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Post by thistimetomorrow on Aug 30, 2023 21:59:07 GMT
And has he and Stewart listed and holiday dates? from what I've got noted, stewart is off 1st-4th sep and josh is off 8th-14th sep (As well as every monday) |
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Post by geeky101 on Sept 12, 2023 16:47:44 GMT
Saw this on Saturday night for the first time post-concert iteration. I was largely blown away.
Chris Jacobsen's Valjean is honestly unreal... he moved me to tears that I couldn't keep under control. I was lucky enough to be second row and my god: he did not stop with the details from minute one. Vocally impressive and robust too, particularly having worked through the heat on the second of a two-show day, with an impeccable falsetto, healthy-sounding belt and a couple of lovely opt-ups in The Bargain scene. Can only echo what others have said recently in him surely deserving a shot at principal over the next few years.
Other standouts were Stewart Clarke (seriously, seriously good in every respect. Stars brought the house down - everyone around me was talking about it during the interval - and I swear I caught a glimmer of a half-smile from him before slipping straight back to his po-faced Act 1 Javert immediately afterwards) and Nathania Ong (a shame she's leaving, her voice and characterisation were glorious).
It appears in very good shape just before cast change. Was only sad to miss Lucie Jones, although seeing Natalie Chua's final scheduled Fantine and the vibes the whole cast gave her at curtain call more than made up for it.
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Post by showtoones on Sept 12, 2023 17:12:52 GMT
Josh seems to miss a lot of performances. Chris does Mondays, I know, but he seems to be on a lot of other performances as well.
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Post by danb on Sept 12, 2023 17:47:22 GMT
I’m looking at tickets for my Mum for after Christmas, and theres not a lot of affordability going on is there? Nothing without a restriction or safety bar for less than £99! I’m always happy to duck and dive but when its for a gift you can’t take a chance can you? Any tips or bargains?
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Post by LaLuPone on Sept 12, 2023 18:09:53 GMT
I’m looking at tickets for my Mum for after Christmas, and theres not a lot of affordability going on is there? Nothing without a restriction or safety bar for less than £99! I’m always happy to duck and dive but when its for a gift you can’t take a chance can you? Any tips or bargains? If it’s to give as a Christmas present, and you’re looking to go in January-February, your best option would probably be the GILT New Year Sale. Usually goes on sale in December and you can probably get Band A tickets for £40-50. |
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Post by SuttonPeron on Sept 12, 2023 21:12:56 GMT
The slip seats are usually 69,5/72,5 and the view is quite good, and at a more moderate price than other seats. Those seats are advertised as restricted legroom, but I´m very tall and had no issues. To be fair, I was in the aisle.
This show is crazy expensive, isn´t it?
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Post by Alejo on Sept 13, 2023 6:24:16 GMT
I always try and go for stalls A15 or A16. They're right in the centre of row A, and as they are marked as "Directly behind the conductor", are sold for £69.50 (compared to the rest of the row at £89.50).
I guess it depends on whether you want to sit in the front row, but I love watching from there. I don't find the conductor distracting at all, and even less so in the new staging, where he seems to be sunk into the staging more.
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Post by danb on Sept 13, 2023 6:46:35 GMT
They’re gone already for all of the January matinees.
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Post by Alejo on Sept 13, 2023 8:31:36 GMT
They’re gone already for all of the January matinees. That's a pain. But yes, they do quite often get snapped up early on. |
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Post by greeny11 on Sept 13, 2023 15:54:08 GMT
Josh seems to miss a lot of performances. Chris does Mondays, I know, but he seems to be on a lot of other performances as well. He's taken 2 holidays (both a week long) in a very short space of time which probably contributes to this thinking. I'm guessing it was holiday he had to use before the end of the contract. |
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Post by theatremiss on Sept 20, 2023 15:13:20 GMT
Saw this on Saturday night for the first time post-concert iteration. I was largely blown away. Chris Jacobsen's Valjean is honestly unreal... he moved me to tears that I couldn't keep under control. I was lucky enough to be second row and my god: he did not stop with the details from minute one. Vocally impressive and robust too, particularly having worked through the heat on the second of a two-show day, with an impeccable falsetto, healthy-sounding belt and a couple of lovely opt-ups in The Bargain scene. Can only echo what others have said recently in him surely deserving a shot at principal over the next few years. Other standouts were Stewart Clarke (seriously, seriously good in every respect. Stars brought the house down - everyone around me was talking about it during the interval - and I swear I caught a glimmer of a half-smile from him before slipping straight back to his po-faced Act 1 Javert immediately afterwards) and Nathania Ong (a shame she's leaving, her voice and characterisation were glorious). It appears in very good shape just before cast change. Was only sad to miss Lucie Jones, although seeing Natalie Chua's final scheduled Fantine and the vibes the whole cast gave her at curtain call more than made up for it. I couldn’t agree more. I used to see him at the alternate a number of years ago when he was in a previous cast. He’s absolutely sublime and one of my favourite JVJs. I spoke to him on Sat and I missed his whole week run whilst Piterman was on leave, but Mon nights will be my go to now. |
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Post by theatremiss on Sept 20, 2023 15:20:24 GMT
Les Mis is a favourite show of mine, seen it so many times I stopped counting. However, the show isn’t in a great shape IMHO. Now I know on Sat night there were lots of swings and second covers on etc and in fairness the second cover Marius wasn’t a bad cover at all and neither was the Enjolras cover. But when did Les Mis become so shouty and angry? So many performers screamed their way through their songs. Javert (understudy and didn’t get the name) was ear splitting and I have to say Piterman seemed to struggle with some of the notes in Bring Him Home. I usually like Claire Machin as she tends to put in a good performance, but on Sat night she was like some sort of pantomime dame. I’m not usually a fan of Lucie Jones, but she was one of the better performers that evening.
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Post by David J on Sept 20, 2023 15:46:30 GMT
To be honest this whole shouting and angry stuff has gradually been taking over for the past decade I have been watching Les Mis at the Queens/Sondheim.
It feels like a combination of actor's choice, making up for limited vocals or the general direction nowadays. Trevor Nunn's touch has faded away. I watched recent interviews with Philip Quast where he describes Trevor's direction or his approach to the roles he plays (techniques the RSC teaches). And you look at Philip's performance as the ultimate Javert and performances nowadays and it's night and day.
Javert's Suicide in particular seems to be the moment the actor wants to put his stamp on it and show the pain and angst Javert's going through. There's an audio of a performance out there with David Thaxton's Javert earlier this year. For most of it I felt wow David is giving a great performance here. Wished I saw him live. Then he turns all shouty for the Suicide. Sigh
And it seems from that audio that the military officer in the Final Battle is all shouty and emoting. Obviously lifted from the Gielgud concert. And I hated that. To me he should be emotionless and commanding. Representing a indominable force that the students will not survive
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Post by theatremiss on Sept 20, 2023 16:32:17 GMT
To be honest this whole shouting and angry stuff has gradually been taking over for the past decade I have been watching Les Mis at the Queens/Sondheim. It feels like a combination of actor's choice, making up for limited vocals or the general direction nowadays. Trevor Nunn's touch has faded away. I watched recent interviews with Philip Quast where he describes Trevor's direction or his approach to the roles he plays (techniques the RSC teaches). And you look at Philip's performance as the ultimate Javert and performances nowadays and it's night and day. Javert's Suicide in particular seems to be the moment the actor wants to put his stamp on it and show the pain and angst Javert's going through. There's an audio of a performance out there with David Thaxton's Javert earlier this year. For most of it I felt wow David is giving a great performance here. Wished I saw him live. Then he turns all shouty for the Suicide. Sigh And it seems from that audio that the military officer in the Final Battle is all shouty and emoting. Obviously lifted from the Gielgud concert. And I hated that. To me he should be emotionless and commanding. Representing a indominable force that the students will not survive I did see Thaxton, he’s one of those performers that I always book to see. I totally get what you are saying about Nunn’s touch fading. I must be nearly approaching 100 visits over the years, but I’d say I’ve not visited much at all in the last 2 years, maybe twice. I just wish they’d sing it. I’m also peeved that the revolve has gone, never understood the reasoning behind that. |
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Post by demelza on Sept 21, 2023 11:48:04 GMT
The slip seats are usually 69,5/72,5 and the view is quite good, and at a more moderate price than other seats. Those seats are advertised as restricted legroom, but I´m very tall and had no issues. To be fair, I was in the aisle. This show is crazy expensive, isn´t it? Slips are how much these days?! God, I remember when they used to be £25... that's nearly triple the price in a decade |
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Post by BVM on Sept 21, 2023 12:20:26 GMT
Anyone got any advice on how you actually get to see Josh Piterman in this lol?
Have been thrice since cast change hoping to see him and all three times he's been out. Obvs I get that you pay your money and take your chances but he does seem hard to track down.
Off again last night - had even checked holidays before booking to make sure it wasn't that!
Anyway, hopefully I'll get to see the guy someday.
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Post by SuttonPeron on Sept 21, 2023 18:24:58 GMT
The slip seats are usually 69,5/72,5 and the view is quite good, and at a more moderate price than other seats. Those seats are advertised as restricted legroom, but I´m very tall and had no issues. To be fair, I was in the aisle. This show is crazy expensive, isn´t it? Slips are how much these days?! God, I remember when they used to be £25... that's nearly triple the price in a decade Slips are 89,5/99,5 now. Sometimes they´ll reduce to 72,5. Crazy! I paid £20 for them on a random weekday matinée in june 2022 when the Grand was closed. The view is good, but certainly not worth that much! |
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Post by demelza on Sept 21, 2023 21:31:25 GMT
Slips are how much these days?! God, I remember when they used to be £25... that's nearly triple the price in a decade Slips are 89,5/99,5 now. Sometimes they´ll reduce to 72,5. Crazy! I paid £20 for them on a random weekday matinée in june 2022 when the Grand was closed. The view is good, but certainly not worth that much! That's absolutely eye watering! Yeah, that view is definitely not worth more than £40 with the amount of leaning forward you need to do! |
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Post by BVM on Sept 21, 2023 22:14:51 GMT
Yes both Phantom and Les Mis selling incredibly well currently. Great for the shows but frustrating for anyone wanting a decent view for under 89 quid!
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Post by Mark on Sept 21, 2023 22:25:30 GMT
TKTS always has some rear stalls tix in the £40 or so range.
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Post by ceebee on Sept 25, 2023 22:08:48 GMT
An absolute joy to see Adam Pearce back on stage tonight as Bishop/Ensemble. Well done Adam - you excelled tonight and your performance was perfect.
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Post by backtothetheatre on Sept 26, 2023 9:29:40 GMT
Did anyone see the new cast last night and can report back? Any standouts?
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Post by mrbarnaby on Sept 26, 2023 9:32:11 GMT
An absolute joy to see Adam Pearce back on stage tonight as Bishop/Ensemble. Well done Adam - you excelled tonight and your performance was perfect. Will he be reading this? |
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Post by ceebee on Sept 26, 2023 10:08:46 GMT
An absolute joy to see Adam Pearce back on stage tonight as Bishop/Ensemble. Well done Adam - you excelled tonight and your performance was perfect. Will he be reading this? Who knows? I wrote it on the basis that I don't have the means to contact him directly but that perhaps somebody involved with the show might see it and mention it to him. He's somebody I've always enjoyed seeing on stage, as he seems very professional and looks like he would be a great member of any company of actors. Given everything he has been through in the last year, I thought it might be nice to acknowledge his first performance on returning from illness. |
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Post by BVM on Sept 26, 2023 10:24:34 GMT
An absolute joy to see Adam Pearce back on stage tonight as Bishop/Ensemble. Well done Adam - you excelled tonight and your performance was perfect. That’s great to hear :-) How were rest of new cast?! And was Josh on?! |
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