After seeing Les Misérables 7 times, including London, I was really disappointed with the 8th. In "celebration" of the 25th anniversary of Les Misérables, Cameron Mackintosh decided to ruin the greatest musical in Broadway history. I do not plan to see it again, and I have always wanted to see the show in New York. Oh well, I have the soundtrack and can watch it in my head forever.
SPOILER ALERT
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Neutral Changes
1. In the beginning scene, rather than working a chain gang breaking rocks in a quarry, Jean ValJean is enslaved as an oarsman on a ship. As I recall this is accurate to novel. HOWEVER, in the song, when Jean ValJean is receiving his pardon he says, "19 years a slave of the law" to which Javert responds, "5 years for what you did, the rest because you tried to run." So enlighten me as to how a man shackled below deck on a ship is going to have opportunities for escape.
EPIC FAILS
1. Removal of Chairs and Tables.
a. When Jean ValJean is the guest of the bishop, in the original, he and the bishop sat at a table and as the song progressed, there was actual acting that went along with it. The housekeeper set on the table a silver platter with food on it and Jean ValJean grabbed it, as a starving convict would, lyrics "He let me eat my fill, I had the lion's share" Then the bishop blew out the candles in the silver candlesticks on the table and heads to bed. This scene felt like we were inside Jean Valjean's head hearing his thoughts. In the revisioned, there is simply a single chair that Jean ValJean sits upon, the candlesticks are on a cabinet containing the silver Jean ValJean will steal. The servant and bishop standing behind Jean ValJean as he sings to the audience. This is almost in the way Ferris Bueller talks to the audience.
b. For the song “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” after the barricade has fallen, in the original, Maruis is sitting at a table in the Café and there are several other tables all surrounded by empty chairs. As Marius sings, behind him was a screen, providing a wall of the café, with darkness beyond, as he sings, “Phantom faces at the window. Phantom shadows on the floor. Empty chairs at empty tables. Where my friends will meet no more.” Those who died on the barricade, currently in the dark beyond the screen move forward towards the screen into the light, so there was a ghostly appearance through the screen and appeared as though they were phantom faces at the window. In the revisioned, Maruis is standing (wtf? He’s injured and can barely walk) in the alley or something, projected onto the wall is a faded sign with the name of the café so it looks like he is outside, and as he sings, the fallen meander out from the side of the stage and surround him, he walks up to them, singing in their faces.
2. Removal of the Turntable
a. Originally used throughout the show Les Misérables utilized a revolving stage, this element has been removed altogether and for some sequenced replaced by a digital projection (another fail topic). So the stage created motion, like in the beginning, after Jean ValJean is pardoned, he is walking against the rotating stage, which brings him through farmers working the land, then the rotation stops with him among the workers and he begins working. Then when the refuse his help the stage rotates and they move away as he continues walking. This is a minor illustration…
i. In the Thénardier’s Tavern for “Master of the House” there is a partitioned area 90º off the main part of the show set up as the kitchen, so during the song the Thénardiers go into the kitchen for the lyrics, “Mix it in a mincer, and pretend it's beef; Kidney of a horse; Liver of a cat; Filling up the sausages with this and that…” and so for that scene, the stage rotated so that the kitchen was center stage, then when they return to the dining room the stage rotated back.
ii. The most epic fail is with the Barricade. During the battle, Gavroche climbs over the barricade, which the stage rotates to show him robbing the corpses of dead French soldiers for ammunition, as he is singing he is shot, several times from the back of the theater, but manages to throw a satchel of ammo to the revolutionaries, and when he is shot the last time, the white light of his soul comes on. Then the battle ensues, the revolutionaries facing the audience are shooting and shots and flashes are going off from around the theater. The audience is actually placed in the middle of the battle. Then when the battle is over, the stage rotates, and the lights are on the fallen, as Jean ValJean prys up a sewer cover and pulls an unconscious Marius into the sewers, closing the cover just as Javert makes his way over the barricade looking for him, checking the bodies of the fallen. In the revisioned, there is no rotating stage, when Gavroche crosses the barricade, nobody sees him or really knows what he is doing. He is singing about “the pup grows up” and getting shot at. I must say the stupidest part is that his death light comes on while he is singing the last line, so before he is dead. Also, for most all of the barricade scenes the actors are all facing away from the audience. In fact there is a lot more of the actors facing away in the revisioned than there was in the original.
iii. When Eponine leads Marius to Cosette, Cosette was behind the gate downstage, and Maruis and Eponine were upstage on the outside of the gate, then as Marius climbs the wall the stage rotated so Marius and Cosette were upstage and Eponine downstage. Then the stage rotated again when Thénardier and the gang arrive and find Eponine at the gate. When Eponine screams they are all outside the gate. In the revisioned the Thénardier gang come through the gate and find Eponine on the inside of the courtyard and Cosette and Maruis have gone into the house after kissing in front of Eponine.
iv. Other uses of the rotating stage included the runaway cart, but that was minor and worked well without the rotation. The most noticeable is the changing of sets. With the rotating stage in the dark beyond the lights items could be placed on the stage and then the actors walked to them as the stage rotated. Now items are slid onto the stage from the sides of the curtain.
3. Projection Screen Use and Abuse.
There are very few instances where the screen is good and more that it is not.
a. I will start with the good, In the sewers, the first scene is really good, Jean ValJean is carrying Marius and walks toward the back of the stage, again with their backs to the audience, and as he is walking the projection is like a video moving through a sewer, so it looks 3d almost as if we are following with them in the sewer.
b. A second, not as good, use is in scenes like “What have I done?” in which the dark outline of the town with stars is projected onto the screen, giving a feeling of depth.
c. Most of the screen is not really used for anything significant, like displaying the aforementioned wall of the café. It has a feeling of “ooh look what we can do…”
4. Unnecessary Violence
a. So when Jean ValJean is trying to find work or a place to stay the night, the “law abiding folk” assault him, beat him down and kick him while he is on the ground. Really?!?
b. When Fantine, as a prostitute assaults the “rat” she bites him and her face is covered in blood as is his, and he is holding a blood soaked handkerchief.
c. When Eponine is at the ValJean gate and the Thénardier’s gang arrives, one of the thugs violently attacks her with a knife which brought about the scream that warns Cosette and Marius and bring Jean ValJean out to check on Cosette.
d. At the wedding, Marius punches Thénardier in the face.
In Master of the House, Mme Thénardier sings, “Thinks he's quite a lover, but there's not much there.” She holds up a baguette, and then with a cleaver maniacally chops it into little pieces.
In Master of the House, Mme Thénardier sings, “Thinks he's quite a lover, but there's not much there.” She holds up a baguette, and then with a cleaver maniacally chops it into little pieces.
Minor Annoyances that are different (in no particular order):
1. When Javert joins the revolution, in the original they are all tying red, white and blue sashes around themselves, now they are not, but in the next scene all have the sashes.
2. When Javert joins the revolution, Gavroche is present, why didn’t Gavroche blow Javerts cover then.
3. At the end of Master in the House, I rather liked when Mme. Thénardier sings the lyric, “Raise it up the master's arse.” She is holding a wine bottle and rams it into M. Thénardier’s backside.
4. At the end, the entire ensemble appears in the closing when Jean ValJean dies, as I recall from previous viewings it was only the fallen from the barricade. Also, they are singing in a low voice, in the dark downstage and move forward into the light, getting louder as they become more visible.
5. The MICROPHONES. OMG!!! Everyone has a black microphone taped to their forehead. No that is not distracting in the least. What are we Les Misérables INDIA? In my 7 previous viewings I have never seen microphones on the actors. In seeing any other Broadway Musical I have never seen microphones on the actors, except the Aladdin show at Disneyland, and those are at least flesh colored. What gives???
OK, well there are a couple things that I did like, it is not all bad.
1. Throughout the show, people were almost constantly making “the Sign of the Cross” upon themselves. Even Mme. Thénardier incorrectly attempts to make the Sign of the Cross upon herself when she sings “It's no more than we Christians must do!” in the Waltz of Treachery.
2. The runaway cart, I never really understood in the original, why nobody would help Jean ValJean lift the cart off of the man trapped under it. In the revisioned the broken cart contains cannons and teetering kegs of explosives. So this really dramatizes:
a. How heavy the cart must have been.
b. Why nobody would approach a cart with unstable kegs of black powder precariously teetering upon it.
3. At the closing, after Jean ValJean has passed, the bishop is among those presumed to be in Heaven, and bows to him as if to say well done.
This is nowhere near complete, I will likely add to it as I think of more grievances.
