Do you hear the people sing?

Yesterday I went to see Les Miz, my sixth (or is it seventh?) time. However, be it first or seventh time, hearing the opening strains still brought me chills, as the curtain rose on Jean Valjean and the chain gang in 1815 France. And first or seventh, the songs still have the power to stir me to the soul, and the wedding scene still makes me sad because it means the story is almost over.

The last time I saw Les Miz was on Broadway when I went with my sis on a cold weekend in February. This time it was performed on an outdoor ampitheater, and I was surprised to see that many of the cast came from the Broadway production. The only two things I had a beef about with this production were, one, the stage was on the smaller side so the barricades looked a little puny, and, more importantly, there was no turntable on which the barricades rested. The turntable is a major component of Les Miz. It lost something without it. And since it was an outdoor matinee, the sunlight competed with the stage lights so we didn't get the full, dramatic effect.

But all in all, still a great performance! And still my all-time favorite musical ever.

Some pictures of the ampitheater - on a perfect, and perfectly hot, late summer afternoon.




It was a wonderful way to end the summer...