By Michael Buzzelli
Jean Valjean (Nick Cartell) and the people of France once more fight for life, love, and liberty in the hit musical adapted from Victor Hugo’s classic novel “Les Misérables.“
The French convict, Jean Valjean, AKA Prisoner 24601, is pursued by an inflexible, immutable, and ignominious Javert (played by David Thomas Walker, subbing for Nick Rehberger) throughout the decades of his life. Valjean escapes to start his life anew, thanks to the unexpected assistance of the Bishop of Digne (Randy Jeter).
In his new life, he meets Fantine (Lindsay Heather Pearce), who tells him about her daughter, Cosette (played as a child by Lillian Castner or Kayla Scola-Giampapa, depending on which night you see the play). When Cosette dies, Valjean agrees to take her in as his own.
Years later, a rebel fighting for France’s independence, Marius (Peter Neureuther), falls for Valjean’s adopted daughter, now fully grown, Cosette (Alexa Lopez), as tensions mount days before the revolutionaries build a barricade to fight the monarchy (the Paris Uprising that took place during the 5th and 6th of June, 1832).
Marius is so busy making plans with the Friends of the ABC (from the French word abaissés), run by the charismatic Enjolras (Christian Mark Gibbs), that he doesn’t even realize the young Éponine (Kaitlyn Sumner, subbing in for Jaedynn Latter) is pining for him.
There’s a lot of plot in “Les Misérables,” and a great deal of essential characters drift in and out as it speeds through the years of Valjean’s life, especially the Masters of the House, Thenardier, and his wife (Matt Crowle and Victoria Huston-Elem respectively), who thwart Valjean at every turn.
Les Misérables, colloquially known as “Les Miz,” debuted way back in 1980, but we aren’t going to spoil it for the uninitiated.
Cartell makes a terrific Jean Valjean. His “Bring Him Home” was beautifully nuanced with perfect pitch. It’s a showstopping number!
Walker does a fabulous job as Javert. He is a big, bold, barrel-chested baritone with a magnetic charm.
Pearce is a proud and fierce Fantine.
Lopez is lovely as Cosette with another amazing voice.
Sumner does a terrific job as another understudy.
Additional Personal Note: As a sucker for unrequited love, Eponine is a favorite character. Her version of “On My Own” is glorious.
Crowle and Huston-Elem deliver almost all of the laughs in the tragic tale. They are a fine comedic duo of rapscallions, delighting the audience with their rendition of “Master of the House.”
The only other laugh comes from Young Gervais (the adorable Rocco Van Auken), who gets to flip the bird to Javert.
Personal note: I kept thinking, “If this dude is the understudy, I wonder what Rehberger was like that he was cast instead of Walker?!?”
Andrenae Neofitou’s bright, colorful costumes in the wedding scene starkly contrast with the drab, dark browns, maroons, and navies of the peasants. Neofitou is the original costume designer,
The set is dark and foreboding. The shadowy sepia tones are the perfect backdrop for the grimy 1830s France, wonderfully captured by Matt Kinley, enhanced by wondrous projection design (Javert’s plunge is a particular marvel).
Laurence Connor and James Powell keep everything moving at a brisk pace (excising some superfluous material from previous productions).
“Les Misérables” is, sadly, incredibly relevant centuries later. While freedom from tyranny is a recurring theme in novels and real life, their is a beautiful balance of dark and light inside the story. Despite a lifetime of tragedy, love wins in the end. In the novel (as well as on stage), Hugo wrote, “To love another is to touch the face of God.”
-MB
“Les Misérables” runs through Thanksgiving Weekend at the Benedum Theater, 237 Seventh Street, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. For tickets and additional information, click here.
