EVENT: Les Misérables

Last Wednesday I went to the matinee performance of Les Misérables. I knew I wanted to see it but with having no one to go with - my sister is going with others - I held off buying tickets. Not really sure why. I think maybe I just had to talk myself into - or out - of it.

So glad I went! I had a great seat in row H right in the centre.
The guy next to me was quite chatty - which was good.
But he kept coughing and burping - which was not. 

Anywho. Just some random tidbits under the cut for you all :)
I have tried to not include any spoilers.

Go see the show. It is worth it!

x

I've never seen Les Mis before on stage so I can only compare it to the 2012 movie starring Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe.

Firstly, I want to call out Hayden Tee - who plays Javert - as he was amazing! Javert is my favourite character. I actually think he's quite a sexy character - maybe it is the whole bad boy thing, even though I will argue with you that Javert isn't actually a bad guy at all. But I think there's sadness, danger and mystery in him. I think that is quite appealing.

I have this problem after seeing a musical that I will always fall for one of the actors - usually gay - in the show. I never know anything about them - and I will say it is more of an attraction to the character - but I find talent very sexy. And this time - it was Hayden. What an amazing powerful performance. He was even better than anything I could have ever imagined. His performance of Stars was breathtaking. My favourite song from the musical is Javert's Soliloquy and that also was very lovely but overshadowed by what happens following that ... And I couldn't help chuckle with how they did it. It kind of reminded me of King Kong. Eh, yes, random, I know.

Second. Trevor Ashley playing Thenardier. Oh. My. God. What a star! He was SO funny! And not even funny in the sense of the lines or his stage direction, but just the little extra bits he puts into the character himself. I was SO impressed with his performance. I tweeted after the show that the show made me want to have Trevor Ashley's babies and he favourited/retweeted it. That's high prasie from me. I only say I want to have someone's babies if they impress him. He was amazing though. I also want to give mention to Lara Mulcahy playing his wife in the show. The two of them played off eachother so well. She also was very good and made me laugh so many times. Their comic genius of play between the two is perfect. They really did steal the show for all the right reasons!

Also Lincoln Hall in Master of the House was too funny!

Simon Gleeson played Jean Valjean. I'm not the biggest fan of his character but he was good. He portrayal of the different ages was very well done. He was very well cast, I thought. My least favourite song in the musical is Bring Him Home and he actually made me change my mind about it - which is a high compliment.

We had little Daniel Stow playing Gavroche and what a little cutie. He is one of those kids who is just so cute and adorable that you want to go and squeeze his cheeks. He's going to be a little heartbreaker when he's older - especially if he grows up straight.

I always try and say nice things but I didn't think there was chemistry between the lead actors - or maybe it's because I'm so bitter and jaded of the whole 'love at first sight' phenomenon but Emily Langridge as Cosette and Euan Doidge as Marius, I didn't believe it. That being said, I thought they did a good job playing their roles. I also found Kerrie Anne Greenland role as Eponine to be more smug than Samantha Barks in the movie. Is it wrong that I was kind of waiting for them to kill her off because I just didn't like her. So terrible of me. I just didn't believe she was so in love with Marius either. What's up with no love for Marius? - probably because he was off sleeping with Enjolras instead haha. I joke.

That being said. I LOVED all the actors and thought that each and every one of them were amazing. And the vocals were top notch.


The costumes were nothing short of amazing! I especially liked the woolen jackets worn throughout - but eh, I'm a winter person and that's what I'm most attracted to. The sets were also very well done. I especially like when sets are built more outwards as it feels like the actors are part of the audience - almost.

I cannot praise the makeup and wig work most of all. I actually didn't recognise Trevor Ashley until the very end of the musical - well, not even that, I just recognised his face at the end of the musical. But the whole aging effects with the wigs and makeup was very impressive. But the very talented actors were able to portray their characters but aged - which shows how skilled they are.