready should a casting director come knocking. I think my reaction was exactly the same as every other young actress who has ever seen the play.
I saw it again in college, three years into my BFA theater degree and it was exactly the same. I mean exactly – the set, the costumes, the staging – and I was a little let down because I was no longer the same. My emotions were not swept away and my eyes were not opened any further than they already were. I found myself restaging scenes in my head to better utilize the space. I enjoyed it though – it was, after all, still Les Miz. It did, however, make me leery about seeing the production again. I didn’t want to completely erase my first memory of the play by seeing new productions.
Thankfully, the production currently playing at the Ahmanson in downtown Los Angeles lived up to my first memory, thanks in large part to the direction of Laurence Connor and James Powell, and the gorgeous sets of Matt Kinley, which were inspired by the paintings of the Victor Hugo. As the entire play is sung, much of the staging is very presentational, which works even as characters are supposed to be moving from one location to another because of the changing Impressionism-style paintings in the background. Set pieces move on and off the stage as the characters continue with the play seamlessly. However, the greatest addition is probably the projections by Fifty-Nine Productions. In the second act, the still paintings become interactive and instead of set pieces moving, the paintings move with the characters tracking their progression.
Another pleasant surprise came in the show-stoppers. The Thènardier’s have always claimed that title with numbers such as Master of the House and Beggars at the Feast. In this production, both numbers were very good. However, the two numbers that truly stopped the show so that the clapping could subside, the first of which earned a shouted “brava” from the audience, were the two ballads On My Own and Bring Him Home. Chasten Harmon as Èponine imbued such emotion and pain into her performance of On My Own that chills apparently ran through the audience. She took what has historically been a very pretty song of unrequited love and turned it into a lamentation for the ages. J. Mark McVey as Jean Valjean covered the opposite end of the spectrum with his prayer in Bring Him Home. Sitting among the slumbering soldiers on the barricade, McVey whispers to the heavens a plea heard by all with its quiet power.
My two most significant complaints came in the second act. There is a line right before the haunting song Empty Chairs at Empty Tables about a candle being extinguished. Marius picks up one of the many candles placed on the stage by mourners and during the song is joined by the spirits of his fallen comrades who pick up the remaining candles and blow them out at the end of the song. It was a little bit on the nose, especially, since the candles were in the classic red votives that can be found in diners.
The pacing of many of the songs was also speeded up compared to past productions, which for the most part worked beautifully. However, the “Soliloquy” of Javert, played by Andrew Varela, should have been slowed down a bit. I know all the words and still didn’t know what he was saying, which is a shame because the rest of his performance was solid, but he went out on a low note.
