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Log inReview: Music Theater's 'Les Miserable' a French classic
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Review: Music Theater's 'Les Miserable' a French classic
by Outspoken on Wed Aug 13, 2008 4:51 am
Review: Music Theater's 'Les Miserable' a French classic
By JULIANA L'HEUREUX
Portland Press Herald
Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables" is a magnificent example of French literature's impact on modern theater and classic film.
This observation is especially evident at the Maine State Music Theater's production of Hugo's ageless story put to music. MSMT created a vibrant production, showing through Aug. 24 at the Pickard Theater on the Bowdoin College campus in Brunswick.
Hugo first published Les Miserables in 1862 in French. It was published in the United States in English only a few months later. The humanitarian story is set in the early 19th century during a time of social upheaval.
Singer and actor Dennis St. Pierre as fugitive Jean Valjean heads the list of talented actors and professional singers who bring Hugo's story to Maine audiences.
Valjean is a just man of extraordinary physical strength whose desperate situation puts him on the wrong side of a somber law enforcement officer named Javert, a force for justice portrayed by Todd Alan Johnson. Javert is driven to pursue Valjean for breaking parole, thereby contrasting the forces for good against the obsessive destructiveness of righteousness.
Valjean's innate honesty stirs him to care for a highly sympathetic young orphan named Cosette (Alicia Fournier). Cosette is the daughter of a dying street woman named Fontine, played by Amy Bodnar.
Valjean struggles to remain valiant despite a notorious past. Eventually, he reluctantly joins the French youth street rebellion of 1832 because he wants to protect the adult Cosette (Caitlin Kelly-Huber) and her beloved Marius (Daniel Bogart) from being harmed in the bloody street conflicts.
All the while, Valjean is relentlessly pursued by Javert.
The two men finally confront one another in a climactic chase through Parisian sewers.
A stunning performance is given by Veronica J. Kuehn as a street waif, Eponine. Kuehn brings the audience to an emotional peak when she gives her life for the student Marius, while delivering a written a message to Cosette.
Hugo's novel "Les Miserables" made its popular movie impact during the early days of film, when it was adapted under several titles, inbcluding "The Bishop's Candlesticks." In 1935, a popular film was produced starring Frederic March and Charles Laughton. In 1978, "Les Miserables" was produced in a made-for-TV movie starring Richard Jordan and Anthony Perkins.
In 1980, a French musical based on the novel was produced. It opened in English on Broadway in New York City in 1987 where it ran until 2003, and performances of the show's musical score continues in concert halls. In London's West End theater district, "Les Miserables" has run for 22 years and remains one of England's most popular shows.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=204342&ac=PHnws
By JULIANA L'HEUREUX
Portland Press Herald
Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables" is a magnificent example of French literature's impact on modern theater and classic film.
This observation is especially evident at the Maine State Music Theater's production of Hugo's ageless story put to music. MSMT created a vibrant production, showing through Aug. 24 at the Pickard Theater on the Bowdoin College campus in Brunswick.
Hugo first published Les Miserables in 1862 in French. It was published in the United States in English only a few months later. The humanitarian story is set in the early 19th century during a time of social upheaval.
Singer and actor Dennis St. Pierre as fugitive Jean Valjean heads the list of talented actors and professional singers who bring Hugo's story to Maine audiences.
Valjean is a just man of extraordinary physical strength whose desperate situation puts him on the wrong side of a somber law enforcement officer named Javert, a force for justice portrayed by Todd Alan Johnson. Javert is driven to pursue Valjean for breaking parole, thereby contrasting the forces for good against the obsessive destructiveness of righteousness.
Valjean's innate honesty stirs him to care for a highly sympathetic young orphan named Cosette (Alicia Fournier). Cosette is the daughter of a dying street woman named Fontine, played by Amy Bodnar.
Valjean struggles to remain valiant despite a notorious past. Eventually, he reluctantly joins the French youth street rebellion of 1832 because he wants to protect the adult Cosette (Caitlin Kelly-Huber) and her beloved Marius (Daniel Bogart) from being harmed in the bloody street conflicts.
All the while, Valjean is relentlessly pursued by Javert.
The two men finally confront one another in a climactic chase through Parisian sewers.
A stunning performance is given by Veronica J. Kuehn as a street waif, Eponine. Kuehn brings the audience to an emotional peak when she gives her life for the student Marius, while delivering a written a message to Cosette.
Hugo's novel "Les Miserables" made its popular movie impact during the early days of film, when it was adapted under several titles, inbcluding "The Bishop's Candlesticks." In 1935, a popular film was produced starring Frederic March and Charles Laughton. In 1978, "Les Miserables" was produced in a made-for-TV movie starring Richard Jordan and Anthony Perkins.
In 1980, a French musical based on the novel was produced. It opened in English on Broadway in New York City in 1987 where it ran until 2003, and performances of the show's musical score continues in concert halls. In London's West End theater district, "Les Miserables" has run for 22 years and remains one of England's most popular shows.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=204342&ac=PHnws
"Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything."
Plato (427-347 BC)
Plato (427-347 BC)
