Les Miserables - The Staged Concert

Tonight was fantastic, what a cast. John Owen Jones is sensational but there wasn’t a weak link tonight. Very impressed with Carrie Hope Fletcher and Bradley Jaden in particular.

I can report that the programme has not been updated to reflect Simon Bowman leaving the cast. And also if you are sitting in the middle of the front row, bring protective clothing, although if someone with a knowledge of genetics wants to clone themselves a Michael Ball / John Own Jones pairing, my spit covered clothing can be purchased on eBay :-)

If I remember correctly we were out for about for between 10:20 and 10:25 so roughly 2 hrs 50.

Yes, all of what ptwest said. Carrie sings it beautifully, fair broke my heart. Ball miscast but by no means bad. Boe was quite the revelation to me. What a powerful noise he makes. Enjoyed the limited staging; could just sit back and enjoy the sound. My only negative was how one note Enjolras was. He started at passionate shouting and stayed there til he was dead. Made me a bit concerned about was his Fiyero must’ve been like!

Got a bit of a shock when the Grand Circle ended up being the Upper Circle with a ruddy great rail in the way. Granted they were only £35 but it didn’t say restricted view on the tickets. It didn’t matter one bit and I wouldn’t have paid more, but its a bit cheeky. Am also in two minds about DMT decorating every theatre the same, only in different colours. Is it detracting from all of these beautiful buildings or giving them a fleet identity?

Apparently stage door has been absolutely hideous.

People there for hours with camping chairs (!), crowds often six deep, fans swarming at the stars when they leave. It is causing a lot of concern!

miz yes you can use the Noticeboard as you have made more than 25 posts.

Go here to create a thread and a moderator will publish it after it’s been reviewed. 

www.theatreboard.co.uk/board/28/submit-notices

There’s a very helpful setting called -usefully- Theatre Mode which stops this behaviour. Sadly not even Apple can force people to use it. Android watches are a problem too -when I told off my brother-in-law for not turning his off at the cinema he swore blind there was no way to do it.... and his is lit up ALL THE TIME, not just when he moves his wrist.

Mine isn't Apple but it comes off my wrist and into my pocket at the theatre or cinema (not sure its Smart enough to have a theatre mode but I'll look).
The little lights all over the place are so annoying. At Avenue Q the guy in front was checking his Instagram or something during the show! can't go without it!!!

Saw it this afternoon and really enjoyed it! JOJ terrific, and while Ball does feel slightly miscast at first I think his Javert’s Suicide may be the best-acted I’ve seen, in terms of character motivation.

Overall it just sounded wonderful.

I was also there this afternoon, just stunning!

My first visit to the concert performance came last night. Have to say it all sounds very good, much better than the production that closed.

Consistently strong voices all around. The only person who didn't really stand out to me was Michael Ball. He was excellent in his solo numbers, but his voice just wasn't powerful enough during the group numbers (not sure if that was his fault or the sound mixing).

The lack of staging doesn't detract from the performance at all as you can just enjoy the music. Although I did notice a few people nearby who hadn't understood what a concert version was.

A very receptive audience. Matt Lucas was the only person to get entrance applause, which he got on both his main entrances. A partial standing ovation at the interval and an almost full standing ovation after Bring Him Home. Alfie really nails all his notes. And one of the quickest full audience standing ovations I've ever seen at the end, even faster than Hamilton.

I was in the standing area, at the rear Stalls. This area really isn't managed well. Only a small section of the wall is available for standing against. I realised this and claimed a good space early, only for an usher to move everyone standing in the "wrong" area and insist that those of us already there most down to less desirable positions, rather than putting the people who ignored all the signs in the gaps. I moved as far as I could, but there are also candlestick style lights sticking out of the wall in two places, meaning I couldn't move down further without crouching. Someone further down the line didn't realise this and glared at me several times. If you're under 5'4" or so, you could probably fit underneath, but otherwise that takes the wall out of action. The area is crowded and had a group of large men been there, it would have been tricky for us all to fit. In this case, it was mainly women and just about worked.

Most of the people standing seemed to be there to see Carrie and there was a Heathers groupie near me too. I was almost surprised they didn't leave after her part of the show ended, but actually I didn't spot anyone leaving early, or any free seats.

It was as behaved a seated audience as I've ever seen, with just a few people taking snaps on their phones. Somehow the ushers never spot these (or, perhaps, they just can't say anything). The big downside of the standing area is the number of people wanting toilet breaks and having to walk straight past you, particularly towards the end of the long first half. There are some creaky areas to the floor. The lit sound desk is also continually in view.

As far as the view goes, it's pretty good as you see over people seated. Probably better if you're shorter as you only see the bottom half of the stage, so miss a lot of the chorus and anything taking place on the raised "barricade" section. The sound is very well balanced in this area.

Even with a wall to lean against (assuming you don't get a section with a jutting out picture frame or similar), standing is still a bit of an ordeal, so it's a trade-off between price and comfort. Still, there are very uncomfortable seats available with limited legroom that cost a lot more.

The biggest bonus of this production? No gunshots. There are sound effects and one that is quite loud and convincing, particularly as these are coming out of speakers placed all around the theatre. But this version is just so much more bearable. I was surprised they cut the death of Gavroche completely.

An excellent version. I am back before it closes (seated). I can see this version coming back too, or even touring.

It looks as if I can't just add to the existing thread. BurlyBeaR, could you kindly create another thread for September 16, please? Thank you very much!