When it comes to musicals I have a bit of a love hate relationship, however one of the ones that I REALLY love is the adaptation of Hugo Victor’s novel Les Miserables, as a huge fan of the Hugh Jackman led movie, I was very excited to finally get to see this classic on stage, and what’s more it was a brand new amateur adaptation of the musical celebrating 40 years of the show.
Led by Nottingham Operatic Society – themselves celebrating their centenary – this was a thrilling performance that had me gripped from the first notes of ‘Look Down’ to the crashing crescendo of ‘Do you hear the people sing’ that had the audience on their feet. The amateur cast, made up of over a 100 (though some roles are split over multiple actors) were in fine form, throwing their all into every number.
It would be difficult, given the space, to do justice to everyone in this wonderful cast, but it would be remiss not to point out a few of my favourites, Dan Armstrong’s Javert was wonderfully intimidating and powerful, proving an erstwhile “villain” through the show, and his sparring with Ollie Last’s Jean Valjean was delightful. Last, as the defecto lead carried the show wonderfully as a sympathetic former prisoner looking to make good and Ella Greenwood was an excellent Fantine, and gave a stunning rendition of ‘I Dream a Dream’.
For me though, the best part of this show has always been the middle section when focus turns to the revolution and the young men and women fighting for freedom and I am pleased to say this did not disappoint. All the performers excelled here, in particular I thoroughly enjoyed the performances of Harri Evans as revolution leader Enjolras and young Henry Armstrong as the cheeky, resolute and brave Gavroche, while Craig Youngman carried the role of Marius well, giving a wonderful rendition of ‘Empty Chairs’ that was one of the stand out moments of the show.
Francesca Lewis was absolutely outstanding as Eponine, probably my favourite character in the whole show, delivering a stunning, heartbreaking performance, while Laurel Jones was a much more likeable Cosette than the first person and made me actually care for the relationship between her and Marius (which the film does not).
Word must also go to Hilary Leam and Simon Theobald as Madame and Mr Thenardier who added much needed levity and laughter to the show, not least with a wonderful wedding dance, while Christopher Grantham’s Bishop of Digne was a powerful, if mostly silent, presence throughout.
I could gush on for much much longer about how wonderful this performance was, and it is fair to say there were few dry eyes left in the house by the end as the cast performed the magnificent closing rendition of ‘Do you here the people sing’ (perhaps the best musical song of all time).
Overall this was a fantastic performance of a classic stage show performed by an excellent cast and I have been singing (internally because I DO NOT have a performers voice) ‘Do you people sing’ almost none stop since.
I highly recommend you get down and do indeed HERE THE PEOPLE SING.
‘Les Miserables – Let the people sing’ is at the Theatre Royal until Saturday 31 March, for more information check out the website
Review by Darren Patterson
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