It’s not the kind of review that would make anyone want to rush down to a theatre box office to book seats; although having said that, those who know me accept that I have an unhealthy love of bad theatre, and I wouldn’t give up my experience of sitting through Behind the Iron Mask at the Dutchess theatre or Gone with the Wind at the New London for anything. And as Joe Gillis sings in Sunset Blvd, “It’s fun to see how bad bad writing can be”. So, ok, I confess, a review comparing a show to an artichoke would probably get me to the head of the queue quicker than anything spouting 5 stars.
I first saw Les Misérables in its 6th year at the Palace Theatre. It had already travelled a long way from the original more-than-four-hours-hours-long version that had opened at the Barbican on 8 October 1985, where it had gained the above comparison to a vegetable as well as gaining reviews such as:
“It stands in the same relation to the original as a singing telegram to an epic.” Francis King, Sunday Telegraph.
“A highly charged, garrulous tale, psychologically shallow, full of florid but improbable gestures and studded with set pieces of insufferable sentimentality.” John Peter, Sunday Times.
By the time it opened at the Palace the show had been trimmed down to three and a quarter hours. I was thirteen when I first saw the production. It was my second West End show, but the first to leave a lasting impression. At a time when the largest London theatre shows relied on roller skating trains, junk yard sets or falling chandiliers, Les Misérables’ black cobbled revolve seemed somewhat low key. The huge buildings/barricade set didn’t even roll into view until over an hour into the show, before that each scene emerged almost filmically, created by tables & chairs, a gate, or clever lighting.
It seems almost common practice these days for shows to move seemlessly between scenes, keeping the progression fluid and the momentum moving, but at the time this was cutting edge direction – Trevor Nunn at his apex. Within the first 15 minutes alone the audience are whisked from Toulon, through the French countryside to Digne and on to Montreuil-sur-Mer, all before the first full chorus number.
But it isn’t just the directorial choices that keep audiences flocking to see the production the world over. The score itself comes from a bizarre heritage, the fact that the ‘world’s most popular show’ comes from a country that is void of the sort of musical theatre productions that Broadway or the West End would recognise. The original French production at the Sport des Palais in 1980 bears very little similarity to the London 1985 score, having shaken off a considerable amount of its ‘euro-pop sound’ and being infused with a Puccini-esqe resonance (some would say it’s more than a resonance after listening to ‘Bring Him Home’ and then Puccini’s Humming Chorus from Madame Butterfly).
Somehow though, the show that evolved out of the chaos became an incredibly well crafted piece of musical theatre, balancing story and plot development through recitative, with stand out solo numbers and beautifully arranged chorus work. Even though the story follows Jean Valjan as the lead character, it is undoubtably an ensemble show, with over 30 performers creating hundreds of characters with the help of hundreds of costumes. It is the detailing in each of these characters that gives the piece real depth. Each member of the chorus portrays a role as they step onto the stage whether a prisoner, farmhand, factory worker, whore, nun, (the list goes on) policeman, beggerwoman, student, judge, urchin (and on).
The London production now resides at the Queens Theatre, after transferring there following 18 years at the Palace Theatre. It has retained all the power and emotion of the original.
The real shock comes from realising that, 25 years on, the “artichoke” is still being served to the delight of London audiences night after night. It has so far been dished up to over 56 million people in 42 countries and in 21 languages.
To celebrate its 25th year, a new production of Les Misérables (directed by Laurence Connor and James Powell and designed by Matt Kinley), launches a major international tour on the 11th December, starting at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff, then moving on to Manchester (19 January-13 February), Norwich (16 February-20 March), Birmingham (23 March-17 April) and Edinburgh (20 April-15 May) before it heads to The Chatelet in Paris, with further dates to be announced.
Categories: Classic: Stage
Tagged: boublil schonberg kretzmer, les misérables, trevor nunn