2-4-6-0-1 of a Kind: A Revue of Les Miserables on Broadway

2-4-6-0-1 of a Kind: A Revue of Les Miserables on Broadway

Hey friends! So first things first, happy new year! Okay I know it’s like, February now but it’s the first post of the year cause I’m kind of the worst so screw it we’re celebrating.

I hope 2016 will be a good year for you. My end of 2015/start of 2016….well, most of you who are reading this probably know that I was in New York City, aka the capital of the theatre world, where I proceeded to turn the city into my playground for a week. Seriously. If little me knew about a third of the things that happened on this trip, she would be speechless and crying. (Actually I suppose that could actually describe how adult me responded to the events of this trip.)

I ended up seeing a total of TEN shows in the city, and did a slew of other crazy things as well. Rather than try to cram it all in one, thousand page post, I’m dividing up my trip into several posts.

Said posts will be divided into two categories: revues/thoughts on the shows I saw, and other posts about the overall experience of theatre going in New York City as a general rule. I also have several posts in the works about seeing Newsies and Wicked this past year. I’m debating whether or not to sprinkle those in there, or post them later as a multi-part post after I see those shows again this year (cause I’m trash).

I’m going to begin with the first show I saw, the revival of Les Miserables that opened in 2014 at the Imperial Theatre.

We all know I love me some Les Mis-all incarnations. (Click here for my in depth post about said incarnations). I could not have thought of a better show to begin my trip with. Obviously Les Mis is a huge draw for me, but this production was particularly exciting.

For one, it was my first time seeing the show live since I did it in 2014. (Still my favorite show I’ve ever done). This revival actually opened between getting cast in said production and when I began rehearsal, so while I was finishing my first year of college, I lived vicariously through all the social media buzz surrounding it. Also, this revival happened at the same theatre where the original Broadway company of Les Mis opened, so that was pretty exciting. (Fun fact-my professor was Javert in Les Mis on Broadway for a while there).

I was particularly pumped for this cast. Alfie Boe, who played Valjean in the 25^th Anniversary production was reprising his role.

(Photo courtesy of Broadway.com)

Jason Forbach, with a voice of an angel, and beloved by my fellow mizzie (Fancy word for Les Mis fan) Scooter was in the show as Feuilly, one of my favorite barricade boys. (And is from Kansas City-not too far from my neck of the woods!)

(Photo courtesy of BroadwayVegas.com)

But by far the two favorite actors I was most excited to see were Chris McCarrell and Gavin Lee. Chris had been with the show since it opened as Joly and the understudy for Marius, but when Andy Mientus left the company he became full-time Marius, and he’s essentially a human version of a kitten with really great hair. (Watch the following clip of him in for proof).

 

 

And Gavin Lee joined the company earlier that year as Thenardier. He received a Tony nomination a couple of years ago as Bert in Mary Poppins, a role he recreated on the national tour where I saw him back in 2009.

(Photo courtesy of Disney Theatricals)

I was so impressed with his performance, that a few months later when I adopted a cat, said cat was named after him. (Gavin Creel as well, who was a few block down in Book of Mormon. I think this may be the first time in a while (if ever) that both men Gavin the cat is named after were on Broadway at the same time).

This was a detail I mentioned in a letter I wrote to Gavin Lee earlier that year.

So I arrive at the theatre early, as I do, to pick up my ticket, and I see a note on the box office saying that Alfie Boe would not be performing that evening. I could write an entire blog post about understudies on Broadway, and I’m sure I will at some point in time, but here are a few bullet points.

I’ll be honest, I was a teensy bit disappointed about not seeing Alfie Boe as Jean Valjean. The guy’s awesome and I’m only human. But I chose not to be a crab about it. I’ve heard of people demanding refunds and whining about the “star” not being on. (I actually watched one guy whine about this very thing at the Les Mis box office. I seriously considered giving him a piece of my mind but ultimately decided against it because he was twice my size).

Understudies, standbys, and swings deserve all the respect in the world. They have to be ready to go on at a moment’s notice, and often have to know several roles/tracks perfectly. That in itself is a Herculean feat. But for the ones who go on for major stars, they have to give a good show knowing that the majority of the audience would rather be seeing someone that is not you. Performing is nerve-wracking and hard enough without that kind of pressure. Furthermore, having a different person brings about a different energy between the actors, and each portrayal is different, so getting to experience that is always a treat. Even more, lots of huge Broadway names started out as understudies-just imagine the bragging rights you’d have if when watching someone become a star, you can say you caught them in a rare understudy performance way back when. Aaron Tveit, Sutton Foster, Andrew Rannells, Lena Hall, Norbert Leo Butz, Krysta Rodriguez, Jeremy Jordan, Sierra Boggess, Jonathan Groff, and Heidi Blickenstaff, all of these cool guys and gals were understudies, swings, and the like before joining the ranks of Broadway royalty. Just saying.

Also on was Adam Monley as Javert, who I actually saw as Gaston in Beauty and the Beast over the summer at the Muny.

(Photo courtesy of Playbill.com)

So because I bought my ticket through tix4students.com (which is awesome and I will speak of more in a future post) I wasn’t allowed to pick up my ticket until half an hour until curtain, which at first made me sad that I wouldn’t have much chance to explore the theatre…until I got in and discovered there wasn’t much to explore. There’s the front lobby with the box office, a narrow hallway with stairs to get to the upper levels, and the door to the orchestra level. Most Broadway theatres are much smaller than you would think! It’s not like the Fox in Saint Louis where I see the bulk of my shows where there’s so much cool/beautiful interior to look at and wander in.This would be a pattern I’d see over the week. (There will be a blog post at  some point highligting the differences between seeing a show on Broadway vs. a touring show). But I was there, I was seeing Les Mis, and life was good. (And I discovered the bar sold a drink called the “Les Fizz”, which is a Deb worthy pun if I ever heard one.)

And then the show starts. That iconic “da dum-BUM BAH DUH” (you know you just sang it in your head) takes us to Toulon with Jean Valjean and this it begins. The first thing that strikes me is how MASSIVE everything is. From the sets, to the songs, to the emotions, it doesn’t get any bigger Les Mis. I was shaking throughout the galley scene, and I spot Chris McCarrell almost right away. (All the principals except for Valjean and Javert also are in the ensemble at some point). The fog brimming over the prisoners and the guards beating down on anyone who catches their attention really curled my stomach, and I got a piece of all the awful things Valjean witnessed in nineteen years.

This undated theater image released by The Publicity Office shows a scene from the musical “Les Miserables.” The touring production will come to Broadway in March 2014. (AP Photo/The Publicity Office, Catherine Ashmore)

Valjean was understudied that night by J. Michael Finley, who is making his Broadway debut in this show. He was a force of nature, not just vocally, but physically. I feel like a lot of stage Valjeans rely too much on their voice, but he embodied the character with every possible aspect. (Ironically enough, normally Finley usually plays Champitheau, the fake Valjean). He may not be a superstar yet, but I say he’s headed in that direction. Literally my only quibble with him was that his voice cracked a bit once during the big “two four six oh OOOOOOOOOOOOOONE” note at the end, but everything else worked well.

(Photo courtesy of writerstheatre.com)

Adam Monley too was a force of nature, with all his power brewing under a seemingly calm outward physique, which is everything that character needs to be. He’s not my favorite Javert, but he still was quite good. At the end of the prison sequence, I see the actors step off stairs and into the house, and I think for a second they’re going to go through the audience, until I realize that there’s an extension of the stage with an exit that is built to look like a piece of the set that they exit through. I loved this scenic element, and thought it brought about a transformative quality to the production, as if you aren’t quite sure where fiction and reality stop and start.

Valjean takes us on his various hardships outside the prison, (I definitely spotted Chris McCarrell in the inn scene) until he meets the Bishop. This rendition was the first I’d ever seen to include Petit-Gervais, a minor character from the book. Though his bit in the Prologue was not 100% on par with how he’s written in the novel, it was still a neat little moment for someone like me.

All of this meets up to the Bishop of Digne. There was a moment there that really got to me, where the Bishop reaches out a hand, and Valjean flinches, ready for a blow. A lot of people in the fandom have given Valjean flack for stealing from the Bishop, but I wish said people could have seen it. To me, it exemplified how all those years of torture and abuse lead him to think he was beyond help or love, and that there was no good in people, to the extent that when he is at last shown kindness, the only thing he can think to do is steal.

But the Bishop forgives him and gives him the candlesticks, leaving a very dumbfounded Valjean to sing his way through an epiphany. Finley performed most of it on his knees, where he had been since the constables threw him down, too ashamed and overcome to move. You could see him wrestling with everything he thought he knew, until he at last resolves to change. I kept waiting for him to tear his paper while singing the last note as most do, but to my surprise he waited until he finished singing, then tore the note once in half as he tosses it over his shoulders to run offstage for his quick change…right as the logo appears across the scrim and the audience cheers.

Immediately the lights darken and we see the poor and destitute, in rags, hunched over, to the point where I couldn’t see their faces. I could go on forever about all that symbolizes. We transition to the factory, with the aforementioned Jason Forbach as the Foreman menacing Fantine, played by Montego Glover.  I can’t say enough marvelous things about this woman. Vocally she sold everything, but didn’t fall into the common trap of playing Fantine too “prettily”. Her portrayal was gritty, heart wrenching, and desperate as she was penned in the novel. Her face especially sold everything, with the most expressive set of eyes I’ve ever seen.

(Photo courtesy of theatremania)

The other women really had it out for the poor girl! The factory woman after her really threw her to the floor before Valjean stepped in, and the others followed suit. Everything about this production exemplified the world these characters were living in, and this scene was no exception. Fantine is kicked out, sings a tragic “I Dreamed a Dream”, and off we go to the town’s red light district for “Lovely Ladies”.

(Yours truly as your friendly neighborhood lady of the evening. Photo courtesy of Andrew Richmond).

I was a whore in this part of Les Mis whenever I did it, so I always watch this part extra closely. This was probably the most, um, shall we say graphic staging of this song I’ve seen. No body parts were seen, but you saw enough to illustrate. Montego was among them as an utterly degraded woman who has lost her hair, her dignity, and thinks she could lose her child. I was watching her far more than the ensemble girls. By the end of the song we could also definitely see her tuberculosis starting to take over. I think to a certain extent, at least with the way Montego did it, that when Bantabois comes for her, she’s so incoherent that she doesn’t fully realize what she’s doing until it’s too late and Javert arrives. Thankfully, Valjean intervenes.

Michael and Montego were superb, but it was really Adam in this scene who stood out to me, watching how he responds to Valjean, and the utmost respect he gives him, even when trying to protest what he says. This carried through the cart crash sequence, (which by the way was kind of frightening). He truly was not going to continue his comparison of the “mayor” with “Jean Valjean” until Valjean insisted, and straight up bowed to him as he left. Then what Michael did with “Who Am I?” was incredibly acted and sung, minus one flubbed high note.

Then it was time for the first big cry of the show with Fantine’s death. I teared up a few times earlier, but now like this. You would have thought that she actually did think she saw her daughter and could reach out to her. The urgency with Michael was also incredible. As he came in, you could see that he truly was of the mentality of being on the run, determined to just say a few things to Fantine and be on his way, until he realizes that she’s moments away from death. That’s when he decides to take off his coat and come to her bedside for her last breaths. She dies with a last little bit of happiness, smiling because Cosette will be taken care of, which was all she wanted, to which Valjean is exquisitely gentle in laying down and folding down the arms of a long suffering woman finally at rest.

And then comes Javert, ready with chains to take in Valjean via “The Confrontation”. They added in a physical battle to this song, with Javert coming at him with chains to subdue him, which were lashing out through the air as the two men sang and moved their way around each other. It was truly remarkable. They experimented with it in the film, but this time it actually worked.

But Valjean wins, and not a moment too soon, because Cosette is in dire need of rescue from the Thenardiers, played by Gavin Lee and Rachel Izen. The two of them are my new favorites to have played those roles. Individually they were side-splitting funny and physically domineering, but together they brought the house down. The Thenardiers are so despicable, but with this portrayal it was so over-the-top and theatrical that it’s hysterical, which is exactly how the Thenardiers are best done in my mind. What was especially great for me was when Madame has to wake up Thenardier, and he’s at the top of the set buried under stuff until he’s awoken and sprints up.

(Photo courtesy of Theatremania)

Meanwhile, Valjean finds little Cosette, and you can see throughout the next scene or so how his world and its center changes, and now she’s the focus of it. The Thenardiers take his money and are funny doing so, but Valjean ultimately leaves with Cosette, and the two of them are blissfully happy, having a family again in each other.

Ten years pass, and we’re to my favorite parts of the show. The impoverished are crawling through the street, crying out the windows, and scraping to survive. In the middle of all of it though is Gavroche, as played by Sam Reda the night I saw it. His Gavroche was very cocky and sassy, he’s a kid who knows just how cool he is and doesn’t have time to deal with anyone who doesn’t agree.

Observing this squalor is Marius and Enjolras, played by Chris McCarrell and Wallace Smith, respectively. I was completely underwhelmed by Wallace as Enjolras, which is disappointing since Enjolras is my favorite character. He just lacked that fire and passion that makes the character who he is. Chris however, is probably my new favorite Marius. Everything he did or sang was reminiscent of the Marius Pontmercy I pictured when I read the book, from his luscious hair to the way he carried himself.

(Photo courtesy of Broadway.com)

Thenardier and Madame rear their heads again to make trouble, this time with a gang and their now grown up daughter Eponine, played by Brennyn Lark. Her Eponine was alright, but nothing spectacular. With Chris, it sometimes felt like her attempts to flirt with him she was actually bullying him a little bit, by taking his book and refusing to return it to him for example. The two of them together worked very well and was similar to their relationship in the book, where they’re not necessarily best buddies.

(Photo courtesy of theatremania)

So it’s no wonder he falls for Cosette…after knocking into her and making his books go flying in the process. I’m still not a fan of the “fall in love in one meeting” motif, but Chris and Alex Finke who played Cosette made it work about as well as it can. But while she’s falling in love, her dad is having a nasty run in with Thenardier, where we see Gavin and Rachel snap into their viscous side, the part that doesn’t get laughs. But Eponine intervenes, and here Brennyn kicked butt, as the girl who knows her way around and serves as look-out for her parents’ criminal activity. Valjean and Cosette run for it, and Thenardier capitalizes on a chance to get them in trouble…and himself out of it.

Adam Monley as Javert ponders all of this, soliloquizing with a lovely rendition of “Stars”. Brennyn is bitter about Cosette, tries to get Marius to change the subject, pretending that it’s not a big deal, when she can tell Marius is dead set on finding her. I liked the way she delivered “’Ponine, she knows her way around”, as if she’s saying “that’s me, little miss reliable, but he still doesn’t really notice me”. I feel ya, girl.

Time for the barricade boys! This is the stuff that really gets the blood stirring in my veins. All the members of the Les Amis are full of mischief and revolution. This is where I feel like Wallace actually did well as the voice pushing everyone forward. The rest of the guys are being silly and drinking, especially Grantaire played by the soulful and charming Joseph Spieldenner. But it’s Enjolras who gets them to sit up and pay attention, that it’s not just about them anymore, that from there on out it’s about their cause. Marius of course is busy Pontmercying. Chris was so loveable and sweet here, trying to get Enjolras and the rest to take him seriously, to realize what he’s truly going through and how his life has changed. I mean, Chris is just this great big bundle of joy and sweetness, and was pretty much perfect in every way.

Gavroche announces Lamarque’s death, and the boys are ready to spring into action, in perhaps one of the most epic, take-to-the-streets way possible in “Do You Hear the People Sing?” Everyone onstage was excited, I was finally feeling the full impact of revolution. There was a great little moment at the end of the song when Eponine approaches Marius and non-verbally says “I found her”. Marius of course goes running off, because that’s what he does, and Eponine just follows him like “You idiot you don’t know the way wait for me”.

Back at Rue Plummet, things are a bit quieter. Alex Finke as Cosette is desperately trying to make sense of what is just happened, awakened in a new way. All these mysteries and questions prompt her to ask her surrogate father, for perhaps the thousandth time about hers and his past. Alex was an astonishing Cosette, curious and determined, and perhaps a bit trapped by her well-meaning but over protective father. She goes inside, which may be a tiny detail, but it was huge for me. It made the rest of the staging work really well.

(Photo courtesy of Broadway.com)

Marius arrives with Eponine in tow, and an odd thing happened. I was watching Marius instead of Eponine. Like, Chris was so convincing, I actually wanted him to find his lady love. He climbs over the gate and was so darn excited it killed me. He tosses a pebble to her window, which I know is super cheesy but Chris made it cute, and out Cosette comes. (Chris talks about Marius’s love for Cosette and this song in a really awesome way in the video below. Watching it before I saw the show made me love what he did with “A Heart Full of Love” even more).

Alex sees him and then bolts inside, and I could clearly see the look on Chris’s face where he thought “Oh crap, maybe this was a bad idea”, but to his surprise, she comes out the door, and introduces herself. Watching the two of them bounce off each other. I feel like the two of them played it off as an intellectual attraction and had legitimate chemistry together. It didn’t seem sappy or forced, it reminded me of that awesome moment (for me it’s just happened with friends, but I suppose it can happen romantically too) when you bump into somebody and everything they say makes you think “YES! Me too! Where have you been all my life?!” I feel like a monster saying this, but I honestly forgot about Eponine a little bit until she started singing again, and I felt a real twinge of sadness for her. I don’t know why, but the three of them together was super satisfying, as well as the inevitable kiss. I actually wanted those two together this time around.

All the love is interrupted by Thenardier and his gang ready to make an attack. And wow, they all legitimately manhandled and beat up on Eponine. I was actually frightened. See, this is what I loved about this production, it didn’t apologize or compromise, if something was happening, it was happening full out. What I also loved her that when Cosette came out to tell Valjean it was her who screamed, she’s still looking through the gate thinking about Marius, while Valjean has his little melt-down thinking it’s Javert again. It isn’t until dad tells her to start packing that the gravity of the situation hits her, and she is more confused that already.

Now for the big guns… “One Day freaking More”. (That’s what it’s called now sorry I don’t make the rules.) Every character has their passion, every person wants their desires to come true, but you know everyone can’t possibly win. But for now they’re hopeful and ready, and set to bring down the house. There’s nothing I can say about this song that hasn’t already been said, but it got me going as per usual and the whole cast absolutely nailed it to the wall.

So…intermission time! I decided to take advantage of being so close and headed towards the stage for a closer examination of the set. Up close, it was so incredibly detailed. Uneven cobblestone to walk on, the appearance of wear and tear on the various structures, it was like a living illustration.

Act II began, and it’s barricade time. Once again the energy in the air is palpable. McCarius (The name for Chris McCarrell as Marius) discovers Eponine dressed like a boy, and sends her back to Rue Plummet. She finds Jean Valjean, as he is bringing suitcases out to the front. It was a minor detail that I greatly appreciated. Some people have complained “OMG why are they still there” about that scene. What they don’t realize is that the barricade stuff is supposed to happen the day after, if not the day of, “One Day More”. It takes time to pack and get ready. I also loved that when Valjean referred to Eponine as a boy, she whipped off her hat and shook her hair loose, sassily. And thus, she sings “On My Own”. Brennyn had a very different take on this iconic, if not overdone song. She sang it as if she was almost laughing at herself for this silly fantasy, even though ultimately it was all she had. Not sure if I liked it or not, but it was definitely something I hadn’t seen done with it before, I’ll give her that.

Song’s over, and the barricade’s up and open for business. And it’s impressive looking, especially with those guys mounted on it. Javert returns with his made-up story until Gavroche intervenes. There was this spectacular moment when Gavroche called out “Liar!” and Javert just stood there, with this look on his face like “Oh man, I’m in trouble now”. He knows this kid doesn’t mess around, that there’s no way he is getting out of this.

No sooner is Javert tied up when Eponine climbs over the barricade, and isn’t shot until she actually makes it over, which I think is more realistic, and slightly closer to the book. She straggles over to McCarius, and her collapse into his arms was a stab to the gut. Brennyn was at her best in this song. Her interpretation rang the most true to the lyrics, as if she really wasn’t that upset or sad, that she just wanted it all to end because of her awful life, and that she truly had no complaints as long as she was in Marius’s arms. Chris was dynamite too, he kind of went into shock, not fully comprehending what was happening, just knowing that he had to be there for her, sincerely meaning it when he said she was going to pull through. When she finally breathed her last, the look on his face was a tragedy. It’s like he was finally in realization of the dire danger he and his friends were in, that they may all die too. This has the same effect as the rest of the barricade boys see her. As her body is carried away, Chris McCarrell still sits staggered, until Gavroche brings him her hat, which had fallen off. Needless to say both Chris and I were belligerent with tears.

Valjean arrives, ready to help, and the first battle begins. The best way I can describe these sequences are LOUD. Seriously. Like, I kept flinching as it if were me up there. Between the bangs of the guns and the special effects, it was pretty convincing, and terrifying. Valjean makes a deal with Enjolras to get the right to kill Javert, which Enjolras seemed surprisingly cool with. Now seems as good a time to mention that this Javert and Valjean really didn’t have that much onstage chemistry. Maybe it was because they were both understudies and never performed these roles together, but the two of them just did not seem like rivals to me, I wasn’t getting the decades of history these two had. For that reason, this scene did not impact me as much as usual. Normally it’s my favorite part with just those two.

Regardless, Javert is released, and nights falls to “Drink With Me”, kicked off eloquently by Jason Forbach as Feuilly. The song had a playfulness to it, especially when they sang about the pretty/witty girls, like true old friend drinking to old times. But there was still a seriously somber undertone that couldn’t be ignored. It seemed this song was the point where the Les Amis accepted their fate and chose to face it bravely…but not before taking a quick nap, giving Michael Finley a chance to sing “Bring Him Home”, and do so beautifully without Marius knowing this guy would save him.

Yes, Marius has a savior…but the rest of the crew isn’t so blessed. Enjolras dismisses the women and children. The fighting begins again, and ammunition is short. Marius volunteers a little too quickly to go and collect some from the other side…I suspect Cosette is to blame. Enj pick up on this and he and Valjean try to talk them out of it. This distracts everyone long enough for Gavroche to scramble up and do it himself. The boys, horrified, try to stop him, but it’s too late, and my stomach immediately began to clench as I anticipated what was next. Everyone is losing their minds, unable to see what he’s doing or if he’s okay. (No rotating barricade this time). He’s back in sight, and it looks like he’s going to make it…but the bullet hits him and down he goes, everyone’s heart and my tears along with him. Grantaire’s reaction especially made me weep. He was scream-crying at Gavroche’s death, cradling his body unable to tear himself away.

The captain of the guard mocks the remaining revolutionaries, but they don’t shrink away. They die facing their foes, one at a time. As usual it happened too fast for me to take in each individual death. Not going to lie, those effects were kind of anxiety inducing. Yes, I knew there were going to be gun shots and other effects, but this is the first time I ever saw it in a show where it actually got to me. I was greatly relieved when that part was over. Valjean literally drags Marius offstage into the sewer, to be followed by Javert. What really got to me was the clean-up crew coming and putting all the bodies, callously heaping them in a cart. I was a little mad that Enjolras’s dramatic flail backwards on the barricade (What I call “Enjolrasing…see below…..)

….was reduced to his body flopping backwards out of the body cart. That whole part was sad for me, thinking about the real barricade boys, and how that’s probably how their deaths were handled, and how we would never know about them were it not for Victor Hugo.

We descent to the sewers of Paris, effectively so due to the projections. (Which were incredible throughout the whole show. They were effective and enhanced the show without being obnoxious). Meanwhile, fog floods the lower level of the stage, giving the feel of a layer of murky water. And who should emerge from it but Thenardier, going through the bodies with “Dog Eats Dog”. I must confess that I never did care for that song. I know why it’s necessary to the plot, but overall I just think it beats the dead horse of Thenardier being a jerk.

But Gavin performed it well, and took McCarius’s ring, and off he goes in time for Valjean and Javert to bump into one another again. Javert releases him and has his crisis that leads to his suicide…which in turn leads to the coolest bit of stage magic in the show. The actors is suspended on wires so when he “jumps” off the bridge, the ledge he was standing on disappears, so he’s suspended in air, and the projections behind him transform into a river, so the actor flails in mid-air and actually looks like he’s drowning. It was so freaking cool, I forgot for a second the seriousness of the show. I had to take moment to remind myself that it was sad and that half the characters were now dead.

“Turning” happens, with the women in mourning lighting candles for the barricade boys, all except Marius, the sole survivor. As I mentioned, overall Chris as Marius was very boyish and sweet. For “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables”, he has grown up and is now a man from the trauma of the barricade and losing his friends. But at the same time, he seemed so small and vulnerable, all more or less alone on that huge, dark stage. Each guy appears to him as in most versions, with no Eponine. (Why don’t more versions include Eponine too? She was Marius’s friend who died too. My version did though so go us). By far the most chilling, spine-tingling moment was “My friends, my friends don’t ask me what your sacrifice was for.” To me, it’s that line that makes or breaks that song, and Chris reduced me to tears with it. What was also really beautiful was that each ghost picked up a candle on the floor and brought it to their face on “Phantom faces at the window”…to where only their face is lit and they truly are “phantom faces”. Chris picked up a candle too and held it up. I don’t know if that’s supposed to be symbolic or not, but for me it was like he was picking up where his friends left off, literally passing on the torch. (And that adds all kind of new meaning to “there is a flame that never dies”).

Marius and Cosette are reunited, Marius learns his new father-in-law did time in jail, and the lovers are married-and this time I was happy. (Seriously Alex and Chris are so CUTE together!) Thenardiers show up all gussied up and more hilariously deceitful than ever. When Thenardier got punched, he moaned on the floor and cried out before standing up and being all “Nah, I’m okay” and then motioning to the conductor to keep playing…right as all the stolen silver falls out of Madame’s dress. They dance, happy that they’ve actually making it out of the musical alive, and the rest of the wedding guests follow suit.

And now it’s time for the Epilogue…yeah I immediately started crying. Valjean is ready to leave his past behind and be welcomed by Fantine, but not before saying a final goodbye to Cosette and her husband. Their reaction to Valjean dying got my tears flowing even faster, and I got major feels watching her bury her face into Chris’s chest. Valjean joins Fantine, Eponine, and everyone else who died at the barricade. (Lots of people have complained that Eponine greeting him makes no sense. I always thought that was her way of thanking him for rescuing Marius. I like to think that in heaven Eponine finally found peace and gained some perspective. Ultimately, I think she just wanted Marius to be happy, even if it wasn’t with her, so she watches over the two of them. Maybe she and Enjolras get together in heaven, maybe Marius and Cosette name children after the two of them). I absolutely LOVED that the Bishop also greeted Valjean in heaven with a huge hug, similar to the 2012 film. I imagine he said something along the lines of “I’m proud of you, kid. You done good.” It was that moment, combined with the glorious acapella section from the ensemble that triggered the convulsing, heavy, audible sobs from me. The epilogue will always make me weep live. Always. (Also Cosette and Marius sang with everyone on the last chorus, which made me happy, that doesn’t happen in every production even though they’re just as much a part of the story as anyone else).

Curtain call was also epic and satisfying. Like, I feel like the order was perfect. (This is another one of my weird Deb-isms, I’ve very particular about curtain call order). It went female ensemble, male ensemble, three little girls (young Eponine, young Cosette, and their understudy who is in the ensemble), Gavroche, Enjolras, Thenardiers, Cosette and Marius, Eponine and Fantine, Javert, and of course Valjean. I’d also like to point out that up until this point there was no music…just as well because everyone in the theatre, myself included, was screaming and cheering at full volume. But then everyone ran off except Valjean…who took a solo bow…to be joined by everyone again with “Red and Black” swelling under them, where everyone took one last group bow and waved as the scrim came down.

(Photo courtesy of Playbill.com)

Show had concluded…which can only mean one thing…stage door time! Out I ran, with every possible emotion coursing through me. It wasn’t cold, which is remarkable for New York in December, but it was raining, so not many folks came out. There was Jason Forbach, whom I hugged. (He gives great hugs!) I also mentioned that my friend Scooter and I were huge fans, which he said was “sweet”.

Then came Joseph Spieldnner. I complemented him on his reaction to Gavroche’s death, and he signed a Playbill for my friend Michael who also played Grantaire.

Then came Alex Finke, who I didn’t recognize at first with her brunette hair! It told her she and Chris had awesome chemistry, which she attributed to him being “a great guy”. (Sadly Chris did not come to the stage door that night. Truth be told, I was more disappointed about that than I was about not seeing Alfie Boe perform.)

Then J Michael Finley came out, and I embarrassed myself a little bit. He and Adam look SO MUCH ALIKE that I accidentally mistook him for Adam. And he was all “No, I was on for Valjean, they wouldn’t let me go on for Cosette” which was funny.

Montego came outside next, I chatted with her for a bit, and was overwhelmed some more by her gorgeous eyes. Right after she came out, they shut down the barricades and said that no one else was still inside, and my heart sunk a little bit about not getting to meet Chris McCarrell.

It’s worth mentioning at this point that the Imperial is literally RIGHT NEXT TO the Richard Rodgers…which is currently the home of another smash hit musical…

YUP THAT’S THE ONE! I walked by it on my was to Les Mis, and peed my pants a little, not gonna lie. (I also had to crawl my way past the people doing the lotto on my way in, which was wackadoo zoo and a half….more on the Hamilton lotto later). I am COMPLETE Hamiltrash in case anybody was wondering.

*Side note-there’s actually a really cool crossover between the two shows, well, besides the following video where the Les Mis cast auditions for the show…

….as many of you know, parts of Les Mis, ala the barricade boys/June Rebellion (NOT THE FRENCH REVOLUTION GEEZ) is based on real events. Anyway, the real Lafayette (America’s Favorite Fighting Frenchman!) of Hamilton was at/spoke at the funeral of the real life General Lamarque of Les Mis…which just happened to be where the real life barricade boys started their revolution…so yeah, it’s entirely possible that Lafayette bumped into and/or interacted with and/or supported the real barricade boys!!

Anyhow, the thought of crashing that stage door had definitely crossed my mind more than once. All throughout talking to the Les Mis folk, I could hear screaming from the Hamilton stage door line as various folks came out. I thought to myself….am I really going to do this? Am I really gonna crash the stage door of a show I’ve never even seen? But then I saw Leslie Odom Jr./Aaron Burr standing RIGHT THERE….

…..and I said “YUP I’M DOING THIS!”

Which was not hard, since the, Hamilton line ended where the Les Mis stage door had begun! I said “Hello” to Leslie Odom Jr., but I was a little too overwhelmed to ask for a photo. Thing is, when you see a performer you’ve loved and looked up to forever in a show, you have a whole two hours to get over the whole nervous, crazy adrenaline energy of “OH MY GOSH THEY’RE STANDING IN FRONT OF ME!” I didn’t have that luxury with Hamilton, but I did alright for myself. So no photo with Leslie…but I DID have him sign the back of my Les Mis Playbill. So yeah, I definitely now own a Playbill where the cover is signed by the Les Mis folk and the back signed by the Hamilton folk. Surprisingly, they were all totally cool with it!

Somehow I managed to compose myself by the time Lin Manuel Miranda (WHAT?!) came up to  me.

And can I just say, he is SO COOL in person?! Like, he was chatting with everyone and just being so gracious and awesome. I said “Hi, I’m a really big fan, but I couldn’t see the show, but would you mind signing my Les Mis Playbill?” And he was all “Sure!” I handed him over my Playbill backside up, but he said “Oh no, I’m signing the FRONT!” I just kind of nodded and thought “Okay yeah you’re Tony winner Lin Manuel Miranda you can do whatever you want!”

Also worth noting is that I was in line behind these cool people (college kids like me) who won the lotto, and I had a good time talking to them, and Lin said they were a “Great second row!”

After Lin came through, what would you know, but Gavin Lee came out after all! And I got to say hello to him, and I told him how happy I was to see him, and I think he was pleasantly surprised. He told me that  usually he’s the last person out, so there’s usually nobody out at the door by the time he leaves. I also mentioned that my cat was named after him, to which he paused for a moment before saying “That sounds really familiar…did you write a letter to me?” He remember my letter! How cool is that?! He was so kind and we got a photo together.

In the background you’ll see Phillipa Soo/Eliza Schuyler-Hamilton of Hamilton. I saw her slip away out of the corner of my eye while talking to Gavin, so that was a little sad not getting to say hello to her, but oh well.

As I said it was, indeed raining. (Hence all the actors carrying umbrellas in the photos). As such I was desperately clutching my Playbill inside my jacket to keep it safe, and I was shivering a little bit. And who should come up with his umbrella….but Jonathan freaking Groff, whom I’ve only been in love with since I was fifteen. Somewhere, fifteen year old Deborah is crying her eyes out. I’ve always heard that he was just a wonderful ball of sweetness, but this exceeded everything. He noticed me shivering from the rain and he said “Oh sweetie, are you okay? Here, stand under my umbrella!” Well, you don’t have to tell me twice, so I huddled under Groffsauce’s umbrella while he signed my Playbill and I got a photo with him!

After he left was Daveed Diggs/Thomas Jefferson/Lafayette. He cracked up when I gave him my Les Mis Playbill and said “Oh sure, we love Les Mis too!”

The final person was Christopher Jackson/George Washington, who wished me luck in the lottery!

So yeah…that was my first night in New York City!

As fantastic as this show was, there was one component missing…not a component per say, but a person… Kyle Jean-Baptiste, whose death shook the Broadway community last August.

(Photo courtesy of Playbill.com)

He was a part of the Broadway company of Les Miserables as Courfeyrac, and the understudy for Jean Valjean. When he made his Valjean debut, he also made history as Broadway’s youngest Valjean, and Broadway’s first African American Valjean.

(Photo courtesy of Playbill.com)

It absolutely broke my mizzie heart when he passed in a tragic accident. Throughout the show, time and again my thoughts turned to him, and I couldn’t help but wish he was still up there with the rest of the cast. Broadway lost an incredible talent, and incredible human

I dare you to watch any of these videos without weeping. I realize this is a pretty somber way to end my post, but hear me out.

Kyle’s passing, and seeing Les Mis on Broadway reminded me once again just how precious each person we encounter in our day-to-day lives is, and reminded me just how blessed I am to have such incredible people, especially my theatre family. And some of that family that I treasure the most are the crazy talented, beautiful, passionate, dedicated, insane, and kind folks that I did Les Mis back in 2014. As far as theatre is concerned, that production is the best thing that ever happened to me. It renewed me as a performer and person, and had I not been blessed with the opportunity to do that show, I honestly don’t know if I would have grown into the person who was nuts and/or brave enough to go to New York City all by herself at twenty one with limited cash and a whole lot of dreams. But here we are, here I am, and although there is a chunk of my brain that’s convinced the whole NYC extravaganza never actually happened, a couple of thousand of photos would say otherwise! I’ll never be able to thank all of you enough for that.

*wipes eyes* Anyway, so glad I FINALLY put up some of my thoughts about my New York trip! (Only took me a month). But there WILL be more coming! And it’s also the continued support from my theatre family that keeps me working on this blog and on my ambition of becoming a theatre journalist. (It’s still crazy that somebody besides my mom actually reads this thing!) On that note, aside from revues, if there’s anything specific about my trip you’d like me to cover, let me know in the comments section and I’ll try to address it in a post!

Anyhow, 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!