I grew up listening to the Les Misérables soundtrack, and have seen the show twice, on Broadway and in Boston. When I heard it was coming to Tampa, I bought my ticket immediately and got great seats for a really cheap price. If you’re ever planning on seeing a show at the Straz Center, I say go for the “obstructed view” seats in the first balcony for $25. There was no obstruction at all, and the seats were much better than the $70 top balcony ones. (Editor’s Note: Spoilers contained within.)
Les Misérables takes place in France during the 19th century and depicts mostly the lives of the poor and suffering. As audience members, we follow the life of the protagonist, Jean Valjean, who was a member of the chain gang for 19 years for stealing a loaf of bread. When he is released on parole, Valjean turns his life around to become an honest and generous man. Taking on a new identity, he becomes the wealthy mayor of a town, all the while hiding from Inspector Javert, who makes it his life mission to search for the convict Jean Valjean for breaking his parole. We are introduced to Fantine, a factory girl who is hiding the secret of an illegitimate child named Cosette who lives with an innkeeper and his wife. Fantine eventually turns to prostitution to pay for her daughter and when she becomes ill, Valjean promises that he will find Cosette and raise her as his own. However, this is after Valjean reveals to Javert his true identity to save an innocent man’s life. In order to rescue Cosette, Valjean once again is forced to run from Javert. Valjean eventually finds poor Cosette as she is laboring away for the innkeeper. He pays for her and treats her to a good life.
Nine years later, Valjean and the beautiful and grown up Cosette end up in Paris, along with pretty much the rest of the cast. Cosette meets the handsome Marius and they fall in love instantly. We meet the grown up Éponine, the innkeeper’s daughter who is a poor street rat and madly in love with Marius, who is her good friend. Enjolras, the leader of the students, believes in the revolution and swears they will win. Javert also appears in this scene, causing Valjean and Cosette to run. Éponine though, finds where Cosette lives and brings Marius to her, in order to make him happy. They meet again and realize their love for each other is true. However, in the morning, Valjean plans to move him and Cosette across the seas to escape Javert, and Marius decides he will fight with his friends.
After intermission, Éponine is delivering a goodbye letter to Cosette from Marius, which Valjean takes and reads. The revolution takes place, and Éponine, disguised as a boy, is the first one killed. Javert is also caught as a spy for the other side, but Valjean lets him go free. In the morning, there is a large attack on the barricade resulting in many deaths. Valjean saves the wounded and unconscious Marius’ life by dragging him through the sewers. Javert eventually kills himself because he cannot get over the fact that Valjean let him run away after everything he had done to him. He believes they cannot both live in the same world. After Marius is healed, he and Cosette are married. Valjean dies after he reveals to Cosette the truth about her past, and her mother. The play ends with the strong finale where the fallen characters as spirits come back onstage.
This adaptation was a little different from previous ones I have seen, but nevertheless amazing. The first difference I noticed was the lack of the rotating stage. I was a little nervous of how they would perform the song “Do You Hear the People Sing,” since what made that song memorable was Enjolras on the top of the spinning set piece waving the red flag. But the set pieces on wheels made up for it, except for the scene after the barricade falls, and we see the dead Enjolras and young Gavroche lying in a cart rather than atop the barricade.
It wasn’t as emotional for me as it could have been. Some of the highlights were the solos sung by the main characters. Mostly all of the big songs, “I Dreamed a Dream” by Fantine, “Stars” by Javert, “On My Own” by Éponine and “Bring Him Home” by Valjean, for example, were sung with just a spotlight on the character. There were no big special effects or drastic movement. This allowed us to fully admire their beautiful voices with no distractions. “Bring Him Home” was followed by the longest applause of the night; J. Mark McVey’s voice carried throughout the theatre and he hit all the notes flawlessly. Although Chasten Harmon, who played Éponine, sang “On My Own” beautifully, I wished there was more of a struggle in her voice, which showed her tough, loveless life. “Master of the House” by Thénardier, his wife and the ensemble, was the perfect comic relief, combining an unsatisfied wife with a drunken innkeeper, who takes pride in ripping his customers off. One of my favorite scenes, “The ABC Café” was where they sang “Red and Black.” It was inspiring and you could really see the patriotism on stage. You also saw Marius’ love for Cosette, even before knowing her name. I really liked how Marius got Cosette’s attention at her home by throwing a rock at her window before “A Heart Full of Love.” It was old-timey and the balcony scene reminded me of Romeo and Juliet. Young Cosette, played by Kylie McVey, gave a stunning and heart wrenching performance of “Castle on a Cloud.”
The set was amazing, and there were so many different pieces. We saw the city, a factory, various homes, the inn, the barricade and the ABC Café, among others. All of the deaths in the play were very dramatic and tear jerking, especially little Gavroche as he tried to save his friends. During curtain call, the audience gave the entire cast a standing ovation, as they did their bows. Les Misérables brought a night of laughter, tears, and pity for the characters. Later on in 2012, a movie adaptation of the musical will come to theatres, featuring such stars as Hugh Jackman as Valjean, Russell Crowe as Javert and Anne Hathaway as Fantine. With so many big names packed into one fantastic musical, it’s a movie you don’t want to miss.
Caroline Metell can be reached at cmetell@spartans.ut.com.
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