Les Misérables - Sondheim Theatre

I was there this evening and was lucky to see Luke McCall on as Valjean. He was, in my opinion, fantastic and I would highly recommend booking a ticket for this on a Monday to see him.

The Sondheim Theatre looks lavish. Mr M certainly has a proven track record of theatre refurbs and this one doesn't disappoint.

As for the show its in the best shape I've seen it. I saw the 25th tour in Edinburgh years ago but was too young to remember it in detail. It really suits the size of this house and I was impressed by how raw the show felt whilst retaining its beauty that we all know and love.

I've read comments about the orchestra still sounding small and I have to disagree. While it may be true that not everything is live from the pit this production does have the new orchestrations which are big and brassy in the overture and barricade scenes and perfectly tender towards the end. Gone are the boingy synths in every song.

I really like the use of Victor Hugo's projected art work and find it more effective than the rest of the projections eg sewers and waves at the beginning.

As mentioned above there are plenty of added little touches in this version. For me, sitting at the back of the Dress Circle, the sound enhancement for the barricade scenes was excellent with the whooshing of bullets all around.

The Sondheim stage felt huge and was well utilised. I didn't find myself missing the revolve at all.

Excellent cast all round but I especially like the Thenardiers who played the comedy to just the right level. Master of the House was brilliant and the audience loved it.

The one letdown was the audience behaviour. Lots of distractions from people trying to film, checking texts and chatting. It's a sad reminder of the times we live in that some people can't be fully immersed in a show as good as this!

I loved the original production but this change came at the right time to breathe new life into the show for generations to come!

My first view of the new production and I wasn't overwhelmed. I was looking forward to it esp after seeing the concert. But it didn't work for me. I can't see my self going back much at all and if I do it will for a cast member not to see the show again.

It was very cluttered with props and scenery. It seems like there are more props than there really needs to be and the scenery is very flat. Someone said about them using space or it being open and the only part you saw the space was the sewers. A lot of stuff happens on stage concidering the last time I saw it was the concert were they stripped away everything I wonder if they are just making up for it now.

The lighting is really dull. It's still an ensemble heavy show and they do do stuff in scenes its very dark so you cant actually see them much in scenes. Which makes me wonder why they are trying to hide cast. Since a lot of fans of the show do go for covers. It would be far pushed to figure out who was who in this production unless you were sitting close up which is expensive.

Honestly the only thing I liked better than the orginial was when Gavroche dies and the part where Feuilly stands on the tower in DYHTPS. I was liking Empty Chairs right up until they did what looked like ballet to exit the scene.

I really didn't like Javerts death. If they wanted wire (I assume it was) work they could of have him actually jumping off the bridge rather than what they did. It just doesn't fit in it looked weird.

I don't know why they have excessive amounts of violence in this esp the Bamatabois/Fantine bit. Bambi was probably one of my fave characters and its been ruined by the exaggeration.

I noticed they changed around dialogue.

On a cast note I really enjoyed Ian Hughes as Thenardier. I know someone said about Ciaran Bowling over doing it. I think a lot of the show is like that I found that in ABC/Red&Black really over the top. But Bowlings Drink With Me was good and when as I said when Gavroche dies.

Aside that, I was with another TB member and we agree that its missing something about it that made me walk out the theatre feeling happy.

Also note DO NOT BOOK the end seats of front row upper Circle (A3) Having sat in those very seats for the closing and having no problems they appeared to have lowered the seats so as someone who is 5'2" it felt like I was squating down to sit my knees were in my chest. It was really bad concidering I paid £30. If you book those make sure they are 17.50 ones because at least if anything you are paying lower.

As someone who went to the Gala performance last week I wonder what made it a Gala ? It didn’t appear any different to any other performance

I've always thought the new orchestrations sound very thin. I could live with the synthesisers standing in for the orchestra pit members who lost their jobs when the show transferred from the Palace, because even with the sound being synthesised it sounded far more grand using John Cameron's orchestrations. I didn't like it when they shoved the tour orchestrations into the Queen's. Some epic moments just sound like whimpers now. One bit I particular miss is the countermelody played by the strings during 'What have I done?'. The transition to Paris also lacks the majestic sweep and epic scale of the original.

Great to see this last night!

Theatre renovation wise I did find it slightly style over substance. The auditorium does LOOK gorgeous. But on a practical level, legroom is much the same, offsetting of seats in stalls is suboptimal, the FOH areas are still congested. And the men's loos in the stalls and on the ground floor remain very cramped with just one cubicle. So I wouldn't say overall the renovations have made the time pre show more relaxing. Though I do appreciated Dame Cameron is mainly concerned with colour schemes. Apparently the women's toilets are better?

As for the show, great as ever. It is of course the 2009 production but I noticed lots of subtle differences from the current tour, so the directors have clearly looked at things again. Which I guess brought a bit more 'freshness.'

The set is the same, other than a new exit/entrance downstage right and a couple of small extra barricade pieces that swung in in front of it from the wings on both sides. One thing I did feel was that it looked slightly cramped in the Sondheim. I have seen the tour so many times though, mainly in Bristol Hippodrome, Birmingham Hippodrome, Manchester Palace and Lowry that I think I am just used to seeing this set on a massive stage. As such it lost that impressive scale, but I suppose gained intimacy.

Won't go through entire cast, but they are all very strong as you'd expect. Nice to get back to a calm atmosphere after the concert too. Made me hope for a cast recording, but as we already have the 25th one and apparently are getting a concert one (though I don't see it on Amazon - perhaps it's just a DVD now) I guess is unlikely. Some subtle updates to the orchestrations and the sound was perfect. The consistency police will be pleased to know that young and adult Cosette were both white and young and adult Eponine both black.

The cast board lists the leads, then rather annoyingly lists the entire company including people who are off. Means you don't know from it which swings are on and which ensemble off. Managed to work out Sake Wijers was on as Feuilly but only as I was close to the stage and he has fiery ginger hair.

No souvenir brochure yet which I was surprised by as Cam Mac normally gets them out very promptly. Woman at the merchandise stand said she didn't know if they were getting them at all. (I am sure they will though!)

So overall thought it was very strong. But I still missed the iconic original. There is the following note in the programme from Cameron:
"The original production came out of the peak of Trevor Nunn and John Caird's creativity at the RSC and it was very much in that RSC style - incredible marches sweeping against the black box surrounds. It was a feat of staging but it was of it's period."
Have to say I disagree with this. Yes it had the classic mega musical feel. But black box staging is not of it's period. It is a completely timeless way of staging things.

But anyway, we are where we are, and I look fwd to many more visits to the Sondheim over the years.

They’ve already got the projector. If they need me to knock up a couple of slides on PowerPoint, no problem. I’ll use that curly writing font.

I’ve often thought a bit of Comic Sans would liven Les Mis up a bit. ‘It might be Hugo but it has to be fun fun fun’ (sic)

Or maybe FOH could flip their picture of a mobile phone with a cross through it, and on the other side reveal the date and location for the next scene. Give them something to do!

Yes as you walk through the foyer and ground level, turn left towards the lower (by row A) circle entrance, opposite and just along from cloakroom. Used to be a cramped men's loo with two cubicles, no urinal. No cramped loo with one cubicle, two urinals!

Well it was meant to be a secret, but I am one of several aerial artists hired to fly in the date titles to offer a Cirque de Soleil flourish to this classic musical. Our training has been limited for reasons I cannot disclose, so it is unsure when this new feature may appear during a performance.

Here www.thestage.co.uk/features/2020/remaking-a-west-end-landmark-how-the-queens-was-reborn-as-the-sondheim-theatre/

Saw the show this evening and WOW. Completely blown away. The incredible power and control in alt Valjean Luke McCall's voice just gets better with every performance; Richard Carson's Javert was superbly complex (only his 4th performance as u/s) and his Confrontation and Suicide had us holding our breaths; Leo Miles as u/s Enjolras has a glorious voice and a truly commanding presence; Gerard Carey (he's back! doing 4 shows this week and 6 the next) is a bonkers Thenardier and captivated us every moment he was onstage. If you'd thought Ian and Josefina were wonderful, Gerard and Josefina are next level w-i-l-d.

Interestingly enough when compared to the principals, this combination of alts/understudies all had a more old-school approach to their characters- for the first time since last July I felt like I was watching classic Les Mis again (after having seen this new production 10+ times), there was not a dull moment*, each scene brought a new wave of energy that built onto the next and we were buzzing till the end! Best show I've seen so far, obviously very happy about it!

*those moments that prompt you to think, oh but the old staging did this much better!