Review: Hollywood Bowl Celebrates Boublil and Schonberg Musicals

For its one-night-only concert DO YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING?, the Hollywood Bowl—in collaboration with Producer Enda Markey—presented an all-star cast from the world of musical theater to perform a well-curated "greatest hits" tribute to the remarkable legacy of lyricist Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg on the evening of July 28, 2024.

Filled with a plethora of incredible showstoppers, many familiar theatrical staples, and some exquisite (and often stratospheric) singing, the concert was a fitting, glorious celebration of the creative partnership that has spawned two of the biggest musical hits in theatrical history: Les Misérables and Miss Saigon.

Those two stage musicals, naturally, were represented very well in the concert's program, alongside less well-known songs from other Boublil/Schönberg shows like La Révolution Française (which debuted in Paris in 1973), Martin Guerre (which premiered in London in 1996), and The Pirate Queen (which debuted on Broadway in 2007).

To lend their magnificent vocal chops to these complex songs, the concert boasted a famous roster of talents from Broadway, the West End, and beyond that included Patrick Wilson (two-time Tony nominee and star of Aquaman), Skylar Astin (from TV's So Help Me Todd and Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist and star of Pitch Perfect and was in the original cast of Spring Awakening), Emily Bautista (Kim in the 2017 Broadway revival and US national tour of Miss Saigon and was Éponine in the US tour of Les Misérables), Jon Jon Briones (currently starring as Hermes on Broadway's Hadestown, and played the Engineer in the 2014 West End and 2017 Broadway revivals of Miss Saigon), Nikki Renée Daniels (has been Fantine in Les Misérables, was recently featured in the Company revival and is currently starring in the Broadway revival of Once Upon A Mattress), Rachel Tucker (former Elphaba on Broadway's Wicked, and was in the Broadway and West End companies of Come From Away, and most recently played Norma Desmond at Theatre Royal Drury Lane's Sunset Boulevard), and Marie Zamora (who originated the role of Cosette in the original 1980 Paris premiere of Les Misérables).

And to top it off, these stars were all accompanied by a glorious-sounding 60-piece orchestra and choir under the baton of musical director Kevin Stites.

The resulting concert made for a truly spectacular evening.

With one superb performance after another, the show kept topping itself with each subsequent number, particularly when two or more of the marquee stars sing together in duets and groups (don't get me wrong—the solos were thrilling as well). Not only did the concert remind the audience about the memorable tunes the pair of theater titans created, the songs were also a reminder of how purposely complex and challenging these songs are to even sing—and that they take a certain kind of talent to pull off.

Luckily these assembled stars gave some genuinely impressive, ovation-worthy performances.

The concert, like all Boublil/Schönberg musicals, began with a spirited Overture from the Bowl's orchestra that included thematic elements from all the musicals featured in the show.

The first act leaned heavily on songs from Miss Saigon, starting with the musical's Act 2 opener "Bui Doi" featuring beautiful vocal work from Wilson, followed by a rousing "The Heat Is On In Saigon"  with vocals from the concert's backing SATB chorus. Bautista then gave a fierce encore of her character's "I'd Give My Life For You" that she most likely similarly slayed each night she sang it as Kim in the musical, followed by Astin on "Why God, Why?" that was quite impressive.

Bautista is then joined by Tucker on an emotional "I Still Believe," a duet in the musical between the male lead's American wife Ellen and his Vietnamese lover Kim, which segued into Daniels' lovely medley of songs dubbed "The Ellen Evolution" which briefly tracked some of the revised songs assigned to the iffy character of Ellen during the show's, well… evolution. Beginning with Daniels on "Her or Me" and "Now That I've Seen Her," Tucker finished it off with the newer song in its place, "Maybe."

One of this concert's absolutely thrilling highlights were the many appearances of the endearingly feisty Briones who, in this concert's first act, reprised a so, so good "The American Dream" (on a side note, Briones, frankly, should have gotten a Tony nom for this role in the 2017 revival). Funny but oh-so-layered, it was one of my (and, clearly, the audience's) favorite numbers of the evening.

I do have to wonder, though, why two of the show's more popular songs "Last Night of the World," and "The Movie in My Mind" were not included in this concert, because I feel like this cast would have absolutely done it beautifully.

The concert then veers into (somewhat) unfamiliar territory, first giving the audience a song from the composer duo's first musical, 1973's La Révolution Française: "Au petit matin" sung by Zamora, followed by a set of songs from their 1996 musical Martin Guerre: "I'm Martin Guerre" (featuring Astin),  "Live With Somebody You Love" (a lovely duet between Wilson and Daniels), and "In The Land of the Fathers" (featuring the cast and chorus).

The entire female cast then took turns with the karaoke showtune staple "I Dreamed A Dream" from Les Misérables—which they reminded the audience (in a joking, tongue-in-cheek way), was a "worldwide hit" thanks to Susan Boyle's rendition on Britain's Got Talent, then later via Anne Hathaway's Oscar-winning take in the film version. Here, though, the ladies did a phenomenal job.

The full cast then assembled on stage all together to sing a stirring "This Is The Hour" (from Miss Saigon) with the full chorus to close out the first act.

A brief intermission was followed by the concert's Entr'acte featuring "The Wedding" from The Pirate Queen, which introduced a suite of songs from the 2007 musical that included "Woman" (featuring Tucker) and "If I Said I Loved You" (a lovely duet with Daniels and Wilson).

Next, as expected, when the orchestra began blaring the familiar Overture from Les Misérables, the audience went berserk, clearly signifying that the musical is the audience's most anticipated segment. That reaction was reminiscent of the time the Hollywood Bowl staged its own all-star version of the show back in 2008.

Astin's introduction to the next segment of hits from Les Misérables—which will celebrate its 40th Anniversary next year!—began with the original Cosette from the very first French production of the show in Paris, Zamora, who sang her character's "On My Own" in the original French (titled "Mon Histoire"). Next, Wilson, Astin and the female cast were joined by the chorus to sing a frenetic "At The End of the Day" followed by a hilarious rendition of "Master of the House" featuring a sensational duet between Briones and Tucker that had the audience in stitches.

The mood changed quickly with a stunning love triangle recreated by Daniels (as Cosette), Astin (as Marius), and Bautista (as Éponine) in "In My Life"/"A Heart Full of Love" that was just gorgeous. Zamora then returns to sing "L'un vers l'autre" a cut song originally sung by Cosette in the show's early draft of the first act.

Astin and Wilson then take on the thrillingly combative "The Confrontation" on the Bowl's circular garden catwalk, followed by Wilson singing his dramatic best on "Stars." Astin and Wilson then reunited once more for an absolutely brilliant, tear-inducing duet version of "Bring Him Home," that became even more amazing with its lovely falsetto harmonies and (gasp!) unexpectedly wonderful key change!

To close out the concert, the entire cast and backing chorus came together for the one-two punch of "One Day More" and, of course, the concert's title track, "Do You Hear The People Sing?" Both were winning cappers to a very enjoyable concert experience.

Overall, the concert—which has already wowed audiences in similar presentations worldwide—is executed beautifully, providing these impressive Boublil/Schönberg songs a proper showcase.

And while, yes, I must confess that I still do find Miss Saigon (the show itself, not so much the music) still quite problematic—especially when viewed in the lens of 2024—their inclusion in this concert fittingly provided a platform to judge the songs as outstanding stand-alone compositions that reiterated the beauty and lushness of these theater standouts.

I did genuinely appreciate that some of the stars did admit that Miss Saigon kept getting retooled and examined over the years by Boublil and Schönberg, perhaps in light of the much more enlightened world that we now live in… proving the pair's adage that one doesn't just "write musicals… you re-write them!"

So… if this concert ever comes to a city near you—go see it, especially for the talented stars they've assembled to give these songs some of the most beautiful renditions you'll likely hear.

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Photographed at the Hollywood Bowl by Farah Sosa, courtesy of the LA Phil and Enda Markey Presents. 

Tickets to upcoming performances at the Hollywood Bowl may be purchased online at HollywoodBowl.com, by phone at 323-850-2000, or in person at the Hollywood Bowl box office. For more information, visit hollywoodbowl.com.

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