Ten Little Chances to be Free (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
tenlittlebullets) wrote2007-06-26 07:49 pm
tenlittlebullets) wrote2007-06-26 07:49 pm
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Les Mis again
Drove up to New York with the lovely ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-syndicated.gif)
elyse24601 and a few of her friends to see Les Mis. I wound up seeing a completely different cast from what I expected--I thought I'd be getting Jeff Kready as Valjean, Ben Crawford as Javert, and Marissa McGowan as Eponine, as well as a chance to talk to Lea at the stage door about the lolfest at musicals.net. But Alex was back from vacation, Ben was sick and Drew was on again, Megan had recovered enough to perform, and Lea was sick and Haviland Stillwell was on for Fantine. Phooey, my hopes of seeing three people I hadn't seen before just got blown out of the water.
However, we did get Matt!Grantaire, and Chip as Thénardier. (Er, James Chip Leonard that is--Chip Zien hasn't started yet.) Which was a nice treat. Show overview:
- I'm glad Alex is leaving, honestly. It seems like he's completely lost touch with the role and he's just doing the same things he decided to do back at the beginning of the run, except they don't make sense now that he's so far off base. Vacation didn't do him much good--during What Have I Done he looked like an autistic kid in a tantrum, complete with rocking back and forth.
- I'm liking Drew's Javert less and less the more I see him. True, he's not bad in the way I expected him to be bad before I saw him, but he needs to tone it the hell down, because he's coming across like a Disney villain. And the part really is out of his vocal range. On the other hand, his Suicide was really good--until the scream at the end, which kind of ruined it.
- Haviland Stillwell, on the other hand, has improved. (Or maybe it's just that I saw her from front mezz this time, as opposed to the back row.) Her Fantine is still very angry, but this time I got a real sense of the hurt lurking beneath it--she looked pretty upset on "But her father abandoned us..." Still a few vocal problems, including one big breath in the middle of a phrase, but her voice is stronger overall. The wig looks really strange on her though; too light for her complexion or something. I like how bitter and almost tough her Fantine is.
- Chiiiip! He looked like he was having so much fun in Master of the House--much more at ease in the role than Gary. Started out sleazily genial in MotH and gradually got more sinister. Some weird shouting in Dog Eats Dog, but no conga fingers, thank god--he knows where the jokes are and where they aren't, and how to pull them off. Gary, just leave and let Chip be principal already.
- Ann still painfully unfunny, and Kaylie Rubinaccio must be getting direction from the same person who told Carly to sing like she does. She was kind of shouty when she started, now she's in full-blown American Idol mode. Bah.
- I mentioned Matt's Grantaire at intermission, and Elyse said, "You know, he reminds me of Hugh Laurie." Which is funny, because I was thinking exactly the same thing. The resemblance is uncanny.
- Max was a little weak in the café, but he seemed to grow a lot more confident after he got the vest on. Aww. And the hair combed down over his forehead makes him look all sweet and innocent. Another one who's improved since his first few performances.
- Ali's Cosette is definitely spunkier than Megan's Eponine. Her smug little half-smile after Valjean believes her lie, and the way it turns into an expression of alarm when he packs them off to England, has become one of my favorite little touches in the show.
- Haviland tried to smack Dan as Bamatabois--and missed. He had to knock off his own hat.
Stage door was strangely deserted due to Lea not being there, haha. Most of the cast took off real fast--including Nehal, who said hi and then left--except for Chip, bless the man. He pretty much confirmed that the cast has been run ragged lately--cast changes, vacations, illnesses, on top of having to do sixteen shows in a row for the changeover between Sundays off and Mondays off. Also said that Ben's been dealing with Cammack's nonsense about as gracefully as anyone can. Talked about France for a while, and Les Mis-related spots in Paris, and then he took off for some much-needed rest and we took off for some much-needed food.
Trip involved a whole lot of walking around in muggy 85-degree weather, and I'd forgotten how awkward I am around people I don't know. Ack. I mean, everyone was quite nice, but I have the feeling Elyse's friends now think I'm a crazy lady with no social skills. (They're probably right...) And since we didn't eat until after the show, we wound up getting home around 4:30 in the morning, by which point I was practically asleep at the wheel. Have been sucking down caffeine to get me through today.
elyse24601 and a few of her friends to see Les Mis. I wound up seeing a completely different cast from what I expected--I thought I'd be getting Jeff Kready as Valjean, Ben Crawford as Javert, and Marissa McGowan as Eponine, as well as a chance to talk to Lea at the stage door about the lolfest at musicals.net. But Alex was back from vacation, Ben was sick and Drew was on again, Megan had recovered enough to perform, and Lea was sick and Haviland Stillwell was on for Fantine. Phooey, my hopes of seeing three people I hadn't seen before just got blown out of the water.However, we did get Matt!Grantaire, and Chip as Thénardier. (Er, James Chip Leonard that is--Chip Zien hasn't started yet.) Which was a nice treat. Show overview:
- I'm glad Alex is leaving, honestly. It seems like he's completely lost touch with the role and he's just doing the same things he decided to do back at the beginning of the run, except they don't make sense now that he's so far off base. Vacation didn't do him much good--during What Have I Done he looked like an autistic kid in a tantrum, complete with rocking back and forth.
- I'm liking Drew's Javert less and less the more I see him. True, he's not bad in the way I expected him to be bad before I saw him, but he needs to tone it the hell down, because he's coming across like a Disney villain. And the part really is out of his vocal range. On the other hand, his Suicide was really good--until the scream at the end, which kind of ruined it.
- Haviland Stillwell, on the other hand, has improved. (Or maybe it's just that I saw her from front mezz this time, as opposed to the back row.) Her Fantine is still very angry, but this time I got a real sense of the hurt lurking beneath it--she looked pretty upset on "But her father abandoned us..." Still a few vocal problems, including one big breath in the middle of a phrase, but her voice is stronger overall. The wig looks really strange on her though; too light for her complexion or something. I like how bitter and almost tough her Fantine is.
- Chiiiip! He looked like he was having so much fun in Master of the House--much more at ease in the role than Gary. Started out sleazily genial in MotH and gradually got more sinister. Some weird shouting in Dog Eats Dog, but no conga fingers, thank god--he knows where the jokes are and where they aren't, and how to pull them off. Gary, just leave and let Chip be principal already.
- Ann still painfully unfunny, and Kaylie Rubinaccio must be getting direction from the same person who told Carly to sing like she does. She was kind of shouty when she started, now she's in full-blown American Idol mode. Bah.
- I mentioned Matt's Grantaire at intermission, and Elyse said, "You know, he reminds me of Hugh Laurie." Which is funny, because I was thinking exactly the same thing. The resemblance is uncanny.
- Max was a little weak in the café, but he seemed to grow a lot more confident after he got the vest on. Aww. And the hair combed down over his forehead makes him look all sweet and innocent. Another one who's improved since his first few performances.
- Ali's Cosette is definitely spunkier than Megan's Eponine. Her smug little half-smile after Valjean believes her lie, and the way it turns into an expression of alarm when he packs them off to England, has become one of my favorite little touches in the show.
- Haviland tried to smack Dan as Bamatabois--and missed. He had to knock off his own hat.
Stage door was strangely deserted due to Lea not being there, haha. Most of the cast took off real fast--including Nehal, who said hi and then left--except for Chip, bless the man. He pretty much confirmed that the cast has been run ragged lately--cast changes, vacations, illnesses, on top of having to do sixteen shows in a row for the changeover between Sundays off and Mondays off. Also said that Ben's been dealing with Cammack's nonsense about as gracefully as anyone can. Talked about France for a while, and Les Mis-related spots in Paris, and then he took off for some much-needed rest and we took off for some much-needed food.
Trip involved a whole lot of walking around in muggy 85-degree weather, and I'd forgotten how awkward I am around people I don't know. Ack. I mean, everyone was quite nice, but I have the feeling Elyse's friends now think I'm a crazy lady with no social skills. (They're probably right...) And since we didn't eat until after the show, we wound up getting home around 4:30 in the morning, by which point I was practically asleep at the wheel. Have been sucking down caffeine to get me through today.