Broadway, Bechdel, and Beyond: A Look at Musical Theatre and the Bechdel Test

Bechdel and Beyond: A Look at Musical Theatre and the Bechdel Test

For those of you who have been reading my blog (all two of you-hi Mom and Dad) you’ve hopefully gathered two things: I am female, and I am a HUGE musical theatre nerd. But something interesting and disturbing was pointed out to me recently by one of my favorite video vloggers, xxjessworldxx: A shocking number of musicals don’t pass The Bechdel Test. I didn’t want to believe it….but then Ithought about it, and I realized he was right….

A lot of musicals, even a few of my favorites, fail to pass the Bechdel Test. Now for those of you not familiar The Bechdel Test (Created by Alison Bechdel, the subject of the musical Fun Home) is a feminist test for books, movies, and yes, plays and musicals. To pass the Bechdel Test, a work has to do the following things.

1. Have at least two named female characters

2. Have said characters have a conversation that…

3. Is not about a man.

There are a LOT of great shows that FAIL the Bechdel Test! But on the other hand, there ARE indeed shows that pass the Bechdel Test! They do exist. So I thought it would be a fun blog post to examine a couple of them, and just examine women portrayed in musicals in general. We’ll take a look at a couple of them.

Disclaimer: This is NOT meant to be a consecutive list. First off, it would take forever to write. Second, I just wanted to highlight a couple that passed the test, and that I liked enough/was familiar enough with to really write about. (And okay, maybe I did lean towards shows that I’ve done and/or shows that Aaron Tveit once did so I could include pics from my shows and Aaron Tveit gifs. So sue me), There are a lot more out there, feel free to add some in the comments section!  Also the shows listed are in alphabetical order, so it’s all fair. Third, I’m aware that what constitutes as a “conversation not about a man” is a bit subjective. This is according to my interpretation. Disagree if you will, but you can’t say I never made a disclaimer.

Aida

Photo courtesy of Wikipedia

Year it premiered on Broadway: 2001

Creative team: Elton John (music), Tim Rice (lyrics), Linda Woolverton, Robert Falls, and David Henry Hwang (book)

Synopsis: Based on the Verdi opera, tells the story of forbidden love between feuding countries, and ends with a lot of death.

Photo courtesy of Disney theatrical liscensing

Bechdel requirements: At least two named female characters:

Photo courtesy of Playbill.com

(Deborah Cox)

Aida: Headstrong princess of Nubia, kidnapped by Egyptian guards who remain unaware she is the princess until the end of the show. Falls in love with Radames, captain of the guard, creating an Egyptian Romeo and Juliet. Very well developed character. Makes a lot of fatal mistakes but ultimately has good intentions and good morals and does her best to be a good leader to her people.

Photo courtesy of Idina-Here.cm

(Idina Menzel)

Amneris: Essentially the show’s narrator. The princess of Egypt, she starts the show as a seemingly shallow, appearance obsessed little brat. As the show progresses, her eyes awaken to the harsh realities of the war being waged with Nubia, and her father’s illness forces her to face the reality of marrying her fiancé Radames and becoming queen. (Yeah, that’s the same guy Aida’s in love with…..TRIANGLE!) Both women are excellent, well written characters that I consider positive female representation in musicals.

Conversation not about a man: Aida and Amneris’s relationship is not the focal point of the show by a long shot. However, they do get a charming moment together in the middle of act one. They both talk about the pressures and strains of being a princess and therefore a role model, though at this point Aida is held captive and having to pretend like she doesn’t actually know what she’s talking about when in reality she knows all too well.

“My Strongest Suit-Reprise”

Gypsy

Courtesy of Gypsythemusical.uk.com

Year it premiered on Broadway: 1959

Creative team: Jule Styne (music), Stephen Sondheim (lyrics), Arthur Laurents (book).

Synopsis: Based on the life of Gypsy Rose Lee, tells the story of Mama Rose and her relationship with her daughters, and how her obsession with getting them into show business affects them.

Courtesy of Gypsythemusical.com

(Ethel Merman and Company)

Bechdel requirements: At least two named female characters:

(Bernadette Peters)

“Mama” Rose Hovick: The story’s main character, abandoned by her own mother, has a multitude of husbands she’s left behind. Has two daughters who she’s trying to make Vaudeville stars. Overbearing, domineering, and one of the juiciest stage roles for a woman that exists.

(Natalie Wood)

Louise “Gypsy Rose Lee” Hovick: The eldest daughter, ignored very much growing up for the more talented and charismatic June. Content at the beginning to roll along with whatever her mother says. After accidently landing in burlesque, she discovers she’s actually quite good at it and makes a name for herself, finally standing up to Rose.

Photo courtesy of Playbill.com

(Leigh Ann Larkin)

“Dainty” June Hovick: The younger daughter. Very talented, blonde, your classic beautiful leading lady. Very resentful of Rose’s treatment of her, eventually elopes to escape her.

Other named female characters: Tessie Turra, Miss Mazzepa, Electra, Agnes/Amanda and the rest of the “Hollywood Blondes.

Conversation not about a man: Several. Probably my favorite is between June and Louise, wishing that Rose would marry and settle down via the song “If Momma Was Married”. Then there’s the famous fight between Louise and Rose towards the end of the show, where Louise finally states her case and defends her lifestyle to her mother.

“If Momma Was Married” from the 1962 movie of Gypsy

Hairspray

(Most of these photos are going to be from The Little Theatre of Jefferson City’s production of Hairspray from 2011. I was a techie for that. Photo credit to Jennifer Bish)

Year in premiered on Broadway: 2002

Creative Team: Marc Shaiman (Music and Lyrics), Scott Whitman (Lyrics), Thomas Meehan (Book), Mark O’Donnell (Book)

Synopsis: Based on the John Waters film, sixties teenager Tracy Turnblad becomes a local celebrity, gets the guy, and tackles important social issues too!

Bechdel requirements:

At least two named female characters:

(Brynn Shaw)

Tracy Turnblad: The story’s protagonist. Awesome female role model, stays true to herself, and while she does fall in love, doesn’t let wanting a man getting in the way of more important things, like helping combat segregation at the local TV station where she’s a star. Speaking of which, she makes it onto TV and becomes talk of the town despite being chubby and awkward. She has her dreams and achieves them, making her one heck of a woman!

(Brian Harper)

Edna Turnblad: Yes, Edna is played by a man, but she is still one awesome woman. Throughout the show she gains confidence in herself and gives herself permission to be the big, blonde, and beautiful woman she is. A lot of that comes from the encouragement of Tracy. There are a lot of negative mother/daughter relationships in musical theatre, so it’s nice to see a good one!

Photo courtesy of Broadwayworld.com

(Caissie Levy)

Penny Pingleton: Tracy’s shy, awkward friend, under the thumb of her neurotic mother. But she too finds her wings, partially through her forbidden romance with Seaweed, but I like to think that Penny comes to her own by her own will as well. She’s a lot of people’s favorite character, and with good reason.

(Regina Blanchard-Walker)

Motormouth Maybelle: I’ve always had a soft spot for Motormouth. Not only is she female, but she’s also black, which in the sixties in America meant a lot of obstacles in your path. Despite all that, she’s still on her own two feet as a TV personality and business woman. (And a killer sense of style as well). She helps Tracy and the rest of the gang stand up for what’s right, more than willing to give encouragement to the other women in her life. Her daughter Inez is pretty cool too, for having the same strong spirit and ethics as her mother. (Another positive mother/daughter relationship!)

(Kaitlin Niewoehner and Debra Walker)

Velma Von Tussle and Amber Von Tussle: I lumped them together because they essentially serve the same purpose: Tracy’s (and just about everybody else’s) roadblocks. They do everything in their power to exclude anyone they don’t deem fit (anyone who isn’t “thin”, “attractive”, or white). Granted, not the most positive portrayal of women out there, but their presence in the show is still important. The world is full of real life Ambers and Velmas, and I think it’s great to show people like Tracy and Edna overcome their abuses without stooping to their level. (Granted, Tracy did say Amber had “acne of the soul” but she had it coming).

Other named female characters: Inez, The council girls, Prudy Pingleton (Penny’s mom)

Conversation not about a man: This musical has a ton! Tracy talks to Penny and her mother about wanting to be on the Corny Collins show, Tracy convinces Edna to come out of the house and embrace the sixties, Tracy talks with Motormouth Maybelle about protesting the studio and fighting for what’s right. Yes, Tracy has conversations about men too, specifically Link Larkin….….

(Sorry, couldn’t resist the urge to use an image of young Aaron Tveit in Hairspray. That is how I first discovered him FYI…but that’s a different story.) …..where was I? Oh yes, Tracy. But she’s not by any means defined by her man. I’m barely scratching the surface here, but long story short, this show passes the Bechdel Test with flying colors!

“Mama, I’m a Big Girl Now”

Into the Woods

Courtesy of Amazon.com

Year it Premiered on Broadway: 1988

Creative team: Stephen Sondheim (music and lyrics), James Lapine (book)

Synopsis: Grimm’s fairy tales, specifically Cinderella, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, and others are all intertwined via a baker and his wife trying to unravel a curse left on them by a witch. Don’t let the cheerful synopsis fool you: by the end of Act Two there’s a body count almost as big as Sweeney Todd.

(I admit, this show has been on my brain a lot because I’m on crew for a production of it in my hometown-more on that later. But it does, indeed, pass the Bechdel Test, so read on!)

Bechdel requirements:

At least two named women: It’s a little tricky with Into the Woods, since a lot of the significant characters, both male and female, go by titles rather than names. (Baker’s Wife, Witch, etc.) It’s debatable whether or not that counts as a name, but there are still enough ladies with “actual names” for it to meet this Bechdel requirement. (But I’m going to talk about some of the ones identified by title too, because they’re still pretty dang important.)

Courtesy of Playbill.com

(Bernadette Peters)

The Witch: Yes, the big cheese of the show is a woman. She sends the baker and his wife out on the quest to bring her the objects that will make her beautiful again, which she lifts the curse for them in exchange. Honestly, if you want a good description of the witch just listen to what she says in “Last Midnight” and you’ll understand her character. Is she the best role model? Well, she’s borderline abusive to her surrogate daughter, and she tries to feed Jack to the giant, so maybe not. But she’s still a powerful and juicy female character.

(Joanna Gleason)

Baker’s Wife: Throughout the show she proves herself to be self-sufficient, resourceful, and brave time and time again. The baker would be the first person to admit that she truly wears the pants in the relationship, and in fact he does. It’s no wonder it’s one of the most highly coveted musical theatre roles for women. Of course, her morals aren’t always the best, she deceives Jack to get his cow and gets….um, well…..very friendly with Cinderella’s Prince, for which she definitely gets comeuppance. But to me, her flawed character makes her all that more textured and dynamic. It’s the stereotype for women in fairy tale women to be bland and without personality, and she more than definitely breaks that mold (Which I believe was part of the point of the show).

Photo courtesy of Playbill.com

(Kim Crosby)

Cinderella: Cinderella has been done so many times, but this Cinderella is my favorite, especially when played by the beautiful Kim Crosby (Who I freaking know….what is my life?!) or by Sarah Dent, who is playing her in the production I’m helping out with. But I think of all the ones I’ve seen, this interpretation of Cinderella is my favorite. She starts out slaving to her step mother and step sisters, trying to be the kind person her mother taught her to be. So she lacks a bit of a backbone, but she still has enough oomph to make it to the festival. As far as her involvement with the Prince, I think she sums it up best when she says “Wanting a ball is not wanting a prince!” I love that they portray her with the vulnerability of not knowing what she wants instead of just magically falling in love with the prince in one night. Eventually he finds her and at first it looks like all is well…until a giant visits the kingdom and her prince turns out to be a two timing jerk. But she doesn’t take either set back lying down. She ditches the prince and helps team up with the others to beat the giant, and then moves in with the Baker. (Is it really weird that I ship Cinderella and the Baker? Anyone else? Just me? Okay, moving on).

(Danielle Ferland)

Little Red: In my opinion, she’s one of the most dynamic characters of the story. She stars off as this naïve, slightly irritating little girl, but the events with the wolf and with the giant make her grow up a bit. She becomes a bit wiser to the world, but she’s not completely hardened to the world either. She’s able to maintain some of her sweetness, innocence, and sass despite it all.  Throughout the show, most of her actions can be perceived as good, but without being phony about it. (Okay maybe stealing all the Baker’s sweets wasn’t very good, but hey, nobody’s perfect).

Photo courtesy of Playbill.com

(Barbara Byrne)

Jack’s Mother: This woman seriously doesn’t get enough love, so I’m gonna talk about her for a bit if I may. Single mom, doing everything she can to ensure her son’s and her survival. A bit hysterical and frantic, but to be fair I would be too if my kiddo was fighting giants and they ended up in my backyard. She’s a fierce mama bear who goes out defending her cub. Everything she does is for her boy, so way to go Jack’s mom.

Other named female characters: Rapunzel, Florinda, Lucinda, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty

Conversation not about a man: Cinderella has her song with the spirit of her mother asking to go to the festival, Rapunzel and the Witch talk about their relationship and her desire to leave the tower, and a few others are scattered throughout the show. I think my personal favorite is the conversation between Little Red and Cinderella leading into “No One Is Alone”. It’s actually one of my favorite moments in the show.

“No One Is Alone”

Legally Blonde

Courtesy of legallyblondethemusical.com

(Most of these photos will be from my production in 2011. Photo credit to Andrew Richmond)

Year it Premiered on Broadway: 2007

Creative Team: Lawrence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin (Music and lyrics), Heather Hach (book).

Synopsis: Based on the MGM film, California sorority girl Elle Woods follows her man to Harvard University, and makes a remarkable journey of self-discovery.

Bechdel requirements:

At least two named female characters:

(Erica Ranay)

Elle Woods: The story’s pink protagonist. Even at the top of the show she’s sharp and badass, but she just hasn’t thought to apply it to things outside of sorority events and fashion yet. Warner breaking up with her leads her to go where no Delta Nu has gone before and tackle law school. With the help of some other awesome women, her dog Bruiser, and the charming Emmett, she proves everybody wrong and makes one great lawyer.

(Reagan Freeman)

Paulette: Elle’s hairdresser and companion. (And she’s my older sister’s musical spirit animal). She too is awesome and badass, but the poor gal just doesn’t see it in herself at the top of the show. But as the plot unfolds, she too finds her inner strength to get back her dog from her ex and lure in a new man with the bend and snap. Hilarious and relatable, Paulette is a great addition to the awesome women of this show.

(Margaret Graham, Caleb Forrest)

Vivienne Kensington: Starts out as Elle’s arch nemesis, the woman her man ditched her for. Vivienne at first sees Elle as an insignificant dumb blonde trying to steal her man, but is willing to admit she’s wrong when Elle proves otherwise. (Can we talk for a moment how awesome that is?) She too is a strong female character not defined by her relationship to another man, who knows her stuff and how to use it.

Other named female characters: Brooke Wyndam, Chutney Wyndam, Kate, Enid Hoops, Margot, Serena, Pilar

Conversation not about a man: Vivienne’s apology/pep talk to Elle, Elle getting Brooke’s alibi, the Delta Nu girls helping Elle into Harvard, especially Kate (who I played! Also Chutney).

“Legally Blonde Remix”

Mary Poppins

Photo courtesy of cameronmackintosh.com

(Photos are mostly from my production. Photo cred goes to Andrew Richmond)

Year it Premiered on Broadway: 2006

Creative Team: Robert B. Sherman and Richard M. Sherman (Music and lyrics), George Stiles (Additional music), Anthony Drewe (Additional lyrics), Julian Fellowes (Book).

Synopsis: Based on the stories of P.L. Travers and the Disney film, Mary Poppins is the magical nanny that brings a new way of life to the Banks household with a spoonful of sugar and a whole lot of fun.

This show has been on my mind a lot as well, because I just did it. I was in the ensemble, and got to wear a dress and hat. (Several people in the cast said I resembled Rose Dewitt-Bukkater in Titanic, which made me very happy).

Bechdel Requirements:

At least two named female characters.

(Tori Stepanek-yes, our Mary flew!)

Mary Poppins: The title character magical nanny extraordinaire herself! It’s kind of hard to talk about somebody who’s practically perfect. But she’s the last bow and is the source of all good things, and you’re lying if you say you don’t want her as her nanny.

(Kit Meyer)

Winnifred Banks: The other lady of the house. Unlike the movie she is not a suffragette, but a house wife trying to make her husband happy, but often at the cost of her own happiness. Mary Poppins helps the family work together and function as one unit, and Winnifred grows considerably as a result. She and George are able to finally communicate and function as equals.

(Andrea Baker)

Jane Banks: Along with her brother Michael, Mary helps the kiddos grow from little brats to lovely little children. Their relationships with their parents become healthier and stronger, and all is well.

Other named female characters: Mrs. Brill, Mrs. Corry, Miss Lark, The Bird Woman, Queen Victoria

Conversation about something other than a man: Mary gives her lessons to Jane and Michael about life. Mrs. Brill and Winnifred have conversations about running the house. Mary tells off Mrs. Andrews and chats with Mrs. Corry. Mary helps talk Mrs. Banks into going to help George out at the bank.

“Anything Can Happen If You Let It”

Next to Normal

Courtesy of theatre2.org

Year it Premiered on Broadway: 2009

Creative Team: Tom Kitt (Music), Brian Yorkey (Book and Lyrics)

Synopsis: Looks at Diana Goodman and life with mental illness, and how it affects her family. Bring tissues.

Photo courtesy of aarontveit,net

Bechdel Requirements:

At least two named female characters:

(Alice Ripley)

Diana Goodman: The mother of the family. Beautiful, intelligent, suffer of bi-polar depression. Hallucinates Aaron Tveit.

Thankfully she has an amazing, loving husband, Dan, who sticks with her through all of it. By the end of the show though, she realizes that she needs to fight her demons alone and leaves him. (Cue ugly sobs).

(Jennifer Damiano)

Natalie Goodman: Diana and Dan’s teenage daughter. Uber intelligent, gifted pianist, major perfectionist.  Feels like she’s always in the shadow of her brother, who died before she was born….and whom her mother is hallucinating as a teenage boy. (Hey, if my brother was as perfect as Aaron Tveit, I would feel pretty insecure too).

She too finds an incredibly supportive loving man who supports her through thick and thin. (Seriously, can somebody send me a Dan or a Henry already? Or just Aaron Tveit?)

But even without Henry, she’s incredibly tough dealing with her mom’s struggles and her own personal demons.

Conversation not about a man:

Diana and Natalie talk past each other quite a bit in the show, but none of those conversations are about a man. Natalie almost tells her mom about Henry, but then chickens out. But in Act Two, Natalie takes her mother to the hospital and the two of them have a sit down, gut wrenching heart to heart. They say everything to each other they never could before, and resolve to strive for the best life they can make.

“Maybe/Next to Normal”

Pirate Queen

Courtesy of adamsplanet.blogspot.com

Year it Premiered on Broadway: 2007

Creative Team: Claude-Michel Schonberg (Music and book), Alain Boubil (lyrics and book), Richard Maltby Jr. (English lyric adaption and book), John Dempsey (English Lyric Adaption)

Synopsis: Based on true events, Pirate Queen tells the story of Grace O’Malley, the woman who becomes the first female chieftain of her sea faring Irish clan. With the help of her crew, her love interest, and Queen Elizabeth the I, she saves her clan and makes a name for herself in the history books.

Courtesy of fanpop.com

Bechdel Requirements:

At least two named female characters

Courtesy of Playbill.com

(Stephanie J. Block)

Grania “Grace” O’Malley: The chief protagonist, daughter of the O’Malley’s clan leader. She grew up on a ship, being trained in swords and sea faring. She takes over for her father in his declining health and leads the O’Malley’s despite her gender. (Her “I Want” song is one of the most fantastic feminist anthems in history, and it would be a shame to have a post on something as pro-woman as the Bechdel Test and not include this song-and this is a really beautiful version).

Anyway, she agrees to an arranged marriage with Donal O’Flaherty (JERK) to stop feuding between the two clans, but ultimately refuses to put up with his nonsense and leaves him to rule the clan on her own after her father’s death. (Although she does strike up handsome childhood friend turned beau named Tiernan. But clearly she does pretty well without a man too).

Photo courtesy of Playbill.com

(Linda Balgord)

Queen Elizabeth I: The other major female in the story, she too is a woman in charge. However, rather than embracing her womanhood like Grace, she does everything in her power to make herself seem like a man so that people will take her seriously as a ruler. She’s intrigued by the news of this female ship captain, but that doesn’t stop her from conquering Ireland and the clans within it, including Grace’s.

Conversation not about a man:

Towards the end of the show, Grace requests and audience with Queen Elizabeth to make amends between England and Ireland. Ultimately, Elizabeth agrees and they meet “not as chieftain, not as queen, woman to woman, face to face”. They come to an agreement, and Ireland is made free again.

“Woman to Woman”

Spring Awakening

Courtesy of springawakening.it

(Okay real quick before we get started can I just say how freaking excited I am for the revival!???!)

Year it Premiered on Broadway: 2006

Creative Team: Duncan Sheik (Music), Stephen Sater (Lyrics and book)

Synopsis: Based on the play by Frank Wendekind. 19^th century Germany, small provincial town, teenagers discover their sexuality under repressed conditions. All accompanied by really awesome rock music.

Bechdel Requirements:

At least two named female characters:

(Elizabeth Judd)

Wendla Bergmann: The story’s primary female character. Young, curious, inquisitive of her body and the changes it’s going through. Unfortunately the adults in her life are unwilling to give her the answers she’s looking for, so she ends up finding out the hard way with disastrous results. But her ignorance by no means makes her stupid. She’s very astute with an enormous heart. It really is a tragedy she doesn’t make it past fourteen because I have a feeling she would have been one fantastic woman.

(Lauren Pritchard)

Ilse Neumann: My personal favorite character in the show. She’s introduced as the faraway friend of Wendla and her gang, who ran away to escape her abusive household and is now living in the artists’ colony with the Bohemians. She runs into Moritz right before he kills himself, having run away again from the life of prostitution she was living in Priopia. She begs for Moritz to come with her to relive their childhoods once again, but he declines, and she leaves, despondent. Melchior reaches out to her in the form of her letter, begging her to help reunite him with Wendla, not knowing that she has died. Ilse is pretty cool, and she’s standing on her own two feet despite everything she’s been through at such a young age. I was a swing for this show, and I played Ilse in a few rehearsals, which was an absolute dream come true for me.

Photo courtesy of Andrew Richmond

(My production-I’m way at the far right end)

Photo courtesy of Andrew Richmond

(Maggie Hunter and company)

Martha Bessel: Friends with Wendla. She goes through sexual abuse from her father, which she tells her friends about, but begs them not to tell anyone. She also has a crush on “that sad, soulful, sleepyhead Moritz Stiefel”. (I’m with you girl!)

Other named female characters: Thea, Anna, Fanny Gabor (Melchior’s mom), Fraulein Knuppledick (the headmistress), Fraulein Grossenbustenhalter (the piano teacher-and her name translates literally as “over the shoulder boulder holder which I find pretty hilarious)

Conversation not about a man: At the top of the show, Wendla begs her mother to give her the facts of life. Nowhere in that conversation does her mother mention how the man plays in that process, so I’d say that counts. Martha confesses to her friends about her abuse. That’s a bit iffy since she does bring up her father in that conversation, but I personally think that’s more about the abuse than anything else so I’m counting it. That leads into a duet between Martha and Ilse about their experiences in that area with “The Dark I Know Well”. Once again, men do come up, but it’s more about how they feel about what’s going on rather than about their abusers themselves. Towards the end of the show, Martha reads the rest of the girls (sans Wendla, because she’s died) the letter from Melchior. Melchior does come up obviously, but it’s more about how Wendla has died and he doesn’t know.

“The Dark I Know Well”

Wicked

Year it Premiered on Broadway: 2003

Creative Team: Stephen Schwartz (Music and lyrics), Winnie Holzman (Book).

Synopsis: Based on the novel by Gregory Maguire….which is based on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz….which pretty much makes Wicked a really successful fan fiction. (Take THAT Fifty Shades!)

Bechdel Requirements:

At least two named female characters:

Photo courtesy of Wicked in London

(Willemijn Verkaik)

Elphaba Thropp:  I literally cannot say enough things about this about this character. She’s one of the best written, well developed, relatable and all around awesome musical theatre heroines of this century. There’s a reason every musical theatre girl wants to play her, and “Defying Gravity” is on the “Do Not Sing at Auditions” list. She wears her heart on her sleeve, stands up for what’s right even when it means personal loss, and is not afraid to be different. (Of course, being born with green skin she doesn’t have much of a choice, but she freaking rocks it). She refuses to let other people, men or women, decide her life for her, and ultimately remains true to who she is even when the world tells her she’s wicked. She does have a romantic interest, and it adds to the plot without being the plot, which is refreshing. Gold star for you Elphaba Throp, you’ve earned it.

Photo courtesy of broadway.org

(Alli Mauzey)

G(a)linda Upland: It’s easy for Glinda to be hidden in Elphaba’s shadow, but she’s a fantastic character as well when played correctly. I’ve seen Glinda done too serious, and I’ve seen her done too light and fluffy too. She IS a funny and beautiful woman, but by the end of the show she’s also a changed woman with regrets and pain in her heart, but she’s still there and still trying to do what she knows best to do. One of the things I love about Wicked is that Glinda and Elphaba both grow through their friendship and experiences together, which is not something that’s the focal point in many shows. I think Ginda is best summed up during the song “Thank Goodness”. She’s singing “I couldn’t be happier”, because she thinks she should be happy. She has what she wants, but she’s learned that sometimes the things you think you want come with irreversible consequences. Ultimately she promises Elphaba to continue where she left off in trying to save the talking animals, because Oz, much like our world, is more likely to listen to the pretty blonde girl rather than the outcast.

Courtesy of newyork.com

(Carol Kane)

Madame Morrible: There’s a reason the fandom calls her “Morrible the Horrible.” First introduced as the mothering headmistress who sees the potential in Elphaba to become grand vizier to the Wizard. By the end of act one, we see her true colors and know that her plan was to exploit Elphaba’s powers so the Wizard would move her up in the world. She uses her new found power as press secretary to create the image of the “Wicked Witch of the West” by spreading vicious rumors about Elphaba. To me what’s even worse is when she users her supernatural skills to kill Nessarose in order to bring Elphaba down…which also brings Dorothy into the picture. She’s an example of a woman who is powerful, and abuses such power. Thankfully Glinda puts her booty in jail. (She had it coming…..she had it coming….)

Courtesy of Wicked on tour

(Liana Hunt)

Nessarose Thropp: It seems what whenever I see Wicked, (Which as of right now is six times, with at least one more time by the end of the year) I either love or hate Nessarose, and it all depends upon how she’s portrayed. But my favorite portrayals of her are the more vulnerable Nessarose. At the top of the show, it’s clear that she’s the favorite of the family despite being crippled. Between her disability and her father being so overprotective, I’d say she’s had a very sheltered life. In my mind, that would make the sudden shock of A. Elphaba becoming the Witch of the West B. Her father dying C. Suddenly becoming governor and D. Boq still refusing her advances all that much more overwhelming. I don’t think she’s purposely trying to hurt anyone, she just got dealt too much too soon and didn’t know what to do with it. She naively holds onto the delusion that Boq loves her, but is holding back because of her being in a wheelchair. (On a side note, I think Boq’s story is just as if not as sad. I think if he actually got to spend five minutes he would be disillusioned, but that’s all he has to hold onto while being held captive in the governor’s mansion, and ultimately it costs him dearly.) She gets even more power through Elphaba’s spell and the Grimmerie, but she almost kills Boq chasing after a hopeless dream. But the one thing I can’t forgive Nessarose for is for blaming Elphaba for Boq’s transformation and not admitting to her part of it. Elphaba keeps giving and giving and nobody ever thanks her for it. But for the most part, I think Nessarose is a tragic character who could have been a great ruler, but in the end made a few too many fatal mistakes. That being said, she still didn’t deserve to be killed just to reel in her sister.

Conversation not about a man:

This show is chock full of them thanks to having not one but two main female protagonists. The girls talk about their mutual hate for each other in “What is This Feeling”, Galinda’s room mates talk her into giving Elphaba the pointed black hat, Elphie and Glinda enjoy The Emerald City and Elphaba talks to Glinda about how accepted she finally feels, Madame Morrible gives Elphaba the Grimmerie and guides her how to use it, Glinda and Elphaba at first argue in “Defying Gravity” about how the other has screwed up, but then turn to each other, Elphaba begs Glinda to come with her but she ultimately refuses and they depart wishing each other the best….and that’s all in Act One! Cut to Act II, Nessarose and Elphaba argue about how Nessa feels abandoned, and Elphaba apologizes to her for not doing enough for her, Madame Morrible reveals to Glinda how Nessarose really dies and threatens her to go along with the “let’s kill Elphaba” propaganda….and then there’s “For Good” where the girls sing about their friendship (cue Deborah crying hysterically), and then finally Glinda taunts Madame Morrible as she’s locked in jail. In terms of conversations not about a man, this show is a feminist fantasy.

Wait….I almost finished the section about Wicked and I have yet to use an Aaron Tveit picture…shame on me…

Courtesy of aarontveit.net

Ah, that’s better.

“For Good”

Well, there you have it: ten musicals that pass the Bechdel Test! Just for kicks and grins, I’m going to mention another ten just to say that there are more out there:

Annie

Avenue Q

Beauty and the Beast

Fun Home

Heathers

In the Heights

Love Never Dies

Matilda

Rent

Violet

Like I said, this is by no means a comprehensive list, but it proves that there are indeed shows that pass the Bechdel Test. With that in mind, while doing my research for this post, I discovered a lot of shows that for whatever reason don’t pass the best, but they still have awesome female characters and/or positive representations of women. Could that be a future blog post?

Maybe….just maybe… in the mean time, peace out girl scouts. Stay classy.

Two Four Six Oh Fun-Les Mis the Musical vs. Les Mis the Book

It’s no secret that I am a huge Les Mis fan, or “Mizzie”. I have every single official English language recording of the show (Original London, Original Broadway, Complete Symphonic, Tenth Anniversary, Twenty First Anniversary, Twenty-fifth Anniversary, and Movie Deluxe Soundtrack) and I have official recordings in seven other languages as well. (French, Spanish, Japanese, German, Polish, Israeli, and Swedish). I dramaturged my production of it because of my extensive Les Mis knowledge, and memorized it to the point that during rehearsal I filled in for missing cast members without skipping a beat. (Not to mention entertaining/annoying my cast members with a series of two four six oh puns. I kept it up for the entire two four six oh run. I think towards the end there I started to get two four six oh shunned-but that wouldn’t stop my two four six oh fun).

(My Production. Photo credit to Andrew Richmond).

However, my love for Les Mis doesn’t end there. I’ve made it a life goal to immerse myself in every rendition of this story available. So far I’ve been fairly successful, I have six movie adaptations under my belt, seven if you count the 2012 movie-musical version, and I’ve watched all the episodes of the Les Mis anime Shoujo Cosette. (Japanese, I’m told, for A Girl Named Cosette). Back in middle school, I even took it upon myself to read the original novel by Victor Hugo. (Two for six oh-UN-abridged). The book, or the brick, as so many people refer to it since the book is about the same size and shape of a brick, is the novel that started it all, and the original source material for every adaptation, and is one of my personal favorite book of all time.

Photo courtesy of Barnes and Noble

So, I’m pretty versed in both the original story and various adaptations of it as well. During my time doing the show, I had several conversations with people about the differences in various adaptations. Over a year after the show closed *sobs* this continued with my fellow theatre people. It was during Mary Poppins, talking to a couple of cast mates on closing day about the book, that it occurred to me “this would be a good topic for my theatre blog!”

Since this is a theatre blog, I will mainly be writing about the differences and similarities between the musical and the book, but I will also be touching on other versions as well. So before we start, here are the versions besides the original book and/or musical that I personally am familiar with and a brief description.

1934 version (Or as I call it, five hour French version)

courtesy of Wikepedia

I believe this is the first film adaptation of Les Mis, and it’s a silent film. Black and white, five hours long, French film directed by Raymond Bernard. Very thorough, very accurate to the original source material

1935 version (Or, the first English black and white version)

Courtesy of Wikipedia

Relatively accurate to the text. Little Cosette actually had a personality, and her father died instead of abandoning them. Cosette and Fantine are actually reunited before Fantine dies, which is actually really charming. And Valjean actually keeps Cosette in the know of why they’re running all the time. But Gavroche isn’t in this version, which in my eyes is unforgiveable.

1952 version (Or the second black and white English version)

courtesy of posterplace.com

Relatively similar to the 1938 version. In fact, to refresh my memory I had to go back and watch them both to distinguish them in my mind. The more accurate of the two.

1958 version (Or the two hour color French version)

Photo courtesy of Amazon

Another French version, this one’s in color and is much shorter, but still pretty accurate to the book. Eponine is a ginger.

1978 (Or, the Anthony Perkins version)

Courtesy of imdb

One of the shorter versions, made for TV movie. Anthony Perkins plays Javert. Color. Anthony Perkins is one of the best non-musical Javerts I’ve ever seen.

1998 version

Courtesy of IMDB

Stars Liam Neeson as Valjean, Geoffrey Rush as Javert, Uma Thurman as Fantine, and Claire Danes as Cosette. This version is awesome and very true to the book….until Cosette grows up. Once Cosette grows up it kind of goes to heck. (And I just hate the way Claire Danes portrays her). The rest of the acting is excellent, though! Work watching at least once, but I almost never watch past Cosette growing up.

2012 film

Courtesy of IMDB

This is arguably the most well-known version, and certainly the most recent film version (at least that I know of!). It is the only one based on the musical rather than the book. (Yes, I’m aware there are the concert versions of the show you can buy on DVD, but those are filmed stage productions rather than motion pictures). What I love about this version is that includes a lot of things that were in the book, but not in the musical. (Eponine dying to save Marius, the chase scene with Javert, Valjean and little Cosette, etc.)

Shoujo Cosette

The Les Mis anime. Pretty darn close to the original novel. Major differences are that it puts Cosette as the main character rather than Valjean, and it’s aimed at a younger audience so a few of the darker elements are removed. (For more on Shoujo Cosette, check out this video done by the brilliant Jess Daniels. Also worth checking out is a series of Shoujo Cosette videos paired to music from the musical.)

Les Miserables manga

Courtesy of readerswonderland.com

Just like it sounds, a manga adaptation of the novel. Of every adaptation, I would say this one is the most faithful because it unapologetically came from Hugo’s text. Obviously it’s condensed, but the overall story and characterization is extremely faithful. My only real complaint is that you don’t see much of Gavroche.

Clear as mud? Okay, let’s dive in! I’ve divided the major differences into sections. Some of them overlap, so I jump around a bit, but I did my best to make it all make sense. If anything is unclear, feel free to drop a comment and I will answer to the best of my ability.

Courtesy of theguardian.com

The Revolution/The Barricade Boys

Okay, for starters, the revolution that takes place in Les Mis is the June Rebellion, not The French Revolution. (Seriously!)

The June Rebellion took place after the French Revolution, and after Napoleon for that matter too. (In fact, several characters, including Thenardier and Marius’s father fought under Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo-more about that later). This portion of the book was inspired by Victor Hugo’s experience with the real June Rebellion that took place between June fifth and sixth in 1832. Hugo was actually there for that, so some of the stuff he writes about the barricade boys is based on truth. We’ll never know for sure what parts are real and what’s fiction, which is both mesmerizing and frustrating as heck.

In the book, Victor Hugo takes an extensively long time giving the reader a history lesson of all the French history along with some social commentary. I’ll give you the brief version. French Revolution tried to abolish the monarchy. After Napoleon is defeated, the monarchy makes a return and brings social collapse with it, leaving the majority of the population….well, miserable. So the barricade boys decide to protest the monarchy, ergo the barricade. In real life, as in the book, as in the musical, they decide to take action at the funeral of General Lamarque. (Yes, he’s real!) Lamarque was loved by everyone, and the only true person in power who was an ally to the poor, so the barricade boys attack at his funeral, and then make a barricade outside the Café Musain, their meeting place. That would have been pretty hard to stage so Lamarque’s funeral isn’t in the musical, but it does make it to most film versions. Obviously this isn’t as clear in the show since people over and over try to say that it happened during the French Revolution. (But then again, the musical is already three hours long, so I guess the Boubil and Schonberg didn’t want to take the time to explain everything as the book did).

Also in the book, the barricade boys are much more developed and well written, with page long descriptions accompanying each one. As a group, they are referred to as a whole as either the Les Amis, ABC (pronounced abaisse) Society, or the barricade boys by the fandom. They meet in the Café Musain with the purpose of raising up the underdog, specifically the poor and underrepresented in society. Hugo talks about them being a group “which barely missed becoming historic”, and I couldn’t agree more. Much like in the musical, they are led by Enjolras (It’s no secret that he’s my favorite)…

…who is described as “a charming young man who was capable of being a terror”. (Here is a video of the marvelous Aaron Tveit, who played Enjolras in the 2012 film explaining how to say his name).

). From there we have Combefere (Cowm-fair) who assists Enjolras as the logic of the group, and Courfeyrac (Coo-Feh-Rawk) as the emotional core of the group. Together, they are the triumvirate of the chief, center, and guide. This is hinted at in the show, but not taken into fruition. The rest of the group consists of Jean Prouvaire (Jawn Proe-vair) the romantic, often just known as Prouvaire, Feuilly (Few-ee) the fan maker, and the only one in the group not a student,  Bahorel (Bah-ore-elle) the go-between for the ABC to other groups, Lesgle (Lay-glay) the bald one who can’t catch a break (also referred to as Bossuet, (Baw-soo-eh)), Joly (Joe-lee), the medical student and hypochondriac (and he happens to be my favorite beside Enjolras), and finally Grantaire (Grawn-tear), the drunken cynic. Notice that I don’t include Marius…..here’s why.

In the musical, it portrays Marius as buddies with Enjolras and very much a member of the group. That’s not how it goes down in the book. In the brick, Marius is actually much closer to Courfeyrac, who he meets after he cuts himself off from his grandfather and is living on his own for a while. Courf lets Marius stay with him for a time, and when learning about Marius’s dissatisfaction with the bourgeoisie system, decides to bring him to a meeting of the ABC society. Marius comes back a few times with Courfeyrac, but is never really accepted as a member of the pack. In fact, Enjolras and Marius get into several arguments, mostly about Napoleon. (Enjolras hates him, Marius loves him. There’s a lot more there concerning Marius, so he gets his own section later on). Despite this, almost every version portrays Marius as a central member of the group, and the nineties version even has him as the leader instead of Enjolras. This version, as well as several others, are also very guilty of glossing over the revolution and not really explaining it. (More to come on Marius’s involvement with the ABC society and the barricade).

Gavroche isn’t as much a part of the ABC Society in the book as in the musical. He shows up at the barricade, and the whole time he’s there, Enjolras is trying to get him to leave. Marius does this as well, getting Gavroche to leave by delivering his letter to Cosette as pictured in the 2012 movie.

In every version, everybody dies except for Marius who is taken away by Valjean. However in the musical, they all die on the barricade, with Enjolras doing that famous fall backwards. In the book, they try to retreat into the Café Musain, only to be followed by the soldiers. The last one standing is Enjolras, until Grantaire, who is awaken from a drunken stupor, awakes and joins Enjolras, and the two die together. The 2012 film did a beautiful job of combining both versions of the demise of Enjolras and the gang. (And ripping my heart out in the process.)

The Thenardier Family

As mentioned before, Thenardier fought in the Battle of Waterloo. This is briefly mentioned at the top of “Master of the House”, but several versions cut that line out. In the novel it’s a much bigger plot point, and Thenardier’s inn is even called “The Hotel Waterloo” for that reason. Thenardier fought along Marius’s father. In fact, Thenardier, thinking he had died, stole Marius’s dad away to pick pocket him, much like he does after the June Rebellion. Of course, Marius’s dad woke up and thought Thenardier had saved his life (More on that later).

As far as the Thenardier family, the biggest difference between the book and the musical (and just about every other version) is how many kids they have. In the musical, it’s implied that Eponine is their only kid. But in the book, they have five children. Who are they? Read on,

First there’s Eponine, the oldest. We all know Eponine, but she is a very different person in the novel.

Then there’s their second daughter, Azelma (Ah-ZEHL-mah). She actually make it out alive in the novel. Early versions of the musical included her, but by the time the show opened in London she was no more. Both a few film versions include her, as does the anime and the manga.

Their next child is in just about every version except the 1935 movie…

Yes, that’s right, Gavroche and Eponine are siblings! A little detail that the musical never mentions…although apparently it was almost mentioned in the 2012 movie, but that bit got cut. Gavroche is out being a street urchin, doing his own thing while his parents and sisters are robbing people. But he isn’t alone….cause he has two little brothers. Said brothers are never given names in the novel, and they certainly don’t exist at all in the musical. But Gavroche takes care of them and they all live in the huge elephant statue. They are the one loose end in the novel Hugo never ties up, perhaps to remind the reader about the hungry street children still out that need our help.

In the musical, Thenardier shows up in Paris with Valjean without much explanation, except for Gavroche’s little bit where he sings “Watch out for old Thenardier, all of his family’s on the make, once ran a hash house down the way, bit of a swine and no mistake”. The musical also never explains how Thenardier knows of Valjean’s past as a convict. In the book, after Valjean leaves with little Cosette, Javert shows up at their door looking for Valjean. Upon learning that he let a criminal escape through his fingertips when he may have turned him in for a reward, Thenardier is furious and swears his revenge. But without the income from Fantine, they lose money, and are forced to move to Paris in order escape the people Thenardier owes money to. The once affluent family is reduced to poverty, barely scraping by-and it’s about that time Gavroche and his little brothers set out on their own. The rest of the family lives on the streets for a time, and then gets a cheap room in a building, that happens to be right next to another character……..a certain Marius Pontmercy no less!

Like I said earlier, Marius’s dad thought that Thenardier had saved his life way back when, so just before he dies he tells Marius that if he ever meets a man named Thenardier to thank him and return the favor in any possible way. So you would think Marius would find out his neighbor is that man and go to thank him….except the Thenardiers are going under a fake name of Jondrette! So Marius doesn’t find this out until later….but I’m getting ahead of myself. (You also may be wondering why Marius is living in a cheap place like that…don’t worry, Marius gets his own section in this blog post and with that a thorough explanation).

It is at this location where Eponine first runs in to Marius. Unlike the musical, she and Marius are not good buddies. Eponine definitely falls for him and creeps on him a bit, but it’s a while before she actually has a conversation with him…and unfortunately for her he’s already fallen head over heels in love with Cosette. The first time they officially meet is when Thenardier has her send him a letter begging for money, only adding to her shame. She tries to impress him by showing that she can read, and with her knowledge of Napoleon, and compliments his untidy hair. (No seriously! There’s evidence of that in their first conversation in the musical, where she sings “I could have been a student too” and “I love the way you grow your hair”).

While we’re on this subject, book Eponine is very different than musical Eponine. She’s a lot rougher around the edges, having gone from being spoiled to extreme poverty, and she is very resentful of that fact. The trauma of poverty has aged her features, made her gaunt, wispy hair, barefoot, rough lips and skin, and she’s missing several teeth. She’s ashamed of what she’s become, dressed in rags and without a penny to her name, which is one of the reasons she’s hesitates to speak to Marius at first. (Did I mention she also has a bit of an alcohol problem?)

Anyway, here in Paris Thenardier forms his gang: Brujon (Broo-jawn), Babet (Baw-bay), Claquesous (Clayke-soo), and Montparnasse (Mawnt-par-nahs). Together they perform acts of thievery and con people to survive. They also write letters to rich people, giving them a fake sob story to get money from them. Including, wouldn’t you know it, Valjean and Cosette. (Although by now Valjean is going by the name Ultime Fauchlevant (Ool-team, Faw-schle-vaun)…I explain why in the Cosette section). Anyway, Valjean and Cosette arrive at the Thenardier’s place and give them some food. Marius had been hoping to run into Cosette again after not having seen her for several months (I go into further detail about this later on). Marius sees Cosette and freaks out, but alas, they leave before he can make his move-but not before Valjean tells Thenardier that he will return that evening with more food. So you may be thinking “Isn’t this similar to ‘The Robbery’ in the musical?” Yes, yes it is, the stage version just simplified it a bit.

Anyway, after Valjean leaves, Marius overhears Thenardier talking to his family. Thenardier recognizes Cosette and Valjean, and he and his family makes plans to get him and turn him into the police for money. Marius, intent on saving his love’s father, goes to the police and tells them what’s going on…and who would said policeman be but Javert! Javert has agrees to help Marius catch the Thenardiers. Javert gives him a pistol, and tells him to listen in on the meeting between Thenardier and Valjean and to shoot the pistol out the window to signal Javert to come and arrest them. So Valjean shows up alone, and Thenardier reveals who he is, and Marius finds out that his neighbor is the man who saved his father. Since he’s been wanting to repay him, he’s conflicted whether to help Thenardier of Jean Valjean. Ultimately, Eponine, who’s been keeping watch in the street, throws a note up to her parents saying that the police are surrounding the building. Javert comes storming in with his men, Valjean sees him and freaks out, jumping out the window. Thenardier, his wife, Azelma, Eponine, and Thenardier’s gang members are all arrested. Javert realizes the man Thenardier was threatening is now gone, and realizes that was Jean Valjean!

So the whole family except for Gavroche and the two little boys end up in jail. Madame Thenardier eventually dies in jail. Eponine eventually is released. Afterwards Marius runs into her and asks her to help him find Cosette (a better explanation to come in the section about Cosette!) Which she does, despite her love for him…..

So Cosette and Marius meet up, blah blah blah, love, blah blah. Anyway, Eponine creeps on them, and one night runs into her father and his gang who have escaped from prison and intends to rob the place. Eponine threatens to scream and reveal that they’re there, Montparnasse actually threatens her with a knife, it’s pretty intense. But just like the musical, she scares away Thenardier and his gang-but only with her threats.

As times goes on Eponine decides to get revenge on Valjean, Cosette, and Marius. She throws a note to Valjean on the street, basically telling him to “clear out”. Valjean takes this as a warning about Javert, so he tells Cosette they’re going to leave. She tells Marius, they cry, and she promises to leave him a note explaining how to reach them. She does right before she leaves, but Eponine, disguised as a boy, steals it and keeps it in her coat. By then the revolution has begun, but Marius doesn’t know that cause he’s been too busy chatting up Cosette. But he runs into Eponine, (but he doesn’t know it’s her cause she’s disguised) and she tells him that his friends are waiting for him. (Not really, Enjolras is surprised to see him there, but lets him stick around).

Anyhoo, like in the 2012 movie (and most versions that include Eponine’s death) Eponine blocks the shot intended for him. Marius discovers her, and holds her until she dies. Eponine gives him the letter, and reveals that Gavroche is her brother. She then asks him to kiss her on the forehead after she’s died, and then says “and by the way, mousier Marius, I do believe I was a little bit in love with you”, and dies. Marius kisses her like he promised, it’s so sad!

So Marius gets the address Cosette and Valjean are staying at until they leave for England, so he writes a note to Cosette and has Gavroche deliver it to try and keep him from the barricade. Ultimately Gavroche comes back and is killed getting bullets just like in the musical…..

So the barricade falls, Valjean takes Marius into the sewers, only to run into Thenardier. This section, in my opinion, is not very well explained in the musical, but it makes sense in the book-I’ll try to make it clearer. Thenardier is there in the sewers, where he sees Valjean carrying Marius. Thenardier recognizes Valjean, and thinks Marius is a man that Valjean has killed for money. Thenardier has the key for the door between the sewer and the streets, and agrees to unlock it for Valjean if he gives him half the money he killed for. Valjean gives him some money and Thenardier unlocks the gate, but not before ripping a piece of Marius’s shirt off to help identify him later to the police.

Marius and Cosette are reunited and married, but all the while Marius is still wondering who saved him from the barricade. Marius finds out that his new father in law used to be a criminal, and panics, because he also thinks Valjean murdered Javert. But then Thenardier pays him a visit. Thenardier tells Marius that he saw Valjean carrying a body in the sewers, and shows him the piece of the sleeve that he ripped off. Marius recognizes his shirt, and realizes that Valjean is his savior. (Thenardier also reveals to him that Valjean did not kill Javert, Javert jumped off a bridge). Marius, fed up with the Thenardier by now, gives him money for the sake of his father for Thenardier and Azelma to go to America.

As far as other versions, it seems that the majority of them only have the Thenardiers as Cosette’s “caretakers”. Only the French versions of the film include the Thenardiers once Cosette grows up, at least not as a family. Eponine and Gavroche make it in some of the American films, but they aren’t presented as “Thenardiers”.

Marius

In the musical, we meet Marius with Enjolras as a fellow revolutionary. In the book, he is first interested a rich boy living with his aristocratic grandfather. He has cut off ties with his father, but hears news that is father is dying, so Marius returns to him once more. Unfortunately, he doesn’t make it to see him before his father passes away. Slowly, Marius starts learning why he never had much contact with his dad growing up. Marius’s grandfather was a supporter of the royal family and aristocratic way of life, while his father was a young man who fought for Napoleon as mentioned earlier. Marius’s grandfather therefore disowns his son, but agrees to take little Marius in and give him a good life and good education. All of this comes as a shock to poor Marius, who then decides to cut off ties with his rich grandfather and make it on his own.

So he gets the tiny room next to the Thenardier family, and gets by as lawyer. His grandfather tries several times to offer him money and get him to come back, but he refuses each time. (We get tastes of this in the 2012 film).

He starts taking walks in the Luxembourg gardens, where he first sees Cosette. They eye each other, but never have an actual conversation there. At one point Valjean leaves his handkerchief with his fake initials on it, U.F. (Ultime Fauchlevant) and thinks it belongs to Cosette. Marius, being Marius, jumps to conclusions and reasons that she has “U” name so he starts referring to her as Ursule. Eventually Valjean stops taking Cosette to the gardens because he’s suspicious of Marius and his borderline stalking. As I said in the section about the Thenardiers, he finds “Ursule” and her father again, and has Eponine tell him where they live.

Marius leaves Cosette a love letter, and she knows it’s from “Him”. The next day he comes again and officially has his first conversation with Cosette….and he learns her actual name. They meet every night in the garden of Cosette’s home for a couple of weeks until Cosette tells him that they are leaving for England. She begs Marius to come with her, but Marius has no money for a passport or for travel. So she agrees to leave him a way to reach her, which she does, except Eponine steals it. But he gets it anyway, they reunite, and they marry and all that jazz. However, they don’t get married for a few months. (February to be precise). Marius’s grandfather takes him back in, and blesses the marriage (Which he previously hadn’t before Marius went to the barricade). Marius finds out about Valjean’s past, which at first makes him distrustful of Valjean until he gets the truth from Thenardier.

As I said earlier, Marius really isn’t a huge part of the ABC Society. As I said, he isn’t there for the formation of the barricade, and doesn’t even know about it until Eponine disguised as a boy tells him. By then he thinks Cosette has left him without any notification, so he goes, deciding to give up his life since he can’t be with Cosette.

I have yet to see a version that doesn’t include Marius-and rightly so. He’s the tie between the story of Valjean and the story of the June Rebellion. He’s always there as the handsome love interest that Valjean rescues, but rarely does his backstory with his grandfather make it in, which I suppose makes sense, cause in the grand scheme of the story, it’s not the most important part.

Cosette

So first off, Cosette isn’t her real name. Her real name is Euphrasia, Cosette is a childhood nickname given to her by Fantine that kind of sticks.

A lot of people in the fandom don’t like Cosette. I don’t hate Cosette: but I do hate the way she is portrayed in almost every version. But I love book Cosette. Most of the time she’s portrayed as just this sweet little ingénue with no real depth. Uh-uh, I ain’t about that. In the brick, Cosette actually has some substance to her. She is genuinely a kind-hearted person who was thoroughly traumatized by her time with the Thenardiers and growing up without the presence of real parents. (There’s actually a fantastic scene in the book where she runs into her biological dad, Felix Tholomeyes, but had no idea who he is and thinks he’s just terrible. That part always makes me chuckle.)

She’s the symbol of goodness and light in the book, and we get to see a lot more of her in the book that we did in the musical. After Valjean takes Cosette away from the Thenardiers, they live together for a time, in Paris, until they run into Javert and have to run. It’s there that they run into Fauchlevant-the fellow Valjean rescued from under the cart while he was the mayor. After ruining his leg he can no longer do his job, so Fauchlevant relocated to Paris to become a gardener for the convent. He insists on repaying his debt to Valjean, and does so, but letting Valjean and Cosette pretend to be related to him. Valjean works with Fauchlevant as a gardener, and Cosette attends the convent’s school. Years pass, Cosette grows into a young, beautiful woman, and Fauchlevant dies.  After he dies, Valjean, under the name Ultime Fauchlevant, leaves with Cosette and they start a new life in Paris. Valjean buys three different places for them to live, and they move between this there places with their maid, Toussaint, so that Javert will have a harder time tracking him down. Which works…for a while……

Other than that (and other details I’ve mentioned) Cosette in the musical is very much the same-although somewhat underdeveloped. Furthermore, since the musical portrays her falling in love with Marius within a day instead of him looking for her and then them meeting at night, their love usually feels forced to me, which is why I think so many people (including me before I read the book) are so anti-Cosette and pro-Eponine. (Yes, I love Eponine too, but to be fair she does try to get Marius killed in a lapse of judgement.)

 

Javert

Of all the Les Mis characters, Javert is probably the least changed from version to version. But for whatever reason, people still want to place Javert as the villain. To those folks, I say “You know nothing of Javert!”

Javert is such a great character, and not the villain at all. He’s just a police officer doing his job. Yes, he’s very hell bent on one case for a while and can’t let things go, but his intentions were good.

In the book, a lot of Javert’s backstory is revealed. His mom was a prostitute, and he was born in jail. As he grew up he became desperate to escape, and wanted to leave behind his past by becoming a defender of the law. He sees everything in black and white-it is either wrong or right, no in between. Some of Javert’s backstory is hinted at in the musical during “The Confrontation” when he sings “I was born inside a jail, I was born with scum like you, I am from the gutter too.”

But my favorite Javert moment, the one that really defines him as a character, to me anyway, isn’t in the musical. In the book, after Javert sees Valjean save Fauchlevant from under his cart, he becomes suspicious and thinks he may be Jean Valjean, the criminal who violated parole. So he tries to report him to the right authorities. Meanwhile, a man named Champitheau is arrested for theft, and falsely identified as Jean Valjean. Javert, thinking that Valjean has been captured, goes crawling back to the real Valjean, tells him the whole story and begs to be fired (quitting is “too honorable”). Of course, Valjean forgives him and sets the record straight about Champitheau.

To me, this says so much about Javert. He’s not just hard on everybody, he’s hard on himself too. In that aspect, I can relate to Javert so much.

The musical obviously doesn’t include that bit, but just about every other version does. And for whatever reason, several versions end the movie with Javert’s suicide. No seriously, that’s the last scene in the 1935, 1952, and 1998 version. And Javert’s death is frequently so derpy, I can’t take it seriously. (See below gif from the Anthony Perkins version).

And then he doesn’t even die in Shoujo Cosette! Javert realizes that people can change, and decides to let Valjean go. He spends all that time he was spending on him on getting Thenardier back in jail, and is actually there at Jean Valjean’s funeral, which I actually think is kind of cool.

 

Fantine

Fantine also remains relatively unchanged from version to version, particularly book to musical. Basically in the book the major difference is that we get to see more of her life before moving to Montreil Sur-Meir, where Valjean is the mayor. We meet her as a young carefree woman with beautiful hair and teeth, who falls hard for Felix Tholomeyes (Thow-low-mee-aze). And they have baby Cosette! Contrary to what the musical says, he actually doesn’t ditch them until Cosette was two. Fantine tries to find work, but nobody will hire her because she has an illegitimate child. So she finds the Thenardiers and moves to a Montreil Sur-Meir and finds work in Valjean’s factory. (Which by the way, is a bead factory in the book.) Fantine keeps to herself and lives frugally, sending as much money as possible to the Thenardiers….who keep coming up with excuses for Fantine to send them more money. (Like at one point they say she needs money for a winter skirt…so Fantine just makes her a skirt and sends it to them…and the Thenardiers promptly give it to Eponine). Anyway, the women at the factory spy on her and find out about Cosette, and tell their superior, who in turn fires Fantine.

Fantine tries to go to Valjean’s office to beg for her job back, but Javert just sends her away. So she tries to find other work, but everybody has heard about her being fired for her illegitimate child and refuse her work. So she sells her hair, sells her teeth, and eventually becomes a prostitute.

Until one day, Bantabois (Bahn-tuh-bwah) harasses here. Fantine tries to ignore him until he puts snow down her dress and she retaliates. Then like the musical, Javert arrests her. She begs for mercy, Valjean intervenes and gets her to the hospital. (Cause she’s got tuberculosis). He tries to fetch Cosette for her, but the Thenardiers refuse to hand her over. Valjean intervenes for Champitheau, and then returns to Fantine. Fantine gets all excited thinking he’s brought Cosette…unfortunately Javert comes in intent on arresting Valjean. Fantine freaks out thinking he’s there to arrest her. In her weakened condition, the shock of seeing Javert kills her.

Lots of versions don’t introduce Fantine until she’s being arrested, which I think is odd and not a good choice. Both the anime and the manga introducer her as a single mother looking for work with Cosette, and ultimately leaving her with the Thenardiers. Only the five hour French version shows anything of her life before Cosette. We see her meet Tholomeyes, and then don’t see her again until she’s working in the factory.

Valjean

Ah, yes, our story’s hero. I saved him for very last on purpose. Strangely enough, he’s not the first character we meet in the book. We’re first introduced to Bishop Myriel (aka the Bishop of Digne). And there’s a TON of exposition on him before we meet Jean Valjean. We meet him as the stranger coming into the Bishops town, and then Hugo gives us his story. Poor, tries to support his sister and daughter, tries to find work, but work is not easy to find. Eventually out of desperation he steals the loaf of bread, is arrested, and becomes prisoner two four six oh one. Tries to escape on more than one occasion, time is added onto his sentence for doing such.

So far very similar to the show, yes? Well, in many ways yes. A lot of what happens with Jean Valjean I’ve talked about in other sections, simply because he moves with and interacts with just about all of the other major characters so it was impossible not to. But there’s still a bit more to tell.

So he meets the Bishop, stays overnight, steals the silver, gets caught, Bishop lets him off the hook and gives him the candlesticks. Valjean travels a bit beyond the town and starts contemplating life, good vs. evil, etc. Along comes a young chimney sweep boy named Gervais. He has a coin that he accidently drops and it rolls under Valjean’s boot, but he’s so out of it he doesn’t even notice. Gervais begs Valjean to give him his coin back, but Valjean, not knowing he has the boy’s coin, yells at him to go away. No sooner has the boy ran away crying but Valjean discovers the coin under his boot. He runs after Gervais, but alas, the boy is gone. Valjean feels terrible about accidently robbing the boy, and it’s enough to snap him out of his funk. He vows from there to live up to his promise to the Bishop and do good.

He moves onto Montreil Sur-Meir, breaking parole, and assuming the name Monsieur Madeline. He helps out the town, makes it one of the most prosperous places in the area. He builds a school and a factory. Everybody loves him, and they eventually talk him into becoming mayor. Rescues Fauchlevant, rescues Champitheau, rescues Cosette, you get the idea.

But after he gets Cosette, the two of them are living in Paris, when they run in to Javert. Cosette and Valjean find refuge in the convent, where Fauchlevant helps them out. But get this-they have to get Valjean to leave and come back in the front so the nuns won’t be suspicious. One of the nuns has just passed away, so he’s smuggled out in a coffin and comes back in, pretending to be Fauchlevant’s brother and working next to him as the gardener. He and Cosette live in the convent until Fauchlevant passes away, and then the two of them spend their time between a few different residences in Paris so that Javert will have a harder time tracking them down.

So he and Cosette go about using his leftover mayor money to help the poor, but otherwise living a quiet life and keeping to themselves as to not attract attention. They do take walks in the Luxembourg gardens, where Marius first spots Cosette. Valjean freaks out when he sees Marius eyeing her, so they stop going. The mix up with Thenardier happens, Javert is once again on Valjean’s trail, and Marius is able to find Cosette again via Eponine. But just when the two of them are madly in love, Valjean gets the message from Eponine which he interprets as a warning about Javert, so the two of them prepare to leave. But then he gets the message from Gavroche and finds out that Cosette’s love is on the barricade. So everybody dies, except Marius, cause Valjean saves him…and pretty much from there it’s like the musical until Valjean dies.

He dies, right after telling Cosette the full story of his life and Fantine and what not. Upon his request, he’s buried under a simple headstone that only says:

“He sleeps, although so much he was denied, he lived and when his dear love left him, died. It happened of itself, in the calm way, that after that night, comes a new day.”

So beautiful, I could cry. (Oh who are we kidding of course I’m crying)

Well…I think my return blog post was the longest to date, but I hope it was a good one! Tune in next week, and feel free to leave comments. I’d love to hear ideas anybody has for future blog posts!