#michael ball marius !!!!!

[pealeii]

oh also i want to know what y’all’s favorite marius portrayal is

[kalimbasynth]

not enough men brave enough to violently sob through their delivery of empty chairs at empty tables

[yosbin]

you can take the shitposter out of les mis but you can't take les mis out of the shitposter or something i think thats how the saying goes

[the-lark-not-the-dove]

[artfulacrostic]

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

the convicts during Look Down all being Valjeans from different countries

the bishop M is baby faced and has an angelic voice

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[sonneting]

fuck zodiac signs whats your go to les mis recording

[cometomecosette]

Some more rare pictures from the original London cast, 1985:

Michael Ball as Marius and Frances Ruffelle as Éponine

[merinsedai]

I’m cycling back to my obsession of listening to Les Mis 1995-Dreamcast in Concert basically on repeat (happens every few years, but not since 2020) and my goodness, if I could marry a voice, I’d marry Michael Maguire’s here.

(Also, hellooo, I would’ve married the rest of him, too:)

[determinedowl23]

happy birthday to the most guy ever Michael Ball!!!!!

[goinginsaneinthemembrane]

Having thoughts about Michael Ball being announced as a Javert.....

These thoughts are

WHY DOES EVERY MARIUS EVENTUALLY GO ON TO BE A JAVERT???

[yowzeight]

you know when you're reading a fic with marius in and you're having a great time and half way through they start describing him or like mentioning some of his physical features and you're like ah . ah they're describing eddie redmayne and your day is ruined and you jump out the window

[dis-astre]

the 10th Anniversary Concert is superior.

i actually never had a chance to find a nice recording of it until very recently and haven't had the time to sit and watch it properly; but i absolutely love the album recording, it gives me chills all the time !

[rated-r-for-grantaire]

I just finished watching the 10th anniversary concert in honor of barricade week and it’s great but g-d i truly do not remember michael ball being that sweaty 😭😭

[mabeuf5]

my hot take is that he’s my favourite musical marius precisely because he is so out of place!!! book marius is kinda pathetic and i feel like nick jonas inadvertently captured that in a way that michael ball never could

the 25th anniversary les mis concert will always be my favorite because the decision to throw nick jonas up there with ramin karimloo and lea salonga was so funny the man didn't stand a chance

[syrupsyche]

i love how most les mis fans' vision of marius in their head is like, michael ball or redmayne or some other marius theatrical actor whereas all i can think of when i try to imagine marius is:

and he fits the description! tall, black-haired, slightly useless, all-around pathetic lil meow meow

[cometomecosette]

A rare picture from the original London cast of Les Misérables, 1985:

Alun Armstrong as Thénardier, Michael Ball as Marius, Susan Jane Tanner as Mme. Thénardier