Bradley Jaden Javert thought - 40th at the Sondheim;
( I wrote all this after being awake for 23 hours - so pardon my insane ramblings but I have to share this somewhere )
He absolutely has perfected the stern statuesque nature of act one Javert. Not mean, not angry just oozing of moral superiority.
And you can so clearly see this in the interaction with Fantine & Monsieur le maireeeee. When JVJ is on the floor with fantine, and fantine is getting aggressive, the police officers around Javert move to go intervene and Javert stops them and just smirks - he’s so convinced that he is right and fantine will attack the maire and need help and instead of actually doing something he just waits with a ‘I told you so’ smirk.
When valjean saves Fauchelevant, Javert 100% goes over to jvj like ‘bro that’s awesome let’s be friends,’ but then as soon as their eyes meet he has a moment where doubt sets in, but then the whole ‘I found jvj and he’s awaiting trial and I’m so sure of myself ‘ is very much giving : see I’m cool and strong too.
Ok when valjean comes clean at the end of who am I , bradvert looks fucking terrified. Like you can see the anguish not being able to understand how someone bad could come clean.
The confrontation. The fucking confrontation. 100% wolfcop. That’s it, that’s the thought.
The line ‘ where’s the gentleman gone and why the hell did he run’ he looks like such a disappointed puppy cop.
The gradual change in posture is so good, from ‘one day more’ with the barricade costume but the standard Javert wig, still as stiff as a statue
Then trying to blend in with barricade to fucking feral posture stumbling everywhere at the end.
He fucking laughs when éponine dies, wtf dude.
When he gets caught at the barricade, he sings so close to enj that he spits directly into his mouth.
The utter confusion when he sees jvj at the barricade , followed by a very ‘wtf you’re kidding me right ‘ look and little laugh 10/10 no notes.
Followed immediately by, and the only way I can describe this is by paraphrasing Hugo ‘comme un loup qui retrouve sa proie et comme un chien qui retrouve son maître’ HE 200% has a look that incapsulates that sentiment EXACTLY.
He looks wayyyyy too happy when he thinks jvj is going to kill him.
And also the fast changing of expressions when jvj lets him go, perfectly played, he goes from scared to angry to confused and back to scared. He seems to be desperately searching for something to make sense but nothing does. Ends the interaction looking like he’s about to burst into tears. Amazing.
The look of utter disbelief when he lets valjean go. His eyes dart around everywhere like if he’s searching for someone to tell him he did what needed to be done. He needs someone to convince him, like he can’t accept that he was the one who let him go. This was one of the highlights of the performance I think.
Javerts soliloquy is every bit as feral as it should be. Everytime you see him slip into being genuinely afraid of what is happening to his moral compass he immediately responds with anger. He goes back and forth with these emotions. Spectacular.
