Based on the 1862 epic novel by Victor Hugo, the musical version of “Les Misérables” unfolds like a Wagnerian opera – dark, foreboding, larger than life, and sailing straight for the shoals of its tragic destiny. It’s been 30 years since Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil brought their work to the stage, and it can still captivate an audience with its vitality, its forceful passion, and its tenderness.
Jean Valjean (J. Mark McVey), unjustly imprisoned for nearly 20 years because he stole a loaf of bread to feed his starving family, struggles to begin his life anew and to gain respectability. Which he does. Years later, having become the owner of a factory and the town mayor, he befriends a dying young woman named Fantine (Betsy Morgan) and vows to look after her daughter, Cosette (Katherine Forrester or Anastasia Korbal), who will in turn grow up to be a flower of a young woman (Jenny Latimer) who falls in love with the idealistic revolutionary Marius (Justin Scott Brown). The latter is also loved by Éponine (Forrester or Korbal, again, as a child, and as a young woman Chasten Harmon), who is the daughter of the Thénardiers (Shawna M. Hamic and Michael Kostroff), this being the couple entrusted by Valjean to raise Cosette.
One could say that Jean Valjean’s instincts weren’t very good, because little Cosette is rather ill-abused, much like Cinderella among her half-sisters. On the other hand, the Thénardiers, generally portrayed as obese tavern owners, provide the work with comic relief – Monsieur Thénardier calls to mind Tim Burton – and perhaps its most memorable song, “Master of the House.” Although Harmon’s “On My Own” and McVey’s “Bring Him Home” are showstoppers, where would we be without the crafty, dishonest, and drunken Thénardiers?
At the core of our story is the long and apparently inflexible arm of the law, symbolized by that tenacious bulldog of a police inspector, Javert (Andrew Varela), who relentlessly pursues Valjean because of some small infraction of the law dating back to the latter’s release from prison. We may not see the likes of this again until Dostoevsky, and then Kafka.
Onstage, “Les Misérables” has always been cinematic from start to finish, and this was especially true when earlier versions employed a revolving stage. Those who have seen the show before may recall how effective this was when the students and other revolutionaries were manning the barricades. While the turntable is now gone, the production utilizes video projection that is particularly effective when Valjean is carrying the inert Marius through the sewers of Paris. Video projection may seem like a cheap substitute, but the effectiveness of such a medium was evident in LA Opera’s “Fidelio” and “The Stigmatized,” and is no less so here.
While we’re on the subject of visuals, a number of Hugo’s sepia washes and ink studies are incorporated as scenic backdrops. While the author is also acclaimed for The Hunchback of Notre Dame, he is less known for his plays and lesser known still for his art – predominantly nocturnal scenes of ruins or chateaus in the forest. Very atmospheric. While I wouldn’t put it up there with Géricault or Delacroix, it certainly holds its own in the canon of meaningful French Romantic art.
Over the years, “Les Misérables” has undergone some tinkering, and this variation – while still long (close to three hours) – has been trimmed here and there. On opening night the small but spirited orchestra tended to drown some of the lyrics, but at this point the show is fairly seamless and even if one finds it less than fully engrossing – a group in which I’d place myself – it’s still very hard to resist being swept up in the grandeur of this mighty canvas and the human saga it depicts.
Les Misérables is onstage through July 31 at the Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown Los Angeles in the Music Center. Performances, Tuesday through Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m., plus Sunday at 1 and 6:30 p.m. Dark Monday. Tickets, $20 to $130. Call (213) 972-4400 or go to CenterTheatreGroup.org. ER
