Review: Meeting the Man Behind LES MIS

There are moments in our lives that define us. Events that help determine the course of our future. One of these moments came to me when I was 13 years old. My mom had arranged tickets for our family to see a show I'd never heard of. As the house lights dimmed the deep thumping music from the orchestra rose up and swallowed my senses.

Les Miserables took my breath away. I wasn't aware that it could get better than the stage production of The King and I at my middle school.

Over 20 years later, I am a theater columnist, see 60-100 shows a year, and organize monthly theater experiences for the Utah Theater Lovers. After all this time, Les Mis is still my favorite show, and my entire family's favorite show - all 20+ of us see it every time it tours.

This week I had the opportunity to meet Alain Boublil at Hale Centre Theatre, co-creator of this beloved musical. Even as I type those words they don't seem real. To shake the man's hand and tell him how he changed my life, words can't explain the absolute star-struck euphoria of that moment.

How did this magical moment come about? Well, let me tell you a story. The Pirate Queen is a musical written by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil (same composers of Les Mis) and opened on Broadway in 2007. Since its limited run in NY, the show has not been seen at any theater across the United States.

Alain Boublil speaking with Hale Centre Theatre's cast and production crew of The Pirate Queen" height="200" src="https://cloudimages.broadwayworld.com/upload11/1274423/files/7.jpg" width="300" />

The co-writers of both Les Miserables and The Pirate Queen, along with Music Theater International, hand-picked Hale Centre Theatre to produce The Pirate Queen (still playing through April 2nd) and it opened just a few weeks ago. I actually had the chance to see it opening weekend and loved it. Imagine my absolute delight when I found out Boublil would be in town to see the show, was attending a private reception at Hale before and would be doing a talk back with the cast after seeing The Pirate Queen. Top all that off - I was invited to attend!!!

I won't bore you by telling you about all the moments I had to remind myself to breath or what it was like to be in the audience with him. I will tell you about a few gems I picked up along the way.

** His wife, Marie Zamora Boublil, played the very first adult Cosette in Les Mis

** His wife and two of four sons attended the event (a very good looking family). His son was obviously proud of his dad as he took pictures and video the entire night

** Boublil considers Martin Guerre his longest work in progress because he still doesn't think it's done. He has plans on transitioning it to an opera.

** He found the intimate setting of Hale much more appropriate for The Pirate Queen than the grand stage on Broadway.

** Les Mis opened to horrible critic reviews and they were certain it would close by the end of the week. However, when they called the box office to check on ticket sales, they were informed that they were completely sold out. Audiences loved it!

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the amazing cast (brought me to tears both times I saw the show). Props to Bre Welch (Grace O'Malley) and Derek Smith (Tiernan) and every other cast member - there wasn't a weak performance all night! And hats off to director David Tinney - as always, a pleasure.

On a side note, there was a scene Boublil had reservations about (spoilers so I won't share the specifics) - while I agree with his assessment, I did feel rushed through the emotion after that, the scene mentioned was still my favorite and is the one that brought me to tears each time. I saw the show Beautifully done. The weakness was not in the production rather in the writing because we were not given time to feel. The production team should take note, as a patron, they did their job. Thank you!

A truly magical evening and an absolute top 5 event in all my theater experiences (seeing Les Mis is number 1).

Thank you to Hale and to Boublil for all the magic you have bestowed on theater patrons everywhere.

To close, a quote from the man himself:

"In this setting, The Pirate Queen found its true emotion," Boublil said. "I was moved again tonight by your performance. You made me love this show again."

A limited number of tickets are still available for The Pirate Queen that runs through April 2, 2016 at HCT. For tickets call 801-984-9000, go to www.hct.org, or visit the box office at 3333 S. Decker Lake Drive in West Valley City.

One final note - take a look a this amazing photo of Hale's new location out in Sandy (opening in 2017). TWO theaters. They hired Cirque du Soleil stage designers to help with their stage. I can't wait!

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