The year is 1815 in Montreuil, France. People are starving and those who have jobs are struggling to make ends meet. In prison, after a nineteen year sentence for stealing a loaf of bread, Jean Valjean (Peter Lockyer) is finally being released on parole.
Les Miserables is adapted from Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel of the same name by Claude-Michel Sonberg ,who also composed the music, in 1985. This operetta (a show made up fully of musical numbers) follows Valjean’s journey trying to make other people’s lives better. The show premiered on October 16th at the Fox theatre and plays until this Sunday, Oct. 28.
With a memorable, poignant score and a colorful cast of characters played by extremely talented and well-rounded cast, this show manages to take the depressing state that France was in in the early 1800s and transform it into an enchanting and inspiring story about redemption. The youngest of the cast are nine years old girls who interchange the roles of two of the major young-adult characters, Cosette and Eponine, before they are grown. Each of them fully embraces their role and though their voices are still developing, it’s clear that they will become an important part of the theatrical community.
As for the major adult characters, they were all incredible, but Peter Lockyer, Jean Valjean had a voice so full of range that added a whole other level to my enjoyment of the performance. Though he is a tenner (a high male singer) as the role requires, he can also execute substantially lower songs extremely well. There is also one song in particular, “Bring Him Home,” that is high even for a tenner which I thought was very well done and moving,
In regards to the sets, they were minimal, but they were meant to be as such so the audience could become fully invested in the story and not be distracted by what was going on around them. The one criticism I have about them would be the lighting. The theatre was dark and to reflect the troubled atmosphere of France in the 19th century, so was the stage. All the choreography was done very far upstage as well, making it hard to see and differentiate from characters at times. This didn’t take away very much from my wonderful experience, but it is something to be aware of nonetheless.
Overall this is a heartwarming story where hope rises from the ashes of despair and proves that even the most misguided people may have a heart of gold and are willing to change for the better. Be sure get your tickets before the opportunity slips away!