Les Misérables

From the first English production in 1985, then the 2012 fim, Les Misérables has attracted avid followers, both for its story line and, in particular, its music. Jean Valjean, a released prisoner who breaks parole and then seeks redemption, is relentlessly pursued by police officer Javert. Valjean finally finds peace in the wake of the student rebellion of 1832. The music and lyrics at the core of the storytelling work extremely well in this production.

Director Cienda McNamara and her many assistants have mounted a strong production with their talented cast, generating a very good night of entertainment over-all for the large audience. The basic, effective set allowed great freedom of movement for the large cast, even enabling a large street barricade to appear in the rebellion scenes. With the orchestral backing coming from behind the set, the voices were heard with clarity.

Due to the quality of the actors and singers, Lynch and Paterson Productions have maintained an extremely high standard in recent times.

Shannon Foley as Jean Valjean was excellent and as the character is the crux of the story, the success of the whole evening was due in part to him. Lionel Theunissen, who knows the role of Javert backwards having played it many times before, was also good, though on this occasion could have shown a bit more emotion. One of my favourite scenes and an audience winner is “The Master of the House”, which Steve Beck and Fiona Buchanan over-performed to perfection. 

A consistently strong cast in both acting and singing made this a memorable production of Les Misérables. Great entertainment, and it re-enforced my belief that the stage version of Les Misérables flows better and is more  effective than the movie. Congratulations to all.

Bill Davies