#that's why Fantine and Cosette aren't here

[isolarya]

so i watched les mis in the west end and absolutely loved it and also here's a condensed version of my thoughts:

(also just a note, when i say a change i mean a change from the les mis live/that 2010 bootleg on yt versions because they're the only official productions im really familiar with)

(extra also if i accidentally refer to something that wasn't in either of those versions then uh probably lifted it from a school production i watched and forgot it wasn't official or something)

okay first things first everything in the show felt so alive and real, stuff was always going on in the background and honestly i really enjoyed looking for little details away from the main action (ironically enough this felt more realistic to me than the 2012 movie, though that might be down to suspension of disbelief)

the set is absolutely amazing, like i love the set pieces and how they move on and off stage and don't even get me started on that projected background it is so cool

on the most part the show hasn't really changed that much but there were a few things

katie hall as fantine <3 love her

there are a few line changes but the one i noticed was changing fantine's “come on captain” line in lovely ladies and giving it to a prostitute (ended up being “tell us, captain, did you wear your shoes”), which imo ended up making it flow a bit better

in the transition between waltz of treachery and look down, valjean picks up little cosette but the buildings start coming on earlier than in 2010, meaning he interacts with the beggars a little (this isn't really a problem for me but it might confuse the timeline for first time watchers)

(speaking of which i really don't know why the dates and places aren't shown like im pretty sure that was in the older versions as well as in the movie)

cosette’s giving bread to the beggars (and she also later checks on eponine after patron-minette has left in attack on rue plumet) and honestly love cosette being kind

there's a third ami (second if you don't count marius) in look down now?? (i think its courfeyrac?) like some of the lines that used to be enjolras or marius have been given to them now (“before we cut the fat ones down to size” for example is no longer enjs line)

i do like this enjolras (robson broad) and it helps that he is blonde here (to be fair i have a tendency to be attracted to everyone who plays enjolras literally no matter what they look like) but also jon robyns will always be my favourite enj

let me tell you when i saw “the café musain” as a sign in the background during abc cafe i nearly giggled i was so happy (there was a menu too with like six types of alcohol)

the friendship between the amis was actually just perfect

do you hear the people sing my beloved

the rue plumet gate is absolutely beautiful and the way it moves onstage is also absolutely beautiful

marius is so silly like he throws pebbles at cosettes window and goes “im doing everything all wrong” instantly when she disappears for a moment just so she can join him (i know this is a thing in 2010 but i liked it so much i had to mention it again)

one day more is literal chills

the moment i saw the woman on the curtain during the interval (no idea if it's an actual painting or not but it's quite reminiscent of liberty leading the people) i thought of femmejolras lmao

the barricade was majestic as always

okay idk when else to mention this so doing it here: imo valjean was a little forceful in the aggressive sense (i love everything else about the performance but it's just this) and i saw a bit of that when he was saving javert

courfeyrac taking the watch will never stop being hilarious. he is just standing there. staring into the darkness. for all of drink with me and bring him home.

there wasnt not much enjoltaire in drink with me unfortunately but we do get gavroche hugging r (their relationship was quite fleshed out here and i like it)

gavroches death continues to be the only thing that can still make me cry after experiencing this musical so many times

(also im just glad there's no “NOOOOOOOO” from r like in les mis live, i found that a bit much when listening)

the final battle once again broke my heart but at least enjolras and grantaire hug? for like one second over marius(?)’s injured body but I'll take it

you see gavroche actually carried into the cart (where enjolras is) here bc grantaire kinda just laid him down at the front of the stage and i like it, it hurts

there's an echo of the musains background in empty chairs and it broke my heart

the way actors can just disappear into and appear out of the background somehow is very well shown in the sewers and javert's suicide and i love it

they slowed down the beginning of javerts suicide (“who is this man what sort of devil is he” becomes “who is this man? ...what sort of devil is he?”) and this is possibly the one change i actively dislike (because it messes with how it's supposed to reflect valjean's soliloquy, which was sung at normal speed)

the amis appear earlier than in 2010 and also come in in a triangular formation (similar to the one at the end of one day more) which broke my heart more

okay i think there was an extra candle brought on turning/someone didn't come on in empty chairs bc this one guy had to pick up and extinguish two candles (he did it very well though, props to him)

anyway! when the spirits leave marius enjolras actually lingers for a few seconds and and watches marius and meets his eyes before leaving and honestly you could totally interpret that as enjolras/marius if you'd like

at the start of the epilogue valjean lights the two candlesticks the bishop gave him which is a mirror of what happened in the prologue and honestly living for this mirrored strufture

overall i really enjoyed the show and everyone in it was so good and also im in love with the set <3

(...somehow this is the condensed version of my thoughts)

[honorhearted]

"Only if you're not a fan of sharp elbows and body odor...which, for the record, I am not," Benjamin quipped, smiling in relief. He hadn't known whether or not his misstep would enchant or infuriate her, so to find that their truce had continued on into the morning was nothing short of miraculous.

Fantine sank back upon the bed. Her expression flooded with embarrassment, and he instantly felt sorry for the inquiry. Despite her lot in life, she seemed proud -- understandably so -- and didn't enjoy asking for charity.

This time, it was Benjamin who was taken aback. He laughed, his brow creasing in amusement. "I'd make a joke, but the fact of the matter is, I'm unaccustomed to compliments of any kind... So rather than make an utter arse of myself -- or rather, any more than I already have -- I'll say thank you, and leave it at that."

Fantine's eyes remained round and uncertain, and something in his chest ached for her as she spoke of being clueless.

"You're doing a fine job," he assured her. "There's really not much to it... Just dress, eat, and make yourself comfortable. No one here will dare judge you, and even if they do, we won't be around long enough for it to make a difference." He flashed a lopsided smile. "But yes. I'd be happy to accompany you both downstairs. I'll let you get dressed, and I'll go fetch Cosette, if you aren't opposed to my taking charge in that department."

After amicably parting ways, Benjamin went off to rouse Cosette from her bedroom. She was practically falling off the bed, she was so comfortable, and he chuckled as he managed to pry the drowsy girl from the comfort of the feather down mattress and pillows.

"It's nice, isn't it?" he asked, smiling.

She nodded, bleary-eyed as she accepted the garments he tossed into her arms. "Is it morning already?"

"Bright and early," Benjamin affirmed. "Your mother and I are about to head down and get some breakfast. Why don't you join us?"

Eyes bright, that incentive was just the push she needed. It wasn't until they were both downstairs that they saw Fantine again. Their hosts were out on a pheasant hunt, so Benjamin was relieved to spare her of any further potential embarrassment.

"Breakfast will be along shortly," he promised her. "Or rather, so the servants say." He smiled. "The new gown becomes you. If...if I'm allowed to say."

"The color matches mine!" Cosette chirped, pleased as she ran her fingers along the silk brocade.

Perhaps before now Fantine would have readied a prickly retort, but they seemed to have turned a corner yesterday and Fantine preferred to stay on track for friendship. "No, no, I can imagine six men in a tent must be less than pleasant."

She perched on the edge of her bed, fingertips tracing across the fabric of expensive sheets.

His question admittedly caught her off guard; she clearly wasn't as good at masking her emotions as she thought she was. Or was it simply because she had dared lower her guard around him now?

A sheepish smile appeared, a slight red tinge finding her cheeks in response. "Forgive me for being so bold, Monsieur, but I don't think it's entirely possible for you to be repulsive, regardless if you've shaved or not." She dared a glance up before her gaze fell back to his feet.

It still felt so hard to simply talk to another. Being alone for so long (and a pariah at that) had allowed Fantine to become comfortable in her isolation. The only interactions she had were clients and the scrivener. If she did look sick, it was the realisation that she would suddenly be thrust back into community.

"I suppose I must dress," she stated matter-of-factly. "You will accompany me down for breakfast?" She could at least try and eat with both him and Cosette despite the fear such a simple task instilled in her. "I'm sorry, I... I don't know what I'm doing. Is it obvious?"

[someday-becomes-somehow]

I went to Les Mis (west end) the other day and here's what I remember

(This is definitely not chronological)

When they first came onstage I was like "they look like children?" idk why

VibratoooOoOoOo

The guy who played the foreman had an actual abundance of hair

Lovely Ladies was a lot nicer because you could feel the real camaraderie between the girls

You know when Valjean smashes the chair so he can wave a leg menacingly at Javert? Imagine if they got the wrong chair and then someone sat on the one that breaks apart lolll

The Thenardiers were greattttttt (aren't they always?)

So Young Cosette was a white girl but Adult Cosette was black, and we LOVE colourblind casting but I think it took all of us newbies a second to realise who adult Cosette was (they were both great though!)

I love how the set tilts to make the barricade

Rotating stage!!

Lots of cute Les Amis lol

Irish Grantaire??

"Grantaire put the bottle down"

Why does Cosette sing sooo hiGH ?

That red flag bro

Gavroche made his own little red flag!

Every time I thought of Enjolras, I remembered that person who said their brother used to call trains "enjys"

Most of the slow motion was really effective, except for running in the first 3 seconds of Act 2 which looked kind of funny

When Enjolras and Marius grip each others arms like a handshake I was half expecting them to then pull them back and do a fistbump or something

In the Enjoltaire hug, R literally had his head tucked into Enj's neck??

Eponine was dying and when everyone turned to look I was like !!!!

Marius almost went to sleep curled up like a little kitten?!

Gavroche blanked for a couple of his "little people" lyrics but honestly no one minded because he was awesome

Also when he throws the bag up to Enjolras?? I'd be shite at that; it'd take me like 4 goes and then all the tension would be lost

I jumped a foot into the air every time there was a loud gunshot

Apparently there was a lady sitting on the table in the bit where the barricade falls and basically she made a chair fall onto her but also in slow motion

Javert's hair ribbon had untied itself near the end

I hadn't realised how many times lots of the themes/melodies come back; I bet it would make for a really cool analysis of why based on which characters are singing (music nerd over here)

I liked how they did Valjean carrying Marius through the sewers but it was almost comedic how it kept blacking out and then he was carrying him a different way on a different part of the stage

Javert's death was good but also he rolled across the stage at the end which was funny

When Les Amis lined up in "Empty Chairs" it really hit me that all of Marius' friends had been killed

All Les Amis had to be wedding guests and at least one of them was a terrible dancer

Also there was a drunk guy under the table at the wedding??

In the final song it was Valjean and Fantine and then a third voice, and I cried when I realised it was Eponine because I wasn't expecting it and just ughhh

It's odd how they do the individual bows without music? Is there no Playout except for when they all come together at the end?

So I didn't quite see, but Gavroche and Enjolras bow together and they did some sort of thing that my mind has decided was basically finger guns as they parted

Tl;dr -- it was really great, I need to see more live theatre!

[pilferingapples]

the-constellation-collective

I don’t go here yet, what did happen to her?

omg you've gone this long without being spoilered for Les Miserables

at this point I would feel bad taking that away from you if you aren't sure you wanna know so I'm gonna put this under a cut, which is why I'm making this a reblog and not a reply; read on if you want but feel free to just come back to this post some time when you've read or watched it! (also , warning for child abuse mention)

Cosette is left with the Thenardier family when she's about three years old, so her mom, Fantine, can go and find work and send money for her support (utterly common procedure at the time and even now, depending on where you are! Fantine's not being neglectful). Only it turns out the Thenardiars are awful, and immediately start abusing Cosette--starving her, beating her , and making her do more and more of the housework as she gets older, all while writing to tell Fantine how she's doing great, or that she needs money for school, etc.

Four years after leaving Cosette with the Thenardiers, Fantine dies, in very upsetting circumstances ; Jean Valjean comes and gets Cosette from the Thenardiers a year later (he tried to be there sooner but there were unavoidable delays). He adopts her (informally, formal adoption at the time was not really a thing even for people who WEREN'T wanted criminals) , and raises her , with help of a convent school...

and they just NEVER EVER talk about the Thenardiers, and by the time she's a teenager she's sort of ...repressed it? Lost the sense of how to talk about it? Forgotten it trauma-style? Unclear but Hugo says she doesn't think about it or talk about it

So Marius can't know what happened! Because Cosette doesn't know what happened! There's just five years of her early life that are ??? for her.

Absolutely wild to think about how Marius' idea of Cosette's childhood is, like

=> her mom died when she was young => her dad came and got her => she went to a good convent school =>after her uncle died, she and her dad moved to the Rue Plumet house :D

THAT'S IT

it's not WRONG but there is a fairly significant chunk missing!! and he doesn't know! he will probably never know! Because Cosette doesn't either! and in the times when Thenardier is dropping anvil-size hints, Marius is NOT picking those up!

Marius and Cosette both about Cosette's younger childhood years like