As I took my seat in the Queen’s theatre in the heart of London’s West End, the first thing I noticed was that the audience around me was made up of a lot more young people than when I last saw Les Misérables in July 2008. There’s no doubt that this is down to Cameron Mackintosh’s temporary casting of Nick Jonas (of US super-group The Jonas Brothers) in the world’s longest running musical.
Unfortunately for all of the Jonas fans in the audience, however, it seemed the star would not be appearing at this performance due to illness. The announcement of his ‘indisposition’ was met with many a sigh/groan/hyperventilation from the various female fans in my vicinity, although having said that, I couldn’t hear much over my own sighs of relief that I would be seeing Alistair Brammer, the full time Marius who was given five weeks off/on standby in order for Jonas to appear in the show.
I was slightly disappointed to learn that Samantha Barks (Eponine), who came third in the BBC’s 2008 reality TV show, I’d Do Anything, wouldn’t be performing either but I was extremely impressed with her wonderful understudy, Helen Owen who was sharp and plucky in the role.
I have to confess, the main reason I was seeing the show was to see 2009 X Factor contestant, Lucie Jones take on the role of super-soprano, Cosette. Despite my reservations of Jones’ abilities, I was pleasantly surprised by her charming portrayal of the character and her somewhat hidden talent of effortlessly hitting the infamous high note at the end of the love triangle number, A Heart full of Love.
Before seeing this particular performance of Les Mis, I have never left the Queen’s theatre feeling underwhelmed, however I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed in the casting of Simon Bowman as Jean Valjean, an actor I first saw in the role ten years ago. Whilst I could not fault his characterisation, he seemed to somewhat struggle with some of the higher notes in the score.
Although I was pleased at not seeing Nick Jonas as Marius, I was less than impressed with Alistair Brammer’s performance. I don’t know whether it was down to his characterisation or not but Brammer seemed to spend all of his stage time shaking, which during his solo number, Empty Chairs at Empty Tables, became unbearable to watch. The shaking was perhaps made worse by his somewhat over the top and forced-sounding vibrato that most definitely affected my enjoyment of his numbers.
Despite some of the criticisms made, the cast, on the whole, were excellent. Particular mentions should go to Broadway’s Norm Lewis as Javert, who’s rendition of Stars brought the house down, Martin Ball, who was simply stunning as Thénardier and ensemble member Chloe Hart, recently seen as Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray, whom I found enthralling to watch.
The production remains one of the strongest on the West End and with its talented cast and formidable score, Les Misérables truly is timeless.
Michael Worrall
Images: Production images taken from official brochure
Tags: les misérables, theatre, west end
Actually, I beg to differ. I found fault with Simon Bowman’s portrayal of Jean Valjean. I thought it to be annoying, overly confident, with a certain air of heroism which was not present at all in the book. He seemed to have spilt personalities: in the Prologue just like a crazed convict, and from Montreuil Sur Mer and on to be a faultless hero who did not seem to have any shadows of the past, unlike what was repeatedly stated in the Book. I also did not enjoy his over emphasis of some words, such as “WRONGGG” in Valjean’s Revenge. I felt that was offensive, arrogant and unnecessary. Another thing- Lucie Jones. I have not seen her and thus cannot comment but I hear from reliable sources that her voice was not fit to play the demanding soprano role of Cosette. Alistair Brammer. We all know he doesn’t have a particularly strong voice, but he interacts and feels for the character and does a great job of making Marius believable, like a real person, and I enjoy his performance a lot. Martin and Norm Lewis I agree, although with Chloe Hart, forgive me, but I very much prefer the previous Factory Girl, Sophie Josslyn, who left on Cast Change. I just find Chloe Hart’s actions very in-your-face and awkard, unlike Sophie’s subtleties that added so remarkably well to the whole character.