Les Miserables

Saw the new Toronto production on Saturday night. All in all, it was really good, but I'm not sure if I'm saying that out of nostalgia. A few good points and a few bad points. Lets start with the bad.

The 'extras' the ensemble weren't so great. They're not important, i know, but a few of them had enunciation problems - the lyrics weren't clear at some points. It takes away from the a dense production like Les Mis when some of the words get garbled. It's like every word in that musical has something to contribute, so losing a few here or there can cost the whole production when the audience gets confused or intimidated.

Fontine sounded like she belonged on a canadian idol stage more than she did on Les Mis. Crazy vibrato... in a musical? No, it just doesn't fit. Fontine is supposed to be a simple country girl forced into unfortunate circumstances. She is not fancy nor is she flamboyant, and that's exactly what crazy vibrato conveys.

Young Cosette was not innocent enough. Basically, this Cosette sounded like a child who'd been taking singing lessons. She had some flare and style, and very clear enunciation. The character is supposed to sound like a small child. Ever hear a kindergartener sing? They sound like they're constantly out of breath, and they slur words a little, and thats exactly how Cosette should sound - innocent, and untrained.

Gavroche, on the other hand, is a street urchin. Very learned, confidant (up until his demise). This Gavroche didn't sound that confident at first, but once he got into his groove, he was alright. First impressions are everything in setting up that character though.

Adult Cosette and Marius were average. Nothing outstanding. Then again, everybody likes those characters least anyhow.

Jean Valjean was good. He had that solid rightous voice, and unlike the old production of Les Mis, you could immediately recognize it whenever he sang a part. In the old production, there were a few members of the ensemble with rich singing voices, and it made all the men seem rightous... even the criminals in the chain gang. In this production, there's only one truly rightous guy, and thats Jean Valjean, the way it should be.

Javert was excellent. I would say he was the highlight of this production. He had a sharp, fast and clear way of singing which set the tone for his character. Everything about his voice was so uptight and regimented... it was great. Like Valjean, you could recognize him every time he sang, but not so much because of his voice as much because of that quick cadence he sang in. Everything about him said that he was coming and shit was hitting the fan.

Anyway, more bad things than good, but this musical is built on Valjean and Javert. Valjean was very good, and has to be very good, so he just met expectations. Javert was stupendous and he basically picked up the slack of the other faltering players. Averaged it out, so to say. Asides from the show itself, the Canon theater was pretty extravagant. High domed ceilings and lighting made the place look really grand. I was in good company. She dressed up, but probably just for the show, not for me. Golden/glossy beige/brown blouse (silk i think), black blazer, black pants. Nicely fitted... the heels finished the outfit, filled out the curves. I was suit-ably impressed... i mean by the show of course.