Monday, June 13, 2016

Les Miserables on Broadway

No matter what my current obsession might be, Les Miserables will always be my sentimental favorite.  It is the first musical I fell in love with and, even though I have seen it more than twenty times (a conservative estimate), I still get goosebumps every time I hear those opening notes.  I hadn't planned on seeing it while I was in New York but I kept walking past the Imperial Theatre (which is, ironically, next to the Richard Rodgers Theatre) and I noticed that it will be closing in September.  I might not have another chance to see it on Broadway so I spontaneously bought a ticket for the matinee.  I am so glad I did because I loved every minute of this amazing production.  The staging was completely new (at least to me) without the turntable and I quite liked it (the only element I missed was when the barricade revolves on the turntable after the battle revealing Enjolras holding the flag upside down).  Many of the backdrops were Victor Hugo's original illustrations for the novel and they were incredibly effective.  The entire cast was amazing and they hit all of the highlights for me: Fantine (Alison Luff) in "I Dreamed a Dream," Javert (Hayden Tee) in "Stars," Valjean (John Owen-Jones) in "Bring Him Home," and Marius (Chris McCarrell) in "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables."  Of course my favorite moment was when Eponine (Brennyn Lark) sang "On My Own."  Lark gave one of the best performances of that song I have ever seen and I definitely had tears in my eyes (how I judge every production that I see).  Words cannot express how much I love this show and I am so happy that I got to see it one more time on Broadway!

Note:  I was sitting near a group of young girls who had never seen Les Miserables before and one of them screamed out loud when Gavroche was shot in "Little People."  It is such an emotional scene!

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