Standing the test of time, Les Misérables is still enjoyed by audiences worldwide. The 25th anniversary production of the musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg — based on the novel by Victor Hugo — hits the Straz starting Jan. 31. Cameron Mackintosh directs.
Like most other drama geeks, I first encountered Les Misérables at a high school thespian competition.
One out of four girls performed the song "On My Own," Éponine's lament. I watched the performances, intrigued, but it wasn’t until years later, on seeing the entire production for the first time with my cousin, that I became a believer.
The big brash horns! The gut-wrenching vocals! The epic sets! The historical fiction! Jean Valjean’s “Who Am I?” is my own existential anthem, which I sing often and loudly in my apartment. Sorry, neighbors.
Including sets and staging, the show has been revamped in honor of its two-and-a-half-decade anniversary and shows potential to be even better than before.
Disclosure: I listened to the Broadway soundtrack while writing this and cried twice.
"24601!"
Les Misérables begins its run at the Straz Center’s Carol Morsani Hall Tues., Jan. 31, and runs through Sun., Feb. 12. Show times are Tues.-Thurs. at 7:30 p.m.; Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 2 and 8 p.m., and Sun. 2 and 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $55. strazcenter.org.
This article appears in Jan 19-25, 2012.