BWW Reviews: Cameron Mackintosh's Production of LES MISERABLES Delights With The Updated Treatment of the Music and the Presentation

Thursday 26th March 2015, Capitol Theatre, Sydney

LES MISERABLES returns to Sydney with a reworked score, new music and reimagined staging, earning a standing ovation from the Opening Night Audience. Whilst many fans will be familiar with the 1985 original, they will not be disappointed with the new treatment and the wonderful Australian cast.

Utilizing a set of static ramshackle balconies bordering the proscenium arch with the apron extended over the sides of the Orchestra Pit and mobile components that create the streets, factory, barricades and more, the dark, grimy tones of the original, inspired by the paintings of Victor Hugo, are retained. Matt Kinley's (Set and Image Design) new staging does away with the turntable and employs modern technology to provide the illusion of the waves over the bow of the slave ship, streetscapes, skylines and even the tunnels under Paris with a three dimensional realness with Fifty-Nine Productions' projections. When combined with Mick Potter's sound design which sends the ricochet of bullets into the rear of the balcony, the audience is drawn into the show to heighten the intensity.

Christopher Jahnke, Stephen Metcalfe and Stephen Brooker have given John Cameron's original orchestrations an update but Claude-Michel Schonberg's music is still very recognizable as the tempo has been adjusted and tones altered. Herbert Kretzmer's lyrics have been given a new pace and emphasis and new material by James Fenton helps to flesh out the story to make the progression of time and the emotional challenges more obvious.

Laurence Connor and James Powell (Directors) have created a work that illustrates the progression of time well and captures the character growth. The performance includes a good balance of light moments with more humor than before and more provocative and bawdy expression to counter the darker, more emotional story lines.

The new orchestrations have created a darker, more disturbed Jean Valjean at the start and Simon Gleeson conveys the madness developed from 19 years of imprisonment through an almost spoken song and persistent head shake in the Prologue as he seeks to survive as a parolee in a world that shuns and exploits him due to his past. As Valjean develops into the successful factory owner and town mayor he develops an air of control and on realizing his faults and his need to make amends to the failing Fantine and he evolves to a gentler character as he seeks to protect Cossette and releases Javert. Gleeson's Bring Him Home is moving as he prays for Marius' safety at the barricades.

Hayden Tee's Javert holds the gravitas of the perpetual authority figure bearing a sense of righteousness and lifelong vendetta against Valjean, the perpetual prisoner and parole violator in his eyes. Tee conveys Javert's deep seated anger in the Prologue and when he recognises Valjean some 8 years later when Valjean's strength despite his age gives him away. Tee's Stars conveys his mission and his belief that he is doing God's work and his own superiority to his realization that Valjean is the better man in his Soliloquy and the comprehension that he can no longer live with himself.

Other standout performances come from Trevor Ashley and Lara Mulcahy as the disgustingly fabulous Thenardier and his wife. Both play up the caricature of the greedy inn keepers, awful parents and street thieves as they combine the fabulous lyrics with wonderful physical humor. Ashley's background as a drag queen shines through as he gives Thenardier a camp styling blended with vulgarity and trashiness which garners roars of applause at each appearance. Gavroche, whilst loosing Little People in the new production, features more often and his cheeky fearlessness is endearing. Kerry Anne Greenland's Eponine is presented with the level of need for validation and unrequited love as she presents a moving On My Own.

This is a beautiful production that blends the original with a new vision that moves the story along faster and provides for a more intense experience. Regardless if you've seen an earlier incarnation of LES MISERABLES, be it on stage or on screen, this is new work is well worth seeing.

LES MISERABLES

Capitol Theatre Sydney

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