Les Miserables...
Last night the lovely Stuart and I went to the Queens Theatre in London's glitzy West End to see the phenomenon that is Les Miserables.
I'd seen it once before twenty years ago. This was Stuart's fifth time. I simply had fond memories. He was obviously a bit of a fan.
When it was at The Palace Theatre it had a distinctly Gallic feel (hello? it is set in nineteenth century France), a cast of thousands (well, it seemed like it at the time) and rousing anthems throughout. This time around it seemed an altogether smaller production; just twenty-eight in the cast, the accents were distinctly Plaidstow rather than Paris and the songs seem to have lost some of their shine.
That said, Kerry Ellis as Fantine was amazing as was John Owen-Jones as the lead Jean Valjean. Special mention does need to saved for Shonagh Daly who plays Eponine. Marvelous.
'On my own', Eponine's subdued-anthem, is one of the great modern musical ballads. That said, the thought of going to Queen's to see such a small-scale production of such an epic piece of musical theatre.....? Surely, your tickets must have been free.
ReplyDeleteLes Mis? The Glums? No contest for what's going to hit the Adelphi Theatre come July!!!!! Yours faithfully (all of you!), Eva. x
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