Les Mis London/US Tour

[wwasser]

Posted: 2/26/06 at 8:16pm

Hello!!

I took my parents to see Les Miserables at the Opera House in Boston the other night and it was totally amazing. I have seen the show several times, broadway and on tour but this current tour is amazing. My parents, however, saw it in London at the Palace three years ago. They loved this US production but they claim that the London's costumes, lighting, staging was a bit different in the final scene. They said there was wind blowing Fantine's and Eponines hair and everyone was dressed in white...can anyone confirm this...they insist that London's final scene was more dramatic than the tours but I'm not sure...usually they don't change much when they go overseas. Please help! i'd love to hear the differences in productions!

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 2/26/06 at 9:34pm

I've never seen a London production photo where everyone was in white.

[astonishing1985]

Posted: 2/26/06 at 9:39pm

I saw it in Boston last weekend and absolutely loved it. It was the best Eponine I have ever seen, she was absolutely wonderful and Marius was great and Thenardier was fantastic, wow!
I wasn't particularly fond of Fantine's voice, in fact I've never seen a Fantine I like.

I saw the London production 3 years ago like your parents and I agree with them, the staging and lighting was awesome. Especially the scene where Javert drowns, it was totally different in London and much more real and believable. But the singers weren't as good in London, they never are.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 2/26/06 at 9:50pm

I am so mad I missed it! At first I wasn't planning on going because I was bored when I saw it, but then again, I did see a school version. I've come to appreciate some more of the songs now, but crap, it had to sell out fast and they didn't offer student rush! Hmph.

[wwasser]

Posted: 2/26/06 at 10:20pm

Hey thanks for the info! I agree...I wasn't really impressed with Joan Almadilla's Fantine...In general, though, I was blown away by the power of Randall Keith and Scott Hunt's voices..the whole show was completely magnetic! Eponine was very good and so was Marius..very great night at the theater...I couldn't help but notice your screen name..if astonishing was chosen from LW then u are amazing lol...another show and song I like!

[LizzieCurry]

Posted: 2/26/06 at 10:44pm

I was blown away by the power of Randall Keith and Scott Hunt's voices..

Wait, Scott Hunt?! He hasn't been in Les Miz in three years. Or are you talking about your experiences collectively?

[astonishing1985]

Posted: 2/26/06 at 11:45pm

haha yeah astonishing from little women. LOVE that show. Saw the movie when it came out and then read the book and I've loved it ever since.

I didn't see Randall Keith, the US was Jean Valjean, can't remember his name at the moment and I'm too tired to look it up but he was awful. I hadn't noticed Randall Keith wasn't doing this performance so I turned to my mom and was like "what's wrong with him?" cos he's awesome and she told me it wasn't him :) I was relieved, lol

[COOOOLkid]

Posted: 2/26/06 at 11:54pm

I'm pretty sure the effects changed somehow when it transferred to another theatre in '04

[lesmisforever]

Posted: 2/28/06 at 7:42pm

I think he/she was talking about Robert Hunt?

[joshy]

Posted: 3/1/06 at 2:12pm

"But the singers weren't as good in London, they never are."

What a ridiculous thing to say!

[Emilia]

Posted: 3/1/06 at 2:24pm

joshy -

I was just scrolling down as fast as I could to post that.

It is highly ignorant not to mention insulting to make such a comment on British singers. Just because this is an American dominated board doesn't mean such comments are justified or that they will go unnoticed.

[Jade]

Posted: 3/1/06 at 2:34pm

"But the singers weren't as good in London, they never are."

I would also like to post about this comment, as I'm quite annoyed by such a sweeping generalisation. I'm British and have seen tons of shows in the West End and quite a few on Broadway. I'd say the shows were equal in terms of quality of singing. Admittedly I've never seen Les Mis on Broadway but I saw it in London twice and both times it was amazing.

[Shawk]

Posted: 3/1/06 at 3:01pm

Huh, I saw the London production several times in 2002 and 2003, and I don't remember the end scene being any different than the US tour. There are slight differences here and there in costuming, a few small line changes, and a few other things (the whole cast sings a number of the lines in the runaway cart scene and at the barricades that are solo lines in the US, for example). There is some different blocking in a few scenes (I specifically remember the ABC boys doing some mock-opera/sword fighting when Grantaire is making fun of Marius, which I've never seen in the US). And of course, their Javerts carry the baton around a lot more, and get to say, "Fallen from God, fallen from grace," in "Stars" instead of, "Fallen from grace, fallen from grace."

Not to mention that the UK understudy tracks are totally different than here in the US.

And someone please tell Michael McCarthy that he's not as good a singer as those in the US. I'm sure he and Cameron Mackintosh will be most interested to hear it.

Updated On: 3/1/06 at 03:01 PM