Guest Reviewer Kym Vaitiekus Shares His Thoughts On DO YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING

Friday 30th September 2022, 8pm, Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House

The musical expertise of lyricist Alain Boublil and composer Claude-Michel Schonberg is gloriously presented in DO YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING.

Global musical theatre stars Michael Ball, John Owen-Jones, Rachel Tucker, Bobby Fox, David Harris, Sooha Kim, Suzie Mathers, and Marie Zamora perform some highlights from Les Misérables, Miss Saigon, La Révolution Française, Martin Guerre and The Pirate Queen.

Producer Enda Markey has spent the last decade touring this show through Asia and with the obvious setbacks has finally been able to bring the joy of this production to the Australian audience.

His team brings together Conductor Guy Simpson, Director Andrew Pole, Sound Designer Tom Brickhill and Lighting Designer Peter Rubie.

The evening opened with the 24 piece orchestra and their superb overture. The Opera House can proudly shout to the world that their new acoustics are outstanding. This was the best music experience in my theatre going experience. The sound quality and clarity are phenomenal. I was in awe listening to this overture of Schonberg's work.

Michael Ball who was part of the original production of Les Miserables at the West end gave passion to his rendition of 'Stars' and 'Empty Chairs at Empty Tables'. Proclaiming his own personal changes since that time 37 years ago, he still has the youthful passion and excitement for this work and in his performance.

Sooha Kim with her divine voice performed 'The Heat is On' from Miss Saigon. Then Kim performed a duet with Australian David Harris, they passionately gave us 'The Last Night of the World'. Harris shared his journey from working as an usher at an early production of Miss Saigon to performing the Lead in the last reincarnation of that show.

Another Duet has Rachel Tucker with Kim perform a wonderful rendition of 'The Movie in My Mind'. Tucker also gave us a superb version of 'Maybe', she has the ultimate musical theatre voice, a powerful singer with the engaging tones that can transform her into any character.

John Owen-Jones was the standout voice of the evening. His solo, duets and trio numbers were commanding and sublime. His sense of humour showed us his warm heart and his experienced musical theatre abilities.

Bobby Fox is delicious in a gold jacket with a soulful and masculine voice, displaying another vocal that is perfect for musical theatre. His fun frolicking during the night was one of the entertaining highlights.

Suzie Mathers spoke of Boublil and Schonberg's drive for their journey of improvement. She tells the story of how they evolved "Ellen" through the decades of Les Mis. Mathers beautifully performs three songs displaying the changes and growth in those numbers. Her performance of the final version gives testament to the amazing evolution of the creators and to her powerful voice. Her rendition of the amazing final piece was tender and emotive.

Marie Zamora's inspiring operatic voice was another highlight of the evening with her French versions of Au Petit Matin and L'un Vers L'autre.

Peter Rubie's lighting design was elegant and detailed. There seemed to be a few missed ques and some stray lighting sprays during the evening. I quite liked the atmosphere his design created, although the choice of lighting certain spots, was to possibly allow for less spill on the advertised video projections. The claim was that the screen imagery would give insight into the creative process. On this occasion there was no working screen. If it wasn't for the pre-show blurb we would not know that this imagery was missing, as the night was a joyous professional outstanding performance of these wonderful works of musical theatre.

When Ball introduced Sooha Kim, he mentioned that finding an extraordinary talent for her role in Miss Saigon was extra difficult due to the requirement of and Asian character. I wish Ball elaborated, as without context this comment could be seen as offensive or as a cry out for a more progressive and aware western musical theatre culture.

DO YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING is a wonderful example of the talents of Boublil and Schonberg. We enjoyed their other works and were completely engaged and taken away with the Les Miserables songs that took us to the finale.

Photographer: Prudence Upton

https://www.sydneyoperahouse.com/events/whats-on/musical-theatre/2022/do-you-hear-the-people-sing.html

Rachel Tucker (UK) - recently starred in Come From Away on Broadway. She starred in the London premiere of Boublil & Schönberg's The Pirate Queen in 2020 and is renowned for her performance as Elphaba in Wicked in London and on Broadway.

Bobby Fox (Aus) - the popular star of the Australian production of Jersey Boys.

David Harris (Aus) - who has performed leading roles in Miss Saigon, Wicked and Legally Blonde, and is currently starring in the US tour of Moulin Rouge.

Sooha Kim (Korea) - Korean star of Aida, Rent and Hadestown, who starred as Kim in the UK and Japanese tours of Miss Saigon.

Suzie Mathers (Aus) - star of international productions of Wicked and Mamma Mia!.

Marie Zamora (France) - the French star of Kiss Me Kate and Barnum, and starred as Cosette in the Paris production of Les Misérables.

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