The Plot
Les Miserables follows the struggles and redemption of prisoner, Jean ValJean, and his life on the run. ValJean serves 19 years for a petty crime and after breaking his parole when released, he adopts a new identity and is a well respected man in the community. He is constantly overshadowed by his past through Javert, a prison guard who is determined to arrest him once again. In his new life, ValJean meets Fantine and vows to take care of her and, as she lay on her death bed, he promises to take care of her daughter, Cosette. Cosette is in the care of scoundrels, the Theander's who treat her as a slave before ValJean rescues her and raises her as his own.
10 years pass and Cosette and ValJean move to Paris and it is the time of the rebellion. Here we meet the students, including Marius and daughter of the Theanders, Eponine. Cosette is a grown woman who meets and falls in love with student, Marius, who in turn falls in love with her. Marius enlists the help of Eponine to see Cosette again and unbeknown to them both, Eponine is also in love with Marius.....
We follow the students journey though the fight for revolution, where ValJean saves both the life of Marius and Javert. In turn, Javert's sense of morality is tested when he has the opportunity to arrest ValJean. After the rebellion, Marius morns the death of his fellow students and questions his survival. ValJean considers both his future, and that of Marius and Cosette and decides he must leave to prevent Cosette from future hurt and danger. Marius and Cosette marry, and upon realising that ValJean saved his life, Marius takes Cosette to see her father upon his deathbedone last time.
Was it any good?
So I may be a little bias, but I thought that Craig Mather (Marius) was fantastic (Craig is a friend of mine from school, hence the biasness!). Marius is Craig's debut role in the West End but he was completely at home and from his performance, he could have been there for years! At my first show I was a little disappointed that Alfie Boe (Jean ValJean) was unable to perform but his stand in was superb, especially for someone who is only 22! I had better luck the second time round and Mr Alfie Boe was just phenomenal, his performance was faultless and his voice, out of this world! The show would have been worth the second trip to see him alone if nothing else! I was also lucky enough to catch the 26th Birthday show, which made it that little bit extra special!
During my first show I was lucky enough to catch Matt Lucas as Theander and he completely made the role his own and provided light comic relief perfectly. Again, I could not fault him, he had the entire audience eating from the palm of his hand. Speaking to some of the more 'experienced Les Mis goers', it was the funniest rendition they had ever seen. Definitely a job well done!! The next Theander (Cameron Blakely) had some very big shoes to fill for my second show, but again, such a sterling cast, he didn't disappoint.
In both shows, I have to say all of the cast were top class. Eponine (Alexia Khadime) is no stranger to the West End and rightly so, she has such beautiful voice and I could listen to her singing On My Own time and time again. For me, Cosette (Lisa-Anne Wood) was the only one I thought was a little weak in comparison to such a strong cast. By no stretch of the imagination was she bad, not at all, but I think she stood out as the weaker link because the rest of the cast were top class!
As I said, this year is the first time I've seen it and I definitely wasn't disappointed, it was everything you could want from a musical - emotional, powerful, funny, charming and memorable. It comes highly recommended and I think a third trip may even be on the cards.........
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