Interview: Jon Robyns and David Thaxton of LES MISERABLES Discuss Singing the Wrong Lines, Cast Camaraderie and the Show's Evolution

Before one of their evening performances, BroadwayWorld UK had the chance to interview David Thaxton and Jon Robyns, who currently play Javert and Jean Valjean respectively, in the Sondheim Theatre's restaged production of the iconic show, Les Misérables.

The two actors talked about their years of playing a variety of roles in the show, their struggles with muscle memory, and what Les Mis means to them.

How did your journeys with Les Mis first start?

David: I'll go first because mine started first! So I joined the 2005 company. I was studying at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff. Through a very long and convoluted route, which I won't bore you with, I found myself in the 2005 cast of Les Misérables at Queen's Theatre, playing Courfeyrac and Bamatabois and understudying Enjolras and the Bishop. I stayed in it for a couple of years, then went away for a year and came back in 2008 to be met with...

Jon: Me! Which is where I started. I was playing Marius at the time, David was playing Enjolras, and we were sharing a dressing room, which is one floor up from here. Obviously, this is now the Sondheim theatre, but it was the Queen's Theatre at the time. And that year was very formative for both of us.

David: A big year! Then I did two years as Enjolras.

Jon: So I did Marius for a year in the West End, and then I joined the 25th-anniversary tour, which was the first incarnation of the new production, in 2009, also playing Enjolras.

David: We were doing the same role at the same time.

Jon: And then I had a very long break!

David: I had a slightly less long break and then came back in 2014 to play Javert for the first time, then did that again in 2018, and now we're back here in 2023.

Jon: In the meantime, I did the tour from 2009 to 2010, and then at the end of '10 stopped. That culminated with the 25th-anniversary concert at the O2, during which I played the pivotal role of Factory Worker #3.

David: Did you have a line?

Jon: Yes.

David: What was your line?

Jon: My line was, "And you're lucky to be in a job."

David: All right, you're setting up the world-famous "And in a bed!" That's great.

Jon and Kat: [Laughs]

Jon: So I did that. And then in 2019, they were closing the original production here and transforming the Queen's into the Sondheim, bringing the now-established new production into the West End. And they asked me to play Valjean as the first one of the new production here. And I've been doing that since 2019 - All the way through Covid, all the way through a concert incarnation here at the Sondheim, all the way to the best bit, which was David joining.

David: And we just picked up where we left off in 2009 like nothing's changed. It's hilarious.

What is it about this show that keeps you coming back to it?

David: There's so much! Aside from the boring logistical stuff about being working actors, auditioning, and getting jobs, it would be lovely to be like, "I'm gonna have my artistic selection of everything I want to do, anytime!" I've been incredibly fortunate that these things have landed and when things have become available, I've been available. So in that sense, that's why you go back, but when you go back, there's so much to re-explore. I don't think it ever loses its magic. There's always something new, even now! This is my eighth contract in Les Mis in terms of each year as a new contract and I'm still finding new things, hearing new things, and feeling new things. It's amazing.

Jon: Being within the same roles, I remember you saying to me, the way that you play your Javert is affected by the way I play Valjean. And the other versions that you've had to deal with have done it differently, so there's different stuff to figure out.

David: Yes, exactly. There's a massive difference between the way I was playing Javert when Peter Lockyer was Jean Valjean or when Killian Donnelly was Valjean, or now your Valjean, because those three people are very different people.

Jon: And I've played three parts, so there's lots of stuff to discover. Seeing one story from three different angles is endlessly interesting. The audience loves it so much, and not just because it's established and they know what they're gonna get, but also because it's effective every time As was proven by the concert, it can be in any incarnation and still be brilliant. I went and saw the Mountview Drama School's third years do a new incarnation of it. Completely brand new, set in a different timezone, just completely rethought and reimagined.

David: Wow!

Jon: And it was just as effective because the writing is that good and the story is that good.

David: Yeah, it's Les Mis!

When you're playing one role, do you ever find yourself thinking about the other roles that you've previously played?

Jon: Not now, but when I was on as Enjolras, I did start doing the Marius lines by accident!

David: I have sung Enjolras lines out loud as Javert... I don't know where this came from whilst playing Javert, I once sang a Bamatabois line out loud!

Deep in the recesses of my mind, some part of 2005-me just went, "Bleh!" I did Enjolras for two years and it was one of my all-time favourite things, ever. So when you connect with something so much, there is a deep thing that goes beyond your conscious knowledge in particular moments for sure.

Jon: When we were doing the concert, we did a 10[date] concert during the winter of 2020...Alfie Boe was playing Valjean at that time. At that point, I had played it for about three or four months, so it was well into my body and my muscle memory. I was singing from offstage to add voices to the noise and when it came up to a Valjean line, I took a breath in because the music just automatically puts your body into muscle memory! Earl Carpenter, who was standing next to me, went, "It's not you!"

So you've both played Enjolras, at one point at the same time! Have you ever talked with each other about the way that you played that specific character?

Jon: The better question is, on what days do we not?

David: We talk all the time.

Jon: All the time!

David: It's the best role in the show. It's the best role in all the shows! When you [Jon] were off on the tour and you were in Cardiff, we were both doing it at the same time and we would talk quite a lot about things. Having done both productions, there's a different vibe that the new production engenders, so everything has a different feel. So that was very interesting.

How do you feel that you two have developed as actors over the years with Les Mis?

Jon: That's a very large question! One of the things that we talk about repeatedly is how much meat there is on the bone in this show. There is so much to pick at and so many ways to play with the role just in yourself or in relation to other people. There is so much to do that I think the more experienced you get as an actor, the braver you get with testing those different choices. I'll give an example. It was a choice that I wanted to play with and I don't think I liked it very much, but I wanted to do one night where I wouldn't look at Javert. Valjean was going to not look at him until he absolutely had to, which was an interesting thing to play with.

Twenty years ago, when I started my career, I might not have had the trust in my own abilities, craft, or bravery to try something that's not been given to me like that. And I think the thing about doing long-running musicals is you have to learn to be respectful of what was created in 1985 and know that there are boundaries in which you can work, and how interesting you can be within those boundaries. I've done, you've [David] done a lot of recreating other people's work. And that's what we're doing here. So finding your stuff, and their stuff, and being true to both is something that you learn as you go along.

David: Yeah, these long-running shows...when you do a year, that's basically quite rare for an actor. Most of your work will be three months in something, or a month's run of something here, there, and everywhere. So to do something eight times a week for a year is a really interesting thing. It's a different art form, really, because like Jon says, these things have been running forever for a reason. Les Mis and Phantom? They don't have to be here. Mamma Mia! doesn't have to be in the West End. They've been running for ages because they work, so you have to remember that.

If you're a particular type of actor, which I think we both are, your instinct is to "I want to do my thing! I want to really stamp my authority and put my imprint on this rock." And that's great! But with something that's existed for thirty years, there's only so much scope you can have with that. So it's the balance of trusting what works and being able to push those boundaries.

Do you have a favourite scene?

Jon: The ABC . . .

David: It's just the best thing!

Jon: Yeah, the ABC Café is the best scene to be in no matter who you're playing. You've done two parts in it, and so have I. The show has an awful lot of camaraderie. It was invented by the RSC, primarily, and they are a very ensemble-based collective - they're all about the collective experience. And that has been passed down for 38 years through Les Misérables. It does feel like an ensemble in a way that other shows don't. The show is so long, it's so detailed, and it's so epic. It's a relay race - you pass the baton of the story from character to character. At the ABC, everyone gets to feel the camaraderie of it.

David: I think ABC is where the show kicks up a gear. It's like the start of a new act. The stakes go up quite a high notch in that on the death of Lamarque and Enjolras's decision to do things then. [To Jon] What's your favourite scene to play now? Mine is the suicide. It's incredible.

Jon: Valjean's death.

David: So when we die?

Jon: Basically, yeah! But it's the only time he's happy! It's the only time he's not looking over his shoulder because everything's resolved. God has blessed him with this challenge that he had to live a life, and pass on what he knew, and look after this girl, and he's done it. He's so proud of himself and he can actually die in peace. He might be the only character that gets to die in peace in this. Everyone else dies tragically or horribly. So it's a lovely thing. And then my favourite moment, just personally as an actor, is after I'm dead and I walk back towards the rest of the company who are standing there beaming at me whilst they're singing beautifully and it's just great. It's a lovely, lovely moment.

So who has been your favourite character to perform as in Les Mis?

David: Enjolras. Easy!

Jon: Well that's because you're the best Enjolras that's ever been! It was difficult following you [David] because I was just doing an impression of you when I was playing Enjolras.

David: But I was doing an impression of Anthony Warlow! I was trying to copy his voice and then how I imagined he might play it.

Jon: I think Valjean is my favourite, closely followed by Marius, and then Enjolras after that.

David: Javert is a wonderful role, but it's very different. You don't spend any time in the ensemble. You could technically say Valjean's in the ensemble! We used to talk about how when we were Marius and Enjolras, the first half hour of the show is a brilliant thing. You get to warm into it and by the time you put your waistcoat on and all that, you know you're in a really good place. So you don't have any of that, but you also don't have any of the great camaraderie and ensemble-ness of being in Les Mis! You walk around by yourself trying to catch someone or trying to catch people out.

Jon: I miss doing ABC!

David: Yeah, it's a great scene. Javert is a great role, but there's just something about that feeling of the barricade, especially when you're young. It was my first job so it was very formative. I have amazing memories of all of that.

Who is one character that you would want to play that you haven't yet?

Jon: I'm gonna see if I can get all five principal male roles.

David: I could see you as Thénardier! I don't think I'd be right for that. Jean Valjean, obviously, but who wouldn't want to be him?

And finally, how would you describe Les Mis in one word?

Jon: Being flippant, I'd say long. If I was being sincere, I'd say hopeful.

David: I would go for hopeful. I think that's the point of Les Mis. It's not depressing, it's joyous because it's about overcoming adversity. It's all about the promise of hope. Everyone who dies, apart from Javert, who has lost all hope, is still hopeful. Fantine is still hopeful. Eponine is the happiest of her entire life. The students are hopeful that there will be a brighter future and that their actions will lead the way. It's about hope.

David Thaxton and Jon Robyns are appearing in Les Misérables, which is playing at the Sondheim Theatre

Photo Credits: Johan Persson