Review: LES MISERABLES at Orpheum Theatre

"Cameron Mackintosh presents the acclaimed production of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg's Tony Award-winning musical phenomenon, Les Misérables.

This brilliant staging has taken the world by storm and has been hailed as "Les Mis for the 21st Century" (Huffington Post), "a reborn dream of a production" (Daily Telegraph) and "one of the greatest musicals ever created" (Chicago Tribune).

Set against the backdrop of 19th century France, Les Misérables tells an enthralling story of broken dreams and unrequited love, passion, sacrifice and redemption - a timeless testament to the survival of the human spirit. This epic and uplifting story has become one of the most celebrated musicals in theatrical history.

The magnificent score of Les Misérables includes the songs "I Dreamed a Dream," "On My Own," "Bring Him Home," "One Day More," "Master of the House" and many more. Seen by over 130 million people worldwide in 53 countries and 22 languages, Les Misérables is undisputedly one of the world's most popular musicals."

It was wonderful to see this global phenomen production again. The whole set, production, and costumes, were magnificent. You felt like you were in 1900th century France. The set transitions and the lighting affects were effective in feeling like you were in the battle, on the ship, the scene with Javier was powerful as he is falling into the water.

Minnesota native Christine Heesung Hwang stars as Éponine. She Hwang is a 2017 graduate of Minnetonka High School and an alumna of Hennepin Theatre Trust's Spotlight Education program Christine participated in Spotlight Education throughout her junior and senior years at Minnetonka High School. In 2016, Hwang received the Trust's Triple Threat Award for her outstanding talent and commitment to the performing arts.

The whole cast was astounding! What I enjoyed seeing was people of color playing principle roles. Everyone in the cast fit their role and had great chemistry with each other and each of them were commited to these in depth roles and characters. The singing voices were magnificent. There are many powerful songs in this productin and Nick Cartell (Jean Valjean) just had an effortless powerful voice from the opening to his beautiful renidition of Bring Him Home, Christine Heesung Hwang (Eponine) belted out a powerful On My Own, Haley Dortch (Fantine) with her forceful renidition of I Dreamed a Dream, and J.T. Wood (Marius) with his stunning Empty Chairs and Empty Tables and beautiful A Heart Full of Love with Jenna Burns (Cosette) with her effervescent soprano voice. Christine Rose Hall (Madame Thénardier) and Matt Crowle (Thénardier) both had great chemistry and comedic timing while having the audience laughing.

I would highly recommend seeing this production of Les Miserables while it is here in Minneapolis.

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Photos: Matthew Murphy & Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade