Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Les Miserables - the gold star of musicals

Susan Boyle made headlines when she recently appeared in Britain's Got Talent. Her powerful rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" catapulted her to international fame. For me, the song transported me back to my undergraduate days when I went on a student tour to Europe and had the opportunity to catch Les Miserables at London's West End.

For the benefit of those who are unaware, Les Miserables is a musical based on the 1862 novel of the same name by Victor Hugo. From Wiki: Set in early 19th-century France, it follows the intertwining stories of a cast of characters as they struggle for redemption and revolution. The characters include a paroled convict named Jean Valjean who, failing attempts to find work as an honest man with his yellow ticket of leave, breaks his parole and conceals his identity; the police inspector Javert who becomes obsessed with finding Valjean; Fantine, the single mother who is forced to become a prostitute to support her daughter Cosette; Cosette, who, after her mother's death, becomes Jean Valjean's adopted daughter and who eventually falls in love with a revolutionary student named Marius; the Thenardiers, the unscrupulous innkeepers who initially foster Cosette, and who thrive on cheating and stealing; Eponine, their young daughter who is hopelessly in love with Marius; Gavroche, a young beggar boy; and a student leader Enjolras who plans the revolt to free the oppressed lower classes of France.

In my opinion, Les Miserables is probably one of, if not the best musical to ever have hit the stage. It's the intricate plot, richness of characters and complex web of human emotions that make for a compelling story. Not to mention the wonderful, wonderful music. "I Dreamed a Dream" is but one of many in a string of memorable songs. Since its first London performance on 8 October 1985, Les Miserables has become both West End and Broadway's longest running musical to date, longer than Cats and Phantom of the Opera.

Inspired by Susan Boyle's performance, I borrowed the Les Miserables 2-CD set from my sister and introduced it to Lesley-Anne. She downloaded the music to her handphone and after listening to it end-to-end twice, she was seriously hooked. She said she couldn't get the songs out of her head and by day three, she practically knew all the lyrics by heart.

I caught Les Miserables on the stage for a second time when the musical travelled to Singapore in 1994. It still gave me chills. I'm hoping it will come again, I'd love to bring Lesley-Anne this time. If you haven't heard the musical, I encourage you to get the original album.

Below is a video of Lesley-Anne's favourite song in the musical, "One Day More". This song sums up the intricacy of Les Miserables. Each character wonders what the new day will bring, from hope and optimism to doubt and despair. This recording was part of the Tenth Anniversary version performed at the Royal Albert Hall in October 1995. The singers are the original London cast members.

I feel that the songs by themselves are less meaningful than when set in the context of the story, so if you're a Les Miserables newbie, I recommend getting the original album, not the Tenth Anniversary one, which just features the songs performed in concert. But hopefully this video gives you a flavour of the beauty that is Les Miserables.

22 comments:

  1. My favourite musical of all time. The plot is good, too. The costumes, the music, everything is beautiful. I watched it a few years back in West End and I was completely enthralled. Unfortunately my friend(a Londoner who I dragged along) fell asleep. Sigh. Some people just can't appreciate the beauty of musicals and the fact that Lesley-Anne can at such a young age is really commendable!

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  2. A fellow fan! Les Mis is my favourite musical of all time too. I tried introducing L-A to Miss Saigon but she didn't like it. There's just something special about Les Mis. I hope it makes another tour to SG!

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  3. For L-A, maybe you'd want to try Cats or even(as a movie) Les Choristes. It's a French movie(English subtitles) and it is very good. I think that at her level of understanding she will enjoy it! :)

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  4. I offered to bring L-A to Cats but she wasn't interested. I think the music isn't half as good although the dancing is spectacular! And you're right, Les Choristes is just the type of movie she'd enjoy, I never thought of it. Thanks for the suggestion!

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  5. I watched Miss Saigon with Eddie in New York back in the 1990s and loved it so much. Made me cry :( Maybe cos it was my first experience watching musical theatre, it was just so amazing, huge stage, and when the helicopter came down, wowsers, yalah, I'm very suaku!

    When I lived in London, can you believe it, I only watched one musical, ticket prices are just soooo expensive. The show I watched was Les Mis. Maybe I went with such high expectations but it was really underwhelming when I compared it to my experience in New York. Another reason could be that the Westend theatre it was playing in was a really small one, cos the show had run for so long; so the effect just wasn't there. I was quite bored especially during the first half.

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  6. Les Mis is my fav too. I also like Phantom then follow by Cats. Ms Saigon is not that fantastic in term of both story and songs. Brings back memory of those carefree days......

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  7. Lilian: Did you catch Lea Salonga in the lead role in Miss Saigon? Heard she's really good. The one I saw didn't match up to her.

    You must have caught a bad cast for Les Mis lah, was super when we saw it at Palace Theatre. It has now moved to Queen's Theatre in London I think. The cast makes a huge difference. I hate it when we get stand-ins for lead roles!

    LadyB: Those were the good ole days of the big musicals! Not many mega ones these days, although I heard the Lion King is pretty good.

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  8. Yes yes, must be the bad cast. But most likely I'm just not into high-brow entertainment hehe...

    And no, the one I watched wasn't Lea Solanga but she was very good too.

    I heard Lion King is superb, and a friend in London who is a crazy theatre-goer thinks Mary Poppins is the best.

    Btw, how much do the average tickets go for in Singapore. In London, prices for Lion King was minimum 50pounds per person I think. I totally baulked!

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  9. Minimum 50 pounds is crazy! I paid about 30 pounds for Les Mis in London and those were one of the top seats. In SG, I think it starts from about S$50 but I paid about $100 for high end seats, if I recall correctly.

    I would so love to watch Mary Poppins!

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  10. Strangely, musicals have a weird effect on me. Though I enjoyed the musicals alot while I was watching, I could forget the story after watching them, I wondered if I were distracted by all the stage props changes which I could vaguely see the images in my mind. :P It shows how much art material I have in me... bwaaaaaah

    I have watched quite a few but in my memory I could only recall 3titles...Les Mis, Phantom, Ms Saigon....and unfortunately only the titles....so I lament the musicals are wasted on me as I only have a few images of the scenes in my mind. *sigh*

    qx

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  11. Monica! I caught the same 1994 Les Mis Musical in Spore! haha, I was very excited then.
    I was a poor student, so me and my friends bought the S$35 tix. I remember very clearly the price. I think there isn't such a price range nowadays, right?
    Actually being such a sentimental person, I think I still have the 1994 ticket stubs... hee.

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  12. QX: Haha, you have Musical Deficit Disorder? Nebber mind lah, the props are one of the main highlights of musicals!

    TJMummy: Were there $35 tickets? That's great value! I think in London back then, there were 11 pound tickets but those were restricted viewing. Probably won't have those prices any more :)

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  13. The first musical I watched was Phantom in Chicago (forgot the name of the theatre). Last min decision so only got those very *lau ya* seats..abt 3 levels up and the stage was so small :P
    In 1993 winter, watch Ms Saigon in NY. All I remember is that the weather was icy cold and the audiences really dressed-up for the show.
    I watched Les Mis twice:in London at The Palace Theatre and in Spore (1995 or 1996?)at Kallang Theatre(if my memory didnt fail me). I still prefer the one in London maybe b'cos of the *grand* Palace Theatre & its elegant interior design. hahaha
    The most impressive is Cats at New London Theatre. The stage is a moving platform. When the show started, the stage rotated 180 degree, then the audiences could see the stage's settings. Then, the *cats* started appearing next to you or infront of you, meowing their ways to the stage. A very pleasant suprise :) Wonder is it done this way in Spore?
    Anyway, cheers to all great musicals...bring joy to our life :)
    P.S Monica, is it important to take ICAS by UNSW?

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  14. LadyB: Yes, Palace Theatre was impressive! Actually, just being in London for the first time blew my mind - every landmark was historical :D

    The Cats stage sounds wonderful. I saw Cats in SG, didn't recall the moving platform but I think the cats also appeared in the aisles, jumping on seats. Very feline!

    My kids went to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang when it was in SG a couple of years ago, we'd won 2 tickets. They enjoyed it lots cos they know the songs.

    Re: ICAS, I've no idea whether it's important! My kids haven't. Not sure what it's needed for. Entry into overseas schools?

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  15. Oops my bad. ICAS =Int'l Competitions & assessments for Schools by The Univ of New South Wales. There are 5 types of exam: Sci,EL,Writing,Maths,& computer skills, from pri to JC level, I think. Just wonder is it neccessary cos heard tt pple incl tt in their DSA *resume*. :))

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  16. I only know of the UNSW writing tests that all the GEP kids take, not sure if they're the same thing. Good to include if you have it, but I wouldn't go out of my way to take the tests. Sounds so kiasu to me!!

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  17. Watched quite a few... Les Mis, Miss Saigon, Phantom and Lion King...
    I have to say I'm most impressed by the Lion King set, although I must say I'd like to see Mary Poppins hopping around chimneys too! Too bad... didn't manage to catch any while we were in London. Wrong time of the year.

    Hubby and I regretted not bringing Bryan along for Lion King... but we thought with 100+ USD per tix, too ex to risk if and when Bryan got upset and wanted to leave the theatre. But on hindsight, I think both my kids would have so stayed on...
    We've been having little musical moments now whenever we visit a production by I Theatre. Can't wait for the Lion King to come to Sg! We'll certainly bring the kids this time.

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  18. You mean all GEP kids are req to take the writing test? From P4 til P6 or only in P6? heheh cos I didn't hear anything from the school. Seems like it is not compulsory...anyway still quite *blur* abt the GEP program. Well guess just have to take thing one at a time....thks for sharing.

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  19. Mon:How apt MDD! I hope it is only MDD and not lacunar amnesia! LOL..

    qx

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  20. Cindy: wah, US$100! that's really steep. Cool, let's all wait for Lion King to come to town and we can organise an IAA outing LOL!

    LadyB: L-A took the test in p4 and p5, both times organised by the school. Can't recall if it's compulsory but most of the GEP kids take it.

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  21. Wow! Another thing we have in common. Les Mis is my all time favourite musical too. I first watched it in Sydney (front row seats and I could see all the facial expressions even) when I was a teenager and was mesmerised. Couldn't get the songs out of my head. This is coming from someone who "hates" music! It was the only tape (yes I'm that old) that I bought and played over and over. Other than some campfire songs, they are the only songs that I can still sing the lyrics to. I then caught it in London when I was in Uni and that was very good too but since I got cheap half price tickets from the Leicester Square booth it was very high up and partially blocked but still fantastic.
    It had the same effect on my med school classmates, everyone went to London for their elective postings and caught the show there and when we came back to Sg everyone was walking around singing the songs wherever we went.
    When the show eventually came to Singapore, I went and saw it at Kallang again but somehow it lacked that "je ne sais quoi".

    I saw CATS twice and I am sorry to say I fell asleep the second time :-)
    Miss Saigon was definitely many notches down from Les Mis, impressive props but the songs were not catchy enough to stick in my head. Saw that twice too but only because we got free student tickets in London the second time, I wouldn't have paid to go the 2nd time.
    I've also seen Joseph and the Technicolour Coat and a few of the other popular Westend muscials....NOTHING can compare to Les Mis.
    My sons love the music too and its the only CD they play.

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  22. Elan: Wow, talk about a real fan! I've also seen Joseph and even Sunset Boulevard but you're right, nothing compares with Les Mis. I hope they don't close the musical everywhere before my kids get to see it!

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