Stage Sounds: Les Misérables

I've loved musicals for as long as I can remember. We watched them constantly as I was growing up and listened to them when there wasn't a TV around. Everyone in my immediate family has a healthy appreciation for a good musical, and it shocked me as a kid that I had friends who didn't know every single word to every single song from a show that had premiered 15 years earlier. Musicals deserve their own series on this blog, and it's only right that I begin with the one that started it all for me: Les Misérables.

Les Misérables (pronounced lay miz-er-ahb), often shortened to Les Mis, is based off of the 1862 novel by French author Victor Hugo. It was originally written in French and premiered in Paris in 1980 and crossed over to the English language in 1985 when it premiered in London's West End. It is currently the longest running musical in the West End and the second-longest running musical in the world. The powerhouse team that put this show together includes Claude-Michell Schönberg on music and Alain Boublil, Jean-Marc Natel, and Herbert Kretzmer on lyrics. The original West End show won three Laurence Olivier Awards (Patti LuPone for Best Actress in a musical as Fantine in 1985 and Audience Award for Most Popular Show in both 2012 and 2014), and the original Broadway production won 8 Tony Awards in 1987 (Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, Best Original Score, Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical for Michael Maguire as Enjolras, Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for Frances Ruffelle as Eponine, Best Direction of a Musical, Best Scenic Design, and Best Lighting Design). The show has been translated into many languages besides French and English, including but not limited to Czech, Spanish, Polish, Dutch, Japanese, Swedish, Hungarian, and Hebrew. This is a show that has the ability to speak to anyone at any time, making it able to reach across generations and geological borders.

For the music portion of these posts, I will focus on one song for each main cast member and if there are multiple recordings I'll do a little bit of comparing and contrasting. There will be honorable mentions as well because it was so difficult to pick just one song per character, but if I talked about every song I wanted to I'd be writing for a week straight. Therefore, here we go! Warning: possible spoilers ahead.

Jean Valjean (Tenor)

Spotlight Song: Bring Him Home

Honorable Mentions: Prologue: Work Song, Soliloquy, Who Am I, The Confrontation, One Day More, Epilogue

Original Broadway Cast (1987) & 10th Anniversary Dream Cast (1995): Colm Wilkinson

Film (2012): Hugh Jackman

Jean Valjean (pronounced zhon val-zhon), also referred to as Prisoner 24601, is our main character who has had both the crappiest and best life possible. Valjean's entire MO is to do the right thing whether he wants to or not, especially after he accepts Christ after an encounter with the Bishop of Digne shows him that not every human in the world is cruel and out to get him. He goes about the show casually saving lives, running from his relentless parole officer, loving his adopted daughter, and singing some really amazing songs. To me, there is no other Jean Valjean but the original: the incomparable Colm Wilkinson. Look it up - they basically wrote Bring Him Home to fit Wilkinson's voice because he is that damn good. I cannot begin to tell you how bone-crushingly disappointed I was in Hugh Jackman's performance in the movie because I KNOW he's better than that, but I cannot listen to his version of Bring Him Home on the soundtrack because it's horrible. It's the total opposite of what it's supposed to be - a quiet, desperate prayer from one man to God to save someone else's life instead of his own. TL;DR - skip Jackman's version, go Wilkinson all the way, and you will not be disappointed.

God on high, hear my prayer/In my need, You have always been there/He is young, he’s afraid/Let him rest, heaven blessed/Bring him home, bring him home/Bring him home

Javert (Baritone)

Spotlight Song: Stars

Honorable Mentions: Prologue: Work Song, Fantine's Arrest, The Confrontation, One Day More, Javert's Soliloquy

Original Broadway Cast (1987): Terrence Mann

10th Anniversary Dream Cast (1995): Phillip Quast

Film (2012): Russell Crowe

Inspector Javert (pronounced zha-verr) is our main antagonist and aforementioned relentless parole officer. The first time around with this musical it is so easy to see him as just a strict villain with a colossal stick up his ass, because to some degree that's completely true, but the more watches and listen throughs you start to see that he's just trying to do his job to the point where he becomes blinded to anyone else. Valjean even sings the words "There's nothing that I blame you for - you've done your duty, nothing more." Javert is very intense and morally questionable, yes, but he's a damn good villain and the show wouldn't be the same without him. Stars is his big solo in Act I and each of the three actors listed above brought something to the table with it. The original Broadway Javert Terrence Mann has an absolutely incredible voice, and there's a lot of power behind his performance that can't be denied. My personal favorite is Phillip Quast, who was chosen to play Javert in the Dream Cast performance after originating the role in Australia in 1987. He just adds a little bit more emotion to the performance than the others in my opinion and it just adds another little layer to the character. As for the movie - I KNOW RUSSELL CROWE WAS NOT IDEAL. He should NOT have been cast in a Broadway film by any means. But damn it, he tried. He did what he could with what he had, and going back and listening to his version again, it is not the worst thing about the movie by a long shot.

There, out in the darkness/A fugitive running, fallen from God/Fallen from grace, God be my witness/I never shall yield ‘til we come face to face, ‘til we come face to face/He knows his way in the dark, but mine is the way of the Lord/And those who follow the path of the righteous shall have their reward/And if you fall as Lucifer fell, the flame, the sword

Fantine (Mezzo-Soprano)

Spotlight Song: I Dreamed A Dream

Honorable Mentions: At the End of the Day, Lovely Ladies, Fantine's Arrest, Come to Me, Epilogue

Original Broadway Cast (1987): Randy Graff

10th Anniversary Dream Cast (1995): Ruthie Henshall

Film (2012): Anne Hathaway

Fantine (pronounced fahn-teen) is a literal dream role for me if I ever got brave enough to audition for a show, so I have very high expectations for every single song she sings whenever I see this show performed. This poor girl is the definition of tragic: she's a young single mom who gets fired after she's ratted out for having an illegitimate daughter, can't get a job anywhere else so she's forced to become a prostitute, gets consumption, almost gets arrested, and dies. All in Act I. That's a lot to deal with before intermission. Thankfully, Jean Valjean is able to intervene after he discovers she was fired from his factory and agrees to adopt her daughter and give her a better life. Whether people know Les Mis or not, they definitely know I Dreamed A Dream. A lot of people say it's been over done which I can understand, but it's a song that I never get tired of because it's beautiful and emotional and a lot of fun to sing. Broadway original Randy Graff has a lovely, deep mezzo voice that is able to expand into a great range for this song, but for me she always sounded a little too old to be the Fantine I saw in my head - I've always pictured her to be in her early to mid-twenties based on the lyrics of the song. Ruthie Henshall was chosen as Fantine for the Dream Cast after her 1992 run, and I adored watching her on our VHS copy of that concert when I was four years old. I thought she looked and sounded like an actual angel. But the movie - Fantine was one thing they got exactly right in casting Anne Hathaway. I've loved Hathaway since The Princess Diaries and in a way feel like I've grown up with her, and you can see through her whole performance how much this role meant to her (her mom was Fantine's understudy on a tour of the show).

I dreamed a dream in time gone by/When hope was high and life worth living/I dreamed that love would never die/I dreamed that God would be forgiving/Then I was young and unafraid/And dreams were made and used and wasted/There was no ransom to be paid/No song unsung, no wine untasted

Thénardier (Baritone)

Spotlight Song: Master of the House

Honorable Mentions: The Bargain/The Waltz of Treachery, The Attack of Rue Plumet, One Day More, The Sewers/Dog Eats Dog, Wedding Chorale/Beggars at the Feast

Original Broadway Cast (1987): Leo Burmester

10th Anniversary Dream Cast (1995): Alun Armstrong

Film (2012): Sacha Baron Cohen

Thénardier (pronounced ten-are-dee-ay) can kind of also somewhat be considered an antagonist in Les Mis I guess, but that often gets hidden under his comic relief. He's a scheming, skeevy con man who cares about no one and nothing but himself and any money he can get his grubby hands on (which he and his wife then promptly squander despite having at least one child to provide for), but damn if Master of the House isn't one of the best songs in the entire show. Broadway original Leo Burmester is super great, and his more gruff singing voice definitely makes it easy to see the evilness poking through the buffoonery. Alun Armstrong, who was chosen for the Dream Cast after originating the role on the West End in London, is my absolute favorite because he's so good at being funny that when the evilness shows up it's surprising - I actually didn't even realize he was an actual bad guy when I was a kid. Sacha Baron Cohen's casting in the 2012 film is something else they should be applauded for - he delivered every single bit of what I expected from him and his version of Master of the House is phenomenal. He leans a little more into the drunk idiocy of Thénardier, but not enough to discount him entirely.

Welcome, Monsieur, sit yourself down/And meet the best innkeeper in town/As for the rest, all of them crooks/Rooking the guests and cooking the books/Seldom do you see honest men like me/A gent of good intent who’s content to be/Master of the house, doling out the charm/Ready with a handshake and an open palm/Tells a saucy tale, makes a little stir/Customers appreciate a bon viveur/Glad to do a friend a favor, doesn’t cost me to be nice/But nothing gets you nothing, everything has got a little price/Master of the house, keeper of the zoo/Ready to relieve him of a sou or two/Watering the wine, making up the weight/Picking up their knick knacks when they can’t see straight/Everybody loves a landlord, everybody’s bosom friend/I do whatever pleases, Jesus, won’t I bleed ‘em in the end/Master of the house, quick to catch your eye/Never wants a passerby to pass him by/Servant to the poor, butler to the great/Comforter, philosopher, and lifelong mate/Everybody’s boon companion, everybody’s chaperone/But lock up your valises, Jesus, won’t I skin you to the bone

Madame Thénardier (Conralto)

Spotlight Song: Wedding Chorale/Beggars at the Feast

Honorable Mentions: Master of the House, The Bargain/The Waltz of Treachery, One Day More

Original Broadway Cast (1987): Jennifer Butt

10th Anniversary Dream Cast (1995): Jenny Galloway

Film (2012): Helena Bonham Carter

Madame has always been one of my favorite characters because her actresses do such a great job of making this horrible woman so hilarious. Similar her husband, she cares about nothing except money and her daughter, and her daughter quits being a priority when she grows up and stops being able to be dressed up like a little doll. She's devious and bitter and totally willing to go along with whatever her husband is planning, sometimes seeming to take credit for his ideas. Broadway original Jennifer Butts did a great job portraying her as a little manic and shrill, wanting everyone to know that she was the one keeping her husband standing upright. Jenny Galloway was chosen for the Dream Cast initially after being cast in the show in 1992, and was cast again in the 2006 revival and for the 25th Anniversary concert as well. She is SO FUNNY, and she and Alun Armstrong's chemistry in the Dream Cast is unmatched. Helena Bonham Carter delivered just as hard as Sacha Baron Cohen did in the movie - she leaned more into the bitter, disillusioned wife bit than the others since she wasn't the stereotypical overweight, missing teeth hot mess that the stage costuming usually shows off, but its worked perfectly within the film.

Beggar at the feast, master of the dance/Life is easy pickings if you grab your chance/Everywhere you go, law-abiding folk/Doing what is decent, but they’re mostly broke/Singing to the Lord on Sundays, praying for the gifts He’ll send/But we’re the ones who take it, we’re the ones who make it in the end/Watch the buggers dance, watch ‘em ’til they drop/Keep your wits about you and you stand on top/Masters of the land, always get our share/Clear away the barricades, and we’re still there/We know where the wind is blowing, money is the stuff we smell/And when we’re rich as Croesus, Jesus, won’t we see you all in hell

Cosette (Treble for young, Soprano for adult)

Spotlight Song: Castle on a Cloud

Honorable Mentions: In My Life, A Heart Full of Love, One Day More, Every Day/A Heart Full of Love (Reprise), Epilogue

Original Broadway Cast (1987): Donna Vivino (young), Judy Kuhn (adult)

10th Anniversary Dream Cast (1995): Hannah Chick (young), Judy Kuhn (adult)

Film (2012): Isabelle Allen (young), Amanda Seyfried (adult)

When I was a kid and my mom was playing the Dream Cast Concert on repeat, I wanted to be Cosette (pronounced coh-zett) so bad. Now I'm an adult and too old to play Young Cosette and too much a mezzo-soprano to play adult Cosette, but I still love her. She's saved by Valjean as an eight year old child from indentured servitude to the Thénardiers and then raised as his own daughter, living the charmed life until she falls in love with a boy, someone tries to rob her dad, and he insists they move countries to keep them safe. Cosette spends a lot of her time alone because her dad is so (sometimes rightly) paranoid about their safety, and while she adores her father she wants the chance to live her own life and be her own person. Cosette has some great songs as an adult, and I will forever love actual Disney princess Judy Kuhn (who provided the singing voice for Pocahontas) and I will forever be furious at Amanda Seyfried's casting in the movie (her singing voice is ok, but NOT Les Mis caliber and she was just so not right for the part). My favorite song from the entire show has always been Castle on a Cloud, performed by the child Cosette when we first see her at the Thénardier's inn. All three girls above (Vivino, Chick, and Allen) did a beautiful job.

There is a castle on a cloud/I like to go there in my sleep/Aren’t any floors for me to sweep/Not in my castle on a cloud/There is a room that’s full of toys/There are a hundred boys and girls/Nobody shouts or talks too loud/Not in my castle on a cloud

Marius Pontmercy (Tenor)

Spotlight Song: Empty Chairs at Empty Tables

Honorable Mentions: Red and Black, In My Life, A Heart Full of Love, One Day More, A Little Fall of Rain

Original Broadway Cast (1987): David Bryant

10th Anniversary Dream Cast (1995): Michael Ball

Film (2012): Eddie Redmayne

Marius (pronounced mare-ee-us) has never been my favorite character in the show because all he does is whine, but he's important to the plot and he has some good songs. Homeboy bypasses Disney princess mode by falling in love with a girl he sees on the street without even speaking to her or knowing her name (spoiler alert: it's Cosette) and then unintentionally stomps on the heart of his best friends by talking about her non-stop instead of noticing one of them is in love with him and the other one is trying to start a revolution for God's sake. He somewhat gets his act together by the end of the show despite his PTSD and survivor's guilt and is able to presumably live a happy life. Broadway original David Bryant was very good in this role, but his version of this song just doesn't hit me the way others do. Michael Ball was chosen for the Dream Cast after originating the role on London's West End and has also come back to play Jean Valjean, and while he annoyed me as a kid I appreciate he and his performance so much more now as an adult. I was not happy with Eddie Redmayne's casting in the movie, but I have to tell you he is the whole reason I even like the song Empty Chairs at Empty Tables. It was not my favorite by a long shot until the movie, and the raw emotion he shows in the performance is gut-wrenching.

There’s a grief that can’t be spoken/There’s a pain goes on and on/Empty chairs at empty tables/Now my friends are dead and gone/Here they talked of revolution/Here it was they lit the flame/Here they sang about tomorrow/But tomorrow never came

Eponine (Mezzo-Soprano)

Spotlight Song: On My Own

Honorable Mentions: In My Life, A Heart Full of Love, The Attack on Rue Plumet, One Day More, A Little Fall of Rain, Epilogue

Original Broadway Cast (1987): Frances Ruffelle

10th Anniversary Dream Cast (1995): Lea Salonga

Film (2012): Samantha Barks

I did not like Eponine (pronounced eh-poe-neen) much as a child because of my infatuation with Cosette, but after enough unreturned feelings for crushes as a girl I started to like her more and more and would still love the chance to play her if I could. The once spoiled daughter of the Thénardiers, she is another tragic female character who just wants to be loved. She spends her life knowing Marius doesn't love her back and tries to come to terms with being his friend, but it breaks her heart a little every day to see him fall in love with Cosette, who she remembered from childhood and now has everything that Eponine had when they were kids. Broadway original Frances Ruffelle won a Tony for her performance, but she's honestly not my favorite. Her voice is very unique and I recognize her talent, but it's always been a little too whiny for me. Actual double Disney princess Lea Salonga (who sang for both Jasmine and Mulan) was chosen for the Dream Cast after being cast on Broadway in 1993 and was the first woman of Asian descent to be cast as Eponine and later Fantine, who she played in the 25th Anniversary concert. My only comment about Salonga's performance its her over-pronunciation of T's, but other than that it's completely perfect. The film casting saw Samantha Barks, who played Eponine in London in 2010, and she did a good, if quiet, job in the role.

On my own, pretending he’s beside me/All alone, I walk with him ‘til morning/Without him, I feel his arms around me/And when I lose my way, I close my eyes and he has found me/In the rain, the pavement shines like silver/All the lights are misty in the river/In the darkness, the trees are full of starlight/And all I see is him and me forever and forever

Enjolras (Baritone or Tenor)

Spotlight Song: Do You Hear the People Sing

Honorable Mentions: Look Down, Red and Black, One Day More, Night of Anguish, The Final Battle

Original Broadway Cast (1987) & 10th Anniversary Dream Cast (1995): Michael Maguire

Film (2012): Aaron Tveit

Even though it's a comparatively smaller role to others in the cast, Les Mis would not be what it is without rebel leader Enjolras (pronounced uhn-jowl-raas). Similarly, the show would not be what it is without the influence of original and Dream Cast member Michael Maguire, who had never done a show before he was cast and was actually a stockbroker before winning a Tony for his performance and has since retired from acting and runs a family law practice. He has an incredibly powerful voice that brings the house down whenever Do You Hear the People Sing is performed. Aaron Tveit definitely did the role justice in the film - he's an incredible actor with an incredible voice in his own right, and I loved watching him bring the role to life.

Do you hear the people sing, singing the songs of angry men/It is the music of a people who will not be slaves again/When the beating of your heart echoes the beating of the drums/There is a life about to start when tomorrow comes/Will you join in our crusade, who will be strong and stand with me/Beyond the barricade, is there a world you long to see/Then join in the fight that will give you the right to be free

Gavroche (Boy Soprano)

Spotlight Song: Little People

Honorable Mentions: Look Down

Original Broadway Cast (1987): Braden Danner

10th Anniversary Dream Cast (1995): Adam Searles

Film (2012): Daniel Huttlestone

Gavroche (pronounced gahv-rosh) may have a smaller role, but like the sentiment of his song Little People that does not mean to count him out. He's just a little kid that wants to help out the older boys and gain their approval, and ends up giving his life for the cause just as they did. All three boys listed above (Danner, Searles, and Huttlestone) gave excellent portrayals of the boy.

Good evening dear Inspector, lovely evening my dear/I know this man my friends, his name’s Inspector Javert/So don’t believe a word he says ‘cause none of it’s true/It only goes to show what little people can do/And little people know when little people fight/We maybe easy pickings, but we got some bite/So never kick a dog because it’s just a pup/We’ll fight like twenty armies and we won’t give up/So you better run for cover when the pup grows up

I know this was a longer one, so thank you for sticking through to the end! I highly recommend watching the 10th Anniversary Dream Cast in Concert and listening to the original Broadway cast recording, but proceed with caution with the film and take it with a grain of salt. Happy listening, and see ya'll next week!