'Les Miserables 25th Anniversary Tour' theatre review - Nowt2Do.Com: Listings and Reviews for Bristol and Beyond!


	Les Miserables, Victor Hugo’s story of injustice, forgiveness, love, betrayal and sacrifice for a higher cause is twenty five years old. To celebrates its anniversary comes a new look, a new outlook, new orchestrations, new sets and new interpretations of songs. It is a stunning realisation of a show I first saw at its humble but beguiling beginnings and returned to time and again. It must have been a daunting challenge directors Laurence Connor & James Powell accepted when they agreed to helm and revitalised a production that has been running for a quarter of a century in just about ever country that has a stage. Whereas the barricade (the eighth wonder of the world at the time) stood at the heart of the production now we are treated to a more fully realised vision of Paris. Out goes the minimalism, in comes ever theatrical trick you can throw at a stage. Set designer Matt Kinley has brought a sense of reality to the locations in the production, from the overcrowded backstreets of Paris, to the beautifully realised bridge across the River Seine. I should say that not only does Victor Hugo supply the narrative but also the art which forms many of the extraordinary backdrops here. In this new Les Mis there are splashes of colour in costumes that previously relied on a mostly grey palette. The lighting design works beautifully with the sets to enhance the whole atmosphere and the sound design was superb. This is a production that would have others salivating at the size and strength in depth of the cast. I was pleasantly surprised by Gareth Gates’ portrayal of Marius, Ashley Artus and Lynne Wilmot were quite splendid as the Thenardiers and Katie Hall brought a fine singing voice to the role of Cossette. Rosalind James has a fine voice too, and brought a streetwise sensibility to Eponine but I did feel her voice a little too pop star at times. But the big beasts here are John Owen-Jones and Earl Carpenter, Jean Valjean and Javert. Both men posses the necessary physical stature to carry off their roles with voices to match. Javert’s suicide was always a big moment in the show but now that special effects have enhanced it, it is a show stopping moment. John Owen-Jones has won many plaudits for his Jean Valjean, he brings ever vocal colour within his scope to his singing and deserves all the accolades steeped upon him for the depth of emotion he brings to the role. Not since Mary Poppins has the Bristol Hippodrome hosted such an ambitious and extraordinary theatrical event. And yet, I found the experience was a bit like your favourite child had come to you on their twenty-fifth birthday having had extensive plastic surgery. You know you still love them; but was quite so much work really called for? Having pulled out all the stops to re-invigorate the show it may be that the new staging is so good – and it really is breathtaking at times - that it overwhelms the emotional core of the piece. I hope that feeling retreats when I see it again. And I will see it again because this is a show that deserves – indeed demands – to be seen again and again.