Do you hear the people sing? Les Miserables

Hey everyone. Here is Les Miserables as promised! I went to see it in August 2011 I think (I seriously couldn't believe it was that long ago when I was trying to think when I saw it whilst writing this!). It was at the Queen's Theatre and we had the understudy Javert for the performance. 

So, we had a bit of unbelievable luck when we went to see Les Mis, as since we had booked the tickets so far in advance, we had no idea who was going to be in it. As it turned out, Alfie Boe would be playing Jean Valjean and Matt Lucas was in the part of Thenardier and thank goodness, they were both there on the night! We had heard a lot about Alfie Boe and had listened to some of his performances online so we were quite excited, especially my Mum as she had been waiting to see Les Mis for a long time and by now was a big Alfie Boe fan and still is today. We had never gone due to the expense of the tickets and not really knowing the plot line. It is quite confusing but I had done it at college the year before, so we all knew the plot by now, well my Dad had some idea! Also, it is quite long so we had been holding off until we knew my sister would be able to cope and she was old enough to understand the plot. It helped her by seeing my show first as she knew the basics, we talked about it, and she was able to tell you basically all the different plot lines if you asked her after she had seen it and still knows it today! 

Les Miserables is the longest running musical in London, reaching 30 years this year, so again, as a theatre fan I did feel as though I had to see it, but I had been wanting to for quite a while. To be honest I had been struggling to understand the plot from reading things online and I wasn't up for reading the novel, so I am glad we did it at school and I learnt it! It is based on the historical novel by Victor Hugo, which was originally published in 1862, the first English translation was done in the same year. It was turned into a musical by Alain Boubill and Claude-Michel Schonberg. There have been many adaptions and interpretations since, most notably the 2012 film, but beware of Russel Crowe's singing if you intend to watch this, otherwise, everyone else is pretty good! 

In case you don't know, the musical follows the story of Jean Valjean. It begins in 1815 with him finishing prison time and this is also where we meet Javert a guard/police officer. We then follow the hardship Valjean endures due to him being a convict, before due to kindness of a bishop, he decides and is able to go and set a new life up for himself.  It then skips ahead to 1823, where he has a new life and we are introduced to new key characters such as Cossette. We also get more confrontation between Valjean and Javert and their conflicting points of views. It then skips forward again to 1832 in Paris, where we see the popular unrest, led by Enjolas and meet the final characters such as Marius. This is where the love story between Marius and Cosette is set up. Through the second act, we see the struggles of the students, the pursuit of Valjean by Javert and the more comical side of things from the Thenardiers! 

Oddly, I don't have a favourtie character in this musical. It does alternate between Valjean, Javert and Enjolras, depending on which song is my favourite at the time. I like Valjean as it is his story we are following and you can see how unfairly he was treated. Then again, Javert is only really trying to do his job. Then I like Enjolras as he is the revolutionist, with so much passion for his cause and he starts off some of the most inspiring songs in the musical! 

I'll start with the cast. Alfie Boe was as amazing as I expected him to be, from start to finish he was outstanding as Valjean. His voice was spot on in every song, showing his power in the Confrontation, but also how he could perform the softer songs such as Bring him home. This is my favourite song, so to see it being sung live and done with such emotion was a real treat and one of my fondest memories of a west end show. I obviously don't have anyone to compare him to directly as it is the  only time I have seen it live so far, but I can compare him to Hugh Jackman in the film and clips of others on Youtube. Regarding Hugh, I thought he was quite good, but his vibrato got a bit annoying and they should have cast Alfie really as he was the most current popular Valjean and he would have performed much better vocally. I know that lots of people like the original Valjean, Colm Wilkinson, but to be honest I don't really like his singing voice as it has an odd tone to me and I much prefer the singing voices of other Vajeans that I have heard. Matt Lucas was as funny as I expected as well, I wasn't a huge fan of Little Britain when I was younger, but I do like him in certain roles and interviews etc. I had no idea how he would be in a musical, but he had the perfect role. He performed Master of the House with Madame Thenardier brilliantly and had everyone in the room laughing. They seemed to worked really well together as their chemistry on stage was really good, they played off each others reactions and little facial expressions brilliantly. I really liked the actors playing the students, as they had strong voices and showed the passion that the students should have. The kids were good as well, we saw Daniel who ended up playing Gavroche in the film and the young lady playing Cossette was pitch perfect as well.

I have to admit (anyone who has watched Les Mis with me knows I hate this!) that I really don't like the Cosette/Marius love story. I much prefer watching Valjean vs. Javert and the political side of the musical via the students. I get really bored in love story scenes, especially when they have quite boring songs. The actor and actress playing those roles were fine, I just don't think that I personally paid that much attention as I always zone out a bit in love story parts. The part I hate the most in Les Mis is the incredibly high note sung by Cosette at the end of A Heart full of Love. I think this problem arose for me due to when we did it at school the girl playing Cosette could never hit it, and I also really hate high pitch female singing, so it isn't really the actresses fault but the composers for putting it in there, but obviously this is only my opinion and I know some people really like it.

The music is arguably the most important part of the show as it is sung-though musical (one that is sung the whole way through with no dialogue). The score overall is known to be amazing with so many strengths it is impossible to mention them all. As I mentioned before, my favourite song is Bring Him Home, as it is very emotional and a brilliant solo song for Valjean. I think the same also applies for Javert's Stars which is a nice song as well when sung properly! The most rousing song has to be Do you hear the people sing as it really makes you want to join in. It does help when the actors playing the students really do portray their anger and passion whilst singing and as I mentioned before, the actors we had were all really good (lots of them feature in the 25th anniversary concert, lots of clips are on youtube, in case you are interested).

SPOLIER ALERT!!! One of my favourite moments is the Confrontation as it really shows off the powerful voices of the two actors playing Valjean and Javert, but I also like the music and how their two different singing parts interact. It is also the only part where we learn a bit more about Javert really. The saddest moment is the death of Gavroche as building up to it isn't that dramatic but the tension when he is over the barricade is unreal, the whole audience was completely silent and motionless as though people thought if we did something it would harm him or his chances of surviving. The build up of the music after his death also helps to signify the importance of his death and how devastating it really is. The funniest moment has to go to Beggars at the Feast and how the row between the Thenardiers begins and then the song begins. I guess this is just a funny moment anyway, but the actors we had made it that little bit more special I think with their chemistry and perfect comic timings.

The sets are also incredible and I will always remember seeing the barricade for the first time. I had been really looking forward to seeing the barricade as we built a pretty good one at school so I was looking forward to seeing the real thing. As we were in the circle we could see everything from above and the barricade looked really good. I imagine from the stalls it looks huge and you can imagine yourself standing in front of it or feel as though you are behind it with the students at certain points. I like how the set moves, it sort of goes in a circle, which as I have spoken about in previous posts, aids with scene changes, but looks good visually as well. The inn is quite a nice set as well as although it is one of the smaller sets, it does the job perfectly for setting the scene. The costumes were as expected, lots of white for Cosette and the ghosts at the end, nice military costumes for Javert and some of the students and lots of dark, poor looking clothing for most of the rest of the cast. Lots of dirt make up as well! I do remember Valjean has some odd thick make up lines on at the end acting as wrinkles to make him look older, but I always think they look a bit over the top in every photo I have seen them in. Shout out to Javert's sideburns which are incredible!

I don't remember any sound issues at all, which is a bonus. The balance between the orchestra and the singing was also spot on which is good as sometimes when you have a large band, the balance can go off a bit. The lighting is nice, obviously lots of it is quite dark, but this does help to get you in the mood, I particularly like the opening scene where the sound effects are really powerful, along with the music and dark lighting to set the mood, showing you the struggle Valjean was facing. The theatre itself is a really nice one and was in a good condition when we went. We sat in the front row of the circle where there was limited leg room so jsut be warned if you are quite tall, our family is all quite small so we were OK!

I am so glad that I did see Les Mis and it is one that I would like to return to in the future, but I am not dying to see it again as I am with some others, some of the lighter ones. I still have lots of memories that I want to hold onto. My Mum loved it, but also isn't that fussed about seeing it in the near future as she loved seeing Alfie Boe that much she is worried no one will ever match him. I know this could seem a bit silly to some people, but I get what she means, I don't really mind not seeing it for a long time again as I was so happy with the performance I saw and it was really unique and special, if I went again and it wasn't as good as I remembered, would I be disappointed? It is really long and quite a heavy one, I am not rushing to see it again as I am with some others I have enjoyed like Matilda as I think I could slip back into that one quite easily, have a laugh and remember that performance in its own right. I can't help thinking with Les Mis that I would keep comparing it to my first time with Alfie and Matt and not enjoy it as much as I could. We've also had the film since I went so I wonder if that satisfied my need to go again or I got sick of it for a bit when everyone was singing the songs for ages.  If I leave it a few more years then I think my desire to see it again will reappear at some point.

If you have the opportunity then please do go and see it. It is quite expensive if you want a decent seat so get saving. If you are unsure about the plot then watch the film first and/or read sparknotes, and/or go along to a school production or local production as they sometimes leave some bits out to make it shorter and at least it gives you a sense of what is going on!

As always, here the website link: http://www.lesmis.com/uk/

Quick Announcement!

Hey everyone,

Sorry for the delay with Les Mis, it should be done tonight or tomorrow, I'm currently working on it in my gap between seminars!

Just to let you know that I am going to be going back over some earlier posts, adding more about the history of the shows and the plots, as some people have asked for short descriptions, which I am happy to provide!

It should be Jersey Boys after Les Mis unless anyone is waiting for something specific, then please let me know, see the list of programmes in one of the very early posts to see what I have left to do! Also, I will probably do the Jools Holland show that I saw last year and the English Youth Ballet I am seeing in November.

(p.s. I am trying to leave Chicago until I see it on tour in April, if not then I will add to the original post my thoughts on the tour! Same with Hairspray in May!)

Have a photo of Edna to cheer you up on this Tuesday afternoon! :)

 

Hamlet (part 2)

Hey everyone, I know I said I'd do Les Mis next (which is in the drafting process!) but I thought I'd do a quick Hamlet part 2 one as I went to see it at the cinema live event yesterday. I was at the City Screen cinema in York.

I really enjoyed the event and it was nice for me to watch the audience's reactions in the cinema as I assume most were seeing it for the first time unlike me. It was also interesting to hear the audience's reactions in the theatre as I noticed that different parts made the audience there laugh more than they did on the night I was there, yet we laughed more at other things. Some were pretty equal (the grave makers scene comes to mind). I guess that shows you that all audiences are different really. It was also nice to see it with different camera angles rather than just one view as you get in the theatre, even though our seats were really good.

I was able to remember a lot of it, (obviously not the words!) in particular I remembered when all of the comical scenes and soliloquies were coming up, which possibly suggests that they were the ones that had the biggest impact on me. I think that as I knew what was happening a bit more, I was able to focus on the words which the actors and actresses were saying during in their soliloquies a lot more and some of the more intense conversations, which to be honest I couldn't even remember some. I was surprised at this as I actually enjoyed them when I was listening to the words closely this time, in particular the scenes with Ophelia and the Queen interacting which we both got a bit bored in at the theatre, maybe it was because you could see their facial expressions a bit more due to the camera angles. I think I listened to Hamlet's words a lot more as when I was in the theatre I think I was just a bit overwhelmed at seeing Benedict right in front of me and was still getting used to seeing him there for quite a bit of the play.

The one part that I didn't like as much was the bit with the play and Hamlet's reactions (where he keeps interrupting!). I think that worked a lot better in the theatre as it felt more like you were watching the play with the characters and we were able to watch Hamlet's reactions all the way through a lot better. However, I liked that I was able to watch the scenes done upstairs a lot better as in the theatre where we were sitting it was quite hard to see them as we had to look up in an awkward position to see them. The sword fighting scenes were nice to see on camera as well as it gave me a different angle to see them from. I heard that people liked how the camera zoomed in a lot on Benedict's facial expressions, as he is really good at those. I liked them as well, but it wasn't that new for me as we were sitting so close in the theatre it kind of made no difference to me, but I love sitting near the front to watch their expressions and little movements so it was nice that lots of people could see Benedict's on the screen.

To be honest, my opinions on the cast didn't change that much, I warmed to Ophelia a bit more, I think she did really well, but I still didn't really like Horatio or Hamlet's friends that much. I think that the King and Queen were actually better than I remember, especially the King, his soliloquies came across really intense actually and I think I was more focused watching them than I was at the theatre.

I think that the set was much more effective live in the theatre. It did look big on the screen, especially when the cameras zoomed out. However, I don't think it looked as big as it really is, or the part that goes back looked as long on screen as it was in real life. The rubble and things looked better live as well, but it still looked really good on screen. I think this was because on screen we were looking down on it a lot, whereas at the theatre I was only looking up, so it seemed a lot bigger and that there was more rubble on the stage than it did on screen. I liked the end of the first half much better in the theatre as well as the sound and scale of the special effects and things was much more powerful sitting right in front of it. At the theatre lots of people jumped as well, where as no one did in the cinema which possibly suggests the audience in the theatre felt as though they were in the scene more and it was a lot louder and more shocking.  Overall, the sound effects were much more effective in the theatre for me as you could literally feel the vibrations and everything. When Benedict was shouting (or talking very loud) in Hamlet's angry and powerful moments, everyone in the cinema was gripped, but I preferred it live as it was unbelievable how Benedict's voice filled the room, after he had finished, you couldn't help but say 'Wow'. Again, there were some minor sound issues e.g. sound went off for a second and it was hard to hear some characters for a few words. Overall though, it looks like they sorted most of the sound issues that we had at the theatre and you could hear the cast when they were at the back of the stage more.

Overall, I am glad that I went along and re-lived my experience. I did prefer it at the theatre, which is pretty obvious as there is nothing better than live theatre and it was unbelievable for me to see one of my favourite actors live. It also allows you to feel as though you are with the characters more and you get the full impact of the set and sound effects etc. more.  The cast and crew did an amazing job and I can't even begin to imagine how nerve racking the whole thing must have been! Congratulations to all involved! Get to an encore screening if you can, there's loads happening all across the UK that I know of and probably around the world!

They gave us these mini-programmes (sorry it's folded, I only had a small bag with me!)

Extra: I've noticed that I get asked this question a lot, so I thought that I'd answer it on here! Basically, as a Sherlock fan, I get asked who is my favourite, Benedict or Martin, a lot and now I've seen them both live, lots of people ask who I preferred live and did it change who my favourite is.

Obviously, they are both very different actors and I love them both for different reasons. In Sherlock, my favourite actor is actually Rupert Graves, I love his character and he just seems like a really nice guy. Lots of people never guess this, the only person that really knows is my little sister who gets me anything Lestrade related that she can (p.s. they need to make more Lestrade stuff!)! 

Anyway, my favourite is actually Martin. I think I like the roles that he plays more and he is a better comic actor, which is what I prefer. I think he puts his own personality into a  lot of his roles which is nice and he gets involved with how the character would react to situations and adds his own take on things. I like that he has worked his way up and didn't go to posh schools or things which lots of the big actors nowadays did. He's always angry about something and sarcastic about things, which I get told I am a lot like, so maybe I am drawn a bit more to him because of his personality and the roles he chooses! Obviously I love Benedict and I like the more serious roles that he takes like Alan Turing, rather than the action movies, which I don't enjoy watching. My sister prefers Benedict as I think she likes Sherlock's character better than John, whereas I prefer John. 

I hate to admit it, but I actually preferred Benedict live. He got so into the role of Hamlet and I think the production allowed him to do this more. He was so good in his soliloquies and the amount of emotion he put into his voice and actions was so incredible, it is so hard to describe. He did really well in the comic moments as well, better than I thought he would,  I think he used lots of things from Sherlock as I recognised lots of expressions or actions from that. The way his voice filled the room when he was angry was unbelievable and I can't believe he still hasn't lost his voice. I think you could tell that Benedict had done more theatre recently as he seemed very comfortable there. Martin was very good at the comic scenes as expected and his facial expressions were brilliant. I think that Hamlet possibly gave Benedict more of a chance to display anger and these big emotional soliloquies compared to Richard III were more effective and allowed him to stretch himself as an actor. Both managed to command the stage and it was a close call. Maybe I preferred Hamlet to Richard III, I'm not sure, which I would find hard to admit as a member of the Richard III society!  However, I still prefer Martin overall and I would love to see him live in something else again! Therefore, our house is still split over who the best actor is!

Let me know who your favourite between the two is and why and who is your favourite in Sherlock, I'd be interested to know!

Les Mis will be next, give me a few days as it's my birthday today and I'm having the weekend with my family! 

Who dunnit? The Mousetrap (no spoilers!!!)

August 2014, St Martin's Theatre, we had no understudies for the performance.

I had seen The Mousetrap before when the tour came to my local theatre and I really enjoyed it. I have always enjoyed murder mysteries but The Mousetrap was one that I somehow had missed out ever seeing or reading. When it was coming to our local theatre I was so excited and couldn't wait to see it. I really enjoyed it so didn't mind seeing it again, especially in the westend as it is the longest running show in London and as a big theatre fan I almost felt obliged to see it! My Mum was the one that wanted to go in London, as she was meant to go with me the first time but was ill so I took my Dad. Even though he had seen it, he had managed to forget who had done it somehow, so it was a surprise to him again! We didn't tell my Mum or sister who had done it after we had seen it (see below to learn why!) so it was a completely new experience and surprise for them, which was a good thing.  

 For the purpose of this review, I'll stick to the London one, unless I specify otherwise. 

The play has a simple plot line, basically, reports of a murder are heard on the radio inside a hotel during a storm that sort of cuts them off from others and the owners and guests at the hotel end up being questioned about it. Things happen such as the phone line is cut off and the guests all have gaps in their stories or are a bit odd and the audience has to try and work out what is going on, alongside the policeman who is questioning them all. The characters are all very different and have very unique personalities, which is what makes this play, especially if you have the right actresses and actors in the roles! (Think Cluedo style characters!)

I really liked the westend cast as each of them matched the personalities of their characters perfectly. My favourite is probably Mr Paravinci as he is your classic mysterious character who all the way through you are never sure what to make of him. The actor was brilliant and played on the creepy side of the character really well and was very funny at points. The other stand out performance was by the young man playing Christopher Wren as his naivety came across a lot, and he acted out the comic moments really well. To be honest, I was not disappointed by any of the casts performances. The only one from the regional performance that I preferred was Giles, who was played by Bruno Langley (Todd in Coronation Street) as he had a slightly stronger stage presence, but overall, the cast did a really good job in London.

The set is very basic (especially compared to the huge sets in Hamlet for example!), but is very effective, you feel as though you are part of the action and it makes you feel very comfortable, I suppose this goes to show that sometimes these big flashy, expensive sets really aren't needed! The theatre really helps to set the mood as well. Most of it is wooden and fits the period and mood of the play perfectly. I think this is a bit of a coincidence and accident, but is a really useful and good one.  I think it is one of my favourite theatres in London that I have ever visited.

Whilst on the subject of theatres I'll tell you my favourites and least favourites I have been to in London so far. I do like the Palladium as I was quite excited to be going there due to how famous it is and the Prince Edward Theatre was done up really nice, the Barbican was nice as well once you get inside (the outside is basically grey concrete like its surrounding area!) and the seats are huge!  I think me and my little sister could have fitted onto one seat really. I was also pleasantly surprised by Trafalgar studios as it was quite small compared to some but really well looked after and comfortable seats. My least favourite theatre is probably the Adelphi, it is Art Deco style inside which I did find a bit ugly, I think it reminded me of the style of some of my old school buildings which put me off a bit! The Dominion was in a bit of state when I visited, I'm not sure if it has been done up since, but the seats were in a right mess, which is a same when people are paying such a lot of money to see the shows.

Anyway, the staging of Mousetrap was all spot on, the lighting, effects and sound were perfect for setting the mood. You can tell that it is an old play that hasn't changed much over the years, which is really nice to see for once. I am used to seeing ones that have been updated e.g. put in a different era, have added lots of effects or fancy sets, or new plays, so this was a nice change. When things needed to be a bit scary, all of the effects used were spot on such as the doors banging and surprising people. The sound effects were probably the best, my favourite is the use of the three blind mice song, which progressively gets more creepy throughout the play as the tension begins to build, especially with the reveal at the end! Again, I think the acoustics of the theatre helped a lot with this. It is quite an eerie looking theatre as well, which adds to the tension and unease of the situation that the characters are facing when the lights are dimmed down. I liked the use of the candle light as it makes you feel as you are inside the hotel with the characters and makes you quite nervous about what will happen next.

I can't tell you who did it, nor would I want to! You are sworn to secrecy at the end of the play, which I think is a brilliant tradition to keep going, it really adds to the play and your experience. My sister really loved it and felt as though she was now walking around with this special secret to keep! All I can say is it is a brilliant twist and please don't ruin it for yourselves by googling it or reading the play before hand, please wait until after so you get the full experience. I do think the identity of the murderer should be taken off Wikipedia as it is ruining it for people and ruining the tradition of the play which is a real shame.  It is quite fun to start a pool or have bets on who you think did it, if you just google all of the characters beforehand, or do it in the interval as I saw people doing! I'd never seen my sister so engrossed in something on the stage before and you could see in her facial expressions how much she was concentrating and trying to work out who did it! I've only ever seen her do that once since, whilst watching Hamlet, and I think that was because it was Benedict Cumberbatch's brilliant acting making her laugh and then upset rather than her interest in the situation!

Overall, it really is a classic and a must see for any theatre fans. I don't know why it took us so long to decide to go, we were still pretty new to play I guess before that year, but I am so glad we decided to go. I think it got a bit overshadowed in my mind because I saw Richard III with Martin Freeman in the night after, which is the one I had been waiting for as he is my favourite actor, but looking back I did really enjoy it. I probably would visit again, just see that so that I could experience fully again and not just be waiting for the next night. I would like to take some of my friends that aren't really into the theatre or plays and don't know the story to see their reactions. Even though I already knew who had done it, I still loved listening to the character's stories and how the plot developed, I can see why it has remained so popular.

If you have time, give it a go and remember to keep the secret afterwards!

Here is my little sister showing the performance number that we saw:

Ticket link: https://www.the-mousetrap.co.uk/Online/