Les Mis @ The Queen's Theatre - Review: 22.2.12

I didn't know it was possible for a show to get better every single time you see it… But that's what Les Miserables has managed to do all 5 times I've seen it. It just gets more and more genius and stunning. We went to the 2.30 matinee performance today (Wednesday 22nd February, 2012) at the Queen's Theatre, London and were, at first, taken aback by the vast number of understudies listed on the board in the foyer. However, it turned out that they were all mistakes and every single cast member was present for the performance. I'll now go through the cast and tell you what I thought of each actor individually…

Jean Valjean — Ramin Karimloo: BEST. VALJEAN. EVER. I think that the 2-minute long applause after Bring Him Home spoke for itself. However, I did spend the first 15 minutes of the show looking through my binoculars to see if it really was him or if the understudy listed on the cast board just sounded and looked strangely similar to him. There are no words to describe how amazing that man is in that role.

Javert — Hadley Fraser: I saw Hadley as Javert last Summer and he was no less mind-blowing this time round. His acting was moving and perfectly executed and it was a pleasure to hear him singing with Ramin during The Confrontation.

Fantine — Caroline Sheen: From the outset, one could tell that she was, without a doubt, an experienced and trained actress and singer, but I felt that her performance lacked passion and vitality… It was the same when I saw her as Fantine last Summer, which is unfortunate as I really felt she could have done more with the role. On a more positive note, however, her acting and singing were convincing with the latter pretty much flawless throughout.

Thenardier — Cameron Blakely: One of the few cast members that I hadn't seen before in the show and Cameron Blakely really impressed me. I couldn't help but compare him to the last Thenardier that I saw, Matt Lucas, and I felt that he more than matched up to the his predecessor's comic timing and was, I thought, a better actor in the less comic moments.

Madame Thenardier — Katy Secombe: I felt that Katy Secombe really matched up to her counterpart's skill and stage presence. Her comic timing was flawless and it was a pleasure to watch the two of them feed off each other's humour all the way through.

Eponine — Alexia Khadime: It may be a controversial opinion, but I've been impressed by Alexia's portrayal of Eponine both times I've seen her in the role. Her voice is filled with attitude that would befit a street-hardened urchin on the streets of Paris in the 1800s completely. Her acting was also impressive and, again, I was wowed by the way she owned the stage in her rather static (in a good way) rendition of On My Own. it just showed how much her acting and singing skills can carry her through a role safely and securely.

Marius — Craig Mather: Possibly the most adorable Marius I've EVER seen. He was fantastic last Summer in the role, but I felt that he'd really improved, too, this time. He provided a likeable and realistic take on the character with a stunning voice to match. I was particularly impressed by the dramatic character change from young romantic to slightly bitter and cynical after Eponine and the students' deaths.

Cosette — Lisa-Ann Wood: The first thing I noticed about Lisa-Ann's portrayal of Cosette was her voice. It was ever-so-slightly breathy, but I really think that worked well for the character of a young woman in love for the first time. You could tell that she'd really thought about the character beforehand, which came across in her incredibly 3D portrayal.

Enjolras — Liam Tamne: Second time I've seen him now in the role, and, this, time I found a few flaws in his performance. Obviously, we're all human and no one's perfect every time, but I felt that he could have, potentially, done more with his lines (acting-wise) and could have relied a little less on dramatic revolutionary poses. Other than that, his voice was strong, and I loved the chemistry between him and Grantaire.

Little Cosette — Jaime Adler (?): So adorable, it's not even funny. Normally whoever plays Little Cosette annoys the hell out of me, but this girl was so cute and sounded so much younger than I'm used to when she sang, she actually made me feel more than just mild sympathy for the character.

Gavroche — Rory McMenamin (?): One of the best Gavroches I've ever seen. His death alone warranted applause from the audience and the little section of song that he does between Stars and Eponine's Errand got the same response. It was lovely to see how much he was going for it and getting into the whole thing.

Grantaire — ? (definitely wasn't the principal listed in the programme, but no understudies were listed for Grantaire): An awesome performance from whoever he was. I feel he deserved a special mention in this review purely for his acting which was, in my opinion, the best in the entire show. He really played on Grantaire's drunken bitterness and the chemistry between him and Enjolras, particularly after Drink With Me.

***OVERALL: SUCH A BRAIN-MELTINGLY GOOD PERFORMANCE, BOTH VOCALLY AND DRAMATICALLY, JUST SHOWING WHY IT'S THE LONGEST RUNNING SHOW IN LONDON'S WEST END AND WHY, EVEN ON A MIDWEEK MATINEE, THE PACKED HOUSE GAVE A STANDING OVATION BEFORE THE FINALE HAD EVEN ENDED.***