Day 114/365 - The Miserable Ones

Unlike yesterday, today I actually remembered to go on the Ticketplace website and get myself a half-price ($53) ticket to see tonight’s production of ‘Les Miserables’ at Signature Theatre in Shirlington. There’s no Metro station in Shirlington, so since I don’t drive I had to catch a bus at the Pentagon. I hate riding the bus, but it’s a non-stop, ten-minute trip there from the Pentagon so it’s not that bad. Arlington County has talked about building a street car line that would run out to Shirlington, but there are no signs of that actually happening yet.

Before heading over to the theater I stopped in at Aroma, an Indian restaurant, and had dinner. I opted for the vegetable sampler (pakoras, samosa, and aloo tikki) and the Murgh Korma Mugulai (mildly spicy chicken curry with almonds and raisins over rice pilaf) and both were quite good. I timed things perfectly for once and got to the theater just in time to check my coat and get to my seat without either having to rush or being stuck waiting around.

This was not a national touring company production of Les Mis. Recently, the corporation that owns the rights to the play chose to license it to any local theaters who wished to stage their own productions. Signature Theatre took them up on their offer. There is no gimmicky turntable stage in this production. The play is performed in three-quarters ‘theater in the round’ on a low rostrum stage. It’s a good choice and lends the play an intimacy and immediacy that you didn’t get with the touring company staging. The orchestra, set design, and costumes are quite good as well, although there are certainly some bad wig choices (think cheesy, androgynous ‘80s rock rather than dirty, downtrodden 19th century rabble).

The cast, however, is one area where Signature’s production clearly suffers in comparison to the national touring companies. I place the blame squarely on the primary scourge of modern theater – amplified sound systems that lead to the casting of singers with thin, weak voices. Microphones and speakers have no place in musical theater. If you cannot project your voice to the back row of the theater then you need to find a new avocation because you’re not qualified to be on stage. Several of the actors in this production fall into this category: Valjean (acting – adequate; singing – very limited range and struggles with the higher and softer notes), Thenardier (a stand-in for this performance)(acting – poor and caricaturish, evidently the Child Catcher from ‘Chitty Chitty Bang Bang’ served as the inspiration for his performance; singing – dreadfully weak, he may as well have whispered his lines and songs), and adult Cosette (acting – unremarkable; singing – shrill and nasally).

The unforgiveable sin of this production is the inadequate casting of Eponine. Although the part is small, I believe Eponine is the heart of Les Mis. She connects the various demi-mondes in the play and links all the characters to one another, plus she sings the two best songs – ‘On My Own’ and ‘A Little Fall of Rain.’ Signature’s Eponine is unfortunately not up to either acting or singing the part. She mugs her way through the role with a permanent, plastic, quasi-maniacal grin on her face that is horribly misplaced. Note: Eponine is tortured and tormented, not giddy and gleeful. And it would be nice if she didn’t frequently sing off-key. Thanks.

It’s not all disappointment with this cast, though. There are some strong performances: Javert (acting – tough to know given that the part is hammish by nature, but he seemed quite good and he made me wonder if the actors playing Valjean and Javert should have swapped parts; singing – good strong voice), Fantine (acting – good, singing – quite good), Enjolras (acting and singing both quite good), and particularly Marius (all-around excellent). In addition the child performers do admirably well with young Cosette and Gavroche. The director’s decision to substantially cut Gavroche’s highly entertaining ‘Little People’ song was a bit puzzling, however. If cuts were needed I’d have recommend targeting Javert’s ‘Stars’ instead, which bears the double burden of being not a particularly good song and adding nothing new or meaningful to our understanding of the character.

Taken as a whole then I believe that Signature’s production of Les Mis is worth seeing, although I’d certainly recommend taking advantage of the availability of half-price tickets rather than paying full fare. It’s a noble experiment and a fresh, imaginative staging of what had become a weary workhorse of the theater. And it still features a great story and great songs. It’s just a shame Signature didn’t do a better job with the casting.

(BTW: the secondary scourge of modern theater is the knee-jerk standing ovation. It’s the dramatic equivalent of grade inflation. Audiences should reserve standing o’s for truly outstanding performances and not hand them out like candy at Halloween to every production that comes along. End of rant.)

(Taken with my Nikon Coolpix S200)