Alfie Boe in Les Miserables: The Staged Concert at the Gielgud Theatre, London. Picture: Matt Murphy
Les Misérables: The Staged Concert continues at the Gielgud Theatre, London until 30 November 2019.
Star rating: five stars ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
When it comes to international musical phenomena of apparently boundless longevity and popularity, Les Misérables is the unquestionable champion. Cameron Mackintosh’s decision to, once again, stage a concert version of the show is a testament to the fact that he knows, as well as we do, the power that a distilled version of this production holds. And what a power it is.
Of course, the main draw to a concert of any sort is the vocal talent. Alfie Boe and Michael Ball, together again (as their second joint album was titled), lead an incredible cast that feels like a family. Both are Les Mis legends in their own rights, Boe turning in perhaps a slightly more assured performance; few but for Colm Wilkinson himself (the original Jean Valjean) and perhaps the current alternate John Owen-Jones, probably know these songs as well as Boe, who has performed them for years since leaving the West End.
A powerhouse soloist in any field, every note is a warm reunion between performer and the role he might have been born to play. To try and set down the experience of watching Boe as Valjean would be to do him a disservice.
Ball’s task is an arguably harder one. While both he and Boe are inextricably linked with Les Misérables, to return to the show in which you made your name, originated an iconic role, and now to take on a new and exceptionally challenging part (one so different from your norm) is quite the undertaking, to say the least.
Yet he pulls it off. Beyond a strong musical showing – Ball’s vocals rank quite well in what is an incredibly tough field for this part – is the impact of the history he shares with both his counterpart and the production itself. You really sense life in the lyrics.
Similarly, Matt Lucas and Katy Secombe have weaponised their repartee as comic dynamite. This is further enhanced by some unexpectedly hilarious interplay from Javert (Ball) with both the Thénardiers (Lucas/Secombe) as well as with Gavroche.
Completing the headline group is Carrie Hope Fletcher, another Les Misérables veteran, as both the elder and younger Eponine. She gives us one of the most open and affecting renditions of ‘I Dreamed A Dream’ I know of.
Every member of the cast, it seems, has a strong history with this show. If you pick up an old programme, you’ll likely see at least one common member with the 2019 line-up. The feeling of culmination and history in the making is only magnified by the intimate surroundings of the Gielgud Theatre. Mackintosh’s partially practical decision to move his show next door to the Sondheim (nee Queen’s) theatre is a masterstroke. I was welcomed by seeming old friends and faces on stage, as well as surrounded by people who love this astonishing show as much as myself and so many others.
Tom Martland
Tickets for Les Misérables are available HERE.
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