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tenlittlebullets) wrote2009-11-23 02:20 pm
tenlittlebullets) wrote2009-11-23 02:20 pm
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London Les Mis review: oh the craziness
OMG London Les Mis was understudy MADNESS. Jonathan Williams as Valjean, Sophie Josslyn as Fantine, Helen Owen as Eponine, AJ Callaghan as Cosette... and then in the ensemble, Jeff Nicholson was on as Grantaire because Neeley is on vacation, Simon Shorten, Joe Evans, and Natalie Day were out, and Antony Hansen lost his voice and left halfway through Act I. Sum total: three male swings covering five parts, and two female swings covering four parts. CRAZY.
Everyone was completely on their toes. So much energy. Even the principals who are normally on the lackluster side were really really into it, and the result was an amazing show.
Jonathan Williams as Valjean: OMG he was so sweet with Cosette. I almost wanted to cry. He was quite good but not standout through the first half of Act I, and then as soon as he met little Cosette it was magic. All through the Waltz of Treachery his expression was a mixture of "you have got to be kidding me," annoyed resignation, and just... utter sadness. There were moments when he wasn't even paying attention to the Thenardiers, just going "oh god this poor kid." In Look Down, when he and Cosette are going around giving alms, he pretends to pull a coin out of her ear! Incredibly adorable. In My Life was good, you could tell he was super-sweet with her normally but she had just poked the one subject that made him close off. And there were just so many little touches, like how after Every Day he spends a long moment gazing after Cosette to make sure she's gone before he starts Valjean's Confession. He's a great Valjean all-around but I just CANNOT GET OVER how awesome his interactions with Cosette were. (One other thing: he drops to his knees and prays by Fantine's bedside after she dies, looks up when Javert enters, and then GOES BACK TO PRAYING with renewed fervor. That is Valjean's badassery in a nutshell.)
Hans Peter Janssens as Javert: Kind of wooden, looks distressingly like a fish, too much movement at some times and not enough at others. He does have a nice voice, and had plenty of energy during this performance (esp. during Stars), but I was not particularly impressed overall. Also why the fuck does he keep his head so far back all through the scene where Valjean lets him go? That can't be comfortable! I don't understand why they cast him--not that he's bad, but bringing him back makes it look like they can't find anyone else, and HELLO JEFF NICHOLSON is right there under their noses.
Sophie Josslyn as Fantine: So, so gorgeous. I had remarked on this back at the beginning of October, when I saw her as Factory Girl and thought she was far too lovely and had far too nice a voice and should really be playing Fantine instead. TRUFAX this girl needs to be principal right now. First of all she is beautiful in a very rounded, 19th century sort of way, almost exactly how I imagined Fantine in the book. Second of all she sounds like Ruthie Henshall. Not so much when her voice is soft and low, but when she gets to the stronger higher passages it has this shimmering quality that instantly made me think of Ruthie. Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous. And a good interp too, in an unobtrusive way--she is working with the score and the part, not trying to stand out of it. She kind of let IDAD speak for itself; very drunk and debased as a prostitute; and then she did not try to belt Come To Me, she actually sang it rather quietly and brought out the pathos instead of showing off her voice. Superb.
Helen Owen as Eponine: First thing I noticed is that her Eponine is not a very nice person. She annoys the crap out of Marius in Look Down; I could easily picture her tormenting young Cosette. A few minutes in I got the image of the snotty girl who was popular in high school and is now bitter and working in McDonald's. That may be a bit of a stretch, but it was the best way I could find to explain her Eponine. As close to canon as it is, I'm not sure I liked it--she didn't strike me as sympathetic, and you're supposed to at least feel sorry for Eponine. Good ALFOR though, utterly delirious and desperate.
Alistair Brammer as Marius: I am liking his interpretation more than last time, but he just doesn't pull it off and it's not really his fault. Kind of like Doug Kreeger as Marius (wonderful interp, didn't have the stage presence) or Drew Sarich as Javert (would've been great except he looked fifteen and was clearly a tenor). Alistair's Marius is super-dorky and adorable--straightening his clothes and wiping his palms on his trousers and generally being a nervous wreck in AHFOL, continuing to be a nervous wreck until about the moment where they do the Stupid Hand Thing and it finally sinks in that omg it's really happening she liiiiikes me. Unfortunately, he has a lightweight voice with rather sheep-y vibrato, adorable fluffy hair, and he's generally kind of a shadow of a character next to Thaxton's Enjolras. London needs either a new Enjolras (nevaaar!) or a new Marius who stands up better as a romantic lead.
AJ Callaghan as Cosette: She was all right. Didn't do anything special in the role but wasn't bad either. Her middle register is slightly muddy, but gives way to lovely clear floating high notes. I feel like there isn't much to say because she gave a solid performance, but didn't stand out at all.
Martin Ball and Lorraine Bruce as the Thenardiers: I think their Thenardiers strike the right note between "horrible" and "so horrible it's funny," which is where the humor should come from for those roles. Gross, brutish, exaggerated. Martin Ball actually has a powerful voice, which he lets loose in Dog Eats Dog; Lorraine Bruce doesn't sing very well, but she doesn't have to.
David Thaxton as Enjolras: Last time I had suspension of disbelief problems and concluded that while I could, objectively, recognize that he gives a great performance, I personally couldn't get into it. I would like to formally retract this statement and replace it with YES DAVID THAXTON IS AWESOME. Must've seen him on an off day last time, and this time he'd just got back from vacation and it was crazy understudy night and he was on fiiiiire. Got to see some of the infamous disregard for standard blocking: for "it is time for us all to decide who we are," he sat on a chair the whole time and sang it really softly gazing off into the distance. And when Marius is going off on his "had you been there tonight..." rant, Thaxton just goes back to his table and plots with Combeferre and completely ignores Marius until one of the other boys tugs on his sleeve and points out Marius soliloquizing about the color of despair. Whereupon Thaxton goes "oh my god is he STILL TALKING? Marius, you're no longer a child..." And of course, since Jeff was on, epic snuggles in Drink With Me.
I don't know if I can explain what made him so much better this time around. Last time I was watching David Thaxton act like Enjolras; this time I was watching David Thaxton as Enjolras. He was so much more intense and connected to the part this time, and I have no compunction whatsoever about listing him as my second-favorite Enjolras ever. (Aaron Lazar still gets top spot; he had a certain deathly calm and control and stillness that were totally yanked from the book, and Thaxton, bless his energetic soul, is too much of a hyperactive fanboy to pull that off when he has the option of being EPIC instead.)
Jeff Nicholson as Grantaire: Utterly wasted in the role, in both senses of the word. He is an excellent Grantaire who totally needs to be playing Javert instead. After Don Juan he does the whole "oh come on, laugh, it's funny" thing and Thaxton just Looks fixedly at him. He wasn't quite as slashy as I'd been expecting; probably the best moment was Drink With Me, where he does not make the mistake of singing his verse to Enjolras, but Thaxton collars him anyway and gives him a talking-to and it ends with them hugging. Awwwww. He really stands out in the ensemble, both because he's tall and because he has this big booming "I am the Javert understudy plz make me principal NOW" voice.
Everyone was completely on their toes. So much energy. Even the principals who are normally on the lackluster side were really really into it, and the result was an amazing show.
Jonathan Williams as Valjean: OMG he was so sweet with Cosette. I almost wanted to cry. He was quite good but not standout through the first half of Act I, and then as soon as he met little Cosette it was magic. All through the Waltz of Treachery his expression was a mixture of "you have got to be kidding me," annoyed resignation, and just... utter sadness. There were moments when he wasn't even paying attention to the Thenardiers, just going "oh god this poor kid." In Look Down, when he and Cosette are going around giving alms, he pretends to pull a coin out of her ear! Incredibly adorable. In My Life was good, you could tell he was super-sweet with her normally but she had just poked the one subject that made him close off. And there were just so many little touches, like how after Every Day he spends a long moment gazing after Cosette to make sure she's gone before he starts Valjean's Confession. He's a great Valjean all-around but I just CANNOT GET OVER how awesome his interactions with Cosette were. (One other thing: he drops to his knees and prays by Fantine's bedside after she dies, looks up when Javert enters, and then GOES BACK TO PRAYING with renewed fervor. That is Valjean's badassery in a nutshell.)
Hans Peter Janssens as Javert: Kind of wooden, looks distressingly like a fish, too much movement at some times and not enough at others. He does have a nice voice, and had plenty of energy during this performance (esp. during Stars), but I was not particularly impressed overall. Also why the fuck does he keep his head so far back all through the scene where Valjean lets him go? That can't be comfortable! I don't understand why they cast him--not that he's bad, but bringing him back makes it look like they can't find anyone else, and HELLO JEFF NICHOLSON is right there under their noses.
Sophie Josslyn as Fantine: So, so gorgeous. I had remarked on this back at the beginning of October, when I saw her as Factory Girl and thought she was far too lovely and had far too nice a voice and should really be playing Fantine instead. TRUFAX this girl needs to be principal right now. First of all she is beautiful in a very rounded, 19th century sort of way, almost exactly how I imagined Fantine in the book. Second of all she sounds like Ruthie Henshall. Not so much when her voice is soft and low, but when she gets to the stronger higher passages it has this shimmering quality that instantly made me think of Ruthie. Gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous. And a good interp too, in an unobtrusive way--she is working with the score and the part, not trying to stand out of it. She kind of let IDAD speak for itself; very drunk and debased as a prostitute; and then she did not try to belt Come To Me, she actually sang it rather quietly and brought out the pathos instead of showing off her voice. Superb.
Helen Owen as Eponine: First thing I noticed is that her Eponine is not a very nice person. She annoys the crap out of Marius in Look Down; I could easily picture her tormenting young Cosette. A few minutes in I got the image of the snotty girl who was popular in high school and is now bitter and working in McDonald's. That may be a bit of a stretch, but it was the best way I could find to explain her Eponine. As close to canon as it is, I'm not sure I liked it--she didn't strike me as sympathetic, and you're supposed to at least feel sorry for Eponine. Good ALFOR though, utterly delirious and desperate.
Alistair Brammer as Marius: I am liking his interpretation more than last time, but he just doesn't pull it off and it's not really his fault. Kind of like Doug Kreeger as Marius (wonderful interp, didn't have the stage presence) or Drew Sarich as Javert (would've been great except he looked fifteen and was clearly a tenor). Alistair's Marius is super-dorky and adorable--straightening his clothes and wiping his palms on his trousers and generally being a nervous wreck in AHFOL, continuing to be a nervous wreck until about the moment where they do the Stupid Hand Thing and it finally sinks in that omg it's really happening she liiiiikes me. Unfortunately, he has a lightweight voice with rather sheep-y vibrato, adorable fluffy hair, and he's generally kind of a shadow of a character next to Thaxton's Enjolras. London needs either a new Enjolras (nevaaar!) or a new Marius who stands up better as a romantic lead.
AJ Callaghan as Cosette: She was all right. Didn't do anything special in the role but wasn't bad either. Her middle register is slightly muddy, but gives way to lovely clear floating high notes. I feel like there isn't much to say because she gave a solid performance, but didn't stand out at all.
Martin Ball and Lorraine Bruce as the Thenardiers: I think their Thenardiers strike the right note between "horrible" and "so horrible it's funny," which is where the humor should come from for those roles. Gross, brutish, exaggerated. Martin Ball actually has a powerful voice, which he lets loose in Dog Eats Dog; Lorraine Bruce doesn't sing very well, but she doesn't have to.
David Thaxton as Enjolras: Last time I had suspension of disbelief problems and concluded that while I could, objectively, recognize that he gives a great performance, I personally couldn't get into it. I would like to formally retract this statement and replace it with YES DAVID THAXTON IS AWESOME. Must've seen him on an off day last time, and this time he'd just got back from vacation and it was crazy understudy night and he was on fiiiiire. Got to see some of the infamous disregard for standard blocking: for "it is time for us all to decide who we are," he sat on a chair the whole time and sang it really softly gazing off into the distance. And when Marius is going off on his "had you been there tonight..." rant, Thaxton just goes back to his table and plots with Combeferre and completely ignores Marius until one of the other boys tugs on his sleeve and points out Marius soliloquizing about the color of despair. Whereupon Thaxton goes "oh my god is he STILL TALKING? Marius, you're no longer a child..." And of course, since Jeff was on, epic snuggles in Drink With Me.
I don't know if I can explain what made him so much better this time around. Last time I was watching David Thaxton act like Enjolras; this time I was watching David Thaxton as Enjolras. He was so much more intense and connected to the part this time, and I have no compunction whatsoever about listing him as my second-favorite Enjolras ever. (Aaron Lazar still gets top spot; he had a certain deathly calm and control and stillness that were totally yanked from the book, and Thaxton, bless his energetic soul, is too much of a hyperactive fanboy to pull that off when he has the option of being EPIC instead.)
Jeff Nicholson as Grantaire: Utterly wasted in the role, in both senses of the word. He is an excellent Grantaire who totally needs to be playing Javert instead. After Don Juan he does the whole "oh come on, laugh, it's funny" thing and Thaxton just Looks fixedly at him. He wasn't quite as slashy as I'd been expecting; probably the best moment was Drink With Me, where he does not make the mistake of singing his verse to Enjolras, but Thaxton collars him anyway and gives him a talking-to and it ends with them hugging. Awwwww. He really stands out in the ensemble, both because he's tall and because he has this big booming "I am the Javert understudy plz make me principal NOW" voice.