Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, Lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer, Text by Alain Boublil & Jean-Marc Natel. A Cameron Mackintosh & Nick Grace Management Production in Association with Live Nation Australia
Supersized to epic proportions, Les Miz is an operatic, rock concert-esque, emotion-filled spectacle
Reviewed by Claira Prider
ICC Arena, Sydney
30 April – 11 May
Tickets: https://lesmisarenatour.com.au/
Type: Anniversary Concert, Epic, Blockbuster, Emotional
If you liked: Rodgers and Hammerstein’s 80th anniversary concert, Pippin – 50th Anniversary Concert
Les Miserablés has arrived in Australia in the form of Les Miz, the Arena Spectacular World Tour – a concert version production which takes this explosive, blockbuster musical to even greater heights. The English-language version of Les Misérables opened in London in 1985, and hasn’t closed since (not counting Covid closures). Cameron Mackintosh brought his show to Australia in 1987 where it had a an exceptionally successful four-year run, and has had multiple seasons here since.
Inspired by Opera Australia’s annual outdoor performances, Les Misérables had its’ first concert-adaptation performance as part of the 1989 Sydney Festival. With no idea how many people would turn up or if the format would work, Les Mis in Concert performed to 135,000 people packed onto the lawns of The Domain. Now, in celebration of its’ 40th birthday, the concert production returns to Sydney as they start the Australian leg of the Arena Spectacular World Tour.
Parians used whatever they could find to build a barricade during the 1832 uprising; tables, chairs, cobble stones and detritus. This makes up the foundation of Matt Kinley‘s set, where the orchestra perform from the upper tier, while cast members are peppered amongst the amphitheatre seating. There’s a large bridge that spreads above the width of the stage, which transforms into various battle settings as well as being the lighting rig.
The arena spectacular production follows a semi-staged concert structure, with performers remaining on stage much of the time when they’re not singing. Scene changes are facilitated by lighting rather than a change of physical setting, and there are three large screens behind the orchestra which project pre-recorded vignettes interspersed between close-up, real-time footage of the cast. In this concert staging, much of the dialogue has been cut, so even though plot lines are reinforced by projected illustrations on screen, it’s easy to miss key elements and context if you’re not familiar with the story. While this works well for the concert structure and cuts down the run time, it adds to the lack of chemistry between characters which I felt was oftentimes missing from the show.
Alfie Boe, is a superb Valjean. From his agonising, transformative Soliloquy to the heart-wrenching Who Am I, his performance is operatic, all-consuming and incredibly moving. However it’s not until he sings Bring Him Home that I truly understood why he’s one of the UKs favourite tenors. From the flawlessly pianissimo falsetto introduction, to the yearning and growing desperation, the refined delicacy of his vocal performance perfectly matches the vulnerability of his characterisation – throughout the entire song you could have heard a pin drop. His stillness in the long orchestral interlude allows for the swelling, soaring score to consume the entire arena, showcasing stunning solos from Alex Fontaine on oboe and Azumi Lehmann on harp.
It’s not until he (Boe) sings Bring Him Home that I truly understood why he’s one of the UKs favourite tenors.
Michael Ball gives a supersized performance in the role of Javert, the by-the-book, menacing police officer who dedicates his life to finding and capturing Valjean. His characterisation is quite earnest, and his vocal performance is rich and full-bodied, missing the villainous edginess that you usually see from this character. Matt Lucas and Helen Walsh are so perfectly vile and hilariously repulsive as Thénardier and Madame Thénardier, they’re addictive to watch. Their chemistry is cunning and refined as they bounce off one another (physically and comedically) – they are an impeccably absurd gruesome twosome.
Rachelle Ann Go gives a powerful and melodramatic portrayal of Fantine, with Jac Yarrow as Marius, and James D. Gish as Enjolrasj. There’s lovely tonal contrast between Beatrice Penny-Touré‘s sweet and light Cosette and Shan Ako‘s soulful and expressive Eponine which is beautifully highlighted during their love-triangle trio with Marius.
I would have liked to see more action from the ensemble on stage, particularly in the killing at the barricades which saw the videos, sound and lighting facilitate the battle scene, while the singers delivered it predominately standing still. While the concert staging can limit movement, the size of the stage could have accommodated a bit more physicality – the small movements we do see work extremely well and left me wanting more.
Despite an evening of exceptional singing, much of the performances felt soloistic and more about delivering the most beautiful singing rather than serving the characters and honouring the text. With a score as lush and exquisite as this, it’s so easy to fall into self indulgence and I felt this was the case at times in the first act. This is partly due to the staging which sees love duets performed with both singers standing parallel and just metres apart, singing to and about one another, yet sometimes hardly acknowledging their partner on stage. It often feels like the direction prioritised an uninterrupted, front-on camera angle, rather than the context of the story. This isnt the case though for Thénardier and Madame Thénardier who share a microphone stand and are mostly projected in a two-shot, allowing us to enjoy their engagement and interactions as much as their individual performances.
On opening night we were lucky enough to have Cameron Mackintosh come on stage after the performance bringing with him many Australian cast members for an encore of One Day More including Normie Rowe (Valjean 1987), Philip Quast (Javert 1987), William Zappa (Thénardier 1987) Lara Mulcahy (Madame Thénardier 1997 & 2004), David Campbell (Marius 1995), Simon Burke (Marius 1987), Scott Irwin (Enjolras 1995) and Nikki Webster (Little Cosette 1997).
Regardless of my qualms about the staging, Les Miz is an incredibly moving, rousing, brilliant performance. Between the character-based musical motifs and rich, all-consuming orchestration, paired with a complex story of love and redemption there’s good reason the score is so well known even for those unfamiliar with the musical. Backed by an Australian orchestra, Les Miz features 160 cast, crew and orchestra musicians, and lifts the roof off the arena in this super-sized spectacle – it’s no wonder it broke records for the highest selling show ever at ICC and is the worlds longest-running musical.
Wed 30 Apr – Sun 11 May 2025
ICC Sydney Theatre, Sydney, NSW
Wed 14 May – Sun 25 May 2025
Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne, VIC
Wed 28 May – Sun 1 Jun 2025
Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane, QLD
