General 

It had a lot of acting. And by acting, I mean this very dramatic performance that often felt like too much. And it feels weird to complain about bc it is clearly what they were going for, but I don’t think I liked it. I was constantly thinking, “you don’t have to do all that”.

They were certainly very good at conveying the emotions. It felt like watching a movie, but I am not sure that’s a compliment, bc the singing suffered a lot. You already have these amazing songs and music to convey the emotions, why don’t you use them? At some point, I was thinking, why is this a musical anyway if you don’t use the music to your advantage? They definitely made me feel all the right emotions, except for awe and marvel at the amazing music and singing.

What I absolutely loved was how they added so many lines and parts that other recordings don’t have and that I have always dearly missed. That truly elevated this recording for me. Especially how they had Gavroche’s death (though I was waiting for Grantaire’s heartbreaking scream at the end. If you are already going for such a theatrical recording, then why wouldn’t you include it? But this is me nitpicking). 

I did miss the public a bit. I like it when you can hear the public’s feedback (laughter, applause and so on). Especially felt it on the “Thinks he’s quite a lover, but there’s not much there” line. Just didn’t feel right without the public’s laughter. 

Absolutely loved all the ensemble parts. Especially the “Do you hear the people sing?” as it gave me goosebumps in a way I have only ever gotten from a live show. And I suppose the way it was recorded has the benefit of the ensemble sounding clearer. I had an easier time understanding the words than usual. 

Valjean

He’s quite an angry Valjean, which isn’t usually for me, but that’s alright. On the singing, he was a bit of a miss for me, but Alfie Boe and Colm Wilkinson are very big boots to fill. I mostly liked his “acting parts” (by which I mean the “talking” bits between the songs: meeting Cosette, talking with Enjolras, etc), even if he was a bit too much at times.

My absolute favourite was when he met Cosette and how softly he spoke to her. I relistened to that soft, adoring “Cosette” at the beginning of “The Bargain” so many times because of how much love he had in his voice. But at the end of “The Bargain”, he sounded a bit too aggressive when talking to the Thenardiers (mixed on this, bc I am sure Valjean felt this anger, but I would think he wouldn’t want to provoke them and would just want to get going. Would have liked it more if he sounded angry but holding it back). Also sounded far too aggressive when he was recognised by Thenardier in “The Robbery”. This is some of his characterisation I didn’t like. I did laugh out loud at the way he shushed Javert at the barricade, that should be done more often.

I liked the way he sang in “Valjean’s confession” and loved him in the “Epilogue”. But “Bring him home” didn’t really work for me. I tried to figure out why, but I think I just didn't like his singing there.

Javert

Oh dear… I didn’t like his “acting bits”, even if he did have his moments (end of “The Robbery”, etc). For some reason, listening to him made me imagine him as Jon Hamm in Good Omens. Javert is usually my favourite character, but I hated him as a person in this recording. At times, he sounded the same “whiny” way that Thenardier and the guy who tried to assault Fantine do. Like… slimy. And, for some reason, he sounded too young? In “The Barricade”, if I didn’t know better and went based on voices, I would have switched him and Enjolras (a little slack on this because I am used to Bradley Jaden playing Enjolras in the 2020 recording, but it still felt weird).

But a positive: I really liked his “Stars”. Not my favourite (I don’t think it’s humanly possible to top Philip Quast), but it would have redeemed him if I had liked his “Javert’s soliloquy”.

But the suicide… oh, if that song didn’t highlight perfectly what I don’t like about this recording. Like, baby, you don’t have to do all that, please don’t do that. It is definitely the most emotional, and I did viscerally feel all the emotions, but as a result, we lost the song. They were obviously going for a very theatrical performance, and they nailed it, but where is the beautiful, powerful song? It sounded more like a (very well-acted) dramatic monologue set to a soundtrack.

Let’s compare it for a second to our perfect P. Quast. His performance has so much emotion, but did he have to do all that? No! He did use his tone and voice to convey all the emotions, but he also trusted the music and sang it beautifully. I also like Michael Ball’s Javert quite a bit, and again, he didn’t have to do all that. And after “Javert’s soliloquy”, we had “Turning”, which also had so much emotion without them having to be constantly heartbreakingly screaming or sobbing or whatever. Just… babe, why did you do so much???

Fantine

Now, this is a very positive one. I think she is the perfect Fantine for me. In the way P. Quast is the Javert for many, Ruthie Henshall is now the Fantine for me. 

Eponine

This is gonna be short, but again, I loved her. I have not one bad thing to say. But we did already know that Shan Ako is a wonderful Eponine, and she is in the 2020 recording as well, so it’s not enough to sway me over. 

Cosette

She was fine. Not my favourite, but fine. Just fine. She did sing her parts very well, but she isn't that outstanding when I compare her to other Cosette actors.

Enjolras

Eh, this was a pretty macho Enjolras, which I am not a fan of (I don’t like the 10th recording Enjolras for the same reason). I like Bradley Jaden and Ramin Karimloo Enjolras a lot more, bc they feel a bit more idealistic/friendly/sensitive while still feeling like the head of a revolutionary group. This Enjolras felt like he had already been hardened. But his singing was good, just didn’t like the way he was characterised. 

Thenardiers

I loved Madame Thenardier. She was amazing. But Monsieur… I honestly don’t know.

I did like the way he was characterised and acted a lot. Really liked the way he was done in “The Master of the House” (the way he switched his voice between his “real” and his “customer service” one). But again, felt like the singing suffers because of the acting. Especially in “Dog eats dog”. This might also be because the live performances I have seen have had a phenomenal singer for Thenardier, and the ending of this song has honestly felt like a religious experience for me. I’ll say this is a matter of taste.

He played him well, but it was in fact so well, it sounded grating to the ears and not really something I would like to come in my playlist as I wash dishes. (The only part I hated was the maniacal laughter in “Dog eats dog”. Just no, don’t do that, don’t make him that sort of cartoony. He is beyond evil, but he isn’t a Joker-type of insane evil)

Marius

Something didn’t quite click for me with him. Maybe he didn’t sound pathetic enough? He was too confident or something. I googled the actor twice: first to check his age (he is 28yo), second to check where he is from because it almost sounded like he had some sort of strange accent (he is Welsh, but I honestly don’t think it is that. I don’t know what it was about his voice).

I did like his “Empty chairs at empty tables” a lot. He sang it well and conveyed a lot of emotion and heartbreak without having to go overboard (side-eyeing you, Bradley Jaden)

Final thoughts

Overall, my main critique is towards the way it was directed, not so much what some specific actor did. They succeeded very well in what they aimed for, but in doing that, lost the amazing singing/music. It made me ask why this is a musical in the first place. Felt like a Les Mis for dummies, something to show someone to get them familiar with the story, but not to fall in love with the musical.

And sometimes they nailed it! Sometimes the dramatic acting was perfect! But more often than not, it just felt too much. Emphasise some key words and phrases, not the whole thing every single sentence. And please trust the music! Please trust that the audience understands even without spelling out every single emotion (especially in a way that feels weird for the scene (like my critique for Valjean at the end of “The Bargin”).  

It still has a chance to grow on me. The only true deal-breaker for me was “Javert’s Soliloquy”. But the only reason I would even bother to try would be bc of all the lines/moments other recordings don’t have. I have wished for so long for a recording that would have all these added bits, but now that we have one, I’m not sure they are worth putting up with the rest of it. While they had moments I absolutely loved and prefer to other recordings, I don’t think they outweigh all the bits I didn’t enjoy or which I even heavily disliked.

Marius

Like I said in my last post, an absolute puppy. In the first half, he seemed to literally bounce everywhere. Absolutely adorable. Turning Red and Black when R teased him, he tried to fist-fight him (very pathetically), and R jokingly took a boxing stance. I privately laughed bc R is canonically a boxer, and if he wanted, he could knock Marius out with one hit (I suppose most people could, especially this version of Marius). But after Eponine’s death, it was R who comforted him and then, later, after Gavroche, it was Marius who went to comfort/help R, which I thought was very sweet. Turning “Valjean’s confession”, Marius started to reach for the direction Cosette had gone, and Valjean sang the lines “I never told Cosette” etc, very sharply. Marius looked so startled and pushed himself so far back into the chair as if he was trying to disappear. Marius didn’t sing “You’re Jean Valjean” like a statement; he sang it in the most confused/baffled voice you possibly can. 

Javert

Javert is generally my favourite character in the musical. But I felt at times the actor played him a little too playfully, especially around Fantine’s arrest scene, a little too smirky and jokey (But, to cut some slack, the thing with small countries is that the famous theatre actors are also tv/movie actors and general public personas so I automatically associate the actor with travel series/sailing/a shitty, but entertaining detective show– it might have been at part my brain making connections, he has a very kind face). But the actor is an amazing singer, and he put all his force and emotion into the songs. So, while I disliked the general take on the character, the singing was absolutely perfect, and he did play the serious scenes in the latter half very well. He also deliberately refused to look towards Eponine turning her death, which might have been him simply not being in the scene, but I think it was a character choice. 

I also really liked that turning “Who am I?” Javert and two judges appeared on top of a bridge (Physically high up, with light from behind them, which made it feel like divine justice while also being very oppressive and threatening), with the false convict and Valjean lower below them. They didn’t do that last year.

Valjean

I think he might have been my favourite, but I don’t have a lot to say about him. Amazing singing voice. But I did find it funny how ready he was to pull a weapon on people. When he haggled for Cosette, turning the “Your intentions may not be correct” lines, both the Thénardiers pulled knives on Valjean, and in retaliation, Valjean pulled out the gun he had taken from Javert turning "Confrontation". Valjean also pulled a knife on Javert in the sewers (while carrying Marius on his back for the whole scene ending up with a bit of a funny visual). He wasn’t all that aggressive for the rest of the time. Just a kinda shocking and funny aspect of his character, I don’t think this is regular. 

Grantaire (I suppose this doubles as Enjolras’ section as well, bc I don’t have much more to add about him)

This is gonna be the longest section. Out of all the barricade boys (maybe even the whole cast), he was the one played with the most character, and the actor seemed to be the most enthusiastic to be there.

My favourite was how turning “Red and black” and “Drink with me” no one turned aggressive towards R (well, except for Marius turning R&B, but meh, that doesn’t count), they were exasperated but pretty goodhearted. R was of course with Gavroche the whole time, but also (I didn’t expect this from Estonia) loitered after/stared at Enjolras. He was also there turning “Paris/Look down”, but didn’t pay attention to the revolution work and instead played around with Gavroche (they had a secret handshake they did on multiple occasions throughout the play)

They didn't do this last year: turning the end of “Do you hear the people sing”, R stayed with E and Gav on the bridge (high above the stage) in the background, with the ensemble on the stage/foreground. They were left as silhouettes, which made them feel like symbols for the call for revolution, which I found interesting. That grouped R very clearly with E and Gavroche, with Gav standing between them. From a meta point, this felt something, something R symbolises the people of France, and turning their idealistic call for action, the Les Amis had imagined the people would come and stand with them. The Revolution (Enjolras) and the People (Grantaire) stand together with the next Generation/the Future (Gavroche) standing between them.

Turning the barricade building, he helped with one (1) thing, and that was together with Gavroche. One of my favourite scenes was turning the first battle when he patted a woman on the shoulder, thrust his gun at her (she was very confused/annoyed), produced a bottle from somewhere, gulped the thing down, grabbed the gun back and went back to the fight.

Turning “Little fall of rain” he and E were in the light with Marius and Eponine, and R was visibly very strongly affected. He was clearly holding back tears, hyperventilating and kept mumbling something (it might have been along to Eponine’s lines, but I’m not 100% sure). When they went to carry Eponine away, R offered to take the others’ guns so they could have their hands free and then sat behind Marius and hugged him/cradled him in his arms. E was to the left and set a hand on Marius’ knee as comfort.

Turning “Drink with me” he sang into the audience, Gavroche ran to hug him. And then, instead of anyone getting aggressive, they almost formed a line to hug him. 3 of the Les Amis! I unfortunately don’t remember who. Enjolras steadily made his way towards R, clasping shoulders as he went, but seemed to always keep his eyes on R. When he reached him, he clasped him on the shoulder too. After his verse, R joined the group of women (and Gavroche), chatted with them and then went to sleep with his head resting on one of the women and another resting their head on him, in a cuddle pile, which was adorable. He was the only man taken into the women’s group this way (besides Gav, obv).

After Gavroche’s death, he screamed the most heartbreaking “No!” ever and ran to him. Like I said, it was Marius who tried to comfort him (like R had comforted Marius after Eponine’s death), M tried to pull him up, but R refused. When the second battle started, R kissed Gavroche on the forehead and ran straight to the very top of the barricade (next to Enjolras). He was the first to get shot (and for a second he fell at Enjolras' feet in a way that did feel like a deliberate nod to the book, but I can't be sure) and then took the rest of the second battle to crawl his way back down towards Gavroche’s body. He almost reached him.

This doesn’t really fit here, but oh well: turning the wedding, apparently Thénardiers’ line “There goes a jew. This one’s queer, but what can you do?” was translated as: “That one’s a jew (gestures to R’s actor), that one’s the jew’s bride (gestures to E’s actor), and together they do Toot-Toot (hip thrusts).” I missed half of the song bc I was too occupied with R’s actor trying to save his relationship in the background. I mean, the line is still dubious, but it was a progress from last year when it was translated pretty straightforward: Thénardier used a slur and the ‘queer’ reacted offended/aggressive. I was surprised they had taken the effort to change it and actually made it more explicit. It maybe somewhat smoothed the “jew” line as well, bc now it could be read as a characteristic assigned to him to build the next line off of. Not perfect, but it’s a step up, not one I expected them to take. 

In general:

Turning Prologue when Valjean sang “You have given me half what the other men get” etc, the farmer (who I believe also played Montparnasse later– very tall, thin and bald) covered behind the labourer’s (smaller than him) back.

A few of the women in the factory tried to help Fantine get the letter back and tried to break up the fight. “Lovely ladies” was very explicit and quite aggressive, you couldn’t look away from it being an assault.

Eponine’s actor was so hopeful/playful at the start and really played the role of a young girl in love. Her and Marius friendship was very exciting and cute. She and Cosette acted out recognising each other after the Attack on Rue Plumet amazingly (Cosette was very startled, Eponine seemed wary).

Montparnasse had a really fancy top hat with feathers (he didn’t have one last year).

Mme Thénardier was there turning the Patron Minette's robbery scene, and was gesturing for Eponine to shut up and tried to calm Thénardier down.

Turning “Drink with me”, Jehan struck poses left and right, and jokingly kissed Joly’s (?) cheek (I’m not sure if that was a step up or down from last year when Joly swung Jehan into his arms bridal style and dramatically swung him from left to right).

In the sewers, when Thénardier sang “And only the moon looks down, the harvest moon shines down!” they used very loud drums(?) which made the whole room vibrate, so it somehow ended up being one of the most powerful lines sung in the whole musical, enchanted by the whole stage floor being covered in smoke.

I mainly just wanted to draw Arthur kneeling and John shielding him, to be honest.

Arthur (right hand) is clutching John's cloak; John (left hand) is clutching Arthur's shirt and trying to protect his stomach. This gave me a sense of contrast between what John could once do (a powerful king who could shield Arthur and no one would dare touch him) vs what he can do now (nothing but clutch at his shirt, no body to shield him with, only eyes wide open to see for him). I imagine this can make John feel very trapped and useless in the face of danger.

John's hand holding the cloak gave me a bit of a problem, bc the rest of his body is in black, but it wouldn't have stood out if it were dark as well. Then I got an idea, as I had already imagined he isn't actually a shadow monster, but rather, in a classical lovecraftian fashion, human minds couldn't comprehend him. But his left hand is the one he shares with Arthur, bringing it closer to humanity, and thus, making it possible to see and understand with human eyes, even in his king form.

Arthur is also kneeling on John's cloak, which gave me two ideas: First, I imagine that idling on top of a king's or a god's cloak isn't the most polite or respectful thing to do. So, this shows Arthur's general disrespect towards the supernatural. And also, while John might technically be an Eldritch God, he is Arthur's Little Eldritch God, so it doesn't matter. This is his John. Second, cushioning a kneeling person's knees feels kinda intimate, you know? Obviously, there is the sexual angle, which isn't what I'm getting at (my interpretation of their relationship is a very intense something), but our minds make connections. But in general, imagine how many people have knelt in direct worship of John, and how he didn't spare a thought towards them. And now here's this random human who would laugh at the idea of worshipping John, and he is the one who gets his god-damn knees cushioned. If I were a cultist, I would definitely detest Arthur for that.