#anyway just grantaire being the highlight of the show as alway i love him so much

[justgayrevolutionnaries]

Hello guys guess what I (finally) saw Les Mis on the west end today so I need somewhere to rant about it bear with me here

(under the cut because 1- spoilers and 2- I have no idea how long this is going to be)

First of all just a small disclaimer : I am not in any part of this trying to be like "A was better than B in this role " or whatever it's just me being happy I got to see this show :)

Just hearing the opening live for the first time was amazing. Same goes for the whole show obv but this opening is the best

Also I did not know there were changing backgrounds this was so cool I really liked them

And the whole stage was super impressive I didn't expect everything to be that big it was amazing

Valjean was so good ??? I really liked his acting and his voice is actually incredible. Especially for Bring him home, I think it was one of my favorite versions of this song he has a really intense voice

Javert was incredible as well- I believe it was Stewart Clarke ? Point is he was a very good Javert I love him in this role

Anyway both of them have amazing voices so the Confrontation was very intense (or maybe it's just because it was the first time I saw it live ig)

Moving on but um. Lucie jones ??? Fantine ??? Like ma'am. Please. Your voice.

Literally I dreamed a dream ? So good. Made me tear up. If I am being honest I never cared for this song a lot but I can't even begin to explain how much I loved it here

Anyway she was definitely one of my favorite highlights of the show like yes queen

Also the factory scene was pretty great because I could finally know what was being said in the background- shoutout to whoever says "you bitch" to Fantine because I was not ready for that and the delivery was perfect

MADAME THÉNARDIER WAS AMAZING THANK YOU

Just- her mocking Cosette and her husband, the way she screams "COSETTE" when Thénardier messes up the name... Everything about her was so enjoyable I loved her

+ gotta love Thenardier just for the way he was sleeping and his head shot up when Valjean mentionned money for the first time

Also for being so funny in that moment after look down when Javert just comes to arrest them and he does his whole "may I go" act and then goes back to the policeman previously holding him and places the baton back on his neck I loved that for him

Anyway moving on to my favorite characters ever- tho actually I wasn't expecting to enjoy the beginning of the show that much but hey I did

Okay so Marius right ? If I'm being honest I had doubts about him, mostly because Ropert tripolino looked so much like a grantaire to me so I had a hard time picturing him as Marius but he was great

Very good at playing the part of the lovedstruck dumbass. Which is all it takes for me to like a Marius actually

No but also I loved his voice, maybe a bit shaky but it didn't strike me and I think it fit marius's character well so + it mixes really well with those of both Cosette and Eponine so that was cool, tho sometimes he was a bit drowned out by both of their voices but still.

The Gavroche actor was incredibly cute and funny I loved him so much- his mimicking javert was everything he is the best and must be protected at all cost

I'm doing this in no specific order so might come back to other things but I have said it before and will say it again... I don't like that little dance in one day more. It just kind of kills the vibe in my opinion because I find the dance rather funny but yeah

Anyway just because I have been dying to talk about him and he's all I've been thinking about for the past hours- shoutout to whoever was playing Grantaire. Like really. It was a cover so not sure who it was since I failed to look at the cast list (I wanna say ollie wray but I might be wrong) but oh my god. Sir. He ate it.

Everything about him was so great- I'll come back to him later just to pretend I'm keeping an order here (spoiler : I am not) but his part in Red and Black was incredibly funny it was just grantaire messing around and annoying Enjolras and I love that for him

Talking about Enjolras he was really good actually. I always have a moment of confusion when I see a brunette Enjolras just because I am not used to it but once I could actually focus on him he was very enjoyable

HAVE I TALKED ABOUT EPONINE YET BECAUSE I WANT TO TALK ABOUT EPONINE

She is. Really bitter I want to say. Like my brain isn't braining rn so I don't have words but she was rather sarcastic in a sad way. If that even makes sense. Anyway this attitude was great I loved everything about her

The whole part with Marius asking her for Cosette's adress just showed this and I really liked their dynamic it was exactly how I always imagined them to interact. Like Eponine obviously not being excited by this and Marius just blatantly missing every single cue

Point is I loved both of them

Okay just before I move on to the barricade's part which is all I wanna talk about, I am in love with this Cosette. That's it that's the post but lulu-mae has a beautiful voice, which again mixes really well with that of marius

Oh and also Marius trying to find a way to climb over the fence will never not be funny he's such an idiot I love him

Cue Eponine basically having to protect him while dealing with her own existential crisis- queen

ANYWAY

Actually moving on because this is getting long and I suck at ordering those notes but still

Firstly. Eponine singing On my own. I am actually not okay. She has such an amazing voice oml ??? 10/10 song I love her so much she made me tear up it was the best thing ever

So the barricade scenes

This is actually mostly me ranting about Grantaire and Gavroche because I literally missed a solid part of the barricade moment due to focusing on them

In my defense they were incredibly cute okay ? It's just the way Grantaire looks out for Gavroche and cares for him

And I love them so much I swear

Just two things before I just go on a full rant about them

1- A little fall of rain ?? Just Nathania Ong slaying all over again this was the saddest thing I heard her voice is just the best here

On the over hand this was one of the moment when Roberts voice seemed very much drowned out by hers but. She still carried the song. So it was very cool.

2- drink with me was so sad as well. Mostly because of grantaire. Again. Also I think it's always sad but seeing it live just made it worse- anyway it's just the way grantaire comes to feuilly's face to sing his verse. The way enjolras hugs him very tight when he's done. The way grantaire just pushes him away angrily and goes to stand in a corner. I am actually not okay about this

Also when Grantaire goes stand in a corner Gavroche comes to hug him from behind and he turns around to hug him back and that's basically where I lost it. Everyone was hugging all around but I was just looking at them because they were so cute okay bye

Sidenote but I still don't understand why the musical made Courfeyrac so angry and agressive- like the whole thing with Javert is kinda weird to me ? "Kill the bastard" is a good moment still just his cheering thing or whatever when valjean comes back- I am sorry but Courfeyrac would not do that like ever

Okay I already talked about bring him home and it slayed so yup

And anyway after this point I basically stopped looking at the barricade because I was just watching grantaire and gav so bear with me

During the attack grantaire just seats on a bench and does absolutely nothing. Just stares hopelessly into the void.

But after that there is the whole thing with ammunition and Gavroche volunteering

And okay first of all I really liked how everyone just zooms toward the barricade like Gavroche no- except then Gavroche is on the other side of the barricade right ? And nobody is moving. And you just have grantaire who gets up and starts walking slowly toward the barricade and it's absolutely agonizing

And after that Gavroche throws some ammunition to the guys and there is a short moment of victory- and then he gets shot and everything goes down from there

Enjolras gives his body to grantaire who is just below saying nothing. And it's utterly devastating.

Anyway after that Grantaire just kneels in a corner next to Gavroche's body

But when Marius gets shot him and Enjolras hug over marius's body and that was so sad

When Enjolras gets shot Grantaire just rushes on top of the barricade and starts screaming at the soldiers. And gets shot as well. And I did not know this happened I did not know Grantaire died after Enjolras I was not ready for this moment it destroyed me in so many ways

Anyway after that I basically zoned out because of what had just happened but what I can say is uh

I still don't like how javert's suicide is staged like it just looked to me like he was running backwards and the background was moving so. Yeah

Empty chairs at empty tables was- not the best. I liked the actor for all other moments but I just felt like his voice was kind of weak in this song ? It just didn't move me the way it usually does idk

Tho I still like how the women just laid candles down on the floor and then les amis arrive and pick them up

The Thénardier slaying again at the wedding <33

"I should have married your sister" always a highlight of the show actually

THE FINALE WAS SO GOOD

Lucie Jones again like love the voice love everything thank you queen

And just that moments when everything stops before the final "tomorrow comes" yeah that was that

Okay that's it that's the post if you read it down to here you're crazy and I love you

But still big shoutout to Fantine Eponine and Grantaire because those three really were the best parts of the show for me

[artfulacrostic]

some of my favorite moments from the 1995 10th Anniversary Concert of Les Miserables bc it's BARRICADE DAY and thus tis the season:

the convicts during Look Down all being Valjeans from different countries

the bishop M is baby faced and has an angelic voice

the clips from the fully staged show that they insert whenever there is too long of an instrumental/to explain things

colm wilkinson and philip quast's confrontation makes me want to chew on my laptop screen. so good. so crisp

baby cosette gets spooked by a balloon popping during castle on a cloud but barely flinches and keeps singing

the entire cast in the background of master of the house bopping back and forth in time. they are so here for it and it's amazing

philip quast's stars. he's so fucking good. i'm insane about him

michael maguire as enjolras's little happy dance when gavroche tells them that lamarque is dead

michael ball as marius somehow gives himself literally heart eyes whenever he talks about cosette. i can see them. it's so funny

during a heart full of love, colm wilkinson and philip quast are so invested in the background. they're leaning over to whisper to each other. they are besties

lea salonga as eponine delivers "i know this house i tell you, there's nothing here for you. just the old man and the girl, they live ordinary lives" like a GODDESS she is EVERYTHING

michael ball surreptitiously wiping his sweat on lea salonga's hair during her death scene. mans is dying a little

drink with me features anthony crivello as a fucking stellar grantaire, and after his verse, enj comes over and puts his hand on his shoulder to comfort him for a very long time. complete with a lingering touch on the arm and everything. fantastic exr crumbs 👍

the clips from the full show of the final battle are hilarious. completely different cast (though only obvious to insane people like us.)

highlights include one of les amis right on the middle of the barricade doing like. a backwards worm he's so into his death throes. he always has me losing my shit

empty chairs at empty tables includes the fucking cruel choice to have the entire les amis cast of actors line up on each side of michael ball and just a step behind so that they're in shadows, all staring sadly at him for the whole song. gives the impression of all the ghosts of marius's dead friends looking on from the afterlife and demanding answers. heart wrenching. THIS IS JUST SUPPOSED TO BE A CONCERT, WHY ARE U DOING STAGING LIKE THIS

beggars at the feast has everyone in the background clapping/tapping along again. love seeing the thenardiers get their due appreciation

the 17 valjeans from other international productions enter after the finale and they all have their gavroches holding their country flags it's so fucking cute

and of course final encore with all the additional valjeans and the whole cast is fucking ACES

ANYWAY if ur looking for a production to watch that is good af this is the top of my list even though it isn't fully staged. it's sooooo. it's some good fucking food. happy barricade day!!