Les Miserables - Original London Cast

Les Miserables follows an ex-convict called Jean Valjean, as he is turned aside from a life of crime to a life of charity and love, caring for a young girl he adopts whilst all the while having to avade capture by Police Inspector Javert. (I've included a more detailed summary below if you don't know the story) Having sung in the schools' version of Les Miz, I was simply buzzing with enthusiasm about the musical. It is a simply superb piece, extremely ...
...which is quite scarce in Les Miz. The Thernadier's however, left something to be desired. Monsieur and Madame Thernadier are suitably nasty, but are too cockney and don't convey enough venom in my opinion. Eponine on the other hand is quite, frankly, dreadful. She swoops everywhere, and her vowels aren't brilliant either. Eponine is supposed to be heart-breaking and tragic; in this version all she manages to do for me is annoy me. Overall, it's ...

Galadriel1010 27.03.2008 · Read full review
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Review of Les Miserables - Original London Cast

...must have been to see Les Miserable at least 9 times and cannot rate it highly enough. The first time we saw it we had front stall seats, which actually cost around £50.00 at that time, and Colm Wilkinson was playing the lead (Jean Valjean). Jean Valjean was put into prison for stealing bread for his sister's starving child and the show opens with the prison scene. Javert is one of the prison officers who is determined that Valjean will return as ...
...thief". Jean Valjean is also determined that he will never return to prison and will make his way in life. However he is treated as an ex-con by everyone he comes into contact with, except for a local priest, who gives him a bed for the night. Jean Valjean decides to leave the priest's house in the early morning, taking with him silver candlesticks. Javert catches him and returns him to the priests house, the priest then also gives Jean Valjean a ...

Tiny236 16.10.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Les Miserables - Original London Cast

As a show Les Misérables is flawless. It has a captivating story that keeps you hooked which is displayed in a wonderful musical. One problem often associated with musicals is the lack of originality, shows, too often, consist of two or three individual numbers with the rest of the musical being filled with reprises or slight variations. Although there are songs like this in Les Miserables it doesn't seem so bad because the variation really is different! ...
...is the same, however, because of the different moods in both of the pieces they seem different. In other occurences where the tune is re-used, enough decoration is added to the songs to make them seem original. As for this specific recording; the cast is mainly very strong. The role of Valjean is portrayed by Colm Wilkinson, the person who 'created' the role. His antagonist, Javert is also portrayed very well as Roger Allam's voice is superbly suited ...

chiggy321 28.05.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Les Miserables - Original London Cast

I went to Les Miserables last year and can say without doubt in my opinion, this is the most wonderful musical I have heard of. I am basing that on the fact that this was a full house matinee performance which included stunning acts and sets. I had never seen this show prior to going but having previously heard songs from it, I had already began to fall in love with it. We had wonderful seats in the middle of the dress circle (which cost in the ...
...very intimate and it done Les Miserables proud! The part of Jean Valjean was played excellently and his act was both stunning and earth-moving. I don't think you can single out any particular individual for an outstanding performance as they were all solid and moving performances. Javert had a superb voice and gave a great performance. The whole production and set made Les Miserables a wonderful piece of musical theatre and a great day out. Brilliant ...

PNC33UK 26.04.2005 · Read full review
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Review of Les Miserables - Original London Cast