Les Misérables: The Staged Concert (2019) (2 Viewers)

[Mike Frezon]

Only a couple more days, I found some fan cam footage from the post show.

C'mon, Wayne. Get with the program. You MEAN to say:

"Just about...ONE DAY MOOOOOOOORE!"

 

[Wayne_j]

I just got back, I enjoyed this very much and it was nice to get a chance to meet with @Mike Frezon .

I think this was by far the best performed filmed version of Les Mis since the Tenth Anniversary Concert. All of the actors were at least competent in their roles and you didn't get dreadful performances like Nick Jonas in the 25th anniversary concert and Russell Crowe and Eddie Redmayne in the movie.

There is a 10 minute intermission followed by ads for related CDs, UK concert tours, West End shows, and the trailer for the upcoming Cats movie. They also showed a featurette which was somewhat confusing because it wasn't always clear if they were talking about the concert that we were currently watching or the new version of the play which is soon to open at the Sondheim.

 

[Mike Frezon]

I just got back, I enjoyed this very much and it was nice to get a chance to meet with @Mike Frezon .

I think this was by far the best performed filmed version of Les Mis since the Tenth Anniversary Concert. All of the actors were at least competent in their roles and you didn't get dreadful performances like Nick Jonas in the 25th anniversary concert and Russell Crowe and Eddie Redmayne in the movie.

There is a 10 minute intermission followed by ads for related CDs, UK concert tours, West End shows, and the trailer for the upcoming Cats movie. They also showed a featurette which was somewhat confusing because it wasn't always clear if they were talking about the concert that we were currently watching or the new version of the play which is soon to open at the Sondheim.

Yes! I FINALLY got to meet @Wayne_j ! I wished I had seen you AFTER the performance Wayne, so we could have done a debriefing!

But Peg and I agree completely with your observations. I would add that it is hard for me, personally, to compare anyone in the role of Eponine with Lea Salonga. She can do NO wrong in my eyes. Amazingly, I think Samantha Barks held up pretty well in my eyes in comparison to Salonga. The young lady in this production, however, not so much. The strongest performer, for me, was the young fella who played Enjolras. He (unfortunately, I don't know his name) is heading off to play Javert in the new West End production. He was clearly head and shoulders above the rest of the people in this concert--including Michael Ball and Alfred Boe.

Peg and I both felt that we really got nothing new from this experience that we hadn't already seen in the 10th or 25th anniversary concerts--or the film--or the Broadway production we took-in circa 2000. But we still enjoyed it.

 

[Jake Lipson]

The strongest performer, for me, was the young fella who played Enjolras. He (unfortunately, I don't know his name) is heading off to play Javert in the new West End production.

His name is Bradley Jaden: https://www.lesmis.com/london/cast-creatives/bradley-jaden

 

[Mike Frezon]

He was outstanding. Excellent energy, presence, and a kickass singing voice.

 

[Wayne_j]

I agree about the new Eponine not being as good as Lea or Samantha Barks, but she was still at least decent. And yes, the Enjolares was outstanding.

 

[Wayne_j]

These concerts have always had great Enjolares's. The guy for the 25th was the same guy who played phantom for the 25th anniversary event and originated the Phantom in Love Never Dies. Since then he starred as Valjean in the new Broadway version of Les Mis.

 

[Jake Lipson]

The guy for the 25th

Ramin Karimloo.

And before him, in the 10th anniversary, Enjoras was played by Michael Maguire.

 

[Wayne_j]

It looks like they edited out part of the following clip at around 4 minutes in.



The part where Michael Ball messes up Marius's part in One Day More. I think he would be able to pull it off if he trained it for a bit, but would probably never be as automatic for him as it was in his youth.

 

[Jake Lipson]

It looks like they edited out part of the following clip at around 4 minutes in.

No, they didn't edit it out. That's impossible because the clip you posted is from a different performance.

The final performance of the concert, which was added to the run for the purposes of filming it, took place on December 2.

November 30 was the final date scheduled before they decided to film it and added an extra performance to do that. This video has an upload date of December 1 and the title says it is from the November 30 performaance.

The curtain speech is also a bit different than what was said on the version that was filmed.

So, clearly they are different performances and Ball got it right for the day that was filmed.

 

[Wayne_j]

glad to know, thanks for that info. To confuse things that same audience member was at the taping because other video she shot was marked as the December 2nd performance and matched exactly what I saw in the theater.

 

[Wayne_j]

In a somewhat related note, last night I watched my imported Blu-Ray of the 2014 25th anniversary London revival of Miss Saigon. It was very well done. It features a great post curtain call event with Lea Salonga, Jonathan Price and Simon Bowman who performed several songs from the show.

Miss Saigon was the only musical that I have actually seen on broadway. My High School orchestra did a field trip in the early 90's.

 

[Jake Lipson]

For anyone who might have missed it on Sunday, a reminder that tonight (December 11) is the final screening of the concert in theaters.

 

[Jake Lipson]

The UK Blu-ray release has been set for April 6, 2020. No announcement yet for the U.S. as far as I know, but I would hope it's around the same time.

http://filmedonstage.com/news/60-les-miserables-the-staged-concert-out-on-dvdbluray-april-6th-2020/

 

[Wayne_j]

I will probably just import the UK version.

 

[Jake Lipson]

For anyone who is curious, here is a walk through video which shows what the Sondheim Theatre (where the new production of Les Mis in London is now playing) looks like following its restoration. The concert version was designed to keep the show running while the former Queen's Theatre was refurbished into the Sondheim.



Still no date yet for a U.S. disc release of the concert.

 

[Wayne_j]

Not completely related, but he did come up previously in this thread. I have been listening to various Ramin Karimloo songs on Apple Music and I find him to be a complete vocal chameleon. His voice is different if he is playing The Phantom or Valjean and in his cover of "From Now On" from The Greatest Showman almost all of his vibrato disappears. This is in distinct contrast to singers like Alfie Boe or Michael Ball who keep the same distinctive voice no matter what they sing.

 

[Jake Lipson]

The UK edition of the Blu-ray, which is listed as being region-free, had previously set a release date of April 6 and then April 20. Amazon UK now lists a new street date of November 2, which is a significant delay. I assume this must have something to do with the coronavirus affecting disc pressing, because otherwise I can't imagine a reason for delaying a release that was imminent that long.

There has still been no announcement of an American edition counterpart. If it has not been announced by the time the UK edition is released, then I will import it.

Amazon UK is currently not shipping to the United States -- again, presumably due to the coronavirus -- but hopefully by November we'll all be in a safer place and they can resume doing that.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Misérables...coding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=AJZ21XBKDEW4QF8D4JB7

 

[Jake Lipson]

Apparently the concert will be streaming this week somewhere. The article isn't really very specific:

http://filmedonstage.com/news/120-w...released-for-streaming-this-week-for-charity/

The Blu-ray had been set for release tomorrow, but is now set for November 2.

Edit: I found a much more specific press release. Unfortunately, I don't like it very much. Apparently the streaming release will only be for the UK and Australia: https://www.broadwayworld.com/artic...load-With-Proceeds-Going-to-Charity-20200419/

 

[Jake Lipson]

On a related note, members of the original Broadway company of Les Miserables had a virtual reunion today for Stars in the House, the fundraiser series for The Actors Fund in the time of this crazy pandemic. It's free to watch but includes requests for donations.