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Once again, the three classic production photos of Enjolras comforting a crying Marius after Éponine's death.
Because every now and then, they need to be shared.
*John Herrera and Hugh Panaro (US 1st National Tour, 1987)
*Greg Blanchard and Reece Holland (US 2nd National Tour, 1988)
*Jason McCann and Niklas Andersson (London, 2000)
Boulders by Niklas Andersson
Asturias, Spain
A rare photo of Joanna Ampil as Éponine and Nikas Andersson as Marius performing "A Little Fall of Rain," from 2000.
Joanna Ampil herself posted it on Facebook yesterday, with the following comments:
This heartbreakingly beautiful song and scene were the very reasons I dreamed of being part of this show. In its 15th year, that dream came true when I played Eponine at the Palace Theatre in the West End. This song will always hold a special place in my heart. Pictured with my dearest friend, Niklas Andersson, who played Marius.
Happy 40th anniversary, Les Misérables.
“Empty Chairs at Empty Tables,” London, 2000. Niklas Andersson as Marius.
A fine rendition. A bright, warm, handsome voice, just the right balance between the more manly sound of ‘80s/early ‘90s Marii and the light, boyish sound of most recent ones, and after an understated start, he fills the song with vivid raw anguish. His English is excellent for a non-native speaker too – if I didn’t know he was Swedish, I would genuinely think he was British.
“In My Life” and “A Heart Full of Love,’ London, 2000. Zoë Curlett as Cosette, Simon Bowman as Jean Valjean, Niklas Andersson as Marius, Joanna Ampil as Éponine.
For Cosette Appreciation Week.
Zoë is a lovely Cosette. Her light, crystalline soprano voice is beautiful, ladylike, and effortlessly scales the high notes. She must have been an excellent Christine in Phantom. She offers an endearing characterization too: warm, gentle, dreamy, earnest, quietly dignified, and yet with moments that reveal the excited, passionate teenage girl within her. I love the little humanizing detail of her playing with a curl of her hair just before Marius’s arrival surprises her, the way she presses her hands to her mouth in shy, barely-restrained ecstasy after telling him her name, and her gentle stroke of his hair after “This is a chain we’ll never break.”
Simon’s Valjean makes a fine impression too, showing just the right concern and tenderness toward his daughter (the nose boop is always adorable) and thankfully not being too stern in dismissing her pleas, delivering “Truth is given by God to us all in our time” as a reassurance, not a shutdown.
Niklas’s Marius strikes the perfect balance between dignified young gentleman and exuberant, ecstatic boy in love, and his interactions with both Éponine and Cosette are so sweet. It might not be in character for Hugo’s Marius to hug Éponine, but it is touching – I can only imagine Éponine’s bittersweet feelings in that moment. And then he does some classic adorable Pontmercying when he throws his arms wide on “A heart full of light...” and then runs so exuberantly to kneel in front of Cosette.
By the way, Cosette’s repeating the same gesture to beckon first Valjean, then Marius toward her, and first Valjean, then Marius kneeling before her in the same spot, is a poignant parallel. It seems to highlight that within three minutes, Marius has replaced Valjean at the center of Cosette’s life.
Joanna’s Éponine is touching in her understated pain and yearning, and her straightening Marius’s hair before he goes to meet Cosette is a sweet detail.
An excellent performance by all.
“A Little Fall of Rain,” London, 2000. Joanna Ampil as Éponine, Niklas Andersson as Marius.
I feel like I’ve been waiting to see this for a long time. This 2000 London cast was the current one when I first discovered the musical. The reviews I read of them played an important role in luring me into the world of Les Mis. And I remember that Joanna Ampil’s Éponine, Niklas Andersson’s Marius, and their strong chemistry with each other were often singled out for the most praise.
I think I can see what those reviews were talking about. I wouldn’t call it my personal definitive rendition, but it is beautiful.
The way Niklas rushes to Joanna, grabs hold of her and hurries her out of the line of gunfire shows an urgent caring few other Marii show. The way she collapses in his arms as they both grasp each other tightly is almost pas de deux-like: a painful, bloody pas de deux. The reveal of her wound is appropriately horrific, but then, when she sings “Don’t you fret...” time seems to stop (the slow tempo plays a role in this), and apart from her one cry of pain toward the end, the subsequent song is all exquisite tenderness. Joanna’s beatific smile, the way she strokes Marius’s cheek and leans into his chest, the way he caresses her and strokes her hair, and the last gentle kiss she gives him, dying with her lips pressed to his, are all achingly beautiful. If Celia Keenan-Bolger and Adam Jacobs’ rendition is the benchmark performance of a raw and painfully realistic (yet still tender) death scene, then this is the benchmark of a sweet, serene rendition that emphasizes Éponine’s happiness. I won’t judge either of these approaches as better than the other; they’re both valid.
The one arguable problem, I think, is the sense of romance coming from Niklas’s Marius. The way he presses his face to her neck and cheek doesn’t say “platonic friendship” in the least. To his credit, I remember reading that a fan asked him why he played it that way, and he said he was just giving Éponine “a little lie” so she would die happy. But I’m sure plenty of audience members went away shipping them and/or thinking Marius realized too late that he loved Éponine and only settled for Cosette in the end. At least we know that wasn’t Niklas’s intention.
It’s too bad the clip ends before “She is the first to fall...” because I would have liked to see Niklas weeping into Enjolras’s shoulder, as shown in one of the most touching production photos ever.
“Look Down” and “The Robbery,” London, 2000. Jason McCann as Enjolras, Nilkas Andersson as Marius, Barry James as Thénardier, Mandy Holliday as Mme. Thénardier, Joanna Ampil as Éponine, Simon Bowman as Jean Valjean, Zoë Curlett as Cosette, Paul F. Monoghan as Javert, unknown Gavroche.
Since the upper part of the stage is blocked from view, we can’t see Enjolras or Marius during their lines from the bridge in “Look Down.” Still, as a whole, the scene comes across just fine.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen another “Look Down” where the beggars and paupers treated each other so brutally. Not only do the old beggar woman and young prostitute have their fight, but a gang of urchins harass the old woman and try to steal her belongings the whole while, and then the pimp slaps the prostitute to the ground even though she didn’t start the conflict. And then we have Gavroche getting into a little fight with a beggar in the crowd during Marius and Enjolras’s lines, as well as two men shoving each other at the very beginning of the scene. It’s a disturbing showcase of how poverty can make people act like animals.
Gavroche is very good, both in voice and in attitude.
I remember that the fan reviews of this cast (which I read when I was barely older than Gavroche) often used to make fun of Jason McCann’s vibrato. It is heavy and a little throaty, but not really as bad as I was led to believe. He still has a good, solid voice for the role of Enjolras.
This staging adds a unique detail to the Éponine/Montparnasse interaction by having him give her a rose, only for her to toss it back after she elbows him in the ribs. Then we have him grabbing her again and trying to kiss her neck at the beginning of “The Robbery.” Minor details, but they could definitely spark some Montponine shipping! It’s also interesting on the final “Look Down” chorus, Thénardier yanks Éponine into his lap, to her evident discomfort – I’ve never seen that done before. I wonder, is he just playing the role of caring father to earn sympathy from the people they’re “begging” to, or does this blocking hint at father/daughter incest? The latter would make Thénardier an even darker figure than he is in the novel, let alone in most musical productions!
Joanna’s Éponine makes a good first impression, privately straightening her hair and clothes when she sees Marius, but promptly hiding her girlish insecurity and playing the brash, teasing street rat in front of him. Niklas’s Marius comes off well too, friendly and (when trying to interfere with the robbery) a bit hot-blooded, yet still dignified. Kudus to the way he stands fixated on Cosette after bumping into her, never taking his eyes off her even as she walks away, and then of course protecting her from Montparnasse while the rest of the gang attacks Valjean. (I love that moment in the Nunn/Caird staging!)
Not even Cosette is fully spared from this performance’s rough edge – I’ve never seen a performance onstage where Marius accidentally knocked her flat onto the ground!
Speaking of Zoë’s Cosette, she recognizes Mme. Thénardier! She draws back and hides behind Valjean before Thénardier says “Wait a bit...”! It’s nice to see a performance that doesn’t totally disconnect grown-up Cosette from her childhood. On a shallower note, I love her beautiful long curls too. London Cosette wigs in the early 2000s were so much prettier than US Cosette wigs at the time.
Barry’s Thénardier is excellent, as always, with the perfect balance between humor and slime. I like that he doesn’t cringe nervously away from Javert after “It was me what told you so,” the way most Thénardiers do, but goes on standing and subtly trying to bait Javert into making a deal with him, until his wife finally decides they should leave. Their repeated sycophantic bows and curtsies to Javert as they go are funny too.
Paul’s Javert is nicely sharp and stern, as in the other scenes of his I’ve shared. Very different from his TAC performance as the Bishop.
Overall, this is a scene well done!
“Dawn of Anguish,” “Second Attack/Death of Gavroche,” and “Final Battle,” London 2000. Jason McCann as Enjolras, Simon Bowman as Jean Valjean, Niklas Andersson as Marius, Paul Monaghan as Javert, unknown Gavroche.
Unfortunately the top of the barricade is blocked from view and in some parts the bottom is cut off too. But the power of the scene still comes across.
I hope someday I see a live performance with the “Drink With Me” reprise. It adds so much more emotional impact to the departure of the women and to the Amis’ resolve to die together than we have in most recent productions, where the women are simply rushed offstage and we go straight into the battle.
