Les Misérables Turntable

[Phan#24601]

Posted: 11/3/12 at 3:10pm

Was it part of the show really spectacular? My dad said when he saw it (probably the 10th anniversary production) they used the turntable to show Valjean traveling and the people he could have encountered behind him. He said that- above all other things the turntable did for the show-this was the neatest aspect that it brought to light. So my question is, are we missing out in today's production now that we don't incorporate the turntable?

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 11/3/12 at 3:18pm

"Today's production" refers to the current US tour, right? The West End production still uses it. It's not like it's entirely disappeared worldwide.

Updated On: 11/3/12 at 03:18 PM

[My Oh My]

Posted: 11/3/12 at 3:19pm

The revolve isn't necessary for the show to work and many regional productions that elect to use it don't use it properly. It was used for far more than just spinning the cast about. It was very cinematic in its choice of movement. It literally was conceived around the idea the story demands constant movement and the space needs to be immense and limitless. The revolve gave the original production that luxury to incorporate that feeling of such grand scale.

The revolve itself never garnered much attention and people came away not humming the revolve, so I will never understand why a very limited number of people out there insist a revolve is needed to make the show work. It was a very neat companion in telling such a complex story. It made it crackle and burst at the seams and it was OK because it allowed it to.

My favorite examples of its use are the more understated ones, like when Eponine sings her intro to "On My Own" and the shuttered windows around her fill up with a warm glow as she walks along against the revolve. It's a simple but highly effective thing about the original that I will always be thankful to have experienced live.

Updated On: 11/3/12 at 03:19 PM

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 11/3/12 at 3:30pm

In the original, the turntable was the integral element of the design. Its use was constantly surprising, creating, by turns (pun intended), great beauty, hostile grit and just about everything in between. The production was staged within an inch of it's life with the turntable used to its full advantage. That being said, you could certainly do the show without it. As Peter Brooks opined, all you need to tell any story is an empty space. (But when I do Les Miz, I rip off the turntable concept.)

[Wildcard]

Posted: 11/3/12 at 3:36pm

The best uses of the revolving stage in my opinion are:
* When Marius climbs the fence to enter Cosette's garden
* Showing Gavroche searching through the bodies
* The aftermath of the barricade showing what happened to Enjorlas

[PB ENT.]

Posted: 11/4/12 at 6:58pm

Like many, I've seen LM many times. While the turntable concept was/is an effective stage prop that adds a very creative element, imo, this is NOT the focal point or anywhere near as important as a well cast, directed and properly staged production.

Having seen the Walnut St. production with Hugh Panaro and a stellar cast and direction, one hardly even noticed there was no turntable. Also the last time the tour was in Philly with the "new" staging and projections ( I covered it but forget the year), this too was really well done. I will be covering this tour again in Philly in Jan. and expect the lack of the turntable will not affect the production if it is well produced and acted.

[Phantom4ever]

Posted: 11/4/12 at 7:05pm

Back in the late 1980's/early '90s, when the trend was to criticize the popular British megamusicals, one of the common refrains was that the 80's Britis megamusicals relied too much on spectacle and not enough on substance. Often you would hear people saying "with chandeliers crashing and helicopters landing on stage" in a condescending tone. But although Les Miserables was a huge part of the British megamusical trend, rarely if ever did anyone turn it into "chandeliers and helicopters and turnables, oh my!"

[StageManager2]

Posted: 11/4/12 at 7:48pm

I thought the turntable was supposed to symbolize revolution*, "the overthrow of a government by those who are governed." So I should think it's essential to feature it.

*Its other meaning is "one complete turn in a circle," which is what the turntable does.

[My Oh My]

Posted: 11/4/12 at 7:55pm

True. I grew up on all those so-called British mega-musicals at their prime, and while Les Mis was always blessed to have such fantastic reviews practically everywhere it played, there was always the occasional critic who'd completely dismiss it as empty spectacle. I have a review from 1995 that claims the show has nothing going for it, except the revolve. That's like one out of hundreds of glowing reviews I've collected over the years.

I like to think of the original as a highly sophisticated, theatrical, musical telling of that Victor Hugo tale, something originally said by Frank Rich. It's middle-brow entertainment elevated by its stunning and highly effective, purely theatrical staging and a sincere effort at relaying that famous story.

Which is why I still boil over when I think of the current production being cited by a NYC area critic as a more honest production in its intentions. That burned, because as a long time fan, I can bet everything that I am right when I say intentions were far more honest and motivated more by a need to create art than what the Susan Boyle driven rush job the current tour is. Notice how every element said to have been revamped and modernised has actually been either cut down, sped up, or both?

Contrary to simpleminded belief, I have no beef with those who saw and enjoyed the current tour. I hated it, but I can also see how one could enjoy the mash up. However, revolve or not, it works. The effectiveness of the revolve can only be accurately measured by watching both versions side by side, and even then, they will both work great, even if one version's kinetic energy proves effective and provides that edge that makes a heart rending piece dance and waltz and glide right before your eyes and creates space and shifts perspectives with such precision and ease.

And that's Les Mis rant number 24601-8476765 for y'all. XD