Review of Musical Theatre West’s Les Miserables

Hello!

I have been a season subscriber to Musical Theatre West for a few years, and have almost always been impressed with what they have been able to put together for their fans. So, I was beside myself when I saw that Les Miserables, one of the most popular musicals of all time, was on the schedule for the 2014-2015 season. I had the chance to see it this time around and came away a little underwhelmed, unfortunately.

Musical Theatre West has been around since 1952, when it started out as the Whittier Civic Light Opera. Their productions evolved over time, and they went from being an all-volunteer operation to producing full seasons, currently under the capable leadership and vision of Executive Director/produce Paul Garman. Their big shows are hosted by the Carpenter Performing Arts Center at Cal State Long Beach, which is a lovely venue with plenty of conveniently located parking. And only two bathrooms...

Les Miserables is based on the 1862 Victor Hugo historical novel from 1862, and it is set in the early 19th century France, up until the 1835 June Rebellion in Paris. It is a heavy read, but it is a fascinating book that spends most of its text discussing French History. It is worth the effort to thumb through it.

The musical version was introduced in France in 1980, with the original Broadway run from 1987 to 1993. Since then it has had two Broadway revivals and numerous national tours, but very few local theatre companies have staged this show. Musical Theatre West certainly gave it a good shot, after 20 years of trying to get rights to the show.

I will skip the storyline, as you are probably familiar enough with it by now, but it is a tragic story of love, politics, and death.

It is probably best to start with the cast, and they landed a really big name, Davis Gaines (Phantom of the Opera on Broadway), to play Inspector Javert. He was joined by Michael Hunsaker at Jean Valjean, Madison Parks as the grown-up Cosette, Devin Archer as Marius, and Emily Martin as Eponine. Stand-out performances came from Norman Large as Thenardier and Ruth Williamson as his wife. There was a huge cast, with over 30 actors in the production.

They also put together a very good orchestra, with almost 20 musicians in the pit. Andrew Bryan was the musical director, and he did a great job of bringing Schonberg’s music to life. As always, it is disappointing to see that the musicians got no credit in the program. Shameful.

Cliff Simon’s sets were very good were very good, but Paul Black’s lighting was spectacular and really helped to set the mood of the show. Karen St. Pierre’s costumes were authentic, and nothing seemed out of place.

All of these elements set everything up for a very good production, but it really fell flat in real life, and for a lot of reasons. Maybe they should have called it “Meh Miserables.”

For starters, the show itself is a bit iffy (sorry, fans), and if everything is not done perfectly it is really a slog. It comes in at a running time of over 3 hours, and it is all singing and no dialogue. The chorus was not up to the complicated lyrics, and their timing and emphasis was off, which made it seem even longer

The sound was, quite simply, terrible. With that many singers and actors on stage, there are a lot of microphones to keep track of, and there were numerous times when microphones were not turned on when they were supposed to be. This was a major distraction, not to mention a killer of the storyline if the audience was not familiar with the show. Also, the sound was way too loud at times, and after 3 hours it can really wear you down. Keep in mind that I mostly review rock shows, so I am intimately familiar with what too loud is.

Les Miserables was just a bit too grand of a show for Musical Theatre West to pull off, and it was one of their very few mis-steps in a long history of putting on excellent shows. The show has closed, so you missed out this time around. Or maybe not. Anyway, it is time to start thinking about tickets for the last show of this season, Singin’ in the Rain, which will be playing from July 10th through 26th. Also, now is the time to make plans for next year’s season, which will include My Fair Lady, West Side Story, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and Sister Act. You can’t beat the value!

Mahalo!

Review of Wicked at the Gershwin Theatre in New York City

Hello!

If you love musical theatre, you have to see at least one show on Broadway before you die. No matter how good the local theatre company shows are that you have seen, nothing compares to how tight of a performance you will see in New York City. This is the place that actors, dancers and musicians aspire to perform, and when the roles are filled only the best are selected. Also, after a show had played for a few months (or years), there are no silly mistakes and the sound is completely dialed in. It makes for a complete audio and visual experience.

Whenever I travel to the Tri-State area, I always make a point to get into the city to see a show, and a few days ago I got to check out the legendary Wicked at the Gershwin Theatre on 51st Street in the Paramount Plaza building. This 1933-seat house is the biggest theatre on Broadway, and it is one of the newer ones, having opened in 1972. This means the seats are not as tiny, and it turned out to be a great place to see the show. The acoustics and lines of sight are excellent, which is to be expected if you are throwing down cash for one of the best shows in town.

Wicked (the Untold Story of the Witches of Oz) is based on Gregory Maguire’s novel of the same name. Grammy and Academy Award-winning lyricist and composer Stephen Schwartz found the book, and negotiated to have it made into a musical, as Universal owned the rights, and had planned to turn it into a film. Schwartz wrote the lyrics and music, and Emmy-Award winner Winnie Holzman wrote the book.

The original cast had Kristen Chenoweth and Idina Menzel in the leads, and after tuning things up in San Francisco, the show opened at the Gershwin in 2003 and has been running ever since. That means over 4600 performances and close to $900 million at the box office. They planned to make the film version after the musical lost momentum, but they might need to rethink that. This show is a juggernaut!

The musical provides a different perspective of the more familiar Oz story, as this one comes from the point of view of Elphaba (the Wicked Witch of the West) and Glinda the Good. It begins before Dorothy’s arrival, and continues on though bucket of water incident. There is a little bit of everything: a love story, sibling rivalry, the corruption of power, and a fall from grace. What more could you ask for?

I could not ask for anything more than I got that evening – the Broadway production of Wicked was the best stage show I have ever seen.

For starters, perfect actors were chosen for the leads. They did not have to rely on the age-old trick of getting a famous TV or movie actor to draw the crowds in, so they staffed the production with top-tier actors and dancers that can actually sing (sorry, Zach Braff). Caroline Bowman and Kara Lindsay earned the roles of Elphaba and Glinda, Kelli Barrett played Nessarose, Kathy Fitzgerald was Madame Morrible, Tom McGowan played the Wizard, and Matt Shingledecker took on the role of Fiyero.

The 22-member chorus kept busy with costume changes, playing the flying monkeys, students, palace guards and the good-natured citizen of Oz. Their dance routines were spot-on, and nothing they did detracted from the overall show, helped in part by the flawless and innovative choreography of James Lynn Abbott.

Costumes for the cast were designed by Susan Hilferty, and they capered about amongst gorgeous natural and steampunk industrial sets by Eugene Lee. The elements on the stage were innovative in the way they were introduced to the scenes and also in the way the cast interacted with them. There were also some pretty cool animated objects, but I will not ruin the surprises for you in case you have not seen the show. The visuals were rounded out by some neat projections by Elaine J. McCarthy and lighting that was designed by Kenneth Posner.

Aurally, Tony Meola’s sound was perfect, as the actors voices sounded natural and were at the right volume, and the 23-member orchestra under the direction of by Bryan Perri, was mixed with the vocals so that there were no distractions and everything was balanced.

That word sums this show up: “balanced.” Nothing stood out or detracted from the story. Everything element and feature was high-quality, but I did not walk away saying “Wow, the sound was good!” or “Boy, the costumes were neat!” I left the theatre thinking about what a wonderful experience I had, and not realizing that 2 hours and 45 minutes had passed (with the 15 minute intermission).

For once I have nothing to complain about, and have only praise for a show, which never happens.

It is worth the time and effort to check out Wicked at the Gershwin Theatre if you ever make it to New York City. I know touring versions are available from time-to-time (it is actually playing in Los Angeles right now), but seeing this show will make for a magical evening. I promise!

Mahalo!