When a historical tale is timeless, The Fox pays attention.
It doesn’t matter that the story is set in the late 1800s or that it’s not based in the United States. It doesn’t matter that Les Mis?rables was written 150 years ago or that a fair amount of time has passed since the musical opened under Broadway’s stage lights.
Overcoming hardships and adversity remains a prominent theme in all aspects of art, and Les Mis?rables continues to stand out among the best. A great story maintains its impact through time, regardless of its audience. Les Mis?rables is no different.
Yes, actors must perform their role well, and the music must be rehearsed. However, the success in this musical lies not in the performers or in their vocal talents, but in the story and the emotion it evokes.
Center stage is transformed into hand-laid cobblestones, the trap door became a passageway to freedom and the wings formed a rebel barricade Tuesday night at Les Mis?rables’ opening night at The Fox.
The show runs until Sunday, March 11 beginning at 8 p.m. every night and 2 p.m. matinees on Saturday and Sunday.
As a whole, the cast turned in admirable performances. From the comedic relief brought by the Th?nardiers, to Gavroche’s presence as a “little people,” all realms of human life were represented on stage, and vivaciously. The script creates strong, complex characters, but it is the actors who must convince us that Jean Valjean or Javert, not the actors, are onstage.
The strongest musical performance of the night was by far Diana Kaarina’s portrayal of Eponine. While her vocal talents were impossible not to acknowledge during the famed solo “On My Own,” she displayed the pure power of her voice as she sang with the full company. Perhaps it was the microphone setting or a trick from the soundboard, but more likely it was Kaarina’s talent.
Ivan Rutherford beautifully delivered the story of the central character and escaped convict Valjean in his many vocal roles, but he occasionally struggled in his transitions between registers.
Surprisingly, the strongest performance came from the set. Upon first glance, the traveling Les Mis?rables stage is disappointingly simple. It doesn’t have the flair expected to accompany the hype that travels with the musical. But the set remains the hidden secret of the tour.
The characteristic rotating-circular stage facilitates simple, timely and effective scene changes, as well as masterfully creating the illusion of walking down a street.
Another strong element of the set included the wings, which appeared, from the audience, to be piles of junk. Surprisingly, in the second act of the performance, these piles of junk transformed into an actor’s playground, an ideal tool for three-dimensional staging.
And to increase the impressiveness of these two towering constructions, they interlocked in two positions, once to form the slums of Paris and finally to form the rebel’s barricade.
Hidden among the piles as junk were series of steps and ladders that enabled to actors to move about the construction as easily as if they were in their homes.
Whether it is the familiar and beautiful songs that draw audiences to the unique charm of The Fox or the intrinsic nature of the intricate set, all who attend The Fox’s performances of Les Mis?rables will leave impressed and empowered by emotion, and not only by the story itself.
