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Post by westendboy on Jun 17, 2020 20:26:14 GMT
but I would like to see a bit more menace. If I may recommend Gerard Carey, current West End cast, whenever theatres reopen. He and Josefina Gabrielle have no qualms about being the worst innkeepers in town and are themselves horribly amused by the fact. While many Thenardiers before them characterise this self-awareness with the kind of wink-wink humour that easily becomes panto-like, this pair gives absolutely zero f*cks about playing it up for the audience, intently focusing on their crookedness and letting the script/blocking carry out the jokey aspect- farthest thing from Matt Lucas's interpretation I've seen. Gerard's Dog Eats Dog is brilliantly creepy as well. With Mackintosh announcing today that Les Miz, along with his other shows, will be closed until 2021 and there being possible redundancies, I have a feeling that I won't be seeing Carey whenever the show reopens. But who knows. |
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Post by westendboy on Jun 17, 2020 20:28:45 GMT
I do kind of agree with you. I love the Thenardiers, they're two of my favourite villains from any musical and I look forward to whenever they turn up. But I will admit, depending on the actors, they can come off as 'pantomimey'. Despite them both being comedic villains, they both do really terrible things. They abused a little girl, indirectly caused her mother to lose her job, resulting in her going into prostitution and eventually dying, they ripped their customers off and (in the case of Monsieur T at least) rob dead bodies. To convey both their comedy and menace, you really need actors who can pull these off convincingly. Alun Armstrong was able to do this, particularly with his creepy rendition of 'Dog Eats Dog'. I've personally never seen any bad Thenardiers (well with the exception of Sacha Baron Cohen and Helena Bonham Carter), but I would like to see a bit more menace. I personally really enjoyed Vivien Parry (final cast of original), thought she brought a good balance of menace and comedy. I think I saw her when I went to see it back in July last year (literally a few days before the original closed), but I'm afraid I don't remember her too much. |
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