Les Mis Opening Night - Please someone turn on the lights!!

As I hadn't seen the show before, I came in with a relatively blank slate (having said that I am very familiar with most of the songs and had a general idea of the synopsis). I am well aware that there is a great divide between those who love Les Mis, and those who can't stand it. For me, I wouldn't go as far as to say I couldn't stand it, but at nearly 3 and a half hours including interval, it was a struggle to sit through, though this is not a slight against the cast, orchestra and crew who battled on through what must have been a very challenging undertaking, so kudos to them. I am therefore only really inclined to review this show based on the quality of the production on the whole. I do apologise in advance for my refusal to purchase one of the glossy $10 programmes, it seemed a bit pointless as my only real reason for doing so would have been to have access to the cast list! But I will do the best I can. There really are some lovely songs in Les Mis, and these to me were the real highlights of the show. There were some very strong moments amongst the forgettable ones. I will admit to getting goosebumps at certain moments. The finale song, in particular, was very stirring. If anyone is particularly interested in the talents of the performers, this production is a great showcase. I appreciated seeing a few new faces that I haven't seen on the Perth theatre circuit before, and no doubt that we will be seeing more from them in the future. It is also a pleasure to see some of Perth's more seasoned performers, namely Ian Toyne in the role of Jean Valjean. As an ensemble, I thought all the voices blended very well - the harmonies were great. And believe it or not, there were minimal mic problems (though I think those who were naturally louder needed to either tone it down a bit or have the volume of their mics taken down so as not to be too overpowering.) I felt that the ensemble were just a touch too quiet without mics and needed to project more, I'm not sure if this is to do with the acoustics of the Regal. The cast's diction was excellent. They really spat those words out, and made an effort to pronounce all the consonants. This is so important for a show that doesn't contain regular spoken dialogue and so much rests on the singing. And more importantly, they ACTED out their parts. I was very drawn to the activity that was going on amongst the ensemble, it was nice to see how everyone seemed to have established their own character, and were very absorbed in their stage business, which was quite amusing at times. Standouts - Ian Toyne was obviously a highlight in the lead role. He has a lovely richness and resonance to his voice, and a strong grasp of the character. I was particularly touched by the early scenes with Jean Valjean and the very angelic sounding young Cosette, I felt there was a great conviction in his portrayal of Jean Valjean as a father figure to her. I was only a little concerned that he may have been really pushing to sustain those high notes in "Bring him home", which is evidently more suited to a tenor with a stronger upper register, but I admired that he managed to stay on pitch. Casey Edwards' Fantine was also a definite highlight for me, though as anyone who is familiar with Les Mis would know, not nearly enough time on stage! Her voice sounded so beautiful and truly did justice to the showstopper "I dreamed a dream" – forget about Susan Boyle (no offence). I also enjoyed the talents of supporting roles such as Tim Campbell (who I think played Enjolras?), Ben Doncon as Marius, not to mention the talents of Eponine, who really belted out "On my Own". Madame and Monsieur Thenardier were also an amusing pair, very over the top (in the right way) with great character voices. The young boy who played Gavroche is also a promising performer, and I was impressed by his confidence throughout the show… he seemed to attract a lot of chuckles from the audience. The actress who played grownup Cosette was very fitting as the ingénue, with a lovely soprano voice that will likely improve as it develops; there was a very high note which she just managed to scrape up to towards the end. There were a couple of pitching problems in the solos, more notably with Javert, who seemed to be straining a little. However, his voice was powerful and loud, which seemed very fitting to the character when matched with Toyne’s own equally powerful voice. I thought the sets were appropriately simplistic to allow for the quick scene changes – there were plenty of them! - and there was a good momentum with this, which was just as well. It looked quite effective having the formation of rectangular wooden planks (or "blades" as I'm informed they're called) hanging from the ceiling to form different parts of the set, and being positioned accordingly for each scene, eg. an illuminated crucifix was projected onto it for the church scenes. I also particularly liked the stars that lit up on the blades during Javert's song "Stars". I gather the backstage crew had quite a task in constantly having to move the blades around at each frequent cue. The lighting issue which has been raised was something which I sadly am compelled to agree with. The ambience that was created by all the different lighting affects was very well suited to the mood of the show, but a gentle spot could have been used to highlight individual performers. It would have made a big difference. I could see that many were trying to give emotional, impassioned performances, but the lighting seemed to limit my view of this from where I was sitting. There may have been moments in which I felt the some of the cast lacked energy. This was not a consistent problem, but often the ensemble seemed less than confident in themselves. It is hard to tell, as I don't know if this was simply an effect of the performance being so predominantly in shadows to the point that I couldn't see their faces properly. The costumes, as I observed, were wonderful. With a decent sized cast to dress up, the costume department outdid themselves, giving a very professional look to the production and authenticity to the era. And finally – I must commend the orchestra, and the conductor keeping it all together for so long. There really was some lovely sounds coming out of the pit; I believe the guitar or harp or similar stringed instrument was responsible for some of these lovely sounds that I heard. Not to mention the strength of the woodwinds and brass, which were probably the most featured instruments. All in all, as far as recommending the show, all I can say is Les Mis may or may not be for you. It is intense, long and sometimes hard to follow. Its success rests on all the usual elements that make up a good show, but you can only do so much with what you have in the script. Yes, there are moments of extreme melodrama, and let's just say it's not the most upbeat of musicals. C’est l’histoire du miserables, after all. But I can guarantee that worthy efforts have been made to do it justice, and certainly not half-hearted by any means. This semi-pro production was of a reasonably professional standard, and the nearly full house audience were clearly pleased. And in the name of a charity, that is a far from miserable outcome.