After almost a year I saw the musical that got me into musical theatre…Les Miserables! Here are my thoughts on the cast that I saw for the Londons longest running musical!
Dean Chisnall as Jean ValJean:
Deans performance of Jean was amazing! Right from the get go during ‘Look Down’ you rooted for him and wanted him to succeed every second that he was on stage, his performance of Bring Him Home was incredible and if you say you don’t cry a little when he dies in The Epilogue you’re lying! His version of Jean Valjean was how I’d imagine a Jean Valjean to be honestly and I loved every second of it!
Bradley Jaden as Javert:
Okay, I know I’m not supposed to root for Javert but I loved Bradley’s version! His voice was INCREDIBLE (could imagine him as a phantom in the future!) His version of ‘Stars’ was amazing! such strong vocals and stage presence, I know you’re not supposed to clap during ‘Javerts Suicide’ as its a bit morbid but Bradley just gave a stellar performance and I couldn’t help but clap it!
Grace Farrell as Fantine:
Okay, first things first HOW is she the understudy? Her performance of ‘ I Dreamed A Dream’ was breathtakingly heartbreaking! As was her performance of ‘Come To Me’ (Fantine’s death) made me sob (which is rare 😂), she made me want to watch a whole musical on just Fantine’s Life! Her performance was AMAZING! If you get a chance to see her you’ll be incredibly lucky!!
Toby Miles as Marius: Toby’s Marius was incredible! Especially during ‘Empty Chairs At Empty Tables’ as above exactly how I’d imagine a Marius, full of heart, full of Love and also courage which definitely showed through during the Barricade scenes! Marius is such a lovable character (as is Cosette) him and Cosette just want to live their life happily and away from all the war and destruction of France going on at that time, You could truly feel the chemistry with this duo! How he played Marius being so love struck with Cosette and then Lovesick when with the Barricade Boys was one of my favourite parts of the musical! His performance also made me quietly sob to myself during ‘A Little Fall Of Rain’
Amara slayed it as Cosette! Watching her progress the character from ‘In My Life’ to the Epilogue was incredible, I always loved the trio of Cosette, Marius and Eponine,
and I adored this Cosette, she was exactly how I imagine a Cosette, full of hope and full of Love, which I know is a trait with any version of Cosette but Amaras Cosette was how I’d imagine a Cosette, before last night I had only seen a school production live, so I didn’t know what a “West End’ Cosette would be and I certainly wasn’t disappointed! Her vocals were incredible! I just loved her Cosette so much, can you tell?
Eponine is one of the characters that I would die for… I love EVERYTHING about the character and hate that she doesn’t get the happiness that she so badly deserves! Elena’s performance of Eponine was incredible! Really the stand out for me! She was everything Eponine was! Strong, In Love, Sweet and willing to do anything for the man she loves even if he doesn’t feel the same way. When I saw Elena was performing I was so happy because I wanted to see her and then obviously hear her version of ‘On My Own’ which was INCREDIBLE, you feel every word, she performs it with such emotion which was amazing! Her performance of ‘A Little Fall Of Rain’ was DEVASTATING, I didn’t want her to die, I wanted some Disney type magic where Marius could fix her wounds with words of Love, impossible I know but I really didn’t want to say goodbye to this Eponine. As an Eponine lover, I was slightly scared going in whether I would like her in the stage production (as I had only seen Sams performance in the movie) but Elena blew me away! Made me love a character I love already, even more! If you get to see Elena you’ll be lucky!
Steven Meo and Vivien Parry as The Thenardiers
What a duo! I LOVED their performance of ‘Master Of The House’! They bounced off each other so well, which made watching them so great! Also loved their performance during Marius and Cosette’s wedding! I’m so glad the musical has them because otherwise it would be such a sad musical and they thankfully bring well-needed comedy to cheer us up!
BARRICADE BOYS
Samuel Edwards as Enjolras, Barnaby Hughes as Combeferre, Joe Vetch as Feuilly, James Nicholson as Joly, Raymond Walsh as Grantaire, Andrew York as Lesgles and Ben Tyler as Jean Prouvaire.
Not gonna lie but during ‘ABC Cafe’, ‘Do You Hear The People Sing’ and ‘One Day More’ they could have recruited me! They give such a good ensemble group, you really want to root for them and you want them to succeed, then when they don’t, you feel devastated as they give such a good performance with so much heart and courage!
If you want to buy a recording of the show to listen to you can do so here;
https://amzn.to/39hv1sV – Original London Cast Recording
https://amzn.to/3ow1CBP – Les Misérables: The Motion Picture Soundtrack (Deluxe Edition)
https://amzn.to/3boZTdN – Les Miserables: The Staged Concert (The Sensational 2020 Live Recording) [Live from the Gielgud Theatre, London
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You can now book for the new production of Les Miserables when it opens again at the Sondheim (Previously the Queens) Theatre!
Get your tickets for Les Miserables here!