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Les Mis - The Queens


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DreamSailor4 Francesca Gough

I feel confident in saying @Gareth_Gates was the best Marius i have seen in Les Mis! (15 times in 6 years!) what a lovely surprise!

I'm well impressed with Dream Sailor. What a great compliment.

Khelda any idea what BOMB means? (This is where I sound thick) Good to see the person impressed too.

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Guest NicolaJayne

DreamSailor4 Francesca Gough

I feel confident in saying @Gareth_Gates was the best Marius i have seen in Les Mis! (15 times in 6 years!) what a lovely surprise!

Love this Heather and all the other positive comments on here about Gareths role as Marius in Les Mis.

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This woman had a good time last night and she's a big Les Mis fan!

rachelsjoseph @Gareth_Gates omg you are fantastic tonight. I thought nobody could beat Michael Ball but you are so up there with him. Great to see you

about 11 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone

@Gareth_Gates omg you are fantastic tonight. I thought nobody could beat Michael Ball but you are so up there with him. Great to see you

about 11 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone

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I was lucky enough to go and see Gareth at Queen's last Saturday matinee. My report has been a while in development, because I squeezed my trip into a packed holiday to London visiting family and friends, and various committments, I've been waiting for a window to write a proper report.

Naturally, Gareth was brilliant, and he shone on the stage. Before the show started I heard people in the row behind me all excited about seeing Gareth. I don't think they went just for him, as the group were clearly familiar with the show and I think had been several times before, but the woman (I think she was early twenties) was saying how much she loved him and was very excited to see him, lol! The people along from me also had a little chat, pointing him out in the programme, but they weren't giving much away - at least not until the interval when they (mixture of men and women in 30s/40s) decided that he was really quite good. I don't think they had been sure of what to expect. However, that was upgraded to "that was very good" with agreement after Empty Chairs! :thumbsup:

I also noticed that as soon as Gareth appeared for Look Down there was a bit of a hubbub. Nothing blatent, just a substantial proportion of the audience nudging their companions and whispering "it's Gareth". To be honest, I oculdn't tell what anyone was saying, but I'm presuming it was something along the lines of "finally, we've got to the good bit - isn't he hansome?" :whistle::lol: He also got enthusiastic applause after his solo song.

I've given some thought to what I would say about the show in general, but it's quite tricky, because I don't want to be like those people who were so used to the Queen's version of Les Mis that they couldn't properly enjoy the tour without making comparisons. But despite my best intentions, I couldn't help myself. I had seen the show once before the tour at the previous London venue, so it wasn't all a big shock, yet I was still surprised at how big a difference the staging and casting made to the end result.

I did enjoy my trip to Queen's, but without Gareth in the show, I wouldn't be rushing back. However, I think I'd willingly see the tour version, or at least recommend it to others, withouth Gareth. The whole thing just felt two-dimensional compared to what I'd got used to. I was particularly interested in seeing the revolve in action, as so many people had thought this would be a major impedement to the tour, but in all honesty, I don't think it was missed. There were one or two scenes where it gave a clear advantage, but a lot of the time it added nothing, and in several instances it just seemed gimmicky. I can see the benefit of shifting the set mid-scene so that the relevant characters are centre stage where everyone gets a good view, but it made it harder for me to lose myself in a scene.

That said, I do think the staging for Empty Chairs is better, with some actual tables and chairs, and the ghosts of the students staying in a line at the back of the stage. I think it works better with the words and the spirit of the song.

Apart from Gareth, the people I really enjoyed were Norm Lewis as Javert, Killian's Enjolras and Samantha Barks Eponine - although in her case she didn't look or sound very convincing as a street urchin. She looked like she'd gone straight from the beauty salon into her outfit, and her vocal style is very clean and more of what I'd expect from a Cosette. But she was very good and I can see why she's so popular.

I didn't go to the stage door or anything, so I don't have any news from there.

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Thank you for your report Snowdrop. I've been waiting for a detailed report from someone who had seen both the Tour production and the Queens one. The comparisons you made were almost exactly what I thought of the two productions. I couldn't have said it better if I'd written it myself. Everything from the revolve to the staging of Empty Chairs and everything else, were exactly the feeling I experienced when I went. I'm going again soon and am looking forward to it but would still prefer to be seeing the Tour version again instead.

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It's good to read another report. It's been a while.

I was particularly interested in seeing the revolve in action, as so many people had thought this would be a major impedement to the tour, but in all honesty, I don't think it was missed. There were one or two scenes where it gave a clear advantage, but a lot of the time it added nothing, and in several instances it just seemed gimmicky
.

I suppose in it's infancy the revolve would be quite 'revolutionary' (excusing the pun).

It was so good to read the comparisons of the West End and the tour.

Aren't we lucky that Gareth has been in both?

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Thank you for your report Snowdrop. I'm unsure that I will be able to get down to London, to see Gareth in Les Mis at The Queens, so it's great to read such detailed reports and to hear that Gareth is getting positive comments.

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Thank you for your report Snowdrop it was very interesting to read and I agree with a lot of what you say, I went to see Les Mis at the Queens five weeks ago but felt I needed to go and see it again before writing a report as it is difficult for me to take it all in first time especially with having to compare the two shows which are different in parts and not wanting to sound negative. i don't know if I will get to go again but I am glad I have seen Gareth in both shows.

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Seems she was sceptical

is in London town, off to Les Miserables. Wish someone had told me Gareth Gates is in it!

but Gareth won her over :thumbsup:

OMG... Never thought I' day this but Gareth Gates can sing #LesMierables Fabulous musical, would definitely go and see it again

And, she is an editor of an events magazine. Go Gareth.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I don't know if you noticed, but that person had a brief exchange with another person involved with magazines, and he was saying how he'd seen Gareth at the Barbican and he was excellent. She replied to confirm how brilliant he was.

Another happy person last night.

Kayleigh Angus KayleighAngus1 I've had the best day ever, afternoon tea at Harrods, Les Mis and then I met Gareth Gates! Immense!!

about 8 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone

Don't we make an amazing couple!! http://t.co/pLwLdyN

about 8 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone

Same here

DeadGameBook @Gareth_Gates Hi Gareth - Well done in today's matinee - outstanding - balled my eyes out (4th time LOL) X

about 10 hours ago via web in reply to Gareth_Gates

This person didn't do quite so well - apparently the air conditioning wasn't working. Poor thing.

Kaytteexx @Gareth_Gates came all the way from Scotland 2 see you and Had to leave before empty chairs because I almost fainted ! Gutted .

about 9 hours ago via Mobile Web in reply to Gareth_Gates

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