I know it can be hard at times to differentiate / spot & name the students in Les Misérables, so here’s a little cheat sheet!
I’m by no means an expert on all of them and obviously there are costume changes between productions & actors so this won’t be perfect… but this should at least be kind of helpful when put alongside their line distributions (though those can and will change depending on the amount of swings on in the show!)
First up: Feuilly! Commonly, he is wearing an orange waistcoat with light (sometimes patterned) grayish pants + a black long-coat and cravat!
notable moments/lines: he is the one to climb the tower during DYHTPS and sing the classic “the blood of the martyrs will water the meadows of France” speech; “at rue de bac they’re straining at the leash”, “let them come if they dare, we’ll be there!”, he begins drink with me “sing with me, the songs we knew” (pretty sure he is the non-lead Amis who speaks the most)
Jean Prouvaire (Jehan)! His green is quite a bit more saturated and bright compared to Grantaire. His waistcoat is embroidered with flowers and he wears a (varying shade of) green tailcoat on top. His cravat color changes quite a bit 😭
noteable moments/lines: follows after Feuilly in Drink with me “here’s to pretty girls who go to our heads”, he’s (usually…) the character to steal Grantaire’s drink from him in ABC and run away with it, “so what’re we gonna do with this snake in the grass?”
Joly is like the pastel version of Marius! His coat is a light blue, with his waistcoat a varying shade of blue as well (often with some white detailing)
notable lines: “what’s wrong today, you look as if you’ve seen a ghost!”, “here’s to witty girls who went to our beds”, “here comes a man in uniform, what brings you to this place?”, “theres a boy climbing the barricade!”,
Lesgles or Bossuet is very stylish in his deep red tailcoat and light waistcoat! He also has a wild variety of cravat colors 😭
notable lines: “Look how they turn and run!”, “come back, gavroche, don’t you dare!” , “they will do what is right!”
Courfeyrac is Usually in a striped waistcoat with a deep blue waistcoat… but for whatever reason he’s quite different/inconsistent in the US tour? Luckily, he’s got lots of lines
Notable lines: “make them pay for every man!”, “before we cut the fat ones down to size”, “students, workers, everyone - there’s a river on the run”, “then join in the fight that will give you the right to be free!”, “and if I should die in the fight to be free-“
Combeferre is an easy one: He wears a long brown coat with a (commonly) yellowish waistcoat!
notable lines: “a spy who calls himself javert”, “at Notre Dame the sections are prepared”, “will you join in our crusade-“, “this is where it begins!”, “make them pay through the nose!”
Unfortunately I have no idea where or how to spot Bahorel, or really if he even canonically exists in the new version of the show… I know some actors have referred to themselves as bahorel before, but it feels too inconsistent :/ so just pick whatever unnamed student you’d like to be him I guess!