A sizzling heatwave certainly seemed the appropriate time to catch the hottest show of the year. Almost a decade since the last sell-out UK tour, Les Misérables is back on the road and it’s bigger, better and hotter than ever.
Producer Cameron Mackintosh - who was watching from the stalls on Friday night - doesn’t do things by halves and this was the full-blown Broadway production of Boublil and Schönberg’s enduring musical. Clocking in at three hours if you include the 15-minute interval, this is proper theatre whichever way you look at it.
With a 16-piece orchestra and an atmospheric set inspired by the paintings of Victor Hugo (who wrote the original novel in the 1850s), this is ‘full fat’ musical theatre at its richest and most indulgent. Set against the backdrop of political and social unrest in 19th-century France, Les Misérables is a masterly and multi-layered story of unrequited love, passion, sacrifice, redemption and honour.
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After almost four decades, this show has lost none of its power or appeal and it seems to have gained something of a cult following. And yet, despite knowing the story and its twists and turns, it still manages to captivate and surprise even its most ardent followers.
By the final dramatic scenes, I was surrounded by people in tears. And I don’t mean a discreet sniff and dab of the eyes, I mean full-scale blubbing.
The quality of the cast is as high as it could be and it seems almost cruel not to mention them all. Everybody on stage impressed and there wasn’t a single bum note or misstep.
There were outstanding vocal performances from the sensational Rachelle Ann Go (Fantine) on I Dreamed a Dream and the terrific Nathania Ong (Eponine) who put everything she had into On My Own. There were also solid performances from Harry Chandler as Feuilly and Nic Greenshields. The brilliant Ian Hughes (Thenardier) and Helen Walsh (Madame Thenardier) brought plenty of thigh-slapping vaudevillian humour to Beggars at The Feast and Master of The House.
And there were some great performances from the three children in the cast. Rachelle Bonfield Bell as Little Cosette and Mia Llewellyn Jones as Young Eponine were charming and Charlie Hodson Prior completely owned the part of Gavroche - I’m sure Cameron Mackintosh won’t need to look too far when casting for the next Artful Dodger in Oliver!
But it was a truly remarkable performance from tenor Dean Chisnall (as Jean Valjean) on Bring Him Home - a song most associated with Alfie Boe - that almost blew the Hippodrome roof off, such was its power, range and emotion. There wasn’t a dry eye in the auditorium.
‘I’m completely exhausted’, said one tearful woman in front of me in the stalls during the lengthy standing ovation. Another turned to her friend and simply said ‘it doesn’t get better than that’ - and she was spot on.
There are still a few tickets left for the remaining performances. If you are going to see one more show this year, make it this one. Les Misérables is as good as live theatre gets and I’m already considering a return visit before the end of the run.
Les Misérables is Bristol Hippodrome until Aug 6. For tickets, click here.
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