Last night, I saw what was possibly the best show I’ve ever seen in my life. The Virginia Samford Theatre hosted a production of Les Miserables presented by the Shades Valley Theatre Academy. For those who don’t know, Shades Valley is a local high school. However, this school edition of the hit musical wasn’t solely Shades Valley High students but consisted of students from all over the state. I mean, these kids were top-notch. I couldn’t believe they were only high schoolers. So, here comes my review!

Plot. There’s not much to say here — it’s your traditional Les Miserables plot. Still a great show, though. My father, my step-mother and I got into a discussion at dinner before the show. Now, I’d never actually seen Les Miserables before last night, so I was looking forward to it. I’d only heard the music up until this point. My father said “I don’t really care about the plot and the story, I care about the music.” My step-mother was aghast, “but, honey! The story’s the best part!” I decided to reserve judgment. Incidentally, my stepmother cried half the time during the show, she was so moved, and my father just tapped his foot to the beat.

Music. After having that conversation and watching the entire show, I decided that both of them were correct. It all comes down to whether you consider Les Miserables to be a musical or an opera. In my mind, an opera is all about the music — it’s basically a musical score that just happens to have a plot. A musical, on the other hand, is a play that happens to have music. It all depends on whether you like the music or the plot better, I think. I loved both aspects. The kids’ voices were incredible. The kid who played Enjolras had the best voice, by far, but the others were incredibly strong as well. The guy who played Jean Valjean did a lot of sing-speaking, but I’m not sure if that was written into the score or if that was a function of his voice capabilities. I’m inclined to believe the former, since he got standing O’s for a couple of his solo songs.

Choreography. The choreography was phenomenal. There wasn’t anything terribly difficult, but I was kept entertained throughout. The only lulls were when the soloists came forward to sing songs. The scrims would drop and it would be the actor downstage in a special singing alone, with very little movement. I thought that was rather boring. As I listened, I pictured them doing other things besides standing still and belting out the music. Other than that, there wasn’t a dull moment. The Threnadier’s were amazing, with some pretty complicated movements, and the students and revolutionaries had some pretty amazing stuff, too.

I was most impressed with the kids in the play. I mentioned that they were high schoolers, but that wasn’t entirely accurate. The show consisted primarily of upperclassmen, but there were a handful of middle-school and elementary-school children in the show as well. Little Eponine sang an adorably cute solo, and Little Cosette was cute as a button.

Another thing that impressed me was how each of the Ensemble members had a prominent position in the show. They each had solo parts, they each took centerstage at some point, and yet when their time was done, they seamlessly blended into the background chorus. Just great choreography and direction in this show.

Set. I’m going to admit that I spent a good part of the show trying to figure out how much the set cost. The set was incredibly done, with detail far beyond what I’ve seen in the few theatres that I’ve been in. They flew in a bridge and whole set pieces from the fly space. Honestly, I was shocked when kids walked across this bridge suspended in air, but apparently the techs knew what they were doing — nobody fell. The set was designed in separate modules that, when pulled together in different configurations, completely changed the way the set looked. I’ve never been backstage of the VST, but I was constantly shocked at how much set there was. Each scene was a completely new experience. I took my camera along, hoping to get pictures after the show, but they dropped the main drape and denied my request to take pictures. Oh well.

The only problem I had was that I could see into the wings the entire time. I kept wondering when the legs would fly in to conceal the wings, but it never happened. I could see actors backstage waiting for their entrances, whispering to each other, etc. I tried to ignore them, but when they’re wearing these fancy costumes, it’s hard to ignore.

Costumes. I was very, very impressed by the costumes as far as quality is concerned. However, looking at production photos from other performances in other theatres, I’ve realized that they didn’t do anything new with the costumes. They essentially took the Broadway version and copied their costumes. I was very impressed with them, though. Nothing looked fake or cheap.

Acting. These kids were phenomenal. They never broke character that I could tell, and they were very very convincing, especially in the parts where I’ve always found it hardest to stay in character. You know those parts, the ones where you’re in the background and supposed to be having a conversation with someone else while the leads are downstage singing solos. I’ve always found it difficult to make it realistic, and every show I’ve ever seen where that kind of stuff happens has been a disappointment. Not this time. This Les Miz cast completely blew me away. Everything was perfectly cast, and everyone fit into their roles like a glove. I honestly can’t believe these were all high schoolers.

Overall. I’ve always said that I can’t get into a soundtrack until I’ve seen a performance of a show. I’d listened to the Les Miserables soundtrack a handful of times, and I never could get into it. I put it on my iPod on the way home, and I’ve been listening to it non-stop. The story just came alive in front of my eyes, and now when I hear the songs, I can see vividly what happens.

I’ve seen four productions on Broadway, and I have to say that this production was right up there with them. I suspect part of the reason I’m so impressed is that I went in there expecting a high school production, and I got a Broadway production. Next time Shades Valley Theatre Academy puts on a production, I’m there. Great job, guys.

Tags: broadway, Les Miserables, musical, Shades Valley Theatre Academy, Virginia Samford Theatre

This entry was posted on Monday, February 4th, 2008 at 12:41 am and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.