Cameron Mackintosh presents a brand new production of Boublil & Schonberg's legendary musical, Les Miserables, with glorious new staging and dazzlingly reimagined scenery inspired by the paintings of Victor Hugo. This new production that has been acclaimed by critics, fans and new audiences and is breaking box office records around the country is now coming to Broadway.
LES MISERABLES has returned to Broadway's Imperial Theatre in an acclaimed new production that has audiences leaping to their feet. Set against the backdrop of 19th-century France, LES MIZ is an unforgettable story of heartbreak, passion, and the resilience of the human spirit, that has become one of the most celebrated musicals in theatrical history.
Featuring the timeless score and beloved songs "I Dreamed A Dream," "Bring Him Home," "One Day More," and "On My Own," this breathtaking new Broadway production has left the critics awestruck, hailing it "A LES MIZ FOR THE 21st CENTURY!" (The Huffington Post)
But nothing in this return of the Victor Hugo popera has the musty feel of the road. The chorus has been impeccably drilled and, except for a few ragged voices at the barricades, the whores, beggars and ruffians of pre-revolutionary France keep a fine balance between robust singing and acting. And speaking of real finds, Gaten Matarazzo, who played little Gavroche at the preview I saw, is a star. And then there is Karimloo, whose Valjean evolves from a feral, hotheaded convict into a dashing, dignified hero without a shadow of Hugh Jackman from the 2012 movie on his brow. Karimloo's voice has a rare purity and focus and, though we would expect his low tenor to strain for the stratospheric notes in 'Bring Him Home,' he even finds the finesse and stamina to be tender in it...Nikki M. James shows vast range in her a touching, street-wise Eponine, with a lush yet piercing voice. Caissie Levy makes a poignant Fantine...For those of us in the minority, 'Les Miz' remains Masterpiece Musical at its most earnest, marred by cumulative bellowing and politics so fuzzy-edged that they never get beyond a generic storm-the-barricades fervor. But if we need to have 'Les Miz' -- and obviously, we do -- I pick this one.
The faithful will be pleased that producer Cameron Mackintosh's new staging (*** out of four stars), which opened Sunday at the Imperial Theatre, offers as much bombast as ever. There are thundering performances of Schönberg's syrupy, repetitive score (with new orchestrations), a vast, creepy set (by Matt Kinley) inspired by Hugo's paintings and a company of accomplished troupers who gamely glower and fret under Laurence Connor and James Powell's heavy-handed direction. For the rest of us, luckily, there is another compelling reason to check out this production: its leading man, Ramin Karimloo...Perhaps we'll have the good fortune to see Karimloo tackle Billy Bigelow or Sweeney Todd in the future, or perform in an original musical that can more fully accommodate his robust gifts as a singer and actor. For now, this LES MISERABLES will have to suffice.
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