Les Miserables (Take 2)

I have to preface this post by saying that yes, there are a million and one other shows I should've/could've seen this weekend. But instead I chose to see Les Miserables... again. Why? Because as over-hyped and totally over-commercialized as it is, it still does something to me, makes me feel something. 

My cousin once said that she is happy to buy a cheap ticket to Phantom of the Opera just so she can sit in the back, close her eyes, and listen to the music. At this point that's how I feel about Les Mis. And it was especially true this time because I was sitting in the very last row of the balcony. 

Now aside from all the mushy-gushy lovey-dovey feelings about why I chose to see this production again, there was actually a legitimate reason. The cast recently changed over and I was curious to see how the newbies stacked up. Eponine, Fantine, Marius, Thenardier & wife, and Enjolras were all new. 

Marius: How could you not want to experience Chris McCarrell? He's positively adorable. His voice is stronger than Andy Mientus', but the character choices were pretty much the same, and definitely in keeping with the incredibly awkward feel Eddie Redmayne brought to the part in the movie. 

Eponine: As much as I love Nikki M. James, her voice never fit the character of Eponine for me. Brennyn Lark, making her Broadway debut, sang beautifully. Other than that there's nothing all that inventive or interesting about her Eponine, but she was great.

Fantine: Another Broadway debut -- Erika Henningsen was great. Like Brennyn, she didn't bring anything new to the part, but her voice was lovely.

Thenardier: So, I saw Gavin Lee at the Goodspeed in Holiday Inn a few months ago and thought he was amazing. I mean, he's so light on his feet for such a tall guy. How can you not be impressed by the way he moves?! I'll admit him being cast at Thenardier was a deciding factor in seeing this production again. Gavin did not disappoint. He brought so much to the character and it was obvious they did a bit of re-staging to showcase Gavin's talent. I don't remember Thenardier ever dancing around quite as much. He was just fantastic, bringing life to a part I never much cared about. 

Madame Thenardier: I literally have nothing to say about the re-cast of this role because there was nothing interesting or special about Rachel Izen. She was great, just didn't bring anything new to the role.

And now... for the biggest, most important moment of this entire post... DRUMROLL PLEASE...

We all know how I feel about Enjolras. He is my home boy. I would marry him if he weren't a fictional character... or dead. I want everyone to take a minute and re-read (or read for the first time) how I felt about Enjolras last year when I saw this production:

• Kyle Scatliffe as Enjolras. Okay, Enjolras is and has always been my favorite character in this show. I've always been fascinated by him and I always have high hopes for Enjolras when I see the show. This was the absolute worst casting decision I have ever seen on a Broadway stage before. Scatliffe acted like Marius' father, scolding him when he was late to the meeting, treating him like a baby. There was no friendship there AT ALL. The relationship between Enjolras and Marius is one of love, not romantic but brotherly and admiration and absolute love. Marius makes an incredible choice to "join [his] brothers there" rather than run after Cosette. In this production there was no chemistry. In fact, I don't know when I've ever seen such a freaking lack of chemistry between two characters before in my life. Like I can't even express how saddened and angry this made me. Enjolras is supposed to be a strong man, who is really still a child, fighting for a cause that he believes in so strongly that he's willing to sacrifice his life. From Scatliffe, all I got was an egotistical douchebag who didn't care about anyone else but himself. He was dragging everyone else down with him because of how badly he wanted to win, not giving a second thought about the "friends" that might die. Scatliffe and Mientus just didn't connect at all, and it was disappointing because I truly think that relationship is one of the most important in the entire show. Enjolras' death is the most iconic death in the show, the way it is traditionally staged with the barricade turning and we see him hanging by his foot with the flag draped over him. I felt nothing but "thank goodness" when Enjolras died here, and boy if that didn't make me furious.

"This was the absolute worst casting decision I have ever seen on a Broadway stage before..." Pretty intense, right? I truly want to believe that Kyle Scatliffe grew into the role in the months after I saw him. It was still previews, after all. Maybe he was just finding his footing. He's clearly not a bad performer, I just think this wasn't the role for him - or at least not playing alongside Mientus. Maybe I would feel differently now if Scatliffe was playing alongside Chris McCarrell. 

Anyway, back to the present. Wallace Smith is the new Enjolras. I'm pretty sure Wallace is the one actor I've seen on Broadway the most times - twice in American Idiot, twice in Godspell, once in Rocky, and potentially once in Hair (I can't remember if I actually saw him as the replacement for Hud or not). So naturally, when Wallace's name was announced, I was excited. His voice is just one of those voices that sticks with you, makes your soul break because you wish you could wrap his voice up in a blanket and sleep with it for the rest of your life. 

Wallace did not disappoint. Now the one thing I can say is that this production of Les Mis just doesn't do justice to Enjolras as a character. I'm not sure why I felt such a strong connection to the character when I saw the show in London all those times, but there was something else there. Even though I loved Wallace Smith's Enjolras, I didn't get the feels like I did in London. So last year it wasn't ALL Kyle Scatliffe, it was the production's take on Enjolras. But, Wallace as Enjolras matched Chris as Marius ten million times better than Kyle and Andy. And man, I just can't with Wallace's voice. Those moments when he comes out of nowhere with high notes and you just want to sob because you know he's going to die. Ugh. Gets me right in the feels. 

Obviously, even Wallace can't save the lack of epic Enjolras death, but I felt a heck of a lot more when he was in the wagon than I did last year with Kyle. 

So, I saw Les Miserables again. It was fun, and intense, and beautiful, and everything I ever want this show to be. I didn't walk out of there with my mind blown - although I'm so happy I got to hear Ramin sing "Bring Him Home" again. I'll forever be in love with this show no matter how overrated it becomes. And, like always, I'm interested to see how much longer it lasts this time around. 

City Of

I totally forgot to mention that I saw this show, and then I just happened to read the New York Times review. There's not much I can say about "City Of" because it was an overacted, jumbled, hot mess. Let's take a second to remember my taste in plays -- realism and naturalism. This was neither, although the characters were real (most of them), and Paris is actually a place that exists. I honestly don't think I can put how I felt about this piece into words, at least not in any eloquent fashion. It was not my thing at all.

Read the NY Times review. It's short, but accurate. 

Biggest pet peeve -- either commit to nudity or have a character keep his clothes on. None of those stupid spandex nude colored modesty shorts.

Disgraced

I'm a picky theater-goer. You all know that by now. It takes A LOT to impress me, to make me speechless, to knock the earth out from under my feet, and to make my heart ache for hours after walking out of the theater.

Disgraced did all of that.

When I stood up to leave after the curtain call, my legs were shaking because I had been so tense throughout the entire play that my muscles cramped.

It was enthralling.

Let's just throw the word "brilliant" into the mix. Because man, I don't know when the next time I'll see something this fantastic will be. When I was in London (Fall 2012 -- LONDON BLOG), I saw theater that knocked my socks off. I saw theater that pushed the boundaries of what I believed theater could be, do, make me feel. So for me, Disgraced felt straight out of the London theater scene -- it's London premiere was at the Bush Theater where I saw a pretty damn interesting piece of theater.

Hari Dhillon, playing Amir Kapoor, was outstanding. First of all, he's gorgeous -- did I mention I was sitting in row AA, seat 107? His facial expressions, the absolute intensity on his face at all times, and the odd way he often didn't make direct eye contact with others (something you wouldn't notice from further back).

Honestly, if you want to know more about what I thought, just ask. I can (and have been) talking about this show nonstop. I'm not a vocal audience member, but I was gasping out loud with the rest of the audience. And I didn't want it to end. I wanted to sit in the theater and find out what happens next. I was heartbroken when the curtain came down.

There's so much more I have to say, but it's literally impossible to get my thoughts down in writing. 

Every once in a while there's a show that makes you feel something, like deep in your chest, an actual ache. Disgraced did it for me. I urge you all to make the time to see it, and if you want to know how to get tickets for $35 just ask!

On The Town

To start this off, I have to remind everyone that this show already held a special place in my heart. I was a house management intern at Barrington Stage Company last summer (2013), and I've watched John Rando's production of On The Town come together from its early stages on BSC's mainstage. I watched tech of this production, I watched final dress rehearsal, I was there on opening night of its regional premiere.

I don't like old musicals. I don't particularly like fluffy musicals. I can appreciate what old musicals have done for the musical theater world, and how we got to where we are today because of them. But if I have a choice of seeing Guys and Dolls or American Idiot, 99% of the time I'll choose American Idiot.

If this production of On The Town has taught me one thing, it's that old musicals can be amazing with the right group of people involved.

The changes made since BSC are plentiful, but simple from an audience member's perspective. Everything is bigger and brighter. There are more set pieces and the projections were added. The concept of the scene changes are the same, but the execution is Broadway versus regional theater. Needless to say, it was very exciting to see how far the show has come.

If Tony, Jay, Clyde, Alysha (I've been a huge fan of Alysha's since seeing American Idiot multiple times back in 2010/2011 and she just continues to blow me away every time I see this show), Elizabeth, Michael, and Allison had not stayed with the production, it would've been a tragedy. This cast of all-stars is what makes this production so great. And Megan Fairchild was the perfect addition to the group.

These guys are the ultimate triple threats. This show goes a long way to proving musical theater is a sport. You could be sitting in the last row of the balcony and still notice every nuance of Tony's musculature as he dances shirtless.

I'm a total sucker for dancing, and this production does not disappoint. The dances are bigger and better than ever, and everything just flows beautifully -- especially the costumes. 

I'll be the first to admit that the script isn't brilliant, and sometimes I find myself utterly puzzled at the lyrics to songs. But you'll get so swept up in the beauty and overall magic of seeing classic musical theater at its best, that the shortcomings of the show don't matter.

I don't throw around the word "perfect" very often, but I think I can safely say (in my opinion, of course) that this revival of On The Town is as perfect as this show can be.

Tony Award for Best Revival? Hell yes.

ON THE TOWN and DISGRACED reviews coming this week!

This is Our Youth

I have to begin by saying this is one of my favorite plays. I don't remember how or when I discovered it, but I've had the script for a few years and managed to read it quite a few times. If you know me that's a big thing, because I don't just sit down and read scripts very often. So before last Sunday I had never seen the show onstage, just in my imagination.

As much as I wanted to finally see it realized in front of me, I was hesitant because I didn't want to be disappointed. I allowed myself to walk into the theater knowing I would be disappointed, that way when I was it wouldn't be so disappointing (I'll stop using that word now).

Surprise! I thought it was fantastic! Really, I'm just as surprised as you are right now. I didn't think I would like it because I had such a vision of what it should be like in my head and nothing. But it was truly a remarkably well done piece of theater.

One of the reasons I love this show is because there's nothing frilly about it and it is as realistic as a play can be. The set was amazing -- a studio apartment with a door leading out to the hall and one leading to the bathroom, which we could see action happening in through a frosted window on stage left. Apartment buildings with windows and fire escapes took up the rest of the stage behind the apartment we could see into in order to utilize the whole stage. Lights could be seen going on and off in different windows helping create the illusion of passing time. Everything on the set was believable and helped bring the audience into the time, which was 1982.

Michael Cera played Warren, and the part could've been written for him. In reading the play I don't think I ever pictured someone as awkward as Cera taking on the role, but it worked so well! He never knew how to stand, and was constantly fidgeting. It was obvious he didn't quite know where he fit in the world yet. Yeah, his voice was the typical Michael Cera high pitched monotone, but that didn't bother me. His vocal pattern made the funny parts funny and the sad parts sad. I felt for him, but also felt he was an idiot. He's a movie star (sort of?), but he did a kick ass job onstage.

Kieran Culkin was the highlight of the play. There's not too much to say other than he was incredible and the few times he left the stage had me wishing he would come back, and then when he did it made it that much more exciting. The buddy-buddy thing Cera and Culkin had going on was so so so fun to watch, but also left you unsettled because of the way Culkin's character, Dennis, treats Warren. They worked well together, and the physical comedy was enjoyable, exciting, and hysterical.

The biggest qualm I had about this production was Tavi Gevinson as Jessica. I feel like I'm constantly talking about how a show would be better off without the female character, but here she plays an important part. The actress wasn't all that great, and I didn't love her portrayal of Jessica, but she did the job. The relationship between Warren and Dennis is the star of the show, and Warren's relationship to Jessica is just extra.

So I give this production a big old thumbs up. I'm very happy I was able to see it, and I'm very happy I wasn't disappointed.



Side note: I bought my tickets through the app TodayTix for $35.00 (not including fees). I highly recommend the app, and to pick up the tickets you just meet the TodayTix concierge out in front of the theater a half hour before the performance.

First Broadway Show -- VLOG

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