“Well Scene”/”Waltz of Treachery,” Broadway, 2007. Drew Sarich as Jean Valjean, Chip Zien as Thénardier, Becca Ayers as Mme. Thénardier, unknown Young Cosette (possibly Kaylie Rubinaccio).
I remember seeing this very cast (albeit with the regular Mme. Thénardier, Ann Harada) within the same month that this was filmed.
Drew Sarich does look and sound a bit young for Valjean and his voice is very different from the classic Colm Wilkinson model. (I still remember going across the street to Sardi’s after seeing the show and the bartender laughing when he overhead me say that Drew’s voice was “a little too Jesus Christ Superstar” for the role.) But it’s still a beautiful voice and he does a good job in this scene, as a Valjean who knows he’s being conned but has to play along for Cosette’s sake. I like the way he stealthily whispers “Let us seek out some friendlier sky” to Cosette. And (backtracking a little), speaking of Jesus Christ, he looks quite a bit like the traditional image of Jesus: not unfitting for a character whose name essentially means “Ecce homo.”
Of all the times I know of when a “name” actor has been cast as Thénardier, I think Chip Zien’s casting was one of the more successful. He strikes an excellent balance between funny and slimy: slightly larger than life, but not obnoxious... or rather, obnoxious, but in an in-character way. I like the fact that even though his wife is such an imposing, feisty lady about a foot taller than he is, he’s still clearly “the brains of the outfit,” gesturing to tell her when to cry, when to stop crying, when to stop lamenting about Cosette’s expensive medicine so as not to sound begrudging, etc. It feels very true to the book, more so than other productions (and the 2012 movie) where Thénardier is more of a doofus and his wife becomes the one who wears the pants.
I can’t wait to revisit more scenes from this performance. It was definitely one of the best Les Mis casts I’ve seen live.
