"Les Miserables" (Opened at the Imperial Theatre March 23, 2014)

Ramin Karimloo as Valjean (photo: Matthew Murphy)

The good news for the fans of "Les Miserables" continues as producer Cameron Mackintosh has brought a new and perfectly splendid production to Broadway following a national tour that began at New Jersey’s Paper Mill Playhouse on November 28, 2010 in celebration of the musical's 25th anniversary.

Notwithstanding major and minor cast changes since the premiere of the new production, purists need not panic at the idea of the widely adored musical being newly conceived. Just don't expect to see the famous/familiar story unfold on a turntable. I'm not inferring that any serious tampering has been done to what has become a classic of modern musical theatre. Some judicious cutting has evidently taken place over the years as the original production clocked in at 3 hours and 15 minutes. The Broadway revival ran exactly 3 hours, the Paper Mill production ran 2 hours and 45 minutes and the current production runs 2 hours 55 minutes. So who’s counting?  

For starters there are the extraordinary scenic and image designs created by Matt Kinley that are inspired by the paintings of Victor Hugo, yes he who wrote the book. Hugo was, indeed, a talented visual artist who chose to keep his paintings from public view lest they draw attention away from his literary works.

Undoubtedly you will awed by the display of scenic designs, slides and moving projections, all of which suggest Hugo's use of charcoal, ink and soot, even coffee. Kinley has honored the mostly lost work of Hugo with his dark and moody, mostly colorless, designs that evoke Paris's darkest streets — the factories, smoke stacks, even its sewers. These are enhanced by Paule Constable's atmospheric lighting. Although this production has been on tour, nothing about it looks either tired or produced on-the-cheap, including the obligatory blockade. The costume designs by Andreane Neofitour and Christine Rowland, particularly for the wedding feast, are an eyeful.

This adaptation of Hugo's sprawling 1862 novel is evidently saying/singing something to a lot of people. As a darkly vivid 19th century operatically-essayed dramatic tableaux courtesy of composers Alain Boubil and Claude-Michel Schonberg (with additional material by James Fenton), it is framed by the student rebellion of 1832 in post-Revolution France. It remains, to the best of my memory, just as convoluted and complexly constructed as ever.

Among those new to the cast since the performance I saw at the Paper Mill, Ramin Karimloo gives a dramatically compelling and vocally assured performance as the fugitive Frenchman Jean Valjean. He has a sturdy physique and an impressive vocal range that decisively spans the octaves of "Bring Him Home" as he also empowers his defining aria "Who Am I."

Will Swenson doesn’t even pretend to have a heart as the paranoid mission-obsessed police inspector Javert. Swenson, who won Tony and Drama Desk nominations for his role in “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert,” brings an edgy heartlessness to the surface that suggests Javert has an agenda that goes beyond seeking justice.

 
The supporting cast is unquestionably up to the demands of the often angst-driven arias. It is easy to see why the public continues to respond to the impassioned tenacity of the music as well as to the unsettling turbulence of the times. No matter how familiar the score is, it is hard to resist the rousing anthem "Do You Hear the People Sing" or the romantic declaration “A Heart Full of Love" by Cosette that is beautifully sung by Samantha Hill.  Andy Mientus was attractive and fine as Marius, her love-at-first sight. Nikki M. James is wonderful and  might be the best and most excitingly individualized Eponine I’ve seen.

Audience response to the stimulating "One Day More," as sung by the company at the end of Act I was awesome. Also excellent was Kyle Scatliffe as the feisty and formidable Enjoiras, the leader of the workers' and students' uprising. The ill-fated Fantine is poignantly portrayed by Cassie Levy whose aria “I Dreamed a Dream” is calculated to break your heart and it does. 

That Les Miserables, under the laudable co-direction of Laurence Connor and James Powell, manages to both wallow in and swallow up its melodramatic excesses without making the audience cringe is quite remarkable. And that we are emotionally moved by it is even more remarkable. Grotesque parody only rears its ugly shape in the form of Thenardier (Cliff Saunders) and Madame Thenardier (Keala Settle) as the terrifyingly mercenaries. No comedic restraint from either of them, but they know how to milk their shtick for laughs.

The path and moral transformation of ex-convict Jean Valjean as he is relentlessly pursued over the years by his nemesis Javert, all the while protecting and bringing hope to those he loves, is fraught with despair and danger. However, through all of Les Miserables, we see the virtue of Valjean's irrepressible need for redemption and his unwavering resolve to live a better life.

There is no denying that Les Miserables has become a permanent fixture in musical theatre in the same way that Carmen and La Boheme are in the world of opera. And as this revival assures us, it is able to make the rounds even without a turntable.

"Les Miserables" (Open ended run) 

Imperial, 249 West 45th Street (Broadway/8th Ave)

For tickets ($57.00 - $139.00) call (212) 239-6200