Post by Deleted on Jul 15, 2019 18:39:17 GMT
So I thought Saturday night was sensational. Really great performance and felt privileged to be at the last showing of the original production. Perfectly behaved audience from where I was in row D of Stalls, for the first ever time at the Queen's I think. No phones, no talking, no rustling. Everyone giving the stage their undivided. Very emotional with many cast members in tears from the last 20 odd mins onwards. Also lots of people around me crying (I remained dry eyed lol). Instant standing ovation (hardly a surprise) and then the Champagne and a speech from Dean Collinson. He acknowledged the significance of the run, the cast, crew, orchestra and all the original creatives, most of whom (Trevor aside) were in the audience. Also thanked Cameron. No boos but somewhat muted applause I thought compared to the others. He had clearly decided not to come which makes one wonder if the feud with the original creatives is ongoing. There was then an explosion of streamers and then that was that!
Dean also said that 15 of the cast will be appearing in the concert which was pleased to hear.
Re a few comments others have made:
The "gay kiss" in Beggars At The Feast doesn't usually happen, think was spontaneous for the last day!
Still the longest running musical? I think they can still claim it as the musical is Les Mis and it runs without significant breaks. They just can't call it the longest running PRODUCTION. But the public won't care about the semantics.
Re: it being sped up and lacking the real emotion it once had. Not sure TBO; maybe; but what I am sure having seen tour and West End multiple times this year is that the tour is identical. In terms of pace, orchestration and musical direction they are as one so that won't improve when the new version comes in.
Re the tour being cheap. It really isn't. In fact with Miss Saigon it is the most lavish tour I have seen over the last 20 years. There is no doubt that it is a decent production and in fact when it launched 9 years ago it got a lot of praise with many people comparing it to the "tired" West End version. So it's not a bad product. With it's use of projections and less reliance on physical scenery it is also much more in line with modern theatre designs. I don't know if new people coming to the show in 2019 would get more from it than the original (as it is, I think, more contemporary). I can't really judge objectively having been brought up on the Palace/Queen's version. But anyway, it's not cheap. And the barricade is not farcical - yes it's a bit smaller but works absolutely fine in the context and feel of the production.
That said, I still wish the original could have stayed. Personally for me it is iconic. And what with latterly having been unique as the only place left on earth you could see the original production, I think existing in harmony with the tour would have been ideal.
But although that remains my personal preference, as time has gone on, I have appreciated more and more why maybe this had to happen. Things in life do have to move on otherwise there is no change, no evolution. And if it wasn't closing, I also think the accusations of it being tired and stale would continue and grow. With each cast change I think another fraction of the original direction is lost and eventually it gets further and further form the 1985 vision. And the theatre DOES need the refurb - so I can see why this all came together now.
So - sad to see the original go, but already looking fwd to seeing the new version. Further, it is BASED on the tour - I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a few updates and improvements.
And finally as has been said, 99.9% of the Les Mis viewing public will not care (or even notice) that anything has changed. They pay for Les Mis. They pay cos they've seen SuBo. And for most punters, the show is the star. This will not harm (or help to be fair) whatever ultimate length of run Les Mis is destined to have.
Dean also said that 15 of the cast will be appearing in the concert which was pleased to hear.
Re a few comments others have made:
The "gay kiss" in Beggars At The Feast doesn't usually happen, think was spontaneous for the last day!
Still the longest running musical? I think they can still claim it as the musical is Les Mis and it runs without significant breaks. They just can't call it the longest running PRODUCTION. But the public won't care about the semantics.
Re: it being sped up and lacking the real emotion it once had. Not sure TBO; maybe; but what I am sure having seen tour and West End multiple times this year is that the tour is identical. In terms of pace, orchestration and musical direction they are as one so that won't improve when the new version comes in.
Re the tour being cheap. It really isn't. In fact with Miss Saigon it is the most lavish tour I have seen over the last 20 years. There is no doubt that it is a decent production and in fact when it launched 9 years ago it got a lot of praise with many people comparing it to the "tired" West End version. So it's not a bad product. With it's use of projections and less reliance on physical scenery it is also much more in line with modern theatre designs. I don't know if new people coming to the show in 2019 would get more from it than the original (as it is, I think, more contemporary). I can't really judge objectively having been brought up on the Palace/Queen's version. But anyway, it's not cheap. And the barricade is not farcical - yes it's a bit smaller but works absolutely fine in the context and feel of the production.
That said, I still wish the original could have stayed. Personally for me it is iconic. And what with latterly having been unique as the only place left on earth you could see the original production, I think existing in harmony with the tour would have been ideal.
But although that remains my personal preference, as time has gone on, I have appreciated more and more why maybe this had to happen. Things in life do have to move on otherwise there is no change, no evolution. And if it wasn't closing, I also think the accusations of it being tired and stale would continue and grow. With each cast change I think another fraction of the original direction is lost and eventually it gets further and further form the 1985 vision. And the theatre DOES need the refurb - so I can see why this all came together now.
So - sad to see the original go, but already looking fwd to seeing the new version. Further, it is BASED on the tour - I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a few updates and improvements.
And finally as has been said, 99.9% of the Les Mis viewing public will not care (or even notice) that anything has changed. They pay for Les Mis. They pay cos they've seen SuBo. And for most punters, the show is the star. This will not harm (or help to be fair) whatever ultimate length of run Les Mis is destined to have.
