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 Current Revival Cast |
| Posted by rosewithoutathorn - 05-28-07 03:41 - 19 comments |
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Good news! (for some at least...)
According to Bww.com the revival is holding auditions for Eponine (principal). I'm usually wary about rumors but the people on bww.com called Celia as Eponine (after Lea Michele dropped out), Ann Harada as Mme Thénardier and even mentioned back in February when they were having Eponine auditions to replace Celia.
So...since last time they held auditions two months before Celia's last show, I'm assuming Mandy's leaving in July? Hmm, LA Spelling Bee ends in June and Celia's next (announced) job is not until next year. I think I would freak out and hitchhike to New York if Celia came back. I don't think that's going to happen but I can dream, can't I?
Whoever it is that's replacing Mandy I hope they'll breathe some life back into this show. I keep reading all these reviews about how the revival has lost a lot steam which is disappointing because it was great when I saw it in March. Lea Salonga brought a whole new life to the show when she joined and Fantine is only onstage for about 30 minutes.
Honestly, this show deserves better than a stale, tired cast even if the average theatre goer won't know the difference. |
Read 270 times - last comment by Marianne
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| I saw the last show before the cast change... |
| Posted by Marianne - 04-23-07 16:46 - 16 comments |
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That would be the last performance before Norm Lewis, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Aaron Lazar, and Jenny Galloway left. The show itself was really good but didn't have anything major happen. Gary Beach was screwing around more than usual, the Rue Plumet gate got fubared again at the beginning of Act II and caused Celia to not only miss a verse but tell Valjean "She said to give it to Cosette," Drew smacked Aaron's ass at the beginning of Act II, and Celia looked like she was crying at curtain call. Other than that, though, it just looked like everyone was having lots of fun. (Adam Jacobs came out the stage door smirking like a madman and said absolutely nothing to us besides "That was a fun show." So I suspect the barricade boys were responsible for plenty of 'fun' that the audience didn't get to see.)
The stage door, however? My friend gave Aaron flowers. Now, this is Aaron, so I wasn't exactly expecting him to just blush and thank her and wander off. I was totally not prepared, however, for him to grab the flowers as though they were his rifle, hold them over his head, strike his One Day More pose, and make us take a picture.
Does Aaron win at life? Yes, I think he does. |
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Read 194 times - last comment by Firebrand
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| My Extremely Loooonnng Review! |
| Posted by Firebrand - 04-17-07 00:38 - 5 comments |
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I'm not very good at doing detailed reviews, so bear with me. My mom took me to NYC to see Les Mis for my birthday. 
So here's my review!
WARNING:I may squee at some parts.
My Review Of Les Miserables
The Cast
Jean Valjean-Alexander Gemignani
Javert-Norm Lewis
Fantine-LEA SALONGA! SQUEE!
Little Cosette-Kylie Liya Goldstein
Thenardier-Gary Beach
Mme. Thenardier-Jenny Galloway
Gavroche-Brian D'Addario
Eponine-Marissa McGowan (Celia wasn't there.)
Marius-ADAM JACOBS! SQUEE!
Enjolras-ARRON LAZAR! SQUEE!
Cosette-Ali Ewoldt
The Barricade Boys
Combeferre-Daniel Bogart
Feuilly-Blake Ginther
Courfeyrac-Ben Crawford
Joly-Justin Bohon (I met him! He took me backstage! )
Grantaire-Drew Sarich
Lesgles-Nehal Joshi
Jean Prouvaire-Doug Kreeger
ACT ONE
The Main Songs
PROLOGUE-I got goosebumps (the good kind) when the music started and everyone came out on stage. The male ensemble was excellent in this song! Most of the soloists (except for 1, I think) were tenors, so that made me very happy. Valjean and Javert did a very good job in this number, they were very in character.
WHAT HAVE I DONE?-Very well done! Valjean was excellent and very believable in this song. I really liked his voice.
AT THE END OF THE DAY-The entire ensemble was good. I liked this number. Fantine was great! I really liked her as well as everyone else. And again, Valjean was good.
I DREAMED A DREAM-Beautiful! This was a very touching number. Fantine especially did well on "shame" when she raised her voice for those five notes. It was incredible!
CASTLE ON A CLOUD-Little Cosette was just adorable in this number! She played her role very well. I noticed though that the number was slightly abridged.
MASTER OF THE HOUSE-Hilarious! I just loved this number! The Thenardiers were great and played well off of one another. And once again, the ensemble was awesome!
LOOK DOWN-Ensemble-great. Enjolras and Marius-awesome! Eponine-wonderful. This was a great number.
STARS-My mom and aunt particularily (sp?) liked this number, as did I. Javert was grand in this song. And the "stars" above the stage were very cool-looking.
RED & BLACK-I LOVE THIS SONG! And seeing this particular cast made it even better! Grantaire was very drunk and very funny when he was taunting Marius. And Enjolras was very commanding without being too controlling, which made his performance in this song very believable.
DO YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING?-Loved it! Once again, the ensemble was incredible! It was such a joy to hear this one!
IN MY LIFE-Cosette (Ali) was pretty good in this song. I liked her a lot. I did notice that they abridged some of that song too...
Anyway, Marius (Adam) was wonderful! I really liked how he did this number, and Eponine (Marissa) played out the heart-broken part perfectly!
A HEART FULL OF LOVE-Okay, please don't hurt me for saying this, but the beginning of AHFOL was almost comical. Just the way Adam jumped off of the fence and thrust his arms out singing: "A heart full of love!" and Ali turning away quickly was just funny in my mind.
But aside from that, I really enjoyed this song, and once again, Marissa was lovely.
ONE DAY MORE!-This was one of the best songs in the show! The entire cast did a magnificent job! It was a great way to finish Act One.
ACT TWO
ON MY OWN-I simply LOVED Marissa rendition of this song! There was just one thing that bothered me...she barely moved around the stage! I mean, she took a couple steps forward near the end of the song, but that was it. but other than that, Marissa did a beautiful job!
A LITTLE FALL OF RAIN-I think that this is a beautiful song and Adam and Marissa just made it better! I loved the shock and confusion in Adam's voice when he sang: "But you will live Ponine, dear Gos above! If I could closeyour wounds...with words of love." I also liked how Marissa sang: "I'll sleep in your embrace at last!" as she clung to Adam. It made me wish I was her! jk
LITTLE PEOPLE/GAVROCHE'S DEATH-They changed the lyrics! That really surprised me that they did that! But Gavroche (Brian) was very good in this song. Just hearing him cry made me wanna cry!
DRINK WITH ME-I liked this one a lot. There was just one thing I was slightly confused/slightly surprised about. Right after Grantaire (Drew) sang his part, Enjolras (Aaron) came over to him and put his face really close to Grantaire's ear and I couldn't tell if Enjolras was just giving Grantaire a lecture and a hard shove or if Enjolras *gulps* kissed him on the cheek, because when Enjolras walked away, Grantaire looked astonished! And then Enjolras took a swig of alcohol. Did any of you see something like this before?
BRING HIM HOME-Valjean (Alexander) was so heart-wrenching in this number! You could actually he his tears coming out in his voice! Good job.
EMPTY CHAIRS AT EMPTY TABLES-Adam rendition of this song is not my favorite, but he did well. I really liked how he sang: "What you're sacrifice was for!"
BEGGAR AT THE FEAST-Once again, the Thenardiers (Gary and Jenny) did well with the comedy.
FINALE-LOVED IT! LOVED IT! LOVED IT! Lea and Marissa sounded beautiful together when they sang: "Take my hand, I'll lead you to salvation..." The whole cast was great!
*pauses to take breath*
After the Show
After it was over, me, my mom, my aunt and my friend (who's also my piano teacher) went to the stage door. The waiting for us was my piano teacher's mother's friend, Justin Bohon. We talked for a few minutes and then he offered to take the four of us backstage! It was so cool! We got to stand on the stage and look into the wings. I also got to take a picture standing on the barricade! (The lower part.)
After our short, little, tour, we went back outside, and said goodbye to Justin. I then saw Adam Jacobs and decided to accidentally (on-purpose) run into him. (Not the best idea, but oh well. ) Anyway, he was willing to sign my poster and souvenir program I got. He was also willing to take a picture with me, so that made me extremely happy! I also got to meet Lea Salonga and Aaron Lazar and they were willing to do the same. (I didn't bump into them on purpose though.)
I also met Haviland Stillwell, who played the Factory Girl that got Fantine fired, and she signed my things also.
And Aaron was the only one who signed my playbill along with the poster and program.
Oh! And when I was talking to Lea, she complemented me on my nail polish! I then complemented her on her performance as Eponine in the 10th Anniversary Cast.
There you go. I really enjoyed the show. 
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Read 297 times - last comment by misspascal101
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| Revival understudies |
| Posted by Marianne - 04-12-07 00:20 - 5 comments |
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This should be fun. It might also, er, reveal how many goddamn times I've seen this show.
Nikki Renée Daniels (Fantine) - Should have been principal instead of Daphne, for serious yo. I'm still kind of torn between whether I like Nikki or Lea more; it's a really tough choice. Nikki's voice is stronger and prettier--it has this sort of sparkle to it--and I really like her in Fantine's Arrest. Motherhood instincts or not, Lea is just too nice to pull that scene off as well as Nikki does. But Lea's acting in IDAD and Fantine's death impresses me more.
Haviland Stillwell (Fantine) - Saw her first performance from the verrrry last row of the mezzanine, so I didn't exactly get a very close view of her acting. Maybe I'm just refusing to see her as anything other than Factory Girl here, but she seemed really tough for a Fantine, ready to brush off Locket Lady and Hair Hag until she thought of Cosette, and really giving Dan the stinkeye in Fantine's Arrest. Vocally she seemed to be having some register problems, or maybe she's just not a belter; pretty voice though, and whatever the problem was it was only noticeable to me because I have similar problems singing in Fantine's range. So I'm hypersensitive to that.
Megan McGinnis (Eponine) - She's tiny, delicate, cute, and a soprano; her Eponine seems a lot like a Cosette fallen from grace, if that makes any sense. Sort of an ingénue in rags. I don't mind her interpretation, really, but it plays havoc with the dynamics of the love triangle where the only substantive difference between Cosette and Eponine is that Cosette is a rich, well-dressed bourgeois girl and Eponine is a street waif. I've seen her at least four or five times now and I'm kind of sick of her; this isn't because of any flaws as a singer or actress, I just disagree with her interpretation. A liiiittle too sweet for me.
Marissa McGowan (Cosette) - Much in the same vein as Ali Ewoldt, except her voice is stronger. Ali, bless her soul, probably has a great high C, but it's been worn down to nothing by eight shows a week. Marissa sounds fresh, her high notes a little thin but much more solid than Ali's. Their portrayals of Cosette are very similar, the differences being mostly in degree rather than doing completely different things. Marissa seemed to chafe against Alex's Valjean less than Ali does, but she has the same general idea of Cosette as an appealing young woman coming into her own and confronting her past, rather than a bland ingénue as the role is usually played.
Idara Victor (Cosette) - Would you kill me if I said "bland ingénue?" It seems like an overly dismissive way to describe somebody, but it's the impression I got. Her voice is much stronger and more trained than either Ali or Marissa; she is clearly a classical soprano whereas they're closer to pop sopranos. She nailed her high notes in a way I haven't seen Ali or Marissa do, but she has a very fast vibrato that makes her pitch sound wavery, and her voice isn't as sweet. Her acting seemed a little stiffer and more traditional for Cosette--she didn't play the AHFOL opening for laughs, which affected Adam's performance since half the humor in his awkward entrance there stems from Cosette's reaction.
Drew Sarich (Enjolras) - I want to know who decided to make Drew understudy Enjolras. Or who told Drew it was okay to play Enjolras as a suicidal maniac. So that I can SHOOT THEM IN THE FACE. Vocally he's fine--the American accent is annoying as shit, but his voice is strong enough, not quite as powerful as Aaron's but a very nice, clear "they will come when we call." His acting, however, is... exaggerated? histrionic? hyperactive? flamboyant? really hard to take seriously? So many adjectives to choose from, none of which should EVER be applied to Enjolras. I love Drew as Grantaire, but this is either totally the wrong role for him, or there's some really crappy direction at work.
Marya Grandy (Mme Thénardier) - Mme T is one of those roles where as long as the actress doesn't outright suck, having someone who is merely competent in the role doesn't detract from the show--but at the same time, someone really good as Mme T can add so much to the performance. Marya is competent; she didn't plagiarize halfheartedly from Jenny's interpretation, she had good comic timing in her delivery of her verse in Master of the House, and didn't suffer from the seems-too-nice syndrome I've seen in other Mme T understudies. But she didn't add to the show the way Jenny does. Granted, Jenny's a really tough act to live up to, but Marya was pretty much the only revival understudy I've seen who seemed like... well, an understudy. She was just there; wasn't bad, but didn't stand out.
Other random things:
I saw Haviland Stillwell and Idara Victor's first performances in their respective roles. I know Idara performed again after I saw her, so maybe she wasn't as stiff once she had a couple shows under her belt and got comfortable as Cosette.
Marissa McGowan understudies both Cosette and Eponine; I saw her as Cosette at the matinee, and after the evening show, when Celia had been out and Megan McGinnis had gone on as Eponine, Marissa was joking that she'd wanted to go on instead of Megan just so she could say she played Cosette and Eponine on Broadway on the same day. But it was Understudy Night that night--three female leads out--and they needed her in the ensemble. I still haven't seen her Eponine. 
The slight costume changes for the revival do not affect the understudies. Marya's dress in the wedding was full-length, and both Marissa and Idara had the black dress with white lace collar in AHFOL instead of the white nightgown dress.
I came within one day of seeing Nehal Joshi's Enjolras, Marissa's Eponine, Dan Bogart's Marius, and Rob Hunt's Javert, but I missed them all. Curses! I'm going to do my very best to see Doug Kreeger as Marius when he goes on two weeks from Sunday, though. |
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Read 90 times - last comment by Firebrand
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| My Looooooooong Revival Review |
| Posted by Liz the Miz - 04-5-07 19:38 - 2 comments |
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It rained yesterday. I wasn't dry until maybe Dog Eats Dog, if that shows you how soaked I was when I went in there.
In front of doors: I got to the theater 30 minutes before the doors opened. I was monitoring the stage door, even though I was convinced that they were all in there warming up. My mom said she saw somebody go in there that looked like Adam Jacobs. I saw an Aaron look-alike. We had Marissa McGowan as Eponine. I was a bit disappointed at first, because I had really wanted to see Celia because she's more cannon, but Chemmy said that Marissa's great, so I wasn't too worried.
In the theater: I sat and stared at the curtain. I don't think I had realized that I was going to see Les Mis until the curtain rose. Then I nearly died.
ACT 1:
Prologue: The chain gang didn't stagger on going in. I found that odd. But other than that, WOW. I was all "Alex is amazing. What are they saying that he doesn't sound so powerful?" My opinion would be changed very soon. But I still think he's excellent. I liked how they had the company watch Valjean get arrested again. I also liked how they had people at the inn and how they showed people run away from him at the "Another door is closed to me, another jail, another key..." stuff. Plus the "Mark of Cain" officer bit was neat.
What Have I Done?(since I can't spell "Soliguy" correctly) : Giamangi (I hope I spelled that right...) uses the stage very well. He doesn't just stand there and pace.  This was where I saw that he didn't have such a full, powerful voice. This was also where I realized that he makes up for it in the acting. That guy's AMAZING.
ATEOTD: The lighting in the beginning is awesome. I don't think it's been changed since the 3NT, but I sure had forgotten about it until I saw it. The factory girl was great. I liked how she sorta kept hitting on the foreman. I also liked how the foreman kept trying to lift Lea's skirts and look down her bodice. I hadn't noticed that before, so it may have been new. See the first 3 sentences of IDAD for how Lea was in this song, as well.
IDAD:. Need I say anything about how amazing Lea is? The birth of her daughter cut her out for the role. I love her even more since I saw her live. She put a lot of emotion in this song. (thank goodness!) It made my mom cry, I think.
LL:Oooh, I was so nervous. Lea had the perfect look of desperation on her face. She leaves me speechless. So that's why I can hardly comment on her performance. The sex pantomime was very...eh...interesting... I don't think my parents saw it, though. They were too busy watching Fantine sell her hair. Did I mention that everybody in the ensemble have AMAZING voices? I was blown away in every song.
Fantine's arrest: Lea's best. Holy cow. Plus I like how they had everybody run off stage from Javert, an then those two girls got caught. Very realistic. I liked (Have I said that enough?) how instead of having so many "I will see it done!"s, they had Valjean say "Take her to the hospital."
Runaway Cart: Were the horse noises new? I never noticed them before...
Who Am I?: Now I feel like I'm re-stating Rosewithoutathorn's review. See hers for my opinion of this song.
Fantine's Death: I read in an interview that Lea said she wasn't going to be "pretty Fantine" after LL, so I was expecting this song to be about as cannon as it could get. I was right. I wasn't happy to see Fantine die (for once a Fantine brought so much emotiopn to her role that I actually thought Fantine instead of actress) , but I was happy to see Lea's delirious!Fantine.
Confrontation: I. Love. Norm. I must agree that he's a bit too uptight, but I don't think that people would like his portrayal of Javert if he wasn't. People are just too used to StaticGuard!Javert, which makes me sad. I think I concentrated a little bit too much on Norm and Lea during this song...
COAC: I had Tess Adams as Cosette, and she seemed a bit shrill. But other than that, she was AMAZING. I wish they could've had Little Eponine move around more and taunt Cosette like they did in the 3NT. Jenny=LOVE.
MOTH: I didn't watch Gary as I was told to. The company and Jenny were much mora amusing judging from a bootleg I saw on Youtube.
Well Scene: Awww. The end.
Waltz of Treachery: Gary Beach=ugh. As Marianne said somewhere, he ignores all the comedic possibility already there and tries to make his own jokes, driving me NUTS!! Plus he wasn't sinister enough.
JVJ: "It won't take you too long to forget." Mme Y: "No it won't!"= GOLD.
Look Down: Very very good. But there was so much going on that I can't really review. I like having people on the sides with the ladders.
Robbery: Jenny made it good, as we all know Gary, and Norm was still StaticGuard!Javert.
Stars: It's really hard to put emothion in this song, and Norm did it. I love Norm. My mom did too. It was amusing.
Eppy's Errand: Ehh...mediocre...
This is getting really long, and my eyes are starting to hurt. I'll finish this up later. I have a short attention span...
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Read 91 times - last comment by Liz the Miz
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| My Incredibly Long Revival Review |
| Posted by rosewithoutathorn - 03-16-07 18:42 - 22 comments |
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Wednesday, March 14th 8 PM
I was, initially very disappointed to see that Celia was out and I would be seeing Marissa McGowan. I love seeing understudies but I’ve heard so many great things about Celia’s portrayal being very true to the book and I was really looking forward to seeing it. While waiting in line for my tickets at will call I overheard this conversation behind me.
Girl: Oh yay, a different Eponine!
Guy: Yay! Is that good? Who was the Eponine last time?
Girl: Celia Keenan-Bolger. She played Eponine like she had mental problems. And she can’t even belt!
My disappointment having turned into snark I was seconds away from saying that according to Monsieur Hugo, Eponine does have mental problems but I had to move forward in line. There were tons of people there to see Lea, as expected, and they were all taking pictures of themselves next to her name on the board in the lobby.
Act 1:
Prologue/What Have I Done: I was sitting in the third row enabling me to see how much Alex Gemignani spits when he sings. Which is, a lot. Alex brought a real frenetic pace to Valjean’s Soliloquy which seemed like too much at the time but ended up contrasting nicely with his more subdued Valjean later in the act. Vocally, he’s amazing.
At the End of the Day: I spent way too much of this scene watching Drew Sarich rather than Fantine but I can’t help it if I’m in love with him. I think I’m the only person in the world that doesn’t like Lea as Eponine simply because I think she has a grace and poise on stage and crispness to her voice that doesn’t work for Eponine. However, all of those attributes work wonderfully for Fantine and Lea does a great job of capturing the almost guileless idealism that drives Fantine.
I Dreamed a Dream: Beautifully sung. My favorite moment was when she glanced at her locket again before “I had a dream my life would be...” and let out a sob. This song got the loudest applause of the evening from Lea’s extended fanclub.
Lovely Ladies: Wasn’t expecting the simulated sex to the side of the stage and it was a bit…distracting.
Fantine’s Arrest: This was, by far, Lea’s strongest scene. It’s one of my favorites in the show and Lea does it so well. She spoke in the Broadway.com video about being able to relate to Fantine on some level because she has a daughter of her own and that was really evident. She’s the first Fantine I really believed when she said, “There’s a child who sorely needs me. Please monsieur, she’s but that high…”
Runaway Cart: So far I wasn’t that impressed by Norm. All of the portrayals of Javert that I’ve seen seem to be either Stoic Bet-you’ll-never-see-me-blink!Javert or Disney Villain!Javert. Norm’s portrayal seems to fit in the former category and I was wishing he would show a bit more personality. Is Snarky!Javert too much to hope for?
Who Am I: I loved Alex’s laughter before he says “He thought that man was me…” It really gives the impression that Valjean is coming to a decision to reveal his identity rather than singing about a decision he’s already made.
Come to Me: Was somewhat anticlimactic after Lea’s fabulous performance in Fantine’s Arrest. Beautifully sung, though.
Confrontation: Saw a bit more grit and anger from Norm but I’d wish he’d let loose a little more.
Castle on a Cloud: Little Cosette was played by blonde haired Tess Adams. Little Eponine was played by Asian Kylie Goldstein. Big Cosette was played by Asian Ali Ewoldt and Big Eponine was played by blonde haired Marissa McGowan. Needless to say, this was very confusing to the people in the bathroom at intermission who had never seen the show before. I provided this explanation:
Little Eponine = Blue hat
Big Eponine = “the dirty one” Their words, not mine.
Little Cosette = broom
Big Cosette = white dress
Master of the House: I did not like Gary Beach’s dancing along to the orchestra. Fourth wall, much? Jenny Galloway is of course, divine.
Waltz of Treachery: Somehow Alex made the Thénardiers less funny by taking them seriously. Their antics are so much more amusing when John Owen-Jones is doing his “Bitch, please” face. When Tess ran to hug Valjean she her head down as if she were going to tackle him. She also put her arms out before he gave her the doll as if she were expecting it.
Look Down/ The Robbery: This is my favorite scene in the show. It’s so much fun to watch, because there is so much going on. Marissa McGowan reminds me of Allison Fischer from Lestat. She looks like her and their voices are similar. Gary Beach was trying way too hard to be funny.
Stars: Norm has been on my Actors That Can Sing Me the Phonebook list since I bought the Sideshow cast recording. His rendition is lovely.
Eponine’s Errand: Marissa brings a lot of vulnerability to Eponine without being weepy which makes the audience really feel for her. It was almost pathetic the way she was following Adam around like a puppy with him all but ignoring her.
Red and Black/DYHTPS: Aaron is the perfect Enjolras. He manages to be a captivating leader not by shouting and waving his arms around but by inspiring with the strength of his conviction. I loved the way he was approaching individual ensemble members and saying “Join us.” His voice also, is pure gold.
If anyone out there has written a Grantaire/Everyone fic, Drew Sarich has probably read it and based his entire performance off of it. God, I love him. I also love Nehal Joshi for yelling “You ASS!” when Grantaire knocked the bottle of wine over.
“Why are you encouraging this buffoon?” Oh Adam, you are so very amusing.
Jacob Levine, you’re going to have to shout a bit louder than that to be heard over Grantaire’s flirting.
“Oh, MARIUS!” Thank you, Drew Sarich, for making my life.
In My Life: Hey wardrobe? Since we’re going to expend the effort to get Cosette a new dress could it at least be something with color? Just a thought. I never realized how tiny Ali is. I’ve figured out what I don’t like about the new dress though- the sleeves. They make Ali look even tinier which makes her look like a little girl. Ali has a lovely voice but she has the tendency to sound shrill.
A Heart Full of Love: Adam’s entrance was hysterical. He looked like a singing telegram. I love the added bit of Eponine holding Marius’ coat. I think it adds more intimacy to her part in this song.
Attack on Rue Plumet: I loved Marissa here. She spent the first half of the scene trying to work up the courage to intervene and sounded timid at first with “I know this house I tell you…” You were proud of her for sounding stronger with “I’m gonna scream...” and she spit in Montparnasse’s face when he threatened her with the knife.
One Day More: Great voices all around. The last verse brought tears to my eyes. But then again, I’m a sap.
Act 2:
Upon these Stones/ the Letter: Adam’s slow-mo running is hysterical. I really get a kick out of him. Alex raced through the letter not giving himself or the audience time to react to it. I liked how Marissa listened up to “Now that I know that you love me as well…” and then abruptly turned away as if she couldn’t bear to hear more.
On My Own: Nicely done, Marissa does have a better belt than Celia. The vulnerability was most evident in this scene. She was almost trembling at the end.
At the Barricade: The only thing that distracted me from Aaron in that vest was Drew humping Bossuet (I think?) right in front of me. I love the look Aaron gave Javert during “Death to each and every traitor…” the restrained fury really rang true to Enjolras.
A Little Fall of Rain: Marissa should work on this scene a bit more. The first half was excellent but her death was pretty unrealistic. She just slumped over. Adam’s reaction was great though, he was almost panicking about what to do during “I’ll sleep in your embrace at last…”
First attack: The gunshots made me and everyone around me jump about a foot out of our chairs.
Alex and Norm both hurtled through the freeing Javert part and I hated Alex’s anger during this part. Javert’s accusations are just echoing “men like you can never change” spiel he’s been saying the entire show. In the first act, Valjean would have and did respond in anger. In the second act, Valjean calmly refuting Javert and showing mercy by letting him go proves that Javert was wrong all along which horrifies him. By responding in anger the way he did in the first act Alex is not only giving Valjean less of a character arc but gives Javert less to work with heading into his impending breakdown.
“Certain as the eagle flies?” that sounds like something from Pocahontas.
Drink With Me: Drew was excellent, sincere for once with a touch of fear. I am dying to know what Aaron whispered in his ear after he stopped that guy from beating Grantaire up. Alex’s response to Marius’ confessions was great.
Bring Him Home: Very well done, I loved the part when Alex reached out and almost touched Marius’ face during this song. The people around me kept going “Mm” in response to the song as if they were in a Baptist church.
Dawn of Anguish: I loved Jacob Levine’s response to Grantaire trying to send him away. “No, Grantaire! No, Grantaire! No, Grantaire!” It’s not like Grantaire has ever listened to “No” before.
Ten Little Bullets: Jacob? I know you’re cute and all but it would help to act like you were actually shot instead of nose diving to the floor at the end.
I love Aaron’s pants and spent much of Red and Black thinking “I wish he would bend over.” Apparently, Aaron heard that request through telekinesis and gave us all a nice butt shot as he leaned over the barricade as it turned back around. Thank you, Aaron, for humoring your fan girls.
Drew holding Gavroche’s little flag and staring at it sadly made me sob.
Final Battle: Drew knocked over a chair to check on Marius when he was thrown down and then screamed “ENJOLRAS!” from the floor. And pronounced it correctly.
I was somewhat embarrassed by my mother loudly saying “Oh the tragic hero” in response to Dead!Enjy. Alex’s gasp of horror at all of the carnage was excellent. I’ve never been able to understand exactly how Javert comes to the conclusion that Valjean is in the sewers.
Dog Eats Dog: Other people have servants to carry their bags, Gary!Thénardier has thugs to carry his corpses. He was damn creepy during this song.
Javert’s Suicide: The sudden snap at the beginning almost worked. It gave you the impression that Javert was so tightly wound he was bound to snap at any moment. The performance kind of fizzled out toward the end and the flailing after he jumped was more than a little ridiculous.
Turning: Meh, I don’t like this song. It contradicts the “tomorrow comes” message the show is trying to give. Excellent voices though, especially Megan McGinnis. I love her.
Empty Chairs: I don’t really care for Adam’s voice or this song. The barricade boys look like a basketball team when they all walk forward in the middle of the song.
Every Day: Very cute. Ali got a nice little hug and kiss from Valjean at the end which was the first time Valjean was affectionate toward her.
Valjean’s Confession: Very well done. I liked how Valjean almost seemed to asking Marius who he was during “Who am I?”
The Wedding/ Beggars at the Feast: Adam’s reaction to the Thenardiers is hilarious. “I’m going to go beat them up!! Oh wait, maybe not, I’m scared.” Gary and Jenny are a perfect example of the effect of bad comedic timing (Gary) and good comedic timing (Jenny.)
Finale: Alex seemed thoroughly annoyed by Marius’ presence which I found hilarious. It’s like, “Would you shut up? I would like to spend my last moments with my daughter if it’s all right with you.” Alex and Ali were wonderful; both of them were sobbing through the last part and made it truly heartbreaking. Lea and Marissa sounded great together and the end was fantastic.
Stage Door:
I met the entire cast including Drew (SQUEE!) and excluding Jenny and Gary. Jacob Levine was such a trip cruising down the autograph line with his own sharpie while relatives took pictures. I was wondering it was his last show because they were talking about how much he’ll miss Brian (I’m assuming D’Addario who came bolting out the door with what looked like a guitar case) and his entire family was there to see him including his adorable little sister. Aaron and Adam didn’t know who she was and approached her with their Smile Benevolently at the Little Kid faces on.
Adam and Aaron: (benevolently) Hi!
Little girl: I’m Jacob’s sister.
Adam and Aaron: (sudden shift in demeanor) Oh HI!!
So funny. Lea seemed exhausted but she was very nice as was everyone else. We had to wait awhile for Norm but he was perhaps the nicest one of the bunch, apologizing for being late and approaching everyone with “Hi, how are you?” We chatted a bit about the weather. I know I’m a dork but it was almost seventy degrees and everyone in New York was thrilled about it. Of course now there’s a snowstorm but my mother and I got home just in time. I’ll spare you the sordid details of my flight home but let’s just say I was stuck in LaGuardia Airport for seven hours and American Airlines is officially on my black list.
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Read 409 times - last comment by misspascal101
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