#les mis if victor hugo was from the uk

[motions1ckn3ss]

orestes fasting and pylades drunk. hammered. leathered. trollied if you will

[psalm22-6]

So since I have yet to find any free and digital archives of newspapers from the UK, I haven't really been able to dive into any sources there, but every once in a while I'll find an article from an English newspaper reprinted elsewhere, such as this article about the Les Mis Bruxelles banquet from the Spectator which was reprinted in the Sydney Empire. Although the article (signed "A. Freeman") is about attending the banquet, I can't find any mention of an A. Freeman or any correspondent from the Spectator attending the event. However, it was apparently common enough to use a pseudonym in the English press at the time so with a bit more digging it could be possible to find out who M. Freeman was (for example, the author identifies himself as French so there's a clue.) Anyways, the article, which I will share in full below for those of you who are interested, doesn't add much to our knowledge of the event in question (although I do appreciate the description of Hugo) but it does link two events which I had noticed took place at the same time but which I haven't seen linked before: the Bruxelles banquet (where Hugo spoke out in support of Garibaldi and Italian unification) and Pierre Joseph Proudhon's untimely departure from said city (due to his opposition to Garibaldi and Italian unification).

I send you this letter from Brussels, having been invited there to attend a banquet which the publishers of Les Miserables have thought of offering to my illustrious countryman and friend Victor Hugo. His last book has been so ably commented upon and so rightly appreciated in the Spectator, that I need not dwell upon its unparalleled merit. Suffice it to say, that there is no literary success on record which can approximate to the success of Les Miserables. Never in France did purchasers scramble for a book with so much eagerness. In fact, it has been downright frenzy. That many, on this occasion, looked upon a triumphant welcome given to a novel from the pen of the author of Napoleon le Petit, as the surest and safest way of protesting in favour of the human intellect, pressed down by the Imperial rule, may easily be conceived; and I, for one, think that such has, to a certain extent, been the case. But the unmistakable stamp and all-absorbing splendour of genius is there, and nothing more is, after all, required to explain the prodigious sensation created by Les Miserables. This is what the above-mentioned banquet is intended to commemorate. It will take place tonight, and I will tell you something more of it, if I be in time to post my letter.

I have found the intellectual portion of the Belgian community all in a flutter, on account of an article by which the celebrated M. Proudhon has been pleased, of late, to grace the columns of the office de publicité. It is in the shape of an epistle addressed to the Emperor of the French. “Sire,” says M. Prondhon to the Emperor, “Dare! Do what Mazzini, some time ago, advised Victor Emmanuel to do. Dare! Dare! and you may depend upon it that Teutonic France, the old inheritance of Charlemagne, the Rhine, Belgium, Holland, are yours. To all this you have a claim, being an Emperor; all this you are entitled to demand as a compensation for what you have just accomplished in Italy, at the request of Europe. Who could withstand you? The Rhine, since the time of Boileau, has ceased to be inimical to the French. Both the policy of Prussia and the discussions of German confederation are matters perfectly unintelligible to the German Rhine. Belgium, we are led to believe, expects you. In Belgium, as in France, and still more than in France, the people fast and dream; the middle classes digest their food and snore; the youths smoke and make love; the soldiers gape; there is nothing but emptiness in public opinion, and political life is no more. Tradespeople are already alive to the profits they are likely to derive from the annexation; the workman looks forward to an increase of wages; the clergy will be delighted to get rid, through you, of the idle clamours of the liberal party; the representatives —is there any energetic resolution to be expected from men who spend as many as six weeks in disputing about an infidel buried in holy ground? The walls of Anvers will crumble down at the very sound of your trumpets, and to Orangist Flanders such a trick played off on the government will be found most acceptable." The indignation aroused in Belgiam by this tirade you will be more able to realise than I am to describe. Anathemas have been actually thundered in almost all the Belgian papers. The self-appointed correspondent and adviser of Napoleon has been, from all quarters, unsparingly charged with having violated the duties attached to the enjoyment of the right of asylum; he has been rudely reminded of the kind hospitality which was bestowed upon him by the country he now tries to hold out to the contempt of mankind, and to which he points as an easy prey. Well worthy of tempting the appetite of an imperial Pantagruel; in fine, a regular avalanche of abuse has been poured over the unlucky head of the man who had already endeavoured to ravish fame, by saying, "La propriete, c'est le vol." With all due deference to the Belgian press, I beg to declare that it has fallen into an egregious error by thus indulging, a propos of M. Proudhon, a feeling of national anger, natural and honourable as a feeling of this kind certainly is. For this outburst of mighty irritation was just what M. Proudhon wanted; nor had he any other object in view when he took up the pen. It is very strange, indeed, that M. Proudhon, who has now lived so long in Brussels, should not be better known in Belgium.

Compared to him, Erostratus was a sensible man. M. Proudhon would unhesitatingly set on fire, not a beautiful temple only, but this world of ours, had he any fair chance of being seen by the light of its blazing ruins. M. Pelletan has described him as a man who is constantly firing a pistol in the street for the sake of attracting the attention of the passers by. Here you have M. Proudhon drawn from nature. With him it has always been customary to mistake unmanly language for energy, high-sounding expressions for sound arguments, and bustle for fame. The English word "cap-trap" is the only one by which both his talent and his style can be fitly characterized. He professes to be a socialist; still there was never a more artful, dangerous, and bitter enemy of socialism, which he has distorted and undermined in every possible way. He professes to be a democrat; still no one ever so well succeeded in making democracy odious. He professes to entertain liberal opinions; still he is deadly against the unification of Italy. He professes to be a free-thinker; still, he is just now employed in advocating per fas et nefas the cause of the maintenance of the papacy, and M. de la Guerronniere would be at a loss to find a more useful supporter. Not that he is in the slightest degree open to the charge of harbouring treacherous designs, or of being prompted by anything like sordid covetousness; no: in all money matters he is as disinterested as a man can be; his integrity stands above suspicion, and his private life is pronounced spotless by all those who know him well. But the itching to make himself the subject of the town-talk is in him a sort of incurable disease. He must startle his readers, cost what it will. Hence his books, which might be thus defined: either a startling chaos or nothing. The Belgian press, having to deal with a man who labours under such a mania, had evidently no better course to take than to ignore his letter to Napoleon. It did just the reverse; and so M. Proudhon hit the mark-being assailed and plated with small shot to his heart's content. The most curious part of it is, that he has made a reply, in which he turns the Belgian papers into ridicule, roundly declaring that they have, all of them, committed a blunder of the most amusing description; that he never meant to recommend the invasion of their country; that his appeal to the conquering propensities of the French Emperor were merely intended to bring into strong relief the folly of the Belgian liberal party, who side, one and all, with the King of Piedmont— and stand against the Pope —without perceiving how sadly the unification of Italy, if carried out, would tell upon the autonomy of Belgium. In other words, the opinion of M. Proudhon, as expressed by him in his reply, is that if the unity of Italy were realised, a compensation ought to be granted to France; a circumstance calculated to imperil the existence of Belgium as a separate kingdom. So, according to his explanation, when he called upon the Emperor of the French to lay hold of Belgium, and showed him how easily this could be accomplished, his sole object was to set the Belgians against the unification of Italy, to deter them from giving their moral support to the cause which made Victor Emmanuel a real king and Garibaldi a martyr, to reconcile them to the idea of the Pope firmly seated on his throne! and thus to pay the debt of gratitude he owes to the country that shelters him. But why not have said this plainly? Why not have said his at once? Because it was first necessary to startle men's minds— a mere rhetorical process, a mere matter for literary wonder!

P.S.— The banquet to which I alluded at the beginning of this letter took place yesterday evening, the 16th, in the house of M. Lacroix, the enterprising and intelligent Belgian editor, to whom the world is indebted for the publication of Les Miserables. A most brilliant assembly it was, indeed. There met the most distinguished members of the press and the bar, both in France and Belgium, together with many a man who had, either in art and literature, or in politics, risen to proud eminence. The French press was represented more especially by M. Nefftzer, editor of Le Temps, and by M. Eugene Pelletan; the Belgian press, by M. Berardi, the editor of the Independance Belge; and M. Madoux, the editor of the Etoile Belge. The burgomaster of Brussels, M. Fontaynas, and the President of the Belgian House of Commons were both present. When Victor Hugo, accompanied by his two sons, Charles and Francois Victor Hugo, entered the banquet room, there was a burst of enthusiastic applause. I had not seen him for more than ten years, and I could not but be struck with his appearance He looked as if he had not grown a bit older. I did not remark that the fatigue of thinking which, more than age, has a wasting power, had wrinkled in any unusual way his large, commanding brow. His face was radiant with health and glee. The guests were sumptuously entertained. Towards the close of the dinner, several speeches were delivered and warmly applauded. Upon the whole, the feast may be said to have been one of a literary character; but the political topics of the day were, now and then, lightly touched upon. In a most eloquent discourse, such as might be expected from a consummate master of language, Victor Hugo advocated the liberty of the press, and concluded by the following toast, which elicited a thunder of applause:— "To the liberty of the press in Belgium, in England, in Switzerland, in Italy, in America, and to the deliverance of the press elsewhere!" A. Freeman

[ilovemybarricadebabies]

Here’s my take on the Les Mis official posts about the queen’s death

WHY ARE YOU ALL SURPRISED??? They posted when the UK celebrated the Jubilee. They posted about the wedding of Harry and Meghan. They literally performed a concert at Windsor Castle for the Queen years ago!!!! They’ve posted, and done things, in support of the monarchy many times.

Like WTF were you expecting when the show is produced by grumpy, white, old, monarchy-loving British men???? Those men DO NOT CARE that the whole point of Les Mis was being anti-monarchist. Because at the end of the day, they only care about the MONEY that will line their pockets, which is exactly what the Jubilee and the wedding brought them. Money from the thousands of tourists and UK natives who were in the city those two weekends.

These people DO NOT CARE about Victor Hugo’s message when he wrote the book. They do not care about the people that died 190 years ago in attempt to make their country a better place. Just like they don’t care about the thousands of people who have suffered under the British Monarchy’s rule. These people DO NOT CARE because they are greedy MFers, who just want to have more money.

I mean, are we forgetting that this same producer literally called casting trans people in shows a fucking gimmick??? Or closed the original production in favor of the 25th because it would save him money??? Like it’s been proven time and time again that Cam Mack is an asshole, who doesn’t care about anyone other than himself and is more concerned about how he can earn himself more money.

Like yes, call them out on the posts. Remind them what the show is about. But if you don’t think it won’t happen again during Charles’s coronation or even after that, think again because it will.

[maraschinocheri]

never lived a year better spent in love :: 10 favourites of Killian in 2019.

On so many levels, this was a somewhat different sort of year for Killian; the word that comes to mind is steady. A much-needed steadiness and serenity, I think, that showed in so many photographs in 2019.

The year started out adorably with Katie Hall’s photograph of Killian and Hooper on a little early-show outdoors break—a photo I immediately knew would find precedence in this year-end roundup—and was full of little joys like Killian’s visit to NYC to see Fra and some of his own old haunts, plus a dash to Paris to be nosy at Number 55 Rue Plumet. The Les Mis tour allowed him to jaunt around with Hooper to several places he’d never or rarely been in the UK, such as the Lake District, and the odd holidays from the show allowed him to catch reunions with friends like Fra and Sarah O’Connor as well.

I make no excuses for choosing so many photos with that mad scarf; I have an earned fondness, and he looks so madly wonderful in it. I will, however, admit that my cold blackened heart flipped wildly when he appeared wrapped up in it again showing other Valjeans back around the dressing room at the Queens/Sondheim; a lovely homecoming. Said scarf also makes its presence felt in a picture that really, truly shows the gentle aging this year’s brought Killian; though it was taken early in 2019, you could still see the warm maturing glow in Killian’s face through the whole year.

And then. And then the most glorious Killian-adjacent event this year for me personally; these two photographs with Ian McKellen will live in my heart forever. Ian’s appreciation for Killian’s talent was so wonderful to see, and the mutual lovefest was so gloriously vibrant and visible the next day as well, as Ian crashed the barricade in fabulous costume. If I am honest, that one photograph of Ian in his Hugo Victor garb and Killian in his M’sieur Madeleine costume is the picture of the year to me; no one is surprised.

Last, this beautiful, amazing photograph of Killian and Louise Bowden under and enveloped by sparkling holiday light ... anything I could write would only lessen it, so I will just say that I hope for many, many more photographs like it. What an astonishingly gorgeous year, Potato. Cheers to the next and next again.

[bbclesmis]

Page Six: David Oyelowo opens up about new ‘Les Misérables’ miniseries

David Oyelowo understands the pressures that come with starring in adored productions and Masterpiece’s adaptation of “Les Misérables” is no different.

“There’s always pressure when there’s something that people have a very strong opinion about because ‘Les Mis’ as a novel, as a musical, as a film, it’s sort of beloved there’s always pressure,” the 43-year-old actor recently told Page Six.

Oyelowo, who earned a Golden Globe nomination for his performance as Martin Luther King Jr. in 2014’s “Selma,” added that while the feeling doesn’t change, he’s adapted to it over time.

“I’ve just learned that you’re not going to please everyone no matter what you do,” Oyelowo said, adding you “just do the best job you can.”

Currently starring as Javert in the six-part miniseries of “Les Misérables,” Oyelowo hopes audiences will embrace this reimagining of Victor Hugo’s classic novel, seven years after the 2012 film first hit theaters.

“What I really loved about the limited series when I read it was that Javert was given so much more context, and that’s because you now have six hours and it’s not a musical, and it’s based very directly on the source material of Victor Hugo’s novel,” Oyelowo said.

The project also gave Oyelowo the opportunity to work alongside actors he has respected, including Dominic West, who plays Jean Valjean.

“That was a truly special thing for me, Dominic I’ve admired as an actor for a long time,” Oyelowo explained. “I just felt like he really stepped up to play this heroic figure and the level of which he plays his character really enabled me to go deep with Javert as well.

“Acting is like a game of tennis, you’re only as good as you’re opponent and he was really, really phenomenal in this role,” he continued.

Oyelowo isn’t all work and no play, however. As the UK native told us, he likes to unwind by spending quality time with his family, particularly in tropical locales like Hawaii.

“I love, love, love living in LA, but you know, there’s a certain go-go-go spirit to LA which is good to get away from, and we try to turn the phones off and just enjoy and reconnect with each other,” he said.

“Les Misérables” is currently streaming on the PBS Masterpiece Prime Channel on Amazon.

x

[thealphabetrevolution]

I saw Les Mis on the 2019 UK tour and I Have Some Thoughts

Ok, so. Here’s a brief rundown with some Additional Thoughts and Emotions.

- Uses Victor Hugo’s handwriting on the beginning/interval backgrounds, like ‘Les Miserables’ and his signature’

- The backgrounds are beautiful. They look like paintings.

- Killian Donnelly is 1000% worth seeing. Like, you think he’s hyped too much? He is not hyped too much. It’s the first time I’ve sat through Bring Him Home without waiting for the next part and the ‘flight’ note (‘took my fliiiiiiiiiight’) was literally the only one I’ve heard that HASN’T sounded painful in some way

- Person playing Javert has a fantasy-epic sounding name - Nic Greenshields

- Javert oh my god. Javert is so good. Such a powerful voice.

- Madame Thenardier ‘thinks he’s quite a lover’ *holds out baguette* ‘but there not much there’ *breaks off the end of the baguette to illustrate this point*. Also hacks at the bread with a meat cleaver having established this baguette/dick analogy which was a very therapeutic depiction of her feelings about her husband

- Javert has a chain in the Confrontation instead of a baton and Valjean straight up wraps the chain around his hand and punches him to knock him out

- No chair. I was not prepared for how weird that would feel, but the chair by Fantine’s bed was never broken and it was strange

- Confrontation was exceptionally good ‘Valjean’ *Killian sits up straight*

- Jesus imagery in Stars? Just a point where he turns his back, kneels, and holds out his arms like the crucifixion

- Eponine is black but Baby Eponine is white which seems like a bit of an oversight

- One of Thenardier’s gang members, maybe Brujon,is dressed in a sleeveless leather shirt? I don’t know why?

- The cafe:

- *Enjolras takes Grantaires cup* Grantaire looks put out, leans backwards, and picks up the bottle from the floor*

- Bossuet has hair?

- Someone takes Grantaire’s bottle away, throws it to another person who throws it to Enjolras. Grantaire chases it until he sees its Enjolras and then stops dead and watches him. Puts his hands up. Kinda gay to be honest

- Grantaire nods along to Enjolras’ first lines in Red and Black even though he was kind of on Marius’s side doing the ‘red’ and ‘black’ parts of the song for him. Enjolras’s lines kind of seem also directed at Grantaire, because he’s right in front of him and like maybe he’s trying to convince Grantaire too?

- Grantaire friendship/father-figure/older-brother relationship with Gavroche is really nice

- GAVROCHE. He was so tiny? And a really good singer. He’s literally half the height of Grantaire

- ‘Yeah you heard the man, clear off’-type talking (I can’t remember exactly) shoos people away, ends up toe-to-toe with Javert, salutes him cockily and then exaggeratedly marches off

- Cosette appears on a balcony in A Heart Full of Love

- Marius: *sings* Cosette: *runs indoors* ‘I’m doing everything all wrong!’

- A VERY sincere ‘I don’t know what to say’

- One Day More staging was really nice

- EPONINE WAS SO GOOD OH MY GOD. TEGAN BANNISTER. WAS AMAZING.

- On My Own was the most emotionally intense one I’ve ever heard and I have seen QUITE A FEW.

- ‘This only goes to show what little people can do’ and then Gavroche very deliberately holds up his middle finger to Javert

- Every innuendo, however slight, was acted out so you couldn’t miss it. ‘Let’s give them a screwing they’ll never forget’ *accompanied by hip thrusts* ‘the witty girls who went to our beds’ *hip thrusts*. Like. Who decided we needed to be reminded of sex in Drink With Me? It’s a sad and poignant song and the Gratuitous Thrusting felt a little out of place to be honest

- The first view of the barricade had it lit in the cold light of death - the same that lit Fantine’s death

- For Drink With Me, Grantaire sings ‘can it be you fear to die’ to other students (who does the ‘Grantaire that’s enough!’) and as Enjolras climbs down from the barricade he’s in place for the line ‘is your life just one more lie?’ and like. *cries forever*

- Enjolras holds his face and there are a tender few heartbeats before Grantaire flinches back and goes to cry in a corner

- Gavroche goes and hugs him from behind and Grantaire turns around to hug him back and he’s the only one to comfort him and it basically just killed me

- Eponine dies, Gavroche seeks comfort in Grantaire, and once Gavroche lets go, Grantaire turns to Enjolras

- Enjolras holds his face and there are a tender few heartbeats before Grantaire flinches back and goes to cry in a corner

- Gavroche goes and hugs him from behind and Grantaire turns around to hug him back and he’s the only one to comfort him and it basically just killed me

- I swear Gavroche had the most emotional intelligence of them all

- in Enjolras’s Final Rousing Song before they all die, Grantaire is the only one who doesn’t stand up and remains seating, showing his lack of faith in the cause and also kind of his despair over the future. It felt very deliberate.

- When Gavroche dies, he makes it back up and dies at the top of the barricade in a pose of defiance

- He’s handed down to Grantaire and it is heartbreaking

- They didn’t have a turntable so Enjolras dies and falls off the front of the barricade and then once the barricade is gone he gets wheeled out in a cart by a policeman, hanging off the edge in the Classic Death Pose with the red flag beneath him like a pool of blood. They paused in the middle of the stage for Effect and for:

- Javert finds Gavroche’s body and genuinely seems sad about it and crosses himself

- Javert is really Religious in this. Like, we know he’s more religious in the musical than he is in the Brick, but he’s really religious in this one.

- In the sewers they used video/a moving background to show the progression through them and it was done really well

- Stars used wires on Javert and the bridge rose above him and then the background became water and Javert was pulled backwards and it forced a change in perspective as if we were watching him fall from above and it was really well done

- ‘Who will wake them’ sung by baby Cosette actor

- Turning set out thirteen candles - one for each Barricade death

- For Empty Chairs each person who died at the barricade picked their candle up and held it like a toast

- Marius picked up Eponine’s candle

- Honestly the new staging was like 20x sadder

- Grantaire also played one of the wedding ushers? Workers? Attendants? and he had SO MUCH FUN with that

- ‘This one’s a queer but what can you do?’ guy taps Thenardier on the shoulder and holds up a finger to his lips like ‘shhh. Don’t tell’ and goes back to reassure his dance partner

- In both the Empty Chairs staging and the death-Barricade staging, Grantaire is separated from Enjolras only by Gavroche. Gavroche is at Enjolras’ left side.

- Valjean gets welcomed to the death-Barricade by the bishop who hugs him and it’s really nice

- I cried a lot

AND the theatre had lemon sorbet and it was REALLY GOOD lemon sorbet.

[cometomecosette]

“Les Mis” review: US Tour, San Francisco, August 25, 2018

When I heard that the Les Mis tour was coming to San Francisco, I knew right away that I had to make the 2-hour drive and see it. I hadn’t seen the show onstage in three years and I’m always eager to see a new performance – only time and money limits stop me from traveling to see every professional production.

The current US tour is, of course, Laurence Conner’s 25th Anniversary production, which has been sweeping the world since 2009. The sets, costumes and basic staging were familiar and my feelings about them haven’t changed a bit. I could nitpick about all the details that feel inferior to the classic Trevor Nunn/John Caird production (the lack of any chairs or tables in Empty Chairs, the excessive slapstick in the Thénardiers’ scenes, the awkwardness of some scenes that were clearly written to be staged on a turntable, etc.), but overall, it’s a beautiful way to experience the musical. The impressionistic imagery derived from Victor Hugo’s drawings is both Romantically beautiful and appropriately somber and gritty, and for the most part, the staging excellently serves the story. So many little details enhanced the action’s moving effect: for example, in the Well Scene, Valjean found an exhausted Young Cosette collapsed in tears over her heavy bucket, and he gently approached her from behind and helped her to her feet, perfectly mirroring the moment when the Bishop first found him sleeping on his doorstep.

Believe it or not, this was my first time seeing the 25th Ann. production since 2012, before the movie was released. Since then I’ve only seen non-replica regional productions; I missed the 2014 Broadway revival and have never been anywhere near the International Tour either. So I noticed a fair amount of changes that have been made to the production since the original 2009-13 tours. Some of these changes I had already read about in other people’s reviews, but others were surprises. Here are all the differences I noticed:

*All projections that used to tell us when and where the action takes place have been cut. Maybe this was already the case in 2009-13, but I don’t remember. This must make the time skips confusing for first-time audience members who haven’t read the synopsis.

*In the Prologue, during the farm scene’s instrumental passage, two little girls run across the stage playing tag. One trips and falls, and Valjean approaches to make sure she’s all right, but her parents hurry protectively to her side and glare him away from her.

*Petit Gervais is included. Valjean takes his coin during “Now every door is closed to me…” I know this bit of staging has been in and out of this production since 2009 (it was present in the UK tour, then absent in the 2010 US tour, then reinstated in Toronto…), but for now it’s back. I think the placement is awkward, though, since it comes just on the heels of Valjean showing compassion to another child. I personally would have placed Gervais after the inn scene during “And now I know how freedom feels…” to show that Valjean’s increasing mistreatment has made him even more bitter and ruthless than when he was first released from prison. (Future directors, take note.)

*Fantine’s dress is now a solid turquoise in place of the stripe-and-flower pattern from the 2009-13 tours. I already knew this from the 2014 Broadway photos of Caissie Levy, though.

*In “At the End of the Day,” the Factory Girl now has a “girl posse” of two other women. They’re the ones who initially snatch Fantine’s letter and sing “And what have we here, little innocent sister?” then pass the letter to their queen bee, who reads it.

*Fantine’s first customer in “Lovely Ladies” is now the Factory Foreman. (This may have been the case back in 2009-13, but I don’t remember; it was the case in the 2006-07 Broadway production, though.) We get a long, horrible moment where they stand and stare at each other, Fantine appalled while the Foreman leers back at her, before she finally gives him her hand.

*Same scene: Fantine doesn’t sing “Come on, captain, you can wear your shoes…” anymore. Instead, she and the Foreman emerge from their “transaction” and two other whores ask the departing Foreman “Tell me, captain, did you wear your shoes?” “Don’t it make a change… etc.” while Fantine stands still and traumatized. She only starts singing at “Easy money, lying on a bed…”

*Fantine’s cause of death is once again TB, as Hugo wrote it. Back in the 2009-13 tours she wasn’t portrayed as sick; instead Bamatabois gave her a powerful kick in the side, which apparently broke her ribs, punctured a lung and killed her. But now she’s coughing before Bamatabois ever sets eyes on her. I suppose after Anne Hathaway’s dramatic weight loss and oh-so-believable illness in the movie, Laurence Connor decided he couldn’t kill his Fantine differently.

*In “Master of the House,” we get a more elaborate variation on the movie’s quick “watering the wine” bit. Halfway through the song, a man desperately needs to go to the bathroom; Thénardier directs him to Mme. Thénardier, who holds a chamber pot while he uses it. At the end of the song, she secretly pours out the chamber pot into the wine jug, then brings the jug to her husband, who drinks, then gags.

*I remember that the first time I saw the 2010 US tour, Mme. Thénardier tried to seduce Valjean during “The Bargain,” but later in the run, that bit of comedy was cut. Well, now it’s back. She “treats” him to some dramatic leg- and cleavage-flaunting and sprays herself with much too much perfume, making him cough when she comes near him. A little excessive, if you ask me.

*Gavroche’s costume seems to have been tweaked. Instead of the all-brown outfit of the 2009-13 tours, as seen on Robert Madge in the 25th Ann. Concert, he now wears a light blue shirt with a tan vest. Also, instead of “This is my school, my high society…” in “Look Down,” he now sings his more political lyrics from the movie, starting with, “This is the land that fought for liberty…”

*The street fight between the two women in “Look Down” has been cut. Why that vignette wasn’t cut to begin with when the show was first trimmed down in the early 2000s, yet actual characterization material from major characters was cut, I’ll never know.

*Enjolras and Marius’s lines in “Look Down” are now a public speech to the beggars, delivered on soapboxes with one or two other Amis (I don’t remember which ones) present too.

*In “Attack on Rue Plumet,” Éponine now snatches a knife from a gang member (I don’t remember who, though I don’t think it was Montparnasse – either Babet or Claquesous) and threatens all the men with it as she sings “I know this house, I tell you…”

*When Éponine delivers Marius’s letter, she doesn’t run straight up to Valjean and announce her purpose anymore. Instead the scene is staged more like the original Nunn/Caird version; she creeps into the garden and looks up at Cosette’s balcony, trying to determine how to get the letter to her, but then Valjean catches her and she gives him the letter out of fear. She also takes down her hair and reveals her gender on “He said to give it to Cosette,” though I’m not sure why.

*Gavroche flips off Javert the end of “Little People.” Not the Arm, which other Gavroches have done. The Finger. My friend who saw the show with me was disturbed that they let a child do that.

*Éponine’s death is now a self-sacrifice. When she enters over the barricade, she almost makes it to safety, but Marius, in his eagerness to talk to her, jumps up from cover while bullets are still flying and is almost shot. Éponine pushes him out of the way and takes the bullet instead, though she doesn’t let him realize she’s been hit until after they climb down to the ground.

*Gavroche’s death is no longer offstage, but now handled in the style that seems to be near ubiquitous in productions with no turntable. Gavroche makes it back to the top of the barricade, but is shot at the last moment and falls into Enjolras’s arms. Then Enjolras hands him down to Grantaire, who mournfully carries him from the barricade.

*Post-Final Battle, Javert now has a movie-esque moment of sympathy over Gavroche’s body. He finds the boy on the ground, kneels and contemplates him, then does a sign of the cross before lifting him up onto the cart next to Enjolras.

*Likewise, Javert now has a gun in his last meeting with Vajean. This has seemingly become ubiquitous in post-movie productions.

*In the wedding scene, midway through the Thénardiers’ exchange with Marius, the majordomo announces “Ladies and gentlemen, the cake!” A gorgeous wedding cake is wheeled onstage – and Mme. Thénardier promptly grabs the knife, cuts a piece and stuffs it into her mouth with her bare hands, much to the shock of the onlookers. In disgust, the majordomo orders the cake removed. I’m not sure whether I think this is funny or fatphobic.

*When the Bishop appears among the spirits in the finale, he and Valjean hug, rather than just bowing to each other as in 2009-13.

 Now for the cast…

Nick Cartell (Jean Valjean)

Both musically and dramatically, this man commanded the stage. His bright, ringing tenor was capable of all the magnificent power and magnificent gentleness an ideal Valjean should display; his only possible vocal flaw was that he sounded a bit too young. (The same could be said about his looks.) His acting was spot-on too. From the angry convict of the beginning, to the gentlemanly Monsieur Madeleine, to Javert’s fierce nemesis, to Cosette’s loving father, to the dying old man of the finale, he embodied each of Valjean’s identities. One worthwhile touch he added that I’ve never seen from any other musical Valjean was the limp Hugo ascribes to the character, as a result of living for years with his leg chained: at first it was barely noticeable, but as he aged it became painfully pronounced. Another, adorable touch to his performance was this: he took the popular detail of Valjean gently booping Cosette’s nose, and instead of only doing it once or twice, he expanded it into a special gesture of affection for her throughout their years together. Repeatedly he touched his own nose, then touched hers: first when he adopted her, then in “In My Life,” then at the beginning of “Valjean’s Confession,” and finally as he was dying. During the final curtain calls, the audience’s wild applause for him was well deserved.

Josh Davis (Javert)

I’m afraid he was my least favorite of the lead performers. Not in terms of his singing: he had a rich, powerful baritone voice that was just right for the part. But his diction tended to sound strange and his whole characterization was a bit too growly, aggressive and “cartoon villain”-like for my taste. I’m sure this was partly direction: Laurence Connor’s concept of Javert has always seemed more aggressive and neurotic than the novel’s or Trevor Nunn’s, regardless of the actor. But it still didn’t ring quite right for me. I agree with a previous reviewer who wrote that his delivery recalled William Shatner … particularly at the end of “Who Am I?” when he charged after Valjean yelling “CON!” which of course sounded just like “KHAN!” I literally asked myself “Did he just make a Star Trek joke?” (Though maybe it was one, since this was a matinee performance; I know it’s a tradition in the London production to add little jokes in the matinees.) Still, there were moments of his performance I liked a lot: for example, his unique, utterly broken, weary delivery of the line “This man has killed me even so!” I’ve definitely seen worse Javerts in the past. I’ve just seen better ones too.

Mary Kate Moore (Fantine)

A lovely, delicate Fantine with a beautiful mezzo voice and a poignant, pain-filled characterization. I just wish I could have seen more anger, pride and inner strength from her. Maybe part of the problem was my far-away seat, because I’ve read another fan’s review of her performance that praised her strength and anger. But personally, I never felt the complexity of the novel’s Fantine from her. Still, without question, her singing and acting were high in quality. I think my main issue was with the staging, which highlighted Fantine’s victimhood and reduced her agency. The factory “fight” consisted only of the Factory Girl beating her up, rather than letting her make a fierce effort to get the letter back, and the reassignment of lines in “Lovely Ladies” left her standing in mute, broken shock where past Fantines have made active, tough-talking advances to potential customers. She was a good Fantine, but might have done better in a different production.

J. Anthony Crane (Thénardier)

Scraggly, slimy, funny and slightly larger than life but never too hammy, dark and sinister in “Dog Eats Dog”… in short, he was just what Thénardier should be. His marriage to his wife seemed to be one where “pots and pans and underwear fly”: they bickered ferociously, but worked together effortlessly, and at the end of the Waltz of Treachery they “celebrated” their 1500 francs with his head under her skirt. Predictably, the audience loved them both.

Allison Guinn (Mme. Thénardier)

Good, but over the top. Her voice was powerful and strident, which is right for the role, but she made it a little too strident and annoying for my taste. The same can be said for her acting: just as brash, funny and nasty as it should be, but a little too slapstick and cartoonish. Of course she’s far from the only cartoonish Mme. T. I’ve ever seen, and while she didn’t perfectly embody the brute Hugo created, she was still a solid source of comic relief.

Robert Ariza (u/s Marius)

A very likeable Marius: cute and small (he was slightly shorter than Éponine!), with fluffy black hair and a warm, sweet tenor voice. He was adorably passionate and lovesick in the early scenes; I adored the moment in “A Heart Full of Love” when he thought he had scared Cosette away after she ran from her balcony, and was groaning “I do not even know your name!” to the wall of her house (such an INFP!) when he suddenly realized she was standing behind him. He also offered a warm friendship with Éponine and touching grief and tears at her death. His “Empty Chairs” was appropriately poignant too, with its outpouring of grief and anger. Knowing that first-time Les Mis viewers so often react to Marius in less than complimentary way, it’s a testament to his performance that afterwards, my first-timer friend praised the character’s coming-of-age journey and his romance with Cosette. Everything about his performance was more-or-less just right.

Paige Smallwood (Éponine)

A good, strong Éponine, with a beautiful, powerful voice and a solid, affecting characterization. She was a genuine street rat, never cutesy or ingénue-like, yet not too harsh either, but struck just the right balance of toughness, playfulness, anger, heartache and warmth. I especially liked a few of her small yet unique acting choices. On the line “I like the way you grow your hair,” for example, she started to reach out to touch Marius’s hair, but then pulled herself back, and distracted him from what she had almost done by throwing his book onto the ground. I also loved her grimly determined expression at the end of “On My Own,” when she set off to rejoin Marius at the barricade; other Éponines I’ve known have paused in uncertainty at that point, torn between love and fear, but this one strode to her fate with hard, unwavering resolve. Her death was excellent too, with the perfect balance between pain, vocal beauty and tenderness. The audience understandably loved her.

Matt Shingledecker (Enjolras)

I should have known to expect good things from this Enjolras, since his performance as Tony in the 2009 West Side Story revival (he replaced Matt Cavanaugh) was highly praised by the late Arthur Laurents in his last memoire. His bright, ringing tenor voice was just right both for Tony and for Enjolras, and his looks were ideal too: tall, strong and handsome, with a long mane of sunny blond hair. His acting was also spot on, with an excellent balance between stately dignity and rabble-rousing fire. I only wish I had been sitting closer, so I could see his expressions more closely and have more insight into this Enjolras’s relationships with his friends, especially Grantaire. But I have nothing but positive feelings about his performance.

Jillian Butler (Cosette)

A sweet, charming Cosette; not one of the most outstanding I’ve seen, per se, but very good. As with Robert’s Marius, it’s a testament to her talent that my first-timer friend loved their love story. Her voice was a bright, crystalline soprano, slightly thin, but never wispy or squeaky. Her acting was spot-on too; she was just as innocent, lovesick and tender as she should be, angry about Valjean’s secret keeping without being bratty, and appropriately distraught by his death. I do wish Connor’s staging let her show him more affection instead of highlighting their conflict, but of course this wasn’t her fault at all.

John Ambrosino (u/s Grantaire)

Effective, though I wish I had been sitting closer to see the nuances of the various looks he exchanged with Enjolras. They were subtle, but I have no doubt they were emotionally charged. Still, he was convincing as the wild and funny drunkard, as the sad cynic, and as Gavroche’s devoted big brother figure. I was especially struck by his private, despairing collapse against a wall after Enjolras glared at him at the end of his “Drink With Me” verse, and though his “NO!” at Gavroche’s death was slightly underwhelming, his staggering, open-mouthed anguish as he carried the boy’s body and quiet weeping into his chest on the ground were heartbreaking. Overall, an excellent performance.

Sam Middleton (Gavroche)

A first-rate Gavroche, old enough to be convincing and commanding onstage yet young enough to be poignant, with a strong, clear voice and good acting throughout. Besides the usual cheek and feistiness, I loved that this production made Gavroche’s compassionate side clear. He was the one who comforted Marius after Éponine’s death, and when Grantaire collapsed in despair after his “Drink With Me” solo, he gave him the sweetest consoling hug. The characters onstage weren’t the only ones distraught by his death, that’s for sure.

Elsa Avery Dees (Young Cosette)

A delicate, sweet-voiced little thing, just as any Young Cosette should be.

 My friend who had never seen Les Mis before was completely bowled over by this performance. She had endless praise for it our way home (though even she thought the slapstick in the Thénardiers’ scenes was overdone) and right away got tickets to see again with her family. Personally, I wouldn’t want to see the same cast back-to-back, but I am hoping to see the tour again when it comes to LA in the spring. This production might not be perfect, but still, both for first-timers and for longtime Les Mis lovers, it has no shortage of great things to offer.

[drakorn]

My Current Top 10 Musicals

So, I thought I’d just make a little list of the musicals that I personally consider to be my absolute favourite ones at this point in time. This list will obviously change again when I find a musical that I like more than one on this list. Anyway, here’s my list, if anyone’s interested XD (Btw, I’m only talking stage musicals here, so if you see any musical that was also a movie, I am talking about the stage version).

But first...some honourable mentions that I still adore but didn’t make it into my Top 10: The Phantom of the Opera, Anastasia, Ludwig II, Mozart!, The Lion King and Jesus Christ Superstar.

PS: All of this is opinion-based. Of course, you will disagree with me at some point, that is just natural. And it’s great that everyone has different tastes!

10 - The Lord of the Rings: A LOT of people have not heard about this musical, but it actually exists. It’s nothing fan-made or anything, it’s an actual official musical adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, not the Peter Jackson movies but the actual Tolkien epic. It ran in Canada and the UK and was even supposed to make its way to Germany. Of course, it has changes in it because adapting the entire story into a three-hour stage musical is an impossible task. It’s also the only musical I know of that consists of three acts rather than two. There is actually a cast recording available with the main songs in it. Like, honestly, I personally just love this musical. For instance, take a listen to Galadriel’s big solo:

I know, I’m most likely in the minority here, but for me personally, The Lord of the Rings is one of the best musicals out there and it’s an absolute shame that it’s not performed more often.

9 - Wicked: I am an absolute fan of seeing the story from the antagonist’s point of view and understand all of their motives. Wicked is one of the best examples out there as it takes the classic tale The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and gives it a darker and more serious spin, mainly because the Wicked Witch of the West is now the protagonist. I know, this musical is loved by everyone and makes it into pretty much everyone’s top list, but...honestly, it really deserves it. The songs are amazing and the story is very touching, especially the relationship between Elphaba and Glinda. I love villain origin stories, and to this day, the part where Elphaba decides to embrace her role as the antagonist of the story still sends shivers down my spine. No Good Deed still counts as one of my favourite villain songs. I have seen this musical twice and would gladly go again whenever I get the chance to do so!

8 - Rudolf - Affaire Mayerling: Ok, so this is a little bit of a controversial situation for me. I LOVE historical musicals. I just love them. However, this musical is REALLY not what you would call historically accurate. However, to me, it doesn’t really matter. When I look at it from a musical theatre point of view, it’s actually really entertaining! I have never seen this musical live, only watched the DVD and listened to the cast recordings but I would LOVE to see it live once. The songs are so good! While the story is not the best, the music is phenomenal in my opinion. And it also has one of the most catchy villain songs to be ever put on stage: Die Fäden in der Hand. Yes, this musical has MANY flaws, I don’t deny that. The cheesy and historically non-existent romance between Rudolf and Mary is not really the best thing to watch (seriously, why didn’t they include Mizzi Caspar instead of Mary, that would have made MUCH more sense for the love aspect). But it also has a lot going for it, like the actual songs. It is still one of my favourite musicals.

7 - Dracula: Many people consider Frank Wildhorn’s best piece to be Jekyll and Hyde. I personally think that Dracula is that best piece. Sure, it had a very wonky start and the majority of the good and memorable songs came along when the musical came to Austria, but it’s also the Austrian version that I got to hear and see first (not live unfortunately but hooray to cast recordings). It’s an adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula...but more the Francis Ford Coppola film rather than the actual book. The romance aspect between Dracula and Mina is not the strongest part of the piece by far, however, when the story isn’t about the romance, the music is actually really fantastic! Oh, and it also has my favourite ever confrontation song: Zu Ende. I REALLY want to see this musical live. Why does it never come to Austria again? It had a fantastic run in Graz! And why can’t there be one German-speaking version of this musical that actually sticks to the gothic aesthetic? Oh well, a man can dream.

6 - Artus - Excalibur: Frank Wildhorn seems to be getting on this list very often, eh? Oh well, what can I say? I just love a lot of his source material. Artus - Excalibur is by no means an accurate representation of the Arthurian legend. However, what it does good is: it gives the tale its own spin. It doesn’t even try to be a step-by-step recreation, it’s completely its own thing. And I liked it. A lot actually. I saw it two times, one time in St. Gallen and one time in Staatz. Both times I absolutely loved it. It has great music and a solid story. However, the songs are by far the best part of it. It also has one of my favourite ensemble pieces: Morgen triffst du den Tod. This is one of those musicals I could watch over and over again without getting bored at all. Whenever it gets put on again, I will try to be there!

5 - Les Misérables: Ok, of course this was going to be on here. Les Mis is just the definition of an epic and emotional megamusical that is guaranteed to touch everyone’s heart at some point. Now, the fun thing is, the first time I saw Les Mis was in the cinema...when the movie came out in 2012. I know, shame on me, but I actually really liked the movie. When I was in London, I went to see the stage musical and I was blown away! It was so amazing and powerful! Javert is my personal favourite character. But I also saw Tam Mutu as Javert in London and this guy is just having a total blast in this role. Needless to say that Stars is probably my favourite song in the musical. Also, this musical is very relevant, even in today’s world, just like Victor Hugo said himself. The melodies are great, the story is great and the characters are great. What’s not to love?

4 - Rebecca: Not everyone’s favourite musical but definitely one of mine. I think, one of the reasons why I love it so much is the whole mystery and thriller aspect it has going for it. It truly captured the spirit of Daphne du Maurier’s novel and brought it on stage. The set design is beautiful, the music is great, you can’t go wrong with Sylvester Levay, and Michael Kunze once again delivered with a great script. Plus, the title song has got to be one of the most menacing songs in german-speaking musical theatre, especially when sung by the right actress. It’s a musical I would really like to see live...and one that I would wish, the VBW would finally bring back! Come on, what’s stopping you guys? Tecklenburg had a fantastic run last summer!

3 - The Hunchback of Notre Dame: I love it when Disney decides to just go dark for once. The movie is seen as Disney’s darkest animated movie. Well, it’s nice to see that the stage musical is also the darkest stage musical Disney has put on. While the movie still had a lot of the classic Disney tropes going for it, the musical gets rid of those and adds tragedy on par with Les Mis, meaning, keeping the actual book ending in the show. Also, a surprisingly large amount of Brecht and Greek Chorus was added to the show and it works really well! However, the Disney songs stay and it works as a great combination! Making Frollo the Archdeacon again adds so much more weight to the Hellfire song, and overall all the characters are extremely well-rounded. I have listened to the cast recordings and would really like to see this show live once!

2 - Elisabeth: As I said before, I absolutely love historical musicals. And Elisabeth is my favourite of those. It isn’t exactly told as a history piece but more of a dark retelling in a Danse Macabre style. Seeing the story being told from Elisabeth’s murderer’s point of view was a very clever idea. It also gave us the characters of Death and Elisabeth, some of the best musical theatre characters ever in my opinion. Every single character in this show has great opportunities to shine. The music is phenomenal and this piece single-handedly catapulted Austria and the VBW into the top charts of musical theatre producers. Also...it REALLY makes you want to be a history student! Honestly, it did that with me! As soon as I watched Elisabeth, I wanted to find out everything about the Habsburgs XD Also, this is probably the musical I have seen the most out of any. I believe to have seen it at least 15 times when it was last running in Vienna...and the fun thing is, I didn’t even like it that much when I saw it the first time! That WOW factor hit me later when I was listening to the cast recording...it happens.

1 - Tanz der Vampire: Was that really a surprise for people who follow my blog? Tanz der Vampire is my favourite musical of all time and will always retain this position. It is the piece that got me not only into musical theatre but in theatre in general. It got me into wanting to study Drama and Creative Writing, it sparked a lot of my current interests and influenced a lot of my life decisions. Tanz der Vampire has everything going for it: a great story, fantastic music, very good moral lessons, beautiful and lush sets and probably one of the best characters to ever grace the musical theatre stage: Graf von Krolock, undoubtedly the arch-nemesis of Erik Destler in the race for the rank of best cape-swishing gothic lover. It also has a very untraditional story, breaking clichés and tropes left and right, just as Roman Polanski intended. It has the perfect mixture of being dark and serious but also utterly hilarious. And it has probably one of the longest and most powerful solos of any musical in my opinion: Die unstillbare Gier. I want to see the musical more than I already have, which is 11. It’s just THAT good. For me personally, there is no better musical than Tanz der Vampire.

Ok, I know, a lot of people will disagree with me now, but as I said: this entire list is opinion-based. I would really be interested to know your Top 10 musicals :D 

[love-little-lotte]

Favorite Fantines

Hello! I haven’t posted something really good for a while, and I’m quite bored in the meantime. So, I decided I’d post some of my favorite Fantines in the critically acclaimed West End and Broadway musical, Les Miserables.

I’ve already done something like this with Christine Daae from The Phantom of the Opera. It was a really long time ago, and it was only a Top 10. This time, there would be no fixed numbers, and it won’t be in order. I’ll just mention some Fantines that I really like and explain why I like them and why I look up to them.

First up, we have Patti LuPone from the Original London Cast.

You can never really beat the original, can you? She set the tone for Fantine, being the original. I’ve seen a recording of her singing “I Dreamed a Dream” in YouTube and at first glance, I didn’t like her. I didn’t like the way she was singing it, but as time passed by, she became one of my favorite Fantines. I love her the original recording, especially in the “Epilogue.” Her voice is really soft and calming - something that I really want to hear in my Fantines.

Next in the list is Debra Byrne from the Original Australian Cast, and from the Complete Symphonic Recording. 

The first time I heard Debra Byrne’s voice singing the first notes of “I Dreamed a Dream” for the Complete Symphonic Recording, I fell in love. Her voice is soft and calming. And if you listen really closely, you will hear the anguish and desperation in her voice. I love her so, so, so much. And truly, one of the best Fantines that ever graced this Earth.

Now, let’s look at one of my favorite foreign Fantines with Pia Douwes from the 1991 Dutch Cast.

Hmm, how can you even begin to describe Pia Douwes? She’s super amazing. I first got to know her when I was making this comparison video of “I Dreamed a Dream.” I fell in love with her rendition. While Debra Byrne’s version is filled with anguish, Pia Douwes sounded innocent. She brings out the innocent side of Fantine. Take note that Fantine was really young when she got her heart broken and had Cosette, and through Pia Douwes, you can totally understand that. Since then, I’ve been a fan of hers. She also dubbed some Disney characters! 

Now we have Ruthie Henshall, who’s popularly known to be the Fantine in the 10th Anniversary Cast. 

The 10th Anniversary Cast of Les Mis is my favorite cast and recording of all time. And this is also because of Ruthie Henshall. She’s my second favorite Fantine, but she’s really close to my first one. She’s perfect in every way. I particularly love her in the “Fantine’s Arrest” because you can totally hear her anger and then desperation. You totally can’t have a Favorite Fantine list and not include Miss Henshall.

Also coming from the West End is Joanna Ampil.

Joanna Ampil is truly one of the best Fantines I’ve ever seen. Her “I Dreamed a Dream” was totally heartbreaking, and I love every minute when she’s onstage. I’ve only seen a bootleg of her, and honestly, it made me want to watch her live. It kind of bugs me whenever people bring up talented Filipinos in the West End stage and they don’t include her. She’s super underrated, and really, really good. 

And of course, we have one of my favorite Elphabas, Kerry Ellis from the West End. 

I could confidently say that I like watching Kerry Ellis perform Fantine rather than Elphaba. I love her Elphaba, but I love her Fantine more. I love her belts during “I Dreamed a Dream.” It didn’t seem forced, and it just came out naturally. She is utterly amazing and I would really love to see her as Fantine again. Any chance of that happening soon?

And of course, we have another fan-favorite, Lea Salonga, who performed the role during the 2006 Broadway Revival and the 25th Anniversary.

The 2006 Broadway Revival casting choice for Fantine was at first questionable. Who in the right mind would cast Daphne Rubin Vega for it? She wasn’t fit for the role, to be honest. They should’ve just went for Lea Salonga or Judy Kuhn immediately. But hey, that’s just my opinion. 

I’m such a huge fan of Lea Salonga, so needless to say, she’s my favorite Fantine. I love her emotion and her acting whenever she’s onstage. She totally owned the role of Fantine, especially in the 25th Anniversary. She may be quite (dare I say it?) overrated. There are times when I listen to her and be like, her again? Meh. But when I actually watch her in the performance again, I remember how she’s so good and perfect. She’s the Fantine! And I honestly will do everything just to see her play in the role again in the future! 

By the way, have you heard the recording when she infamously swore during “Fantine’s Arrest”? 

Speaking of the 25th Anniversary, we have Madalena Alberto from the UK Tour! 

She. Is. Gorgeous. And talented as heck, too! In my opinion, she definitely looks the part. She’s how I imagined Fantine, even when I was reading the Victor Hugo novel. I love her Fantine, and is truly one of my very favorites. My favorite part of her Fantine is her “Come To Me” because that’s tear-jerking as heck and she’s such a good actress. I don’t see why she’s such an underrated Fantine? She’s in Spotify for goodness sake, so check that version out! 

Betsy Morgan was also casted as Fantine in the 25th Anniverary Tour all the way from the US.

I first knew her from The Little Mermaid when she was understudying Sierra Boggess. Even then, she was super amazing! Betsy truly gave her all as Fantine. At first, she might look like a normal Fantine, but as I reviewed her performance, I came to really love her so much! She can belt, she can act, and damn, she can make you feel.

Another favorite foreign Fantine! Here’s Edyta Krzemien from Poland.

I haven’t seen a video of her (is there an available bootleg? Please do tell me!) but it was enough for me to really love her voice. Her “I Dreamed a Dream” was so powerful. I was actually skeptical before listening to her as Fantine. I wasn’t a big fan of her Christine Daae, but damn, she is such a good Fantine! If you’re not into listening to foreign songs, better listen to her. She might change your mind.

But great Fantines can’t be only seen onstage. In 2012, Tom Hooper directed the film version of Les Mis, and it had Anne Hathaway playing Fantine.

YES! She was a really great Fantine, and she truly deserved that Oscar. Her “I Dreamed a Dream” alone is an Oscar-worthy performance. Her angst and desperation was clearly shown in “Fantine’s Arrest” and she truly gave one of the most heartbreaking scenes during “Lovely Ladies.” She was honestly superb, and she truly shined in the role. Even though she was only onscreen for a few minutes, I left the theatre with her performance still in mind. And that’s how you make a great Fantine, everyone.

Let’s go back to stage Fantines: Celinde Schoenmaker from the West End. 

Before she was an incredible Christine Daae, she was an incredible Fantine. Her rendition of “I Dreamed a Dream” is one of my favorites. She’s also one of my favorite musical theatre actresses of all time. Her belting is astounding, as well as her acting. Just like Madalena Alberto, she has a sweet, sweet face that really suits Fantine. Her “Come To Me” and “Epilogue” scenes are really amazing too! I have nothing to say anymore. Just go to YouTube and listen to her. You’ll see what I mean.

Last but not the least is Rachelle Ann Go from the West End and the recent Asian Tour.

Though I’ve only seen her “I Dreamed a Dream” and only listened to audios of her other songs, I love her. I can totally feel her emotion whenever she sings, and she’s an amazing belter. Her voice is crystal clear, and there’s no doubt how talented she is. She’s a very powerful actress, and a great casting choice for Fantine. Hope to hear more about her in Hamilton!

[ilovemybarricadebabies]

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My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Here’s my take on the Les Mis official posts about the queen’s death

WHY ARE YOU ALL SURPRISED??? They posted when the UK celebrated the Jubilee. They posted about the wedding of Harry and Meghan. They literally performed a concert at Windsor Castle for the Queen years ago!!!! They’ve posted, and done things, in support of the monarchy many times.

Like WTF were you expecting when the show is produced by grumpy, white, old, monarchy-loving British men???? Those men DO NOT CARE that the whole point of Les Mis was being anti-monarchist. Because at the end of the day, they only care about the MONEY that will line their pockets, which is exactly what the Jubilee and the wedding brought them. Money from the thousands of tourists and UK natives who were in the city those two weekends.

These people DO NOT CARE about Victor Hugo’s message when he wrote the book. They do not care about the people that died 190 years ago in attempt to make their country a better place. Just like they don’t care about the thousands of people who have suffered under the British Monarchy’s rule. These people DO NOT CARE because they are greedy MFers, who just want to have more money.

I mean, are we forgetting that this same producer literally called casting trans people in shows a fucking gimmick??? Or closed the original production in favor of the 25th because it would save him money??? Like it’s been proven time and time again that Cam Mack is an asshole, who doesn’t care about anyone other than himself and is more concerned about how he can earn himself more money.

Like yes, call them out on the posts. Remind them what the show is about. But if you don’t think it won’t happen again during Charles’s coronation or even after that, think again because it will.

67 notes - Posted September 9, 2022

#4

“Happy” Barricade Day, everyone!!! 🇫🇷🚩🇫🇷🚩🇫🇷🚩🇫🇷🚩🇫🇷🚩🇫🇷🚩🇫🇷🚩🇫🇷🚩

See the full post

84 notes - Posted June 5, 2022

#3

Since we are a little less than a month out from Barricade Day, and I know that lots of people are already working on their fics, fanart, fan edits, and everything in between.

I just wanted to send out this little reminder to the people who aren’t necessarily interested or don’t really have time to create something. Please do not feel pressured into creating fanfic, fanart, fan edits, whatever for Barricade Day. If you feel most comfortable just liking, reblogging/reposting other people’s posts, that’s okay. You can participate in this fandom on those days anyway that you want to.

89 notes - Posted May 9, 2022

#2

I knew it was coming, especially since they started teasing a big cast change in January/February, and I tried to prepare myself for it, but no preparation was enough for how sad and painful this was/is going to be. 😭😭😭😭😭😭

98 notes - Posted March 24, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

It’s that time again…

It’s June 1st (where I live) meaning General Lamarque died on this day and there’s only four days to go until we all hold hands (😉😉) and cry together over our beloved boys! Can’t wait to join in the sadness!

🇫🇷🚩🇫🇷🚩🇫🇷🚩🇫🇷🚩🇫🇷🚩🇫🇷🚩🇫🇷🚩🇫🇷🚩

135 notes - Posted June 1, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[bbclesmis]

Emmys 2019: David Oyelowo on colour-blind casting, 'Les Miserables' and directing

When the BBC approached David Oyelowo about starring as Javert, opposite Dominic West as Jean Valjean, in Andrew Davies’ six-episode limited series of Victor Hugo’s classic novel Les Miserables, the 43-year-old UK actor was initially reluctant.

But reading Davies’ adaptation – and subsequently Hugo’s 1862 tome – convinced him there was ample opportunity to deliver a more nuanced portrayal of the character than had been seen in the previous high-profile version: Tom Hooper’s 2012 musical adaptation in which Russell Crowe had portrayed the obsessive police inspector.

“I saw how much more meat there was on the bone compared to what I had seen in the musical,” says Oyelowo. “I felt that the opportunity with Andrew’s adaptation was to really give context to Javert’s obsession with Jean Valjean, and to this very violent end to his life at his own hands.”

Premiering on December 30, the series achieved solid ratings during its BBC One run, with PBS broadcasting in the US in April and May; BBC Studios handles international distribution.

Based in Los Angeles for the last 12 years, Oyelowo is now in Oregon for the eight-week shoot of his feature directing debut The Water Man. Emma Needell’s script was on the Black List and follows an 11-year-old boy who moves to a small town with his family, where he seeks out a mythical local with the reputed ability to cheat death in the hope he can cure his mother’s illness. “It’s an adventure story about a boy trying to save his mother,” says Oyelowo.

Increasingly active as a producer in recent years, Oyelowo was an executive producer on Les Miserables, and is co-producing The Water Man with Oprah Winfrey. He is also a producer (as well as lead actor) on the Blumhouse Productions horror Relive, which premiered at Sundance, and the Peter Pan/Alice In Wonderland prequel Come Away alongside co-star Angelina Jolie.

With wife Jessica Oyelowo, he runs production company Yoruba Saxon which has a first-look deal with Madison Wells Media. The couple has multiple film and TV projects in development, some in collaboration with Winfrey’s company Harpo Films, as well as the feature Cyrano The Moor with Disney. The musical twist on Cyrano De Bergerac is being written by Moonlight scribe Tyrell Alvin McCraney with Jeanine Tesori (Shrek The Musical) doing the music. “We are in the trenches with it right now,” says Oyelowo.

If Oyelowo scores a Primetime Emmy nomination for Les Miserables, it would be his third, the previous two coming in 2015 as lead actor and one of the producers of the HBO/Plan B collaboration Nightingale.

What did you think when the BBC and Davies first approached you about playing Javert?

I hope this doesn’t sound like hyperbole [but] it was life-affirming for me. I had grown up in the UK on period dramas, not least Andrew Davies period dramas, but just always felt that that was something that would never be afforded me by way of an opportunity. And so to have made fairly robust and scary choices in order to keep things moving in my career, and 11, 12 years on from moving to the States to find that opportunities were opening up that were certainly not in the offing when I was [in the UK] for me or anyone who looked like me – that was a true indication that things are shifting within my own lifetime.

Colour-blind casting has been gaining traction in UK stage and TV productions in particular. Is that a big win for the industry?

It’s a win when it comes to this underlying thinking that to have someone like me play Javert is historically inaccurate and therefore not permissible. Because I’m so invested in the representation of people of colour on TV and film, I’ve done the research, I’ve read the history books, I know that to have someone like me playing Javert is not outside of the realms of historical plausibility. There were people of colour who were operating not purely as subjugated, enslaved or browbeaten individuals at that time.

But even beyond that, I think we all can admit that when we make a piece of content, whether it be television or film, what makes it relevant is to have people who are going to be watching it represented within the thing itself. Whether that’s emotionally or in terms of the optics of it, you have to speak to humanity and if you are only ever showing one demographic side of humanity, you’re going to run out of stories, you’re going to run out of reasons for a broad audience to watch your show. The encouraging thing about Les Mis is that a much broader audience than otherwise would have watched it, both in the UK and certainly in the States, watched it not just because of me but because across the board, people of colour were a part of that production.

Were you worried about being able to make Javert more than the one-dimensional ‘villain’ of the piece?

That was definitely on my mind from the offset because, in all honesty, I did think that that’s how Javert comes off in the musical. What I saw was an opportunity that even if you don’t sympathise with him, even if you don’t like him, you can at least empathise with why he made the choices he made on the basis of his own familial history – being born in prison, hating that side of himself, somehow transposing onto Jean Valjean that part of himself he hated – and at the end of the story realising that the person he was really trying to destroy was himself. One of the great things I have heard from folks who’ve watched the show is they didn’t like Javert but they felt for him. For me, that’s mission accomplished.

Dominic West said he felt you were avoiding him and turning down his dinner invitations. How did you approach your on-set relationship with your on-screen adversary?

[Laughs] I guess I did. I was so deep in this thing when we were shooting it that I probably subconsciously felt that to be hanging out with Dominic was not going to serve me or the character. We’re great friends now and I love being around him. He’s incredibly funny and jocular and that is not Javert so I felt like I needed to keep that at bay during the shoot.

Dominic has his own theory about Javert’s obsession with Valjean, which is that Javert was in love with him.

Dominic would think that [laughs]. For me, both in relation to [Victor] Hugo’s book and how I played Javert, I felt he was asexual. I can’t imagine Javert in any kind of romantic or sexual relationship. He dedicated himself so totally both to his job and his obsession with destroying this other human being. So you could argue that there is attraction there but I personally didn’t dwell on that because I was just so fascinated by the obsession Javert has to destroy this man. It’s documented that Hugo based the characters of Jean Valjean and Javert on the same man and that was where my head was at.

Did you need to detox from playing Javert after production wrapped?

It was very immersive, it was six months, but I have four children and they would not tolerate hints of Javert in our house [laughs]. So that tends to be a very good way for me to shake any given character. But this did have an impact on me, not only as an actor but also in producing the show. I was buried in it, my work on this show did not end once we finished shooting. It was watching cut after cut after cut of the episodes to make sure that we were landing it, and also the marketing and the rollout – I was very keen to make sure that both the BBC and PBS were doing everything we could to get it to a broad audience. I applaud both companies in doing exactly that.

You’ve become very active as a producer in recent years. Did you move in that direction out of career necessity?

Yes, borne out of the necessity that there are stories I want to tell, there are stories I want to help other people tell, there are people who I would like to see both in front of and behind the camera. And you can either wait by the phone, hoping that other people are going to instigate and initiate that or you can use the degree of notoriety you have to try and be the instigator, and I’ve chosen to do the latter. I didn’t go to drama school thinking I would be a producer – it has been a byproduct of not wanting to be one of those people who just complains but who actually can make things happen.

Oprah Winfrey is an executive producer on The Water Man. Are the two of you close as creative collaborators?

Yes, we have several projects together in television and film. We became very good friends after we did The Butler and Selma together and we see eye to eye on the kind of stories we want to tell and representation in front of and behind the camera. She’s been a part of this project for the four years that we’ve been developing it. We’re producing it independently with ShivHans Pictures who did Captain Fantastic and Trumbo among other films; they’re fully financing it. I’m just putting my head down and trying to make the best film I can.

Is the plan for you to also star in Cyrano The Moor?

For now! We’ll see. Our take on it is rather than it being the size of his nose that curtails both his ascension in society and with Roxane, it’s the colour of his skin. It’ll be set in the 1800s in the UK, probably in the Bristol area.

What’s in store once you’ve completed The Water Man?

I’ve had to keep the acting at bay to give me the time to get The Water Man right in the edit but I have a number of films coming out soon that I’ll need to beat the drum for as they roll around. Relive, the film I did for Blumhouse that premiered at Sundance, and Come Away both come out this year. We just did some reshoots for Chaos Walking for Lionsgate, that’ll be coming out probably early next year. And then I just did Peter Rabbit 2 before I started on The Water Man. I’ve got to get The Water Man right and then I can turn my head back to being in front of the camera.

x

[bbclesmis]

The new Les Mis? Well, it left me bloomin' miserable!

Early in the first episode of the BBC’s new adaptation of Les Misérables, one character turns to another and says: ‘I wonder if you know how I am suffering.’

Well, darling. My thoughts exactly.

Love it or hate it, the unarguable fact about this classic is that, as it says on the tin, it is completely bloody miserable. From start to finish, from first gunshot to last guillotine, it is grim, grim, grim all the way.

Be it Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel, Cameron Mackintosh’s smash hit stage musical or the treacletastic Hollywood version of 2012, you can depend upon Les Mis for gloom piled upon doom in a cruel mille-feuille of human torment.

The show features a range of characters from across class divides but producers were concerned this would not be reflected by regional French accents for a British audience. Pictured are Dominic West as Valjean, left, Lily Collins as Fantine, centre, and David Oyelowo as Javert, right.

The BBC version of Les Misérables will feature characters from poor backgrounds speaking in northern accents to highlight class divisions. Dominic West is using his native Sheffield accent for his character Jean Valjean, who goes from criminal, left, to respectable mayor, right.

I have wept buckets at all three of them, and I wept again at a preview of this new BBC1 six-part series, which begins on December 30. Although this time for very different reasons.

We open on the aftermath of the Battle of Waterloo, a warscape of bloodied corpses and dying horses; the latter fluttering their lush equine eyelashes before carking it on the smoking fields of Europe. Merry Christmas, war is over? Well, not quite.

Soon we are down at the Toulon Prison Hulks, where Jean Valjean (Dominic West) is a slave in chains, cross-hatched with whip wounds and jammy open sores, while sporting an unfortunate beard that makes him look like Fred the maitre d’ from First Dates.

You think things are bad? They are about to get very much worse.

With its themes of workers’ oppression, social justice, the treatment of women and the redemptive power of love, it would be hard to find a tale that is more politically correct than Les Misérables.

But guess what? It is not quite politically correct enough for the BBC in 2018.

So this version has a super 'inclusive’ cast and has been given a 'contemporary relevance’ by writer Andrew Davies, who has floated a homoerotic theme between Valjean and his pursuer Javert, the police inspector played by David Oyelowo, which is about as believable as a bromance between Tom and Jerry.

Valjean, pictured early on in the show when a prisoner, is the central character and the series follows his efforts to make a better life for himself.

Olivia Colman also stars as the nefarious Madame Thenardier, pictured, an innkeeper who tries to swindle people out of money.

Andrew Davies is an adapter of genius, famed for sexing-up classics for television, such as Pride And Prejudice and War And Peace. Yet has he gone too far this time?

He thinks that Javert was in love with Valjean 'in a strange way’, and depicts this by the policeman’s lingering looks when Valjean strips naked in an early scene.

To be fair, officer, so did I. For Dominic West’s naked bottom, which makes an appearance in nearly every role he plays, is always a sight to gladden any revolutionary’s heart.

Meanwhile, Davies, an incorrigible old Leftie, is keen to point out that even though Les Misérables is more than 150 years old, it still reflects the injustices and divisions within society today. To illustrate this, he spoke of the beggars he had seen on the streets and the homeless sleeping rough in London.

Yes, it is wholly regrettable that times are tough for these unfortunates. But be fair. Even if you do not like the Tories, it is safe to say things have improved since early 19th-century France.

Single mothers are supported financially and emotionally in society, not shunned like Fantine. There is no way underage Cosette would today be sent to work in an inn, with cruel Olivia Colman making her scrub the hearth.

Fantine, centre, eventually turns to prostitution and Collins said the character resonated with her as a mother willing to do whatever it takes to support her child even at her lowest moment. Also pictured are Ayoola Smart as Zephine, left, and Charlotte Dylan as Favorite, right

Lily Collins plays Fantine, a factory worker who struggles to look after her illegitimate daughter after being abandoned by her lover.

West and Oyelowo, pictured, whose characters are locked in a cat and mouse chase throughout the story, said they came to understand them better when they used a Sheffield and London accent respectively

And no one is given 19 years’ hard labour for stealing a loaf of bread, like Valjean. You don’t even get 19 years for murder, Andrew!

So a little bit of perspective wouldn’t go amiss. Meanwhile, there are no songs in this excruciatingly right-on adaptation — no songs!

But even with all the box-ticking snowflakery, the power of Hugo’s epic tale of redemption and uncrushable human spirit does begin to cast its spell.

It is filmed on a lavish scale, with a starburst of fabulous actors and a will to be winning which transcends its demagoguery.

This week, David Oyelowo said of the production: 'The really radical thing we’ve been doing is to take a 150-year-old novel and transpose it on to English life — to make it relevant to the wide audience we want to speak to.’

David, can I just say something? You don’t mean English, you mean British. And that mistake is really annoying to the millions of Scots (like me), Welsh and Irish who live in the UK, but were not born or are domiciled in England.

We get really fed up when people say England when they mean the UK, which they do all the time. Being politically correct on an epic Les Mis scale is exhausting — but it is a two-way street, for all of us.

By Jan Moir for the Daily Mail

[bbclesmis]

No singing allowed

Victor Hugo’s epic novel Les Misérables might be best known for its musical adaptations, but a new small-screen adaptation produced for the BBC and Masterpiece on PBS feels more like a western, as exec producer Bethan Jones and director Tom Shankland explain.

When Victor Hugo sat down to write his epic 19th century novel Les Misérables, including in it a searing indictment of the divide between rich and poor and the travails of revolutionary political movements, he was probably considering a more distinguished legacy than an often-derided musical in London’s West End.

For when one thinks about Les Misérables, it is the bathetic tones of I Dreamed a Dream and carefully choreographed dance-acting that spring to mind. And although Anne Hathaway’s rendition of I Dreamed… in the 2012 Hollywood film did give a sense of the pain and despair her character Fantine was supposed to be feeling, the fact remains that this ambitious novel is often reduced to a collection of show tunes and the diminutive appellation ‘Les Mis.’

This is one of the reasons adaptation supremo Andrew Davies (Bleak House, Pride & Prejudice, Middlemarch) has taken on the project for UK pubcaster the BBC and Masterpiece on PBS in the US, alongside producers Lookout Point and BBC Studios, which is also distributing. When discussing the adaptation a few years back at the Hay Festival, Davies called the musical a “shoddy farrago” of Hugo’s original work, adding that he hoped his take would champion the book for its depth.

“Andrew loves being contentious, that’s his thing,” says Bethan Jones, exec producer on the series for BBC Studios. “For me, you take a big book like this and you adapt it to the form you are servicing. Inevitably, the musical has to have its baddies, its goodies, its romantic interests – it has to follow that journey. It has a certain amount of hours to fill and you have to tell a musical story. A film adaptation will be a very different thing again. What we’ve got in six hours is the opportunity to dig down a little bit more into those characters than potentially shorter adaptations have time to do; to explore the relationships and themes between the characters and their particular journeys.”

Part of this sharper focus on the source material is a strict ‘no singing’ policy, with Davies pointedly declaring at Hay that his cast would not “yell great things like they do in the musical.” Jones diplomatically says the musical and the BBC series – which lands on screens in early 2019 – are “two very different, but equally valid” ways of representing the book.

Pared down, Les Misérables tells the story of prisoner Jean Valjean and his continuous battle with police inspector Javert following his release from prison for stealing bread. After further run-ins with the law, Valjean attempts to change his ways and live life as a decent man. Interspersed with his long road to redemption are stories of family, love, rebellion and commentary on the social and political class system of post-revolutionary France. Its intricate plot has spawned – beyond the aforementioned takes – more than 60 adaptations across film and television, which raises another question about the BBC’s forthcoming production – do we need another?

Jones reiterates Davies’ desire to go back to Hugo’s original text and “draw out more of the real stories, themes and characters” and the book’s timelessness as justification. “We also felt it was timely in as much as while there is still poverty, hardship and degradation in the world, books like this will still be relevant. It feels timely to be looking at a classic text that deals with a complicated period and the division of rich and poor but through the eyes of brilliant characters.”

Director Tom Shankland (The City & The City, The Missing, Ripper Street) admits he hadn’t seen a single adaptation of the book before he took the helm, and thus hopes his is a fresh perspective. “For me, it felt like an epic western,” he says. “I’ve always loved westerns. There are all these fantastic characters – the bad sheriff, the wanted man, the hunted fugitive. It was everything I loved about that genre – the adventure and emotion of that.” Simply being thrilled by the plot isn’t enough to hook a director completely, Shankland points out, but he was snagged “emotionally and thematically” by Valjean’s quest for redemption and a “simple desire to be good in a bad world.”

The BBC has assembled a premium cast for the series, with The Affair star Dominic West taking on Valjean, Selma’s David Oyelowo playing Javert, Lily Collins as destitute young mother Fantine and Adeel Akhtar and Olivia Colman as petty criminals the Thénardiers. “David absolutely felt there was something around Javert’s role as a bit of a thwarted outsider with frustrations and drive to move up in the world, as well as being this person with a real ideological commitment to the belief that people are either born wicked or good,” Shankland says. “He kept on looking and finding, in extraordinary ways, the humanity – however twisted and bitter – in Javert. By the end, I’m almost in tears for him. In my wildest dreams, I wasn’t sure we’d get to that place with a character like that. David dug so deep.

“When I watch what Dominic does to take Valjean to this unbelievably brutalised place, which is almost a wordless, inhuman place, to where he ends, he makes me believe every part of that journey.”

Davies has a knack of turning a classic literary work into a TV drama that resonates cinematically and does not seem anachronistic. In 2016, he received universal acclaim for his BBC adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s epic historical novel War & Peace, in which he successfully brought chaotic battle scenes, aristocratic opulence and sweeping landscapes of 19th century Russia to the small screen. Furthermore, within that epic scope, Jones says Davies has a rare ability to portray relatable characters that “speak to” a contemporary audience.

“Andrew’s scripts made these characters feel modern. That was nothing to do with having them speak in a very modern way or changing their behaviour, he just found the humanity and earthiness of it,” Shankland says, recalling a scene in which Fantine and her companions urinate in a Paris park. “I thought, ‘Oh god, they’re going to pee in Les Misérables, that’s exciting.’ It was these little things that Andrew did to make these people feel real and have an immediate presence that made me think that it wouldn’t be like doing a conventional, polite period piece. We’d be doing something that had a real connection with today.”

Filming has taken the production to far-flung areas of the French-speaking parts of Europe, from southern Belgium to Sedan in the Ardennes region of north-eastern France. In Sedan, Shankland says, they found back streets acutely reminiscent of the period Hugo was writing about. Jones and Shankland both note that the filming of key scenes, such as the political uprising, where students revolt and erect barricades in the narrow streets of Paris, were inspired by contemporary riots such as those that took place in London in 2011 and in Northern Ireland during the Troubles in the 1960s.

“I wanted the images to resonate with the audience, so they’d be thinking, ‘Oh hang about, that doesn’t feel like [post-revolutionary France] even if they might have guns that are somewhat 19th century,’” Shankland says. “Actually, what happened in a street battle – the energy, fear and chaos of that – is very modern. I tried to let modern events into the imagery. In some ways, we never thought of it as a period piece.”

“It does speak to that modern world. It’s not the French revolution; it’s a small, failed skirmish. That’s the tragedy of it. It’s a group of people desperately trying to assert themselves in a situation where the state is so much bigger than them. That’s still very relevant,” Jones adds.

Considering Les Misérables’ hard-hitting topics, one might expect the series to comprise six hours of unremitting tension and misery. But Shankland is quick to reassure this isn’t the case. “For all that the story is full of these epic, intense themes, there’s so much humour in it, and not in a way that I felt was ever crowbarred in. However dark times are, there’s always room for lightness and romance. It’s just a beautifully textured piece.” And all without a songbook in sight.

(x)

[bbclesmis]

The Herald: Disappointed by TV version of Les Mis? Here comes the real thing

 On the streets of Paris, revolution is in the air. The people want to take back control from an out of touch government whose leaders are shoring up their own wealth. Barricades look set to be leapt. Such is the way of history repeating itself in France, from the 19th century uprising through to 1968 and even the current, and slightly more ideologically ambiguous wave of street protests by the so-called Gilets Jaunes – the yellow vests. It was seeing photographs of the latter in a French newspaper that struck a chord with Claude-Michel Schonberg.

 “Those pictures looked exactly like the set of Les Miserables,” says the composer of one of the most iconic pieces of musical theatre in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.

 “First of all it made me realise that Les Miserables is still relevant. Secondly, it also made me realise that in 200 years we have learnt nothing.”

 Maybe this is why the current year-long UK tour of Les Miserables, originally adapted by Schonberg and writer Alan Boublil from Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel, has pretty much sold out already.

 Arriving in Edinburgh this month for the first time in 20 years for a month-long run, the English-language version of Boublil and Schonberg’s show has been a fixture of the London theatre circuit since Trevor Nunn directed a co-production between the Royal Shakespeare Company and Cameron Mackintosh at the Barbican in 1985.

 This makes it the second longest-running musical in the world.

 Despite the success of putting Hugo’s story charting ex-convict Jean Valjean’s travails through poverty-stricken France onstage, Schonberg for one isn’t quite sure of the reasons why it happened.

 “It’s a phenomenon I don’t really understand,” the now 74-year old composer admits of a creation which introduced the world to songs now regarded as modern classics such as I Dreamed A Dream, “but the show is more popular than ever. I must say, I’m totally surprised.”

 By the time Les Miserables opens at the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh, the new six-part TV adaptation of Hugo’s book scripted by Andrew Davies will be mid-way through its own run. With Dominic West playing Valjean as part of a cast that includes Olivia Coleman and David Oyelowo, rather than claiming kin with Boublil and Schonberg’s take on things, advance publicity appears to pointing up the fact that it is categorically not the musical, and shouldn’t be confused as such. Viewers and critics have already criticised this sans songs version as being flat.

 With Les Mis the musical itself filmed in 2012 with Hugh Jackman as Valjean, this too is something Schonberg doesn’t understand.

 “Whenever I read an article about the BBC version, they are saying it is the real version of the novel and not the trivial musical stage version,” he says.

 “I don’t know how you can promote something against it. People know the title because of the musical show, but each time there’s an adaptation, they all make the point that they are not going to have anyone singing. But who knows? This one might be very good. I will look at it carefully.”

 Schonberg probably doesn’t need to worry too much. As he points out, there has been more than 50 films based on Hugo’s novel, with over 20 TV adaptations as well as another 20 different versions onstage. This is how great stories work as they are reimagined for every age. Indeed, it was another musical adaptation of a nineteenth century novel that was the starting point for Les Miserables.

 “Alain saw Oliver! in London,” says Schonberg, who had previously collaborated with Boublil on La Revolution Francaise, France’s first rock opera, produced in 1973. “I said to Alain, next time we find a big subject, we have it as a sung-through musical, and when Alain saw Oliver!, that gave us an idea about how to do it.”

 Lionel Bart’s musical version of Charles Dickens’ novel, Oliver Twist, had already been adapted for film by Carol Reed in 1968 by then, after being first seen on the West End eight years earlier. Prior to putting Les Miserables onstage, as was the fashion then, Boublil and Schonberg released a recording of it as a concept album. This approach had already paid dividends for the English musical theatre team of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber with Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita, and Schonberg had already scored hit records in France.

 Three years after the Les Miserables concept album had led to the show’s original French production, it was heard by British producer Cameron Mackintosh after it was passed on to him by director Peter Farago.

 “Two years after the show closed in Paris, Cameron was organising his records and put it on,” Schonberg recalls. “and after that we heard he was looking for those crazy French guys, Schonberg and Boublil”

 While the pair worked on new drafts of Les Miserables, Mackintosh was riding high on the success of Cats, directed by Trevor Nunn, who had also overseen David Edgar’s epic staging of Dickens’ Nicholas Nickleby, and knew how to put on a big show. Success was far from guaranteed, however, and the opening night of Les Mis was a critical disaster.

 “The critics were very bad,’ says Schonberg, actually using the v word eight times. “Cameron has a tradition of having a lunch the day after an opening night, and it was like a funeral. We thought it was finished, and during the lunch Cameron kept trying to call the box office to measure the scale of the disaster, but couldn’t get through. Eventually he received a message to say that the reason he couldn’t get through was that the show had sold 5,000 tickets, and in two weeks would be sold out.”

 Les Miserables went on to win an Olivier Award for the most popular show, while on Broadway it won three Tony awards.

 The current touring version is directed by Laurence Connor and James Powell for a production reinvigorated for the show’s 25th anniversary in 2009. The result is a very 21st century Les Mis, which utilises projections based on paintings by Hugo created by son et lumiere auteurs Fifty-Nine Productions. The internationally renowned team led by Leo Warner and Mark Grimmer, who have come a long way since their early work at the Traverse Theatre, the National Theatre of Scotland and with Stellar Quines Theatre Company.

 Having worked worldwide on the National Theatre’s production of War Horse and the 2012 Olympics, more recently 59 have been responsible for opening events of the Edinburgh International Festival, Deep Time, Bloom and the First World war-themed Five Telegrams. The latter projected images onto the walls of the Usher Hall accompanied by a thundering score by Anna Meredith.

 “There have been so many improvements to Les Miserable this year,’ says Schonberg. “That has a lot to do with technological developments which wouldn’t have been possible even five years ago.”

 This keeps the show fresh for several generations of theatre-goers, as was proven last week, when Schonberg met a woman who told him how she’d seen Les Miserables a staggering 300 times.

 “For Christmas she was taking her children and grand-children to see the show with hr again,’ he says.”

 What Les Miserables taps into, again, Schonberg isn’t sure about. All he can say is that “I think we did the right job, but it is the novel that is responsible for the success of the show, and for whatever reason, people seem to leave the theatre a bit different. People are scared for the future. They’re all looking for a bright tomorrow and waiting for the sun to shine, and people come out of the show perhaps believing they can be a better person.”

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How giving Jean Valjean a Yorkshire accent helped Dominic West understand Les Miserables

BBC One’s new six-part series Les Miserables promises to be unlike any previous adaptation we’ve seen of the classic, epic novel. Georgia Humphreys speaks to its stars.

Chances are you’ll know the gut-wrenching story of Les Miserables. Whether you’ve seen the 2012 film, watched the musical on stage, or read the historical novel by Victor Hugo, it’s a depiction of the struggles of France’s underclass, and how far they must go to survive.

Now, six-part BBC One mini-series Les Miserables promises to delve deep into the layers of the classic story, which is set against the epic backdrop of 1845 France – a time of civil unrest.

It could barely be more timely given the ‘yellow vests’ protests that have erupted across modern-day France in recent weeks in anger at fuel tax rises and growing living costs.

Here, cast members Dominic West, Lily Collins and David Oyelowo tell us more about what to expect from the adaptation, which will air over the Christmas period.

The protagonist of the story is Jean Valjean, who is struggling to lead a normal life after serving a prison sentence for stealing bread to feed his sister’s children.

And for Sheffield-born West, star of The Wire and The Affair, the appeal of playing him is simple.

“He’s the best superhero that’s ever been written about,” says the 49-year-old Yorkshireman, who went to Eton after his father George made his fortune from manufacturing plastic vandal-resistant bus shelters.

Meanwhile, it’s a dream come true for Collins, 29 – who is the daughter of musician Phil Collins – to play orphaned, working-class Fantine, as she grew up loving musicals like Les Mis.

However, the actress, who played Snow White in the film Mirror Mirror, loves the fact that the BBC version doesn’t feature any singing.

“It’s really fun to play the part that people have played before, but in a way no one’s seen before,” say the Guilford-born star, who moved to LA as a child with her mother.

“We get to see her meet her friends, meet her lover, be wooed, and go out on dates and actually fall in love and have the child,” adds Collins.

“And then she goes on the journey that everyone mostly knows.”                         

Oyelowo, who was born in Oxford to Nigerian parents, takes on the role of Javert, a police inspector who becomes obsessed with the pursuit and punishment of convict Valjean.

And the 42-year-old admits he was pleasantly surprised when he was offered the part.

“It’s the kind of role that growing up in the UK you just accept, ‘Well, I love watching that, but that’s never going to be me’,” confides the actor, known for films such as Selma and A United Kingdom.

“I’m elated that we are in a time and a world where it’s not any sort of big move on the BBC’s part or Tom’s [Shankland, director] part or the producer’s part to approach me with a role like this.

“I’m just so glad that 12-year-olds that look like me are going to get to see images that I didn’t get to see when I was their age, and would have been formative for me.”

Much of the drama in Les Mis revolves around the cat-and-mouse relationship between the characters of Jean Valjean and Javert.

“Javert sees Jean Valjean as a mirror to himself,” explains Oyelowo.

“Javert was born in a prison, he was born to gypsy parents, he was born in and around criminality.

“And that is the thing he is pushing away from obsessively for all of his life.”

Both actors enjoyed scrutinising the text to develop their characters.

“We’ve spent a lot of time just trying to nail down what makes this feel real, because the book itself relies heavily on coincidence,” notes Oyelowo.

On exploring the motivations of their characters, West says his roots in Yorkshire helped with understanding the part.

“We had a bit of trouble at first, thinking, ‘What’s Javert’s problem? Why is he so obsessed with this dude?’

“But it all became easier when David starting doing Javert in a London accent, and I started doing Jean Valjean in a Yorkshire accent!”

Collins’ preparation, meanwhile, saw her speak to Anne Hathaway, who won an Oscar for her role as Fantine in the film.

She was told: “Good luck, and do your own thing.”

“I was heavily inspired by that movie,” she shares.

“But Tom also wanted it to be about the literature, not basing it on someone else’s work.”

She adds: “In any role I do there is a little bit of pressure to do my best because I’m my own harshest critic, let alone when you’re playing a literary character that people love.”

West says that because the book – which he calls “the best book” he’s ever read – is a lot less known than the musical, it takes the pressure off a bit.

“It’s huge, epic, magic, romantic, heroic, incredibly morally challenging and morally interesting.

“People will play this part forever because it’s a great classic part, and the reason is there’s so many ways to come at it.”

What also makes the tale timeless is its themes, such as guilt and revenge. And West also points out that there are parallels with today’s society in terms of the class struggle depicted in the show.

“Les Miserables is about the poor people and their fight against injustice and plutocrats running over them,” he says.

“It’s all pretty relevant.”

West admits he’s been “in tears all day” on set (the series was filmed in Brussels and northern France).

“I can’t stop crying,” he says. “I just love this man.

“It’s quite hard to make a good guy interesting, and really care about a good guy, but he’s just strong and courageous.”

He continues: “I’ve got loads of kids, and I’ve played a lot of villains and I don’t want to be a villain, I don’t find them interesting any more. So I love playing this hero.”

Collins agrees she’s been affected by filming the sadness in Fantine’s story.

“I obviously feel what my character’s feeling, but I also try at the end of the day to leave some of that at work.

“Even though I’m alone here in Brussels, I’m going out and spending time with people and also being able to see friends in London, and FaceTime ... I don’t have to live in a bubble.”

Filming away from home does of course poses its challenges, as Oyelowo, who now lives in LA, candidly reveals.

“I have four kids and a wife who I miss so terribly,” admits the star.

“But she and I have a two-week rule – we’re never apart for more than two weeks. So, a lot of flying back and forth. You make it work.

“But that’s partly why this is the first time I’ve done anything of this nature since I did Spooks, because it takes up so much time and I have young children. But this was one I couldn’t say no to.”

Script ‘demanded best actors’

Screenwriter Andrew Davies says the roles in Les Miserables called for the “finest available actors”.

“We were thrilled to be able to cast Dominic West as Valjean and David Oyelowo as Javert,” he told the Radio Times about his adaptation of Victor Hugo’s 19th century classic.

“That casting reflects the often ignored fact that France, like Britain, has a multicultural history going back to Napoleon’s time and beyond.”

Davies, known for acclaimed previous adaptations including Vanity Fair, Pride And Prejudice and War And Peace, added: “I have a reputation for bringing out, and (some say) even inventing the sexual element in the great classics.

“It is there in Les Miserables, too, but deeply buried.”

Watch Les Miserables on BBC One over the Christmas period. (x)

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Sydney Morning Herald: Lily Collins on outshining dad Phil and her new blockbuster role

Lily Collins is in a good place right now, the best place, perhaps, in her quietly glittering career. The British-American actor, 29, has the sort of resumé – movie star, fashion icon, proper published author – that might make her an object of envy were she not so grounded, so very relatable. But it's her forthcoming, wildly praised role as Fantine, that oh-so-tragic young factory worker, in a six-part BBC adaptation of Victor Hugo's famed 1862 novel, Les Misérables, that looks set to send her stratospheric.

"It's a role I've been preparing for all my life," says Lily, hazel eyes dancing under big, beautiful brows. "I mean, I read the book at school" – that's Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles – "but if I had known I was going to play Fantine one day, I would definitely have paid more attention!"

“It’s the things that make you different that end up making you unique.”

She gives a smile. "Fantine drives the story at the beginning and her essence and memory continue throughout the series. To me she represents everlasting hope in times of darkness, no matter what the time period."

There have been several versions of Les Misérables, of course, the most famous being the musical that is still playing on Broadway and in London's West End, and the similarly sung-through 2012 movie starring Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe, with Anne Hathaway as Fantine.

A sweet-natured grisette (young, working-class Frenchwoman), Fantine's seduction by an older student, the charming cad Felix (Johnny Flynn in the BBC series), results in her falling pregnant and struggling to survive as a single mother. Conned by her child's carers, destitute and desperate, she falls on hard times. Fantine is an iconic character, and one that miniseries director Tom Shankland encouraged Lily to make her own.

"Tom told me to forget every other Les Mis I'd seen and just go back to the writing," says Lily of this song-free version, scripted by Andrew Davies (who wrote the US version of House of Cards) and is delivered in plain-spoken, vowel-dropped English despite the epic backdrop of 19th-century France (or Belgium masquerading as France) at a time of civil unrest.

"We were encouraged to bring a fresh take, to breathe life into a song lyric and make it an episode," she continues in her soft American twang. "Not everybody loves musicals. So where Fantine has a line in one of her songs that mentions her falling in love, now we get to see how it happened."

Lily is here at BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) in central London for the premiere of Les Misérables, the cast of which includes David Oyelowo, Dominic West and Olivia Colman. It's raining outside, but Lily – standing reed-slim in an ultra-tight sparkling minidress ("It's going to be tricky for me to sit down") – oozes the sunniness of California, where she has been based since the age of five, having moved there from England following her parents' divorce. The daughter of former Genesis drummer (and later singer) Phil Collins and his American second wife, Jill Tavelman, Lily might easily have fast-tracked her ascent by trading on her surname.

She hasn't, which makes her success all the sweeter. "I am super proud of my dad," she has said of her hit-maker father, who has five children by his three ex-wives (and who recently toured Australia). "But I wanted to do it on my own. People assume it's easier when you have that name but if you're the kind of person who doesn't want to use it, it's a lot harder."

Nevertheless, from her first on-screen appearance, aged two, in a BBC series called Growing Pains, Lily's rise seems to have been remarkably smooth. Performing is in her blood, after all: as a young girl she'd watch old Hollywood films, many featuring her maternal grandmother Jane Hale, a ballerina and actress, then dress up to mimic her favourite characters.

She attended the Youth Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles, taking part in musical theatre productions. She was also a teen columnist for UK magazine Elle Girl, and a socialite whose alabaster beauty caught the eye of Chanel, which dressed her in a gown for a debutante ball that featured in the reality TV show The Hills.

By 2008, Lily was in demand as a model and brand ambassador (she is currently the face of French beauty brand Lancôme) and making a name as a red-carpet correspondent and children's TV presenter. A year later, she featured as a minor character in the American teen drama series 90210 and made her film debut as Sandra Bullock's daughter in the Oscar-nominated The Blind Side.

The scripts started tumbling in, and Lily dropped out of studying broadcast journalism to take supporting roles in an action film and a thriller. In 2012, she starred in Mirror Mirror as a sword-wielding Snow White opposite Julia Roberts' evil queen.

"So Fantine is not the first time I've played a literary character with opinions," grins Lily, who lobbied for a second audition for Snow White after being unhappy with her first try-out, duly clinching the part.

"I wanted to do it on my own. People assume it's easier when you have that name but if you're the kind of person who doesn't want to use it, it's a lot harder."

There's also been sci-fi (The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones), throwback romantic-comedy drama (Warren Beatty's Rules Don't Apply, which got her a Golden Globe nomination), and the CGI-enhanced Okja, in which she played a young animal activist intent on saving her best (four-legged) friend.

And there was a lead role in the controversial anorexia drama To the Bone. It divided critics but Lily has insisted that it helped her understand her own teenage battle with eating disorders, which she detailed in her 2017 memoir, Unfiltered: No Shame, No Regrets, Just Me.

"It's very rare you get the opportunity to wear shoes you once wore with a different perspective on things," she told Vanity Fair. "This was an amazing opportunity to gain knowledge, and helped me let go a lot."

As did the writing of Unfiltered. Divulging personal information in print is one thing. Doing so when you have a famous dad and 13 million Instagram followers is another. Lily – who wrote every word herself – says she found the process liberating.

"I decided to write the book because I kept reading what people were posting on social media and thinking, 'You're so brave,' " she says. "It was a really difficult thing for me to do, but the feedback I got made it way more rewarding than I expected."

Boyfriends' names were changed in an essay on dating (if rumoured exes Zac Efron and Chris Evans are in there, she's not saying). Silliness is praised as attractive; those eyebrows, which she plucked to thin lines at school, are reclaimed and championed in all their bushy glory. And in an open letter to her father, Lily tells the 67-year-old that she "forgives" him for "not being the dad I expected", and notes the impact that her parents' famously messy divorce had on her teenage years: "I accept and honour the sadness and anger I felt towards the things you did or didn't do," she writes.

Today she'd prefer not to discuss specifics, though offers You'll Be in My Heart from the 1999 Disney animated film Tarzan when asked to choose her favourite Phil Collins song: "He wrote it as a lullaby to me as a kid," she says, re-routing the conversation to Unfiltered and the main reason she set fingers to laptop: to make young people feel less alone. The sentiment dovetails with Lily's advocacy work for charities including Bystander Revolution, an anti-bullying organisation, and the GO Campaign, which raises funds for orphans and vulnerable children.

"Open communication with teenagers is something I'm very passionate about," she says. "Speaking about insecurities and being honest about what you are going through is vital. One young woman asked me, 'But what if you know you're born different, if your quirks and interests aren't the norm? When you're a green apple when everyone else is a red one?'

"I said, 'Well, I've always loved green apples! It's the things that make you different that end up making you unique.' " She pauses for a beat. "So many kids have these deep, thoughtful questions. It doesn't matter what political, religious, sexual-orientation background you come from, we all go through the same insecurities and realising this fact is the beauty of communications."

"It's very rare you get the opportunity to wear shoes you once wore with a different perspective on things"

Additionally, by setting her own example – by putting it all out there in Unfiltered – Lily was able to let go of personal baggage, which in turn allowed her to go deeper into her characters. Forthcoming appearances include two extremes: Edith Bratt, beloved wife and muse of English writer J.R.R. Tolkien, author of The Lord of the Rings, in the biopic Tolkien, and Liz Kendall, longtime girlfriend of infamous American serial killer Ted Bundy in Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile.

"I'd just finished filming that when I jumped on a plane and flew to Brussels in winter to start Les Mis," says Lily. "My state of mind was already very dark, so when I found we were working backwards, that the end of Fantine's life was being filmed on day two of shooting, I used this weird head space to help me lean into her character."

Lily portrays Fantine, a fallen woman who sells her hair, then her teeth, then her body to earn money for her daughter, with a deft mix of steeliness, sassiness and grace. Much of the filming took place in sub-zero conditions; one memorable scene sees a shivering Fantine being physically hurled across cobblestones by police inspector Javert: "David [Oyelowo] got a bit carried away, and there were real bruises afterwards," says Lily with a grimace. "I thought, 'Well she's physically in pain, let's keep going.'

"I've never shot anything out of sequence like that but I'm so grateful because when we returned in the summer, knowing where we ended up, I got to amp up the romance. I wanted people to empathise with her as much as possible."

She flashes a smile. "Empathy," she says, "is everything."

Les Misérables premieres on BBC First on Foxtel and Fetch from March 10 at 8.30pm.

This article appears in Sunday Life magazine within the Sun-Herald and the Sunday Age on sale February 17.

https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/celebrity/lily-collins-on-outshining-dad-phil-and-her-new-blockbuster-role-20190213-p50xf1.html