Author/Dramatist: Alain Boubil

Book/Music: Claude-Michel Schonberg

Lyrics: Herbert Kretzmer

Adaptors: Trevor Nunn & John Caird

Directors: Laurence Connor & James Powell

Reviewer: John Roberts

The Public Reviews Rating:

Les Miserables has become a musical theatre institution, performing in many cities and countries around the world, and been translated into several different languages – it was no surprise that the musical would reach its 25th anniversary. That be said it wasn’t helped by the first wave of national critics having a major dislike to the production – calling it overly gloomy and depressing, but through the power of the people, the word of a great new musical spread and had firmly won over the hearts of the nation and indeed the world.

Les Miserables is based on the book by Victor Hugo – and in essence is a story of forgiveness, love, betrayal and sacrifice for the righter cause. This new production to celebrate the 25th Anniversary brings a new lease of life to the production, vividly capturing the human and emotional sides of the characters in a much stronger and plausible way than its West-End sister, and this is testament to the extremely talented cast who bring the story to life on stage and the stunning new realisation of the story onto stage by directors Laurence Connor & James Powell.

Connor & Powell must not have had an easy job to re-imagine this heavyweight show. Les Miserables has firmly rooted its iconic revolve and barricade firmly into audiences heads , but what they have managed to do is add a whole new layer of depth to the production. Through the use of excellent projected backdrops, taken from Victor Hugo’s own watercolour paintings and excellent CGI animation the narrative of the story seems to flow more naturally and in fact believably. The next major change to this production is down to Christopher Jaknke who has re-orchestrated the production and the result is breathtakinglybeautiful. We finally have the power and weight in the music that has been missing for years. It is filled to the brim with layers of strings and woodwinds that come and send shivers down your spine and one cannot wait for the live cast recording to take place.

The show is also brilliantly served well by its creative team, the new set designed by Matt Kinley, brings a much needed sense of reality to the locations in the production, from the small, tight, clostraphobic overcrowding of the backstreets of Paris, to the beautifully realised bridge across the River Seine glittering in the night sky. Andreane Neofitou’s costume designs also bring splashes of colour into a previously dark and almost grey production but still keeping knowing nods of appreciation to the previous production (Eponine’s coat and hat for instance.) The lighting design by Paule Contable is very atmospheric, she has managed to capture real emotion in her design which really helps lift this production to new heights. I must also give credit to the sound engineers, who in my experience of over 20 years of musical theatre going, were faultless and provided quite possibly the best sound-mix I have encountered in a theatre.

So what of the cast, it seems producer Cameron Mackintosh has pulled out all the stops to bring together a cast that not only work as a brilliant ensemble but also shine strong on their own. Katie Hall as Cossette brings a welcome sense of adolescent naivety to the role, whilst Rosalind James as Eponine brings a very street wise performance but subtly weaving in a powerful sense of love and loss – her rendition of On My Own and duet of Heart Full of Love being so full of raw emotion. Jon Robyns fresh from playing Marius in the West End takes on the part of Enjolras a part which I feel is much better suited to his character and he fills it with gusto and aplomb. Many of the evenings laughs came from the duo of Ashley Artus and Lynne Wilmot as the lovable rogues the Thenardiers, both exhibiting lots of boundless energy and well executed comedy timing. Special mention must also be given to Toby Prynne as Gavroche, he really was a scene stealer and gave bags of enthusiasm and cheeky charm – a star of the future I think! Madalena Alberto for this reviewer was the weakest member of this production, her portrayal of Fontine was heavily under coloured and her singing very weak and sounding a bit too poppy for such a piece.

Gareth Gates is a pleasant surprise as Marius and his performance is almost faultless, he manages to capture the audience’s attention with sophistication and enchanted charm. Earl Carpenter is sensational as Javert, his physical stature and size alongside his menacing glare brings plenty of power to his portrayal and his rendition of Stars will haunt me for years to come, but is it the performance given by John Owen Jones as Jean Valjean that leaves this reviewer almost speechless, having been nominated by several online polls as the best Valjean ever it is easy to see why, as a performer he takes you a journey that is full of emotion, pain and anguish so much so that you can see the tears streming down his face at several points during the performance. Seeing a performer give so much of themselves on stage is a rare thing and this is a performance any musical theatre fan should see. Owen Jones also has a beautiful and engaging voice, his range is phenomenal and produces such smooth faultless tones, even bringing this reviewer to tears during Bring Him Home.

Les Miserables aficionado’s will probably strike me down for this, but I am going to say it anyway! This production is Sensational from start to finish. It brings a much needed lease of life to the show and for this reviewer stands as the stronger and better production when compared alongside the original. This 25th Anniversary production is as close to musical theatre perfection that you can get and I for one am glad I personally got to experience it first hand.

Runs until the 13th February

Les Miserables: 25th Anniversary Production - Palace Theatre, Manchester, 4.4 out of 5 based on 17 ratings

Tags: 2010, 25th Anniversary, Alain Boubil, Ashley Artus, Cameron Mackintosh, Claude-Michel Schonberg, Earl Carpenter, Gareth Gates, Herbert Kretzmer, James Powell, John Owen Jones, Jon Robyns, Katie Hall, Laurence Connor, Les Miserables, Lynne Wilmot, Manchester, Palace Theatre, Rosalind James, Victor Hugo