i love that the past years of beggars at the feast line changes have created a narrative starting with 'thenardier is homophobic' to 'thenardier has given it some thought, realised some things about himself and is now bicurious' to the current 'thenardier has finally given gay sex a go'. and the thing is that literally nobody asked for this to happen
speaking of things that literally nobody asked for... i do think the best way to experience this journey is to hear it for yourself. so, presenting, the evolution of bisexual icon thenardier:
1. the classic
as a reminder, here is the line as it originally stood. this is from the live recording of the all-star staged concert, where it was still in place:
transcript: here comes a prince / there goes a jew / this one's a queer / but what can you do?
2. the quiche
enter the staged concert of 2021. there had clearly been a behind-the-scenes conversation that went along the lines of 'this line is problematic, we must update it for a modern audience'. and this was the baffling result:
transcript: here comes a prince / he's nouveau riche / this one looks queer / i bet he likes quiche
3. the bicuriosity
quiche made it over to the west end revival and stuck around for a couple of years, but by mid 2023, thenardier had done some personal reflection:
transcript: here comes a prince / there goes a jew / this one looks queer / i might try that too
4. the bicuriosity: part 2
by early 2024, thenardier is actively seeking new experiences:
transcript: here comes a prince / there goes a lord / i'll keep him in mind / in case i get bored
5. diversity win!
which leads us to the current line in which we have a thenardier who is out and proud
transcript: here comes a prince / mais entre nous / this one's a queer / and i've tried that too
anyway, i can't wait to see where this story takes us next! i'm holding out hope for turnchetta finally going canon
