Les Miserables US Tour at The Academy of Music in Philly, Review

by EJ on 01/08/13

Over the weekend, KM and I prepared for our trip to see Les Miserables at the Academy of Music in Philly. I'm so glad I took my own advice and basically made her study the play before she saw it live. Amazingly, she chose on her own to read the entire kid friendly version of Les Miserables in under two hours. She was so excited to download it to her tablet and didn't put the book down once she started. Once she was done reading, she watched the entire 25th Anniversary Concert, Live at the O2 from 2010. Obviously, the story had stolen her heart. She's total proof that an eight year old can really enjoy this story if mature enough and willing. This really was the weekend of all things Les Miserables as the very next day, we were both off to see the stage production in Philadelphia.

The gorgeous Academy of Music was buzzing with excitement before the show. KM was one of several kids around her age that we spotted. Everyone was dressed up and I could tell from KM's fabulous smile that she was thrilled to be there that night in such a beautiful place to see the show - I'm not kidding, the Academy of Music theatre is jaw-dropping beautiful.

When Les Miserables began, KM gripped the chair arms and whispered, "There are the prisoners!" The opening scene was dark and mysterious and with Jean Valjean's lyrics, "Another story must begin..." the stage went dark and the words "Les Miserables" were projected for all to see. The crowd roared and we were soon into the thick of the story. 

KM's preparation really served her well from then on as the scenes moved quickly, one song after another, with scarcely a moment to catch your breath. Since it's such a long show, she could have easily gotten lost trying to keep up if she wasn't already familiar with the plot.

Personally, I felt sort of rushed through certain parts, some parts I would have preferred not to have been rushed through. For instance, Eponine's death was really not as stinging and emotional as that character deserved. I did not like her makeup. I couldn't hardly see her face. There wasn't a whole lot of time spent on scene and set changes since they used a lot of projections in the background and the sets literally slid in and out of view, fluid as water, when needed. That was very cool except everything happened very fast so I found it difficult to care for characters I normally care for very much. I did like the use of projections for the sewer scene and especially for Javert's suicide.

Peter Lockyer played Jean Valjean and while he was very good, I don't think this Valjean came through as wonderfully as others who have played him in the past. Andrew Varela was an impressive Javert but I don't think anyone will quite compare to 2010's Norm Lewis', the insanely powerful baritone. I just wasn't floored with either actor in this new tour like I was hoping. Don't get me wrong, they were both really talented, but the greats of the past have just spoiled me too much.

As a story, much of Les Mis is very dark. Timothy Gulan as Thenardier didn't always bring that comic relief that I love about some actors that portrayed him in the past. I think they just didn't tap into that as much with this version.

The scenes that did stand out, however, were the student/revolutionary scenes and the final attack on the barricade. Again, I wasn't really feeling Jason Forbach as Enjolras, who is usually my most favorite character. Still, his scenes were the strongest because all of the actors involved in the growing revolution and subsequent barricade scenes held those parts together as a group. The use of lights, sounds and smoke served that final barricade scene so well. The barricade set was impressive - a mixture of chairs, beds, tables and other every day items piled to form a wall to protect Paris from the King's army.

Young Gavroche's final scene there at the barricade was absolutely heartbreaking. The little guy that played him, Joshua Colley, really lived up to his lyrics, "... It only goes to show what little people can do!" KM was equally affected for his final scene and she told me later that, "It hurts to hold back your cry".

I felt so proud of my KM for giving her complete attention to the entire production for almost three hours. She said her favorite characters were Cosette, Marius and Gavroche. She hasn't stopped singing the songs since that night and says she wants to play Cosette one day. 

Check out the Academy of Music's upcoming Broadway Series shows.

Four Little Monsters received tickets to see Les Miserables at The Academy of Music for the purpose of promotion of review. All opinions belong to the blogger.