Les Miserables

Translated, Les Miserables means The Miserable Ones, The Poor Ones or The Wretched Ones. This story was written by Victor Hugo back in the 1860’s and after so many thousands of performances over the years, it has a nickname of Les Mis. 

Max and I have been going to the theatre for many, many years together and neither one of us had seen Les Miserables since it opened back in the 80’s.  There has been a recent surge in Broadway revivals. Over the past year we’ve seen Mary Poppins, Dreamgirls, South Pacific and now Les Miserables.

I knew this was going to be a dramatic show when the orchestra started with the opening number with stirring drums and brass and accompanied by a wonderful chorus of singers.  The combination was a musical experience that could be felt within, not just heard.  The story opens as Valjean is released from prison after serving 19 years on the chain gang for stealing bread for his little nephew.  He becomes embittered as he tries to continue with his life, but is shunned, distrusted and mistreated.  Finally a Bishop takes him into his home, feeds and clothes him.  In turn, Valjean steals from the Bishop and runs away.  But he is soon caught and faces prison for the rest of his life.  The Bishop again shows him mercy by telling the police that the stolen loot were gifts and by the way, gives him two more silver candlesticks that he had forgotten to take with him.  The stunned look by Valjean by the goodness and mercy given by this man makes him turn his life around to live a good life.  Total tearjerker! 

Eight years later and Valjean has remained hidden from the law and is now a wealthy mayor of a town.  He takes pity on one of the unfortunate women of the town who has died leaving behind a daughter, Cosette.  He adopts Cosette as his own daughter and moves to Paris because he is still running away from the law, in particular a policeman, Javert. 

Life progresses in Javert's life and 9 years later, Cosette is a young woman who falls in love with Marius, a young student who takes part in a revolution.  Now, I’ve always thought Les Mis was about the French Revolution, but it is about the June Revolution, which was 50 years later, lasting about 2 days.   

Valjean knows Marius is in serious trouble and he wants Cosette to be happy.  He sings a song, which is a prayer to God to protect Marius.  The song, “Bring Him Home” is such a loving, heartfelt, touching song.  “He’s like the son I might have known, If God had granted me a son”.   I’m thinking of Damian as I remember the lyrics and I pray to God that He brings Damian home safe and sound as he returns from Iraq next week.

Valjean joins the fighting at the barricade manned by Marius and the other students of the revolution.   When Marius is seriously wounded and all the other students are killed, Valjean saves Marius by escaping into the Paris sewers.  Javert catches Valjean, but lets him go so that Valjean can take Marius to the hospital.  Faced with the conflict of the mercy and goodness of Valjean and his own commitment to justice, Javert commits suicide.  Marius marries Cosette, who in turns learns that Valjean is not her real father.  The couple goes to Valjean just before he dies to let him know how much they owe him and love him.

Now, I am trying to keep this review condensed, but I have to mention the innovative way they portrayed Javert’s suicide scene.  Instead of just showing him jumping off a bridge (mattress below), they had Javert held up on wires and the backdrop switched to the dark river waters of the Seine as he revolves towards the darkness.  Then there was the tearjerker ending as Valjean dies, he sees visions of characters who have perished previously throughout the play as they welcome him to his next journey. 

To me, this was a very compelling performance and I enjoyed it immensely.  This is a top notch show that was not only entertaining, but it was a lesson in history.  Now I know why the musical has been such a classic success over the many years. 

When I asked Max how he liked it he said, “Yeah, I liked it.”  Now think about it.  There is an enthusiastic, “Yeah!  I liked it!” versus a “Yeah, I liked it” accompanied with a shrug.  So I pursued it and he said, “It wasn’t La Boheme.  So we have a mixed review on this one.