Les Mis

[cellio]

This afternoon Dani and I went to see the CLO's production of Les Miserables. We had seen a prior production in Pittsburgh (I don't know whose), maybe 10 years ago, and Dani saw it on Broadway once. It's one of his favorite shows, and I liked the soundtrack and previous performance.

We had floor-level seats this time, which had me a bit concerned about being able to see, but the Benedum floor is sloped enough that it's generally managable. I say "generally" because I'm short so I can still be hosed by the person in front of me; in the balcony for Joseph the person impeding my view was pretty tall, but on the floor I'd judge the impeder to only be about 4" taller than I am. Noted. (Would it be a violation of theatre etiquette for a short person to bring a cushion to sit on?) The seats were otherwise good, halfway back in the center section. (Friends of ours were two rows behind us, it turned out.)

The actors playing Jean Valjean and Javert were very strong both vocally and in terms of acting. (I had forgotten how wide the vocal range is for Valjean.) The actor playing Marius was also strong (nice bass register especially). With the exception of Fantine's death scene I found the major women to be less compelling; I don't know if it's the singers or the score, but they sounded weak and "too light" to me. (Maybe nobody writes for good strong altos and so good strong altos don't find their way to musical theatre? I'm hardly a theatre expert, so that's probably not it.)

Once again, either CLO or the Benedum is severely challenged on miking. The problems felt different than with Joseph, though it's hard to put my finger on what was going wrong. It was probably a combination of mic placement (or actor placement) and calibration; sometimes people could barely be heard and sometimes they were too loud, depending on where people were on stage and who was singing (and whether it was soloists or the ensemble). There was audible hiss during one quiet scene toward the end. I don't know this sountrack as well as I know Joseph, so I felt challenged in places by these problems.

As long as I'm comparing to Joseph, I should note that this time the follow-spot operators were, err, spot-on. :-)

The lighting and set design were effective, and they had a straightforward if uncommon approach to complex set changes: having soloists (generally, though sometimes more than one person) perform a song in front of the curtain, which was dropped for the duration. The "curtain" was two screens, one opaque and one translucent, so they could lift the opaque one on an already-lit scene that still had a sort of unearthly quality until they lifted the second one. This was done to good effect at the beginning of the battle at the barricade and also before one of the downtrodden-laborer scenes. They also sometimes projected text and images (text to give dates and places when there were big jumps). This may all be standard fare for Les Mis or theatre in general, but I haven't been to enough shows to have gathered that experience.

The show is, of necessity, a condensed, simplified version of the Victor Hugo book. (Even thus condensed, the show clocked in at 2:40, plus a 15-minute intermission.) In at least one case this led to the show's plot not quite making sense -- if Marius never tried to avoid (and keep Cosette away from) Valjean after learning his secret, then the dramatic high of Marius finding out who saved his life is reduced. In the show he learns who Valjean is and seems ok with it, yet has this "oh my gosh!" moment when he finds out about the rescue. The script isn't really under the control of any individual production, but I felt a disconnect there.

The other plot disconnect I felt came earlier. I realize that the last three-quarters of the show hangs on this plot point, but if prisoners have identifying brands on their chests, then why was Valjean so worried about an innocent man being identified as Valjean the ex-con? Just have the guy take his shirt off and look! Instead, Valjean turns himself in to the court to save the innocent man, and I am left scratching my head. (Did last time I saw it, too.) I haven't read the book (I'm not that patient); Dani has and doesn't remember the brands being in the book.

Those nits aside, though, I felt moved by the themes of the show, with Javert holding on to his "people don't change" attitude until nearly the end and Valjean struggling with redemption and doing good in the world. Everything from Valjean's big, grand scenes down to the bishop quietly setting him on the right path in the beginning contributed to this. I realize there are other important characters in the story (like the thieving inkeeper, and Cosette), but for me this story is primarily about Jean Valjean.

Comments

[cjsherwood.livejournal.com]

(Would it be a violation of theatre etiquette for a short person to bring a cushion to sit on?)

I would imagine not. I have been to theatres that keep cushions for kids so they can be lifted higher, a fancier version of what is used at some hair salons/barber shops/etc. for example.

You have every right to enjoy the show as much as a taller person!! And it's not like you can say "Madam, could you please remove your hat?" when Mr. or Ms. ObstructionDeVue is six inches taller than you...