les miserables review
Les Miserables Review
I had the pleasure to view Cheshire Academy's production of Les Miserables, written by Claude-Michel Schoenberg and Alain Boublilon on Friday February 23 in the Black Box Theatre.
Les Miserables starts with a man named Jean Valjean. After serving 19 years for stealing bread, he is released by Inspector Javert. Once he is released he meets a young girl Fantine, a young girl left to take care of a child. Soon after she is forced to leave her child in someone else's care in order to find work to afford the child, she becomes ill. While on her death bed she asks Valjean to care for her daughter, Cosette. The next we see Cosette living in a brothel house where she is being treated very poorly by the masters of the house. Once Valjean finds Cosette, he pays to get her away from the house. Years later Valjean changes his name and becomes mayor of the town. As a young lady, a man named Marius catches sight of her and instantly falls in love. Sadly though, this love story has major conflict. Marius must go fight at the barricades, and is shot by government troops. Luckily Valjean saves him by dragging him out of the fight. Javert is tied up during this scene because people fighting believed he was a trader. Valjean Saudi he would take care of him, but instead let him go and live. At the end of this scene Javert jumps of a bridge and kills himself. After this Valjean leaves because his presence causes Cossette danger. The last scene we saw was when Valjean is dying. We also see the spirit of Fantine appear to take him into heaven. I personally feel the main themes in this play were redemption, and love. When we first meet Valjean he is a miserable criminal. We see his growth as a person after he adopts Cosette. He becomes happier and a better man because of her. Cosette is also a sign of love. She helps people get through rough times, and overall makes them happier people.
The staging used in this production really added to the play as a whole. I really enjoyed how we always knew where we were, and how the sets always matched the characters. One aspect I felt really added to the production was the barricade. It looked so realistic, and the use of flashing bright lights as gunshots made everything so realistic. I also really enjoyed the main backset when Cosette was singing. I felt the bright garden really conveyed her personality. The costumes were also amazing. They allowed us to clearly see roles, such as the rags on the slaves, the army coat of Javert, the delicate pretty clothes Cosette wore, and the modest yet formal clothes Valjean was seen in. All the costume choices really added to the overall feeling of the production. We could tell the most important characters both because of their distinct costumes, as well as how much they sang. We could tell that Valjean and Javert were meant to be opposite each other. In my opinion Cosette and Marius are quite similar. To me they both seem like fragile, yet sweet characters.
I think that every actor/actress in this production was absolutely phenomenal. If I had to pick a favorite though I would have to go with Julia Rafferty. The combination of her amazing voice and superb acting skills made her a please to watch. She was able to make her character, Fantine, so realistic because of both her facial expressions, as well as her singing. One of the most touching moments was when she was about to pass away. Sitting in her bed singing to Valjean, she made everything so realistic. Her voice quivered the closer she got to death, life seemed to almost drain from her face. She was able to make everything so touching and realistic for the audience.
All in all I very much enjoyed the play. All of the crew and pit band made it an amazing performance. One that I am sure I will never forget. I learned from this that a single production takes so much effort and hard work to come together. I also learned that facial expressions can really change the entire dynamic of a performance. By really emphasizing the expressions, the actors can connect to the emotions of the audience in an amazing way. I think the CA production of Les Miserables was fantastic and would 11/10 recommend.
I had the pleasure to view Cheshire Academy's production of Les Miserables, written by Claude-Michel Schoenberg and Alain Boublilon on Friday February 23 in the Black Box Theatre.
Les Miserables starts with a man named Jean Valjean. After serving 19 years for stealing bread, he is released by Inspector Javert. Once he is released he meets a young girl Fantine, a young girl left to take care of a child. Soon after she is forced to leave her child in someone else's care in order to find work to afford the child, she becomes ill. While on her death bed she asks Valjean to care for her daughter, Cosette. The next we see Cosette living in a brothel house where she is being treated very poorly by the masters of the house. Once Valjean finds Cosette, he pays to get her away from the house. Years later Valjean changes his name and becomes mayor of the town. As a young lady, a man named Marius catches sight of her and instantly falls in love. Sadly though, this love story has major conflict. Marius must go fight at the barricades, and is shot by government troops. Luckily Valjean saves him by dragging him out of the fight. Javert is tied up during this scene because people fighting believed he was a trader. Valjean Saudi he would take care of him, but instead let him go and live. At the end of this scene Javert jumps of a bridge and kills himself. After this Valjean leaves because his presence causes Cossette danger. The last scene we saw was when Valjean is dying. We also see the spirit of Fantine appear to take him into heaven. I personally feel the main themes in this play were redemption, and love. When we first meet Valjean he is a miserable criminal. We see his growth as a person after he adopts Cosette. He becomes happier and a better man because of her. Cosette is also a sign of love. She helps people get through rough times, and overall makes them happier people.
The staging used in this production really added to the play as a whole. I really enjoyed how we always knew where we were, and how the sets always matched the characters. One aspect I felt really added to the production was the barricade. It looked so realistic, and the use of flashing bright lights as gunshots made everything so realistic. I also really enjoyed the main backset when Cosette was singing. I felt the bright garden really conveyed her personality. The costumes were also amazing. They allowed us to clearly see roles, such as the rags on the slaves, the army coat of Javert, the delicate pretty clothes Cosette wore, and the modest yet formal clothes Valjean was seen in. All the costume choices really added to the overall feeling of the production. We could tell the most important characters both because of their distinct costumes, as well as how much they sang. We could tell that Valjean and Javert were meant to be opposite each other. In my opinion Cosette and Marius are quite similar. To me they both seem like fragile, yet sweet characters.
I think that every actor/actress in this production was absolutely phenomenal. If I had to pick a favorite though I would have to go with Julia Rafferty. The combination of her amazing voice and superb acting skills made her a please to watch. She was able to make her character, Fantine, so realistic because of both her facial expressions, as well as her singing. One of the most touching moments was when she was about to pass away. Sitting in her bed singing to Valjean, she made everything so realistic. Her voice quivered the closer she got to death, life seemed to almost drain from her face. She was able to make everything so touching and realistic for the audience.
All in all I very much enjoyed the play. All of the crew and pit band made it an amazing performance. One that I am sure I will never forget. I learned from this that a single production takes so much effort and hard work to come together. I also learned that facial expressions can really change the entire dynamic of a performance. By really emphasizing the expressions, the actors can connect to the emotions of the audience in an amazing way. I think the CA production of Les Miserables was fantastic and would 11/10 recommend.
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