Review: Renewed, refreshed "Les Miserables" thunders into Fort Myers
Let's get to the point. "Les Miserables" is back in Southwest Florida for the second time in fifteen months, playing through March 17 at the Barbara B. Mann Performing Arts Hall in Fort Myers.
Will you like it?
That depends.
I didn't.
You will.
Because Tuesday's opening night crowd went absolutely nuts. Two curtain calls and almost no one ran screaming for the exits as if Inspector Javert was hot on their heels waiting to toss them into the Bastile. If the seats don't empty during bows, you know the folks in the 239 have got some major love for what's on stage.
"Les Miserables," if you don't know, is the story of paroled convict Jean Valjean and other citizens during a period of student uprisings in France. Reaction will depend entirely on how you feel about the music.
I think of "Les Miserables" as a grand, operatic show, with outsize personalities singing huge, emotionally laden songs about enormous problems. The show can feel like a five-hour marathon. Tuesday's show was "Les Mis" on a bullet train, all speed, no nuance. I wanted more emotional resonance from the performance; the crowd seemed to think it was fine.
Lockyer, who sang the role of Marius on Broadway for six years, brings a more youthful, edgy and feral take to Valjean. "Bring Him Home," Valjean's towering number at the barricade as he pleads with God for the life of Marius, arrives not in an operatic blast, but in a wistful, desperate siren song of prayer. I love the quieter, more subdued, plaintive feel this gives to the show. (
Read an interview with Peter Lockyer, who plays Jean Valjean)
Varela offers a brooding, moody Javert, although the reconfigured production takes some of the menace from the part itself. Towering "Soliloquy" stretches his amazing voice and fills the hall with sound. The scene makes gorgeous use of the projections and technology, allowing Javert to simply jump and disappear into the blackness as audiences applaud the scene and the song.
Briana Carlson-Goodman brings star power to her Eponine. Scenes, such as the Thenardier attack on Valjean's house and Eponine's shooting at the barricade, deliver emotional punch. "On My Own" proves her one of the few performers able to command the stage with just her presence and voice.
French-Canadian Genevieve LeClerc might have the toughest job in show business right now, trying to put a fresh spin on Fantine. Most people in the audience have heard the song (or seen the movie). No matter who sings it, it probably won't sound the way you first heard it or saw it. LeClerc does bring a desperate fragility to her Fantine that doesn't always come through on stage.
"Les Miserables" contains good, even great moments, particularly the majestic and overpowering ensemble pieces like "Do You Hear the People Sing" and brilliant curtain number "One Day More." Scenes and plot threads just don't connect because spectacle triumphs over storytelling.
Chris Silk is the arts writer and theater critic for the Naples Daily News. To read the longer version of this review, go to: http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2013/mar/13/review-les-miserables-national-tour-fort-myers/
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