London Musicals

Les Misérables - Queens Theatre
June 27th, 2009
(mainly copied from my previous blog, Another Day - Another Destiny)

Me and Annika went to see Les Misérables on June 27 2009, and to be honest I was a bit nervous, because I entered Queens Theatre with a terrible migraine and nausea! However, after hearing the wonderful intro, I was completely into the musical, and even though the migraine was worse after the show, at least it didn’t bother me during the show – and that’s the main thing!

I have to say this was one of the best – perhaps THE best – Les Misérables show I have ever seen!!! First and foremost, I have finally found my Jean Valjean!!! Ever since I got into Les Miz some ten years ago I have tried finding a really great Valjean, but never succeeded. I have seen a few perform live and I have a number of recordings (quite a few actually!!), but no one has caught my eye completely – except David Shannon!! At first I hardly dared to believe it, and toward the end I was at the edge of my seat, wondering if he’d last the distance or if he’d make some unforgivable mistake toward the end. And he didn’t!! According to me, he was perfect in every respect! He handled all the songs in a wonderful way, he didn’t go over-the-top, which I find difficult to handle, and he just WAS Jean Valjean!! I really, really, really, really want to see him to the part again!!

Javert was played by Earl Carpenter, Annika had seen him last year and was quite impressed, so I was very curious! And I have to say I have mixed feelings for him, similar to the way I felt for Hans Peter Jansens in 2006. Carpenter was good most of the time, but sometimes I felt he was a little too soft. To me, Javert is almost ruthless and keeps standing strong, even when he decides to take his own life, and at times Carpenter felt a bit weak. But his voice was really pleasant and overall, he did a good job!

Rebecca Seale, who played Fantine, was also rather uneven. She portrayed the frail, careful Fantine in a very good way, and “Fantine’s Death” was wonderful and very emotional – but the more forward and driven Fantine didn’t quite work out.

The Thénardiers was funny as usual, and I was pleasantly surprised to see Martin Ball as Monsieur Thénardier, because they had apparently found a guy that wasn’t only extremely funny, but was also a terrific actor and singer! I think he was fairly new (if memory serves, he started out at the cast change earlier in June), and he messed up the lyrics in “Master of the House” a little … Like last time, it felt like “The Wedding” was funnier than “Master of the House”, and in my head, I can’t help feeling it should be the other way around!

The kids did a great job, I’m always sooo impressed at these very young girls and boys handling the stage in such a fantastic way! Young Cosette was beautiful and did a very good “Castle on a Cloud”, but you could tell she was quite new, she was a little stiff and probably rather nervous. Gavroche, played by George Sargeant, was really good – it’s not an easy part, but he could really pull it off. Apart from a few minor mistakes, he truly embodied Gavroche!

Cosette was played by Katie Hall, who I’m sure is very talented! I really liked her voice, but unfortunately I’m having great difficulties in figuring out the character, I have never ever understood Cosette, and that does affect my general opinion as well.

David Thaxton played Enjolras – he was Bamatabois in 2006 (and totally creepy!!) as well as understudy for Enjolras, and I think he was a fairly good Enjolras! He’s not the best I’ve seen but I don’t have anything against him. On the positive side, he really had the voice potential that Enjolras demands. I have seen actors in the part who are out voiced by the powerful music, but David Thaxton had a very very powerful and forceful voice which was great! Unfortunately he didn’t quite have the charisma that I feel Enjolras has to have – in order to get the other students to follow him, he needs something special, and I didn’t feel like Thaxton had that!

Grantaire was played by Jeff Nicholson (who also did the part in 2006), and I really like him. I have had difficulties in grasping that part as well before, but Jeff Nicholson really gives the character life!

Nancy Sullivan played Eponine, and it was a change to see a blond Eponine! She was however, amazing and one of the stars of the show! She did such an amazing job of the character that I can’t help but commenting on one thing. She did use very proper English, and considering the dialect of the Thénardiers and her character as a street kid, I would have liked her to go a little bit more cockney … the contrast ended up feeling a little bit strange. But overall, she was fantastic!!

I have to say it was a really nice audience, I think there were lots of people who hadn’t seen the show before and that was really cool! Lots of laughs and also some shouts at times! :) I also have to mention a funny thing during the curtain call – Earl Carpenter must have had his own little “fan club” of friends there, for when he entered the stage, there were some booing from mid-stalls!! It was apparently in good spirit, and it was quite funny to see the expression on Carpenter’s face!!

Despite feeling pretty terrible, I really enjoyed the show, and I think what I’m mostly carrying with me from it is the fact that I Have Found My Jean Valjean!

Some photos from outside Queens Theatre - the last one from inside the theatre:



Phantom of the Opera - Her Majesty's Theatre
June 26th, 2009
(mainly copied from my previous blog, Another Day - Another Destiny)

I finally got to see Phantom of the Opera in London in June 2009 with Annika, and that was truly a fantastic experience! I have seen it twice before, in Stockholm in 1994, and I was very impressed then – and of course I’ve seen the movie a number of times … but there’s something special about seeing it in London!

We got really great seats, in the third row, and that makes a lot of difference! You come so close to the stage, and you can actually see the actors’ facial expressions, which gives the show even more life! I love the fact that the show is so interactive, what you first think of is the chandelier of course, but there are other things as well – and that becomes even clearer when you’re so close to the stage! Annika had a bit of bad luck, she wanted to see Gareth Snook as Monsieur André, but he was replaced by understudy Craig Nicholls. On the other hand, we did get to see Simon Bailey (who we had seen as Enjolras in Les Misérables in 2006) as Raoul, and that was some consolation to Annika! :)

The show was really fantastic, and I have to say that I enjoyed all the major actors’ performances! That’s not so common, and I truly enjoyed it! I enjoyed both Craig Nicholls as André and Barry James as Firmin (Barry James has also played Monsieur Thénardier in Les Misérables), they did a good job and added some much needed comedy to the show.

Simon Bailey did Raoul, and I have to say he did a marvelous job of it!! I enjoyed him as Enjolras three years ago, but I have to say I liked him even more as Raoul, I felt that was a part that suited him even better!

Christine was also played by an actress we saw in Les Misérables in 2006, namely Gina Beck (who played Cosette). I wasn’t that impressed with her in Les Miz, but I always have a hard time with the character of Cosette, so I’m never sure if it’s the character or the actress I’m not so happy with. Well, seeing Gina Beck in Phantom helped with realizing it’s the character in Les Miz I have difficulties with, because she was absolutely outstanding as Christine in Phantom!! I doubt whether anyone could have done it better, I was very very impressed with her. On a few occasion I found her voice to be a little too sharp, but on the whole, she was fantastic – and she and Simon Bailey played really well together!

The Phantom was played by Ramin Karimloo, a true celebrity in the musical world, but someone I had never seen before. He was supposed to play Anatoly in the Chess concert I saw in Oslo in 2006, but was replaced by David Shannon. I really enjoyed his performance, though at some points I found him a bit uneven. That meant that some parts of his performance were really great and others didn’t feel quite so good. On the whole though, a very good Phantom!

I’m very happy to have seen Phantom of the Opera in London – I liked it a lot when I saw the Stockholm production and it is a fantastic musical. And that makes it very special to have seen it in West End, and with such a talented cast!! However, I think I might be growing up a little, as I don’t think I’d pay that much money to see it again! There’s one thing with Les Misérables, that is a musical I can never ever see enough of, it has got something very, very special, but at least it seems I might be able to move on from other musicals now! :)

Some photos taken outside Her Majesty's Theatre (the last one taken inside the theatre!):