BWW Reviews: Cumberland County Playhouse Presents LES MISERABLES

LES MISERABLES is perhaps the most recognizable musical of late. If, for some reason, you weren't already aware of the show, the blockbuster movie that came out late last year would have opened your eyes. Set over a period of years in France in the 1800s, LES MISERABLES takes on many heavy themes, but does so with beautiful music and a story filled with hope and human redemption.

The Cumberland County Playhouse tackles this musical classic on the Main Stage in a way that few theatre companies could. With direction and assistant direction from Jim Crabtree, Weslie Webster and Britt Hancock and musical direction from Ron Murphy, this show would have been fantastic on a stage with no set at all. But when you enter the Main Stage theatre, you can't help but be transported to a time and place far away from East Tennessee.

The set, designed by John Fionte and Jim Crabtree, may be one of the most spectacular sets I've seen at Cumberland County Playhouse. The side stages have been extended and widened, making you feel like you're a part of the show as much as if you'd stepped back into France. There are also some amazing background projections (by Sandra "Sam" Hahn and John Fionte) that you don't even realize ARE projections until the dates of the years flash on them to show the timeline.

Nathaniel Hackman, just back from a touring production of the same show, plays lead Jean Valjean. He commands the stage and makes you feel his pain at the unjust world he lives in, and how much he cares for people who cross his path. From criminal who has done wrong (for all the right reasons) to a person running away from his parole, eventually becoming an upstanding citizen in spite of his hidden identity, Hackman takes Valjean on a journey and brings the audience along with him.

Jean Valjean spends the entire show trying to redeem himself for the wrongs he has done, while still avoiding his former parole officer, Javert. Part of that is helping factory worker Fantine, played by Leila Nelson, after he finds that she was unjustly fired from his factory and entered a less than noble lifestyle in order to support her young child, Cosette. When Fantine meets her demise, Valjean promises to care for Cosette as his own. The darling Adeline Smith played Young Cosette at the performance I attended.

Jason Ross played the role of Javert. Ross makes take the role of Javert and makes the audience both loath him for his stubborn view of the world, and appreciate his never wavering convictions. From beginning to end we see Javert's determination to make wrongs right, much as Jean Valjean does. The complex part is seeing how Javert and Valjean take such different approaches to very similar convictions.

Britt Hancock's Thenardier and Lauren Marshall's Madam Thenardier give a comedic hilarity to some truly slimy characters. As Eponine's parents and Cosette's caregiver until Jean Valjean comes along, it obvious to see how little they care about anyone other than themselves. But they do it in such a way that it's difficult to hate them. Dislike the characters, absolutely. Hate them...not really. I just wanted to see them stay on stage to make me laugh when the show got too heavy.

Eponine was played by Anna Baker. A character that I love very much, I tend to be skeptical of different versions. There is nothing to worry about with Baker stepping into the role. Some of the most powerful lines in the entire show are Eponine's. Baker's rendition of "On My Own" was powerful and heartbreaking. Even more so, "In My Life," a song that normally slips below my radar, had a line in it that had me nearly sobbing. As Eponine sings about her Marius, "Every word that he says is a daggar in me! In my life there's been no one like him anywhere. Anywhere, where he is ... if he asked I'd be his." Baker's Eponine made me feel that dagger in my own heart.

Marius, played by Greg Pendzick, sees Eponine as only a friend, and instead falls in love with Cosette, played by Lindy Pendzick, at first sight. Cosette returns the affection and she is devastated to find out that Valjean is going to run again. She wants nothing more than to stay and be with Marius. The Pendzicks show the love between Cosette and Marius as the true innocent love that it is. When Valjean sees their love, he eventually makes sure that Marius is returned to Cosette, even praying to God that Marius survives in "Bring Him Home."

Of course, while the human redemption part of the story is very, very real, LES MISERABLES is also set against the backdrop of revolution of young people, leading to a barricade in their city and eventual defeat by the French. Two of the standouts of the revolution were leader Enjolras, played by John Dobbratz, and young Gavroche, played by Simon Berman.

"Song of Angry Men" is perhaps the most moving ensemble number of the show. The song is the anthem for those frustrated with their lives and touches on revolution, rebellion and the anger of the common people. There are so many parallels to protests throughout history, in which common people rise up to try to take a stand against the wrongs they see and experience.

There are so many different things happening in this show. Perhaps that is why it has been such an enduring show, with so many productions all over the world. There is something for everyone, and something that every person can find to relate. At times it can be funny, but the heaviness of the show seems to out weight most of the comedy.

Heartbreak, injustice, death, redemption, faith, determination, love, and a host of other human experiences are all there, on stage, for you to see. But all you truly need to remember to grasp the theme of the show is in the last number. "To love another person is to see the face of God."

LES MISERABLES plays at The Cumberland County Playhouse through May 3, 2013. Call 931-484-5000 or visit http://www.ccplayhouse.com for more details. LES MISERABLES has music by Claude-Michel Schonberg and Lyrics by Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel.

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