soo i finally got to watch the full staging of les mis for the very first time🥹 and of course i have thoughts — a very very will pennington grantaire focused list of notes
i went the matinee after royal variety, so lots of understudies were on (jordan as the bishop, noah as marius, ella as cosette, danielle as fantine)
les mis west end 20 nov matinee
ian mcintosh as valjean: a decent valjean that gets the job done imo! has a very pretty sounding bring him home which my ability to remember thinking this must count for something as some time after drink with me my brain short circuited and deleted everything that came before
sam oladeinde as javert: another decent casting that didn’t particularly stand out to me! i think it’s interesting how he’s a little more pensive and reserved, but i do wish he gets a little more batshit at derailment
^^ both of them have such weird pacing. i do think it might have been the conductor’s fault? can’t imagine that they both just randomly have the same issue… but it’s like they forget to break at the rests in the music and the lines thus crash into each other. couple of missed words here and there as a result too!!
danielle rose as fantine: a very beautiful fantine! she has such an put together air about her that i love, and her voice is absolutely beautiful! i think she could stand to let herself be a bit more wrecked and desperate as the story progresses so that it’s more believable that what happens happens against her will
it doesn’t help that they’ve given the “come on, captain” line to a different prostitute. that line is the first time fantine decides to sell herself so i don’t know why they would make this change? a really missed opportunity as well because danielle could have made use of the line to show that unwillingness!!!
excellent thenardiers, funny when they need to be and menacing when they need to be.
my favourite will plays the blind man that gets conned in moth and i of course was excited haha
noah thallon as marius: guys i was expecting to see thiago’s amazing marius so the cards were STACKED against poor noah. HOWEVER he was such a lovely marius! very suave and awkwardly charming, and he has a lovely lovely voice. his chemistry with cosette was adorable as well!
ella may carter as cosette: ella. may. carter. you guys. ella needs to be promoted asap because she is probably as of now my favourite cosette! she has the sweetest aura, and such a pretty voice. even though it sometimes goes sharp, i’ll say it is of all our recent cosettes the best by far! she sounds like a cross between snow white and cinderella guyssss
best part about ella is she really tries to show the nuances of cosette’s scenes 🥹 like actually reacting with worry which she then obviously swallows to try and give hope to marius post-barricades, and grief and concern when she finds valjean dying at the end, but also the worried anger when he tells her they are once again uprooting their lives
obsessed with the trio during in my life — ep and marius run toward the gate when cos and valjean are still arguing, and marius the dumbo of course presses his face against the gate to look at cosette before being sharply pushed behind the pillar by eponine haha
amena’s eponine i like a little more than i thought i would initially. i just can’t help but wish she was a little fiercer? to me eponine refuses to be a victim of her circumstances and pushes back but amena just has a very soft demeanour… lovely lovely energy that makes me think she’d be better at playing cosette ngl
joe’s enjolras: wasn’t a big fan on tour and still wasn’t a big fan here :( wish he would interact with the amis and people™️ more and be a little more lighthearted when the situation allows it. his enjolras unfortunately reads as a little above everyone…
since my mind decided to blank out i didn’t cry at all until the epilogue where i dunno all the emotions came rushing back and i sobbed like a baby! i guess partly bc the cosette emotions were so well done, you really feel for her in the moment. ian, danielle and amena also sing beautifully and you feel so happy for valjean to be finding peace. the perfect blend of bittersweet basically!!
i did like the set more than i thought i would, they reuse pieces and tracks pretty cleverly? it all looks very nice. the tracks however just make me think how easy it could be to not have the stupid wheelbarrow. and it did totally look as stupid as i thought it would in real life 😔
okok now that’s all out of the way, i can gush about william pennington as grantaire. my gods what a grantaire!!!!
he’s just such a fun grantaire!! interacts with the other amis so much, just randomly in the background, which is so so important for his reasons for getting angry and upset later when death starts becoming a closer and closer reality!
the amis snatch his bottle from him during red and black and he runs around trying to get it back, he shouted “hey i paid good money for that bottle!” haha
initial reaction to lamarque’s death felt very much like an fml, is this actually happening? with his arms outstretched and as if trying to get enj’s attention. enjolras is, however too wrapped up in the idea brewing in his head to pay him any mind so R goes to find gav instead.
super interestingly: when he sees all the amis rallying, he actually becomes the most excited one on the surface! think jumping around and helping to rally people — we love an R who doesn’t believe in the cause but wants to support his friends in whatever they do regardless. gosh just contrast this with the R that actively breaks morale in drink with me
grantaire pats marius on the shoulders in dyhtps. this is correct grantairius behaviour
javert’s reveal: instead of the usual R going up to first protect then hype up gav, he hangs back watching with a proud dad smile, then when gav points the middle finger at javert, R runs over sheepishly to collect him and says the “bravo little gavroche” line haha a very cute version of that interaction!!!
all the amis leave the stage before eponine’s death, and the way that they trickle in one by one slowly as she dies is imo so powerful. the shock and grief that comes with having to confront that they might all actually die here really really sticks with you
gavroche runs out first of course, and R is second only because he’s running after gavroche. grantaire sees gav’s reaction and immediately tucks gav into his side
enj is last to arrive, at which point will immediately starts staring at him, in both a little bit of anger and a little bit of fear
i feel like, will played R a lot more angry and low energy in act two post alfor than usual. at valjean’s arrival R is usually jumping around on the bench but this show he just slowly walks around where javert is tied up, and he growls/spits his lines
he of course hides when the shooting starts, but even that felt more scared/less comical than usual!
weirdly enough for the “and so the battle was won” line, they played it as R being relieved and enj chiding him for speaking too soon? kinda a weird choice haha
drink with me: will goes to hold marius’ hand and pat his shoulder before his solo 🥹
this dwm feels more of like R was genuinely trying to give a nice toast but gets tied up in his fears midway through, his voice starts breaking and he pushes an ami away before enj comes over. he has no reaction to enjolras putting a hand on his shoulder, as if he can’t hold back the words
he steps away after and turns around and puts his hands up like a “am i wrong?” kind of way
and then enj tries to reach for him again, a little more gently this time. and will catches his hand and pushes it away before ducking away. then they just stand there and stare at eo before both turn away and R stumbles to the corner and presses his face into the wall. until gav comes over and gives him a hug, and then they both just kinda crumple to the floor…
gav’s death: he. looked. so. wrecked. i mean, the devastation on his face 😭 it really looked like he was already dead inside. and ofc before gav dies when the first shot rings out, two amis are there comforting R. and when gav’s dead body falls, enj catches him and R slowly reaches up for it like he’s in disbelief.
he stays arranging gav’s body until marius gets hurt at which point both R and enj run over to check on marius.
they look at each other and then enj gives him a hug (i still find this decision very bizarre bc nothing really happens to work up to this moment before this but anyway) R practically falls into his enjolras’ arms — i mean, when the man you love offers a hug, you just take it i guess. no matter how bizarre
enjolras was the first ami to die???
but the most important thing is: GRANTAIRE FREAKING DIED IN THE ICONIC ENJOLRAS DEATH POSE!!!! AS IN HE HUNG UPSIDE DOWN WITH SAME ARM AND LEG POSITION ETC I SWEAR!!!! THEY ARE JOINED IN DEATH EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!
