General Les Mis feedback from out there [Cardiff]

[Snowdrop]

According to this person the tour recording is to be done in Manchester, and the show will be at the Barbican between September and October!

Everyone going to Manchester must take cough sweets and hand them out to everyone whether they look like they've got a tickly throat or not! :shocke: :laugh: :frantics:

[Maggiemags]

Here's the photo mentioned in Khelda's post:

[Khelda]

According to this person the tour recording is to be done in Manchester, and the show will be at the Barbican between September and October!

Everyone going to Manchester must take cough sweets and hand them out to everyone whether they look like they've got a tickly throat or not! :shocke: :laugh: :frantics:

Brilliant write up, I hope they will release soon after they recorded it, and hope they will also sell the CD at each venue.

Love this bit

along with famous artists as Gareth Gates (Marius);

.

Thanks Maggiemags for the great photo, Gareth is looking lush as Joanne would say. :laugh:

[sylvia]

Lovely pic thanks for posting it up.

[jenjo]

I'm going on opening night and then in the last week - I've developed a tiny cough where I have a coughing fit about three times a day and now I'm paranoid that I might cough!!! Any recommendations for best cough sweets.

[Khelda]

I'm going on opening night and then in the last week - I've developed a tiny cough where I have a coughing fit about three times a day and now I'm paranoid that I might cough!!! Any recommendations for best cough sweets.

Dont worry Jenjo, I am sure you are not the only one to have a bit of a cough. I think any cough sweet will stop the itching which might make you cough.

And the recording is done from the stage, so I dont think your cough would be heard. :smile:

[flower]

I enjoy reading rewiews of Les Mis in Manchester.

[Snowdrop]

A large gin and tonic! :laugh: You think I'm joking, but alcohol can have an anaesthetic effect, which stops your throat from feeling as irritated, but you might be better off with a cough medicine.

Khelda is right though - they will record what goes through the mixing desk, and so you'd have to be very loud in order to turn up on a recording, but I would say general theatre etiquette is that if you think you might cough, take some cough sweets (but don't rustle any papers) and a bottle of water to sip. If possible, save your coughing until the applause.

In the same vein, avoid rustly sweets, and don't open fizzy drinks, and if your deaf auntie is confused by what's happening, she'll just have to stay confused until the interval. And definitely no singing along. I've paid to hear the professionals do it, not you! I realise there are some shows where it is acceptable, but the Lion King isn't one of them! :laugh:

[Snowdrop]

Had a great night at the theatre last night. Les Miserables was great. Different to the London production I saw years ago, but better.

7 minutes ago from web

[Khelda]

StrictlyDavina @Gareth_Gates Just been to matinee performance - you were outstanding & my Mum still thinks you should have won Pop Idol

21 minutes ago from mobile web

[BrowneyesChantel]

@endless_wonder

Les Mis was brilliant this afternoon! John Owen Jones was amazing. & I was really impressed by Gareth Gates! I'd underestimated his skillz.

:smile:

[Snowdrop]

Thanks Chantelle. A lot of people do underestimate Gareth, but a lot of people are changing their minds now too! :heart:

This was posted by someone on the Facebook page by someone who has been to the show a few times in Cardiff:

Karen Porter what a show tonight !!! outstanding performances by every cast member. never heard a standing ovation like it to be honest. ( and I have it on very good authority that JOJ had a little tear, bless him !!! ) ♥

and she got this reply:

Nicola Jayne Halpin THE AUDIENCE WENT ABSOLUTELY CRAZY DIDN'T THEY!!! WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE - THE CAST FULLY DESERVED IT! X

8 hours ago

Also on Twitter:

StrictlyDavina @Gareth_Gates Just been to matinee performance - you were outstanding & my Mum still thinks you should have won Pop Idol

about 15 hours ago from mobile web

[flower]

I agree, that Gareth should have won Pop Idol.

[Val4Gareth]

One of the members on Musicals.net has posted this report from the last night at Cardiff. This is one of the people who can't see any further than the WE Production, but Gareth seems to have come out of it better than most of the others

My view on re-makes has always been: if you can’t improve upon the original then you should leave it well alone. After seeing the “25th Anniversary Edition” of Les Miserables yesterday I must say that this idea still holds.

You see, the “new” Les Mis feels very much like a Hollywood remake of a classic film. Cammack has clearly thrown a load of cash at this new production – but does it add anything new to the show? Does provide any real improvements? Sadly, the answer is no. In fact, what I saw yesterday is a show that is in many, many ways inferior to the Les Mis which still packs out the Queens Theatre eight times a week.

There are actually a lot more changes to the show than I expected. I guess I thought that the show would be kind of the equivalent of a cast change – some new things which work well; some I didn’t like; but overall the same quality of experience. But what I found was a show with so many changes that it didn’t really feel like Les Mis much at all.

Most obviously there are the sets. For something that is described in the program as “scaled down” - these sets are massive. Not only are there the projections on the rear wall, but huge gates, buildings and street sets that slide on and off the stage. Some of the sets I thought worked well – ATEOTD sets the factory scene rather well, with all the ladies sitting at work benches in an assembly line – but to be honest, most of the sets just felt too ‘busy’, filling the stage with a clutter of colour and people. I never appreciated how important the simple sets of Les Mis are to the show’s success. It seems that because there is so much going on in terms of plot development, you need the simplicity of the original sets to balance it out. With all the new sets, what you end up with is a sensory overload; never really knowing where to look and just feeling quite confused about what is happening and where it is. As mentioned by someone earlier, the lack of dates and locations adds to the confusion. I can’t imagine what it would be like for people seeing the show for the first time. I felt confused about what was happening and I know the storyline by heart!

Some of the new props and costumes seemed to work well – I really liked the way that they have used real flame torches in various scenes (like The Bishop) and the fact that Javert goes after JVJ with a chain in the Confrontation was pretty cool! The costumes did seem to be high quality and were fine…. except for the wigs. Whoever did the wigs needs to be fired. Fantine’s hair is this weird ashy blonde (no where near the ‘gold’ Hugo describes) and is just really long and limp. It looks awful. Also, Javert’s wig is sadly now just a collar-length, black, greasy –looking mess. That really irritated me because I can only see Javert looking 100% immaculate in the line of duty. And poor, poor Jon. OK, they get points for making Enjolras blonde… but that wig is a cross between Hansel from Zoolander and a Cocker Spaniel’s ears. Jon is a very attractive man, but he has been made to look ridiculous rather than godlike with that hideous thing on his head!

Which leads me to casting. On the whole, casting seems to be a mix of very strong performers; talented actors who have been miscast; actors who can sing but not act; and some who cant seem to do much of either.

JOJ, Earl and Katie were, as you would expect, very strong in their roles. It was my first time seeing JOJ and he was a very impressive JVJ – but to be honest I didn’t find him particularly more impressive than Shannon or Williams. In fact, I thought Williams’ last BHH and Prologue were much more moving. Don’t get me wrong – JOJ was the right mix of pathos and complexity… I just don’t quite get why people are obsessed with his JVJ. He was great, but not exactly the second coming.

Carpenter was wonderful – but he was wonderful in London, too. He plays the role pretty much the same way he did for at Queens – and is just as impressive as he was there. Stars was amazing (and I did like how he sings it on a bridge set – nice symmetry) and the Confrontation was done perfectly by Earl and JOJ.

Katie was a lovely, sweet Cosette. The only real change in her character was that she seems to add a bit more of a pissed off edge to IML – which ends with her storming away from JVJ and slamming the door. Her voice is amazing and it was great to hear and see her again. She really does a great job in that role… and I love that Cosette is finally blonde (though she looks a lot like a Johanna from Sweeny Todd)

Gareth gave a strong performance as Marius – his voice is lovely and he was definitely not too much soppy/wet Marius. While his ECAET sounded beautiful, the blocking of this scene made me want to scream. Firstly the fact that there are no chairs/tables and he doesn’t sing the song in the ABC café just makes the lyrics a bit ridiculous.. but the worst bit was the candles. All the ‘ghosts’ come in and pick up candles and hold them – and Marius does too. I have NFI what that is meant to symbolise, but it looks ridiculously cheesy and took away from a reasonably powerful performance by Gates.

Jon… sigh… I really love Jon Robyns and think he is really talented and a lovely, sweet person.. so I kinda hate myself for what I am about to type. You see, before seeing the show, I just couldn’t imagine Jon as Enjolras – and sadly I still think he has been hideously miscast in this role. It’s not that he isn’t Thaxton. but he just seems to lack the authority and presence that the role requires. Vocally, he is just not commanding or assured enough to be the leader of a revolution. He seemed to really struggle on LiD and he seemed to lose control of some notes in The Final Battle. It made Enjolras seem a little nutty and bloody-thirsty – when he needs to be calm and in control the whole time. Jon also seems to lack the physical presence and domination of this enigmatic leader. This is not all his fault - the busy-ness of the sets and the blocking of the scenes (esp ABC Café and the Barricade scenes) means that most of the time Jon ends up lost in the action. Also, his acting and vocals seem to be at 100% G.I-jloras all the time – which results in the role lacking the light and shade, intensity and complexity of some of the better Enjolrati The combined effect is of an Enjolras that is not very memorable – and who leaves you wondering why he is the leader at all. (R actually seems a better choice in this show. He was very enigmatic and stole the few scenes he was in! Oh, and there was a bit of E/R! including a big, long hug off to the side of the stage which lasted a whole chorus of DWM) I feel bad saying all this - I know Jon has been only playing it for a few weeks – and he seems to be trying really hard to nail the character (and he does seem to “get” what Enjolras is about) so I think he will improve. It will be good to see him play the role again in Paris. I am sure he will have grown into it more by then.

Ah, and then there is the “other half of the cast.” Eponine was not as awful as I had thought she would be … she was worse! Within about 3 minutes of her being on stage, I wanted her to hurry up and climb the barricade and get shot, so I didn’t have to be frustrated by her presence! Rosalind can sing alright – she has a lovely and strong voice – but she seems to make no effort to bring this character to life. There is no hint in the way that she acts that she loves Marius (she doesn’t even look at him while singing ALFOR) and she plays the role in a cocky way that is just irritating. The combination of vulnerability and strength (IMO) is what people like about this character – but there is none of that or Hugo’s pathetically tragic character here. This Eponine almost seems to be looking at the audience to get a laugh in (god knows how or why. Perhaps this is how she flirts with Marius???) Rather than OMO being the moment the audience really feels for Eponine before she dies, Rosalind plays it like she is in a Mary J Blige video – doing a weird hip-hop sway from side to side as her only movement in the song. There is no emotion at all in the song– not even when she says “I love him.” (Interestingly, her costume is a direct copy of the London show for both Act 1 and Act 2 – the only change being the addition of ridiculous 1980s style fingerless gloves.) I could go on here but – really – it was just awful. All of it.

Similarly terrible was Fantine. I think I got the understudy – Rebecca McKinnis??? – which makes her performance slightly excusable – but as there was no announcement, I am not really sure who I was watching! Whoever played the role seemed to have no idea about Fantine. To start with, she seemed to flirt with the factory foreman!?!?! and generally came across and flirty, naïve and generally silly throughout. There was no real sense of tragedy or degradation in her demise as a whore and she never actually seems to be sick (let along dying!) – even in her death scene she was completely animated until she suddenly dropped dead. Fantine is a really hard character to get the audience to feel for – and I am afraid that this could only be described as an epic fail. It made me really miss Natalie Day’s performance as this character – I cant wait to see her again. She really is amazing.

But the most disappointing performance went to Thenardier. Not only did it sound like he couldn’t sing at all (I can only hope he was ill!) but he seemed to make no effort at characterisation at all! In MOTH he just stood there and “sang” his lines – with no attempt to show the “two faced” nature the character normally has in the show. The only good thing was that the audience didn’t love the Thenardiers as much as they do in London – the panto-esque role of these characters always bugged me anyway.

Sadly, I was also a bit underwhelmed by the ensemble. The Bishop didn’t hold his notes for long enough (though this is probably new direction) and the whores came across as almost “panto-style” whores. When they were talking Fantine into joining them, it sounded like they really think life is great when you sell yourself for a living. There was definitely none of the rough, hard-edge to the whores that your see in the London show. The Amis seemed stronger – although I really didn’t like the way that all the students shouted out in pain when they get killed in the final battle. I know it is more realistic and everything, but somehow the gravitas of the scene seemed ruined by all the “oww! Oww! That bullet really hurt!” (On that note, I thought the new deadjolras worked ok – it looks like the soldiers have been piling up all the bodies in a cart – but the cart needs to be closer to the front of the stage or rotated so you can see Jon’s face. Oh, and the sobbing woman seemed to make her way to Cardiff for the death of Gavroche, too. Sigh.)

Interestingly, given all the changes to the show, a lot of the original blocking has been kept in (the head turning at the end of R&B; the snaked marching off the stage in DYHTPS; Marius/Eponine in ALFOR) I found this quite interesting – and made me wonder why some things were kept in the show, and others weren’t. To be honest, most of the changes felt quite tokenistic and didn’t really add new perspective on the show or the characters. Yes, the new Les Miserables has all the bells and whistles of a 21st Century show – but lacks any real heart.

All in all, I left the show feeling disappointed and worried. I expected to at least like – if not love – the show (hence trekking all the way to Cardiff!) The fact that it feels so far removed from the classic production makes me worry that the show we all love will eventually be replaced on the West End by this new “improved” version. Cammack should learn from the lessons of “Psycho” “Planet of the Apes” and other ‘updated’ versions of classics. A revamped version might earn you a bucket of cash and new fans in the short term, but it will be pretty quickly forgotten.

[Floz]

Blimey.

I don't pretend to understand all of that (or even most of it), but you are right, for someone so critical of so much - that is a hugely positive write up of Gareth's performance

[dorral]

I don't think anyone could sit and enjoy a show when they watch with such a critical eye.

After reading the Les Mis revamped thread on Musical.net the majority have no intention of giving the touring version a chance,they compare it to the WE les Mis all the time,it is really annoying them that people are actually liking it.

[Snowdrop]

Some of them do seem very posessive about Les Mis and how it should be played, don't they? I don't think it's that much of a surprise that the poster picked out the former WE performers as getting it right, but I won't complain as they are sane enough to admit that Gareth was very good. :laugh:

I've got to agree Doris, it must spoil the enjoyment if you spend so much time looking out for changes, and evaluating them against what you think it should be like. Nevertheless, I am grateful that they did it, because a lengthy review with many criticisms, but praising Gareth, will do his reputation a lot of good amongst those who read it - far more than "It was all amazing" type reviews. Although I'm sure it is. :tongue:

Not long until I go myself! :frantics:

[Maggiemags]

I have to admit to having skim-read most of the non-Gaz stuff, but it made what has been written about him all the more :shocked: :frantics: :hyper:

They really need to relax on there, don't they?

Thanks for posting Val - I've pretty much stopped reading those boards - they get me down.