Les Miserables

Reviewed by Holly Bartges

What an honor. What a treat. What a heartbreak. The national tour of Les Miserables finishes its final Denver engagement May 7, 2006 at the Temple Buell Theatre arranged by Denver Center Attractions.

The company of Les Misérables. Photo by Joan Marcus

The heartbreak, of course, comes from the story itself, based on Victor Hugo’s timeless novel about the French revolution in the early 1800s, but it also comes because of the exceptionally short run.

With music by Claude-Michel Schoenberg and lyrics Herbert Kretzmer, the thunderous power and dimension of emotion and intricate story of a people fighting for the right to be treated with dignity and respect becomes more relevant than when it was first written.

Having made its world premiere October 8, 1985 at the Barbican Theatre in London, over 50 million people around the world have experienced Les Mis. Over 37,000 performances have claimed their time on stage, and the worldwide box office has grossed more than $1.8 billion.

A musical with heart, soul, power, beauty, love, forgiveness, and ingenuity, Les Miserables nearly becomes the ultimate in Broadway musicals. It is difficult to believe one could sit through a performance without sensing a change and growth somewhere in the depth of their soul.

With a set that grabs and commands attention designed by John Napier, and a cast that reaches for the stars, grabs them, and hands them to the audience on a silver plate, the experience reaches a pinnacle of triumph.

Randal Keith’s portrayal of Jean Valjean, with his incredible range, and ability to surround every note with emotional depth will remain engraved in the minds of everyone who experienced him. He presented us with a Valjean that went beyond words on a script, stage direction and notes on a score. He gave us a man who spent 19 years in prison for stealing a loaf of bread, who stood stunned by a priest, The Bishop of Digne (Gabriel Kalomas) who handed back the stolen candle sticks, and urged Valjean to go and make something of himself.

Valjean breaks his parole, changes his name to Monsieur Adeline, becomes a factory owner and mayor. Fantine, genuinely portrayed by Joan Almedilla, is discovered she has an illegitimate child, the women in the factory demand she be dismissed. The Foreman (Pierce Peter Brandt) reveals his glee, especially since Fantine has rejected his advances.

When Valjean discovers the horrific event, it is too late to save Fantine’s life, but he vows to rescue the young child, Cosette (Meg Guzulescu) from the wicked by comedic inn keepers Madame Thenardier (Jennifer Butt) and Thenardier (Norman Large). Cruel, mean and desperate, Butt and large ride high the waves of energetic comic greed. An enormously talented young lady, Guzulescu grabs the heart with her strength and beauty.

The desperate revolution instigated by the students, makes the heart jump. Marius’ (Daniel Bogart) instant love for the grown up Cosette (Leslie Henstock), the loyalty of Eponine (Melissa Lyons) to Marius, the love she carries for him that cannot be returned, is all displayed with authoritative definition.

Austyn Myers as the young determined Gavroche would steal the show if it wasn’t for the power and expertise of the entire cast. With his strong voice, this young man has a future in the theatre. The death of Gavroche catches the lung in midstream, always hoping by some magical miracle of theatre, this time it wont be him who stops the bullet. He doesn’t deserve to die. None of them do, and it can’t be changed.

Javert, deliciously and delectably played by Robert Hunt purses Valjean with a vengeance. His life has been obsessed by the finding of the elusive Valjean. Unprepared is he to discover Valjean’s compassion reaches an unknown depth by letting him go free. His suicide remains a theatrical event of lights, movement, illusion and truth of a man facing the conflicts engulfing his life.

The courage, strength, power of the lyrics underscored by tremendous music gives the characters flesh, blood, and pulse.

Fontine’s “I Dreamed A Dream,” Valjean’s “Who Am I?,” the students’ “Red and Black,” Cosette, Marius and Eponine’s “A Heart Full of Love,” Valjean’s “Bring Him Home,” Thenardier’s “Dog Eat Dog,” and Marius’ “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” are but a few of the enormous score capturing every emotion known to mankind laying it in the lap to absorb.

With the enormous cast of refined artists tapping into the vast array of characters of a chain gang, factory workers, sailors, whores, drinkers, drunks, pimps, travelers, prostitutes, students, beggars, constables, each one honestly providing a portrait of another time, each one speaking to a timelessness of desperate wanting people speaking distinctly and directly to the ever shrinking world. If Victor Hugo only knew what he was creating when he penned his first words.

This production of Les Miserables is completely totally awesomely magnificent. Sad the run so short. Sad the experience in Denver will be more. Sad to say farewell, and yet forever engraved within memories to savor, remember and apply, perhaps.