INDIANAPOLIS — Without passion or grandeur, the Tony Award-winning musical “Les Miserables” might sound like a Rolling Stones rock concert.
There are men fighting in the street, honky tonk women and “live suicides on stage,” to paraphrase a Stones song.
After watching the three-hour musical five times (maybe six), the best shows deliver that mix of spectacle intensity and emotion. The current show, which runs through Sunday at Clowes Memorial Hall, features many of those characteristics. And I guess I’m often surprised how many people haven’t tried “The Miz”.
First shown in France in 1980, the version we see now was developed in London in 1985 and hit Broadway in 1987. But the first viewing is still the most memorable; Lee was at Indiana University in 1989.
This version contains dark clusters that emphasize the tragedy we are facing.
The musical follows French convict Jean Valjean, who is released after serving 19 years in a French prison in the early 19th century. He disappears to become mayor and factory owner.
Along the way, we meet the powerful police inspector Javert, who is convinced that Valjean broke his parole. Valjean is raising a little girl named Cosette, whose mother, Fantine, died of an illness. As we move forward, a group of revolutionary students plot the Paris uprising of 1832. PS Cosette falls in love with one of the students.
Justice falls everywhere. But few fans come to “The Miz” looking for moral balance in the universe. Come on stage.
On Tuesday night’s opening night, backup Randy Jeter played the crucial role of Jean Valjean admirably. This season is the first time he has taken on this role. I can’t remember ever hearing such a relaxed, calm and peaceful singer with the invocation “Bring him home”.
Valjean’s opponent Javert must be resolved, and Preston Truman Boyd, who performed on ‘Young Frankenstein’s first national tour as the Beast, commands visually and vocally while singing both ‘Superstars’ and the “Soliloquy” wrestling match. ”
A great find is Gregory Lee Rodriguez as surviving revolutionary Marius. With Rodriguez, each movement expresses an emotion. In addition to her heartwarming tale of dead friends, “Empty Chairs to Empty Tables,” Rodriguez’s voice works well with Christine Hesun Huang as Éponine.
In lyrical music, the orchestra is convincing. I don’t want to sit by a snare drum and call it lamb, and there are times when one of the female leads has to cut her words in order to be heard.
Some come to Les Misérables because they like the songs. Some are just doing it for the first time. But everyone comes to see the show and this production has the greatness we expected.
