The second and third year students from the Music Theatre – Performance Program at St. Lawrence College (Brockville) put on a fantastic performance of Les Miserables at the Brockville Arts Centre over the weekend. I caught the Sunday matinee and was very impressed with the show. Previously, I had seen Les Miserables in Toronto (a few months ago) and the recent movie (a few years ago). Maybe because I was expecting less, I was blown away by the talent.
One thing to keep in mind is that I have seen this same group of students performing several times before in various productions. With Les Miserables, there was an obvious improvement all around. The singing voices and acting were much more refined than in the past and the stars of the show were well cast to play their respective parts.
I’m not an expert, but I’ve always thought that Les Miserables would be a challenging production, but the students made it look like it was a breeze with their obvious exuberance at putting on a great show. There was no sign of fatigue or faltering even after several previous days of performances; the show was fresh and well-performed throughout.
Comparing to a big budget performance like the one I saw in Toronto or the movie would not be completely fair, and there were certainly huge differences in the sets and effects, but this was compensated by the sheer talent of the St. Lawrence College students. I could not imagine a better Javert, Cosette, Eponine or Valjean. In fact, the performances in Brockville were at par or better than those I saw in Toronto (Valjean was definitely better in Brockville).
The costumes and makeup deserve a special note since they were so well done. It is not easy to make a 20 something year old (on the lighter side of their 20’s at that) appear old, but they did manage it with several characters who were supposed to be old. The curmudgeons looked like curmudgeons, the old ladies looked like old ladies and the aging process was evident throughout the production.
In a nutshell, it was a fantastic production, and my only regret is seeing the last show and no others. It would have been nice to see the alternate cast as the other stars, I’m told, were equally fantastic. There are certainly a number of students in that program that have bright futures in the industry, and I look forward to seeing them on Broadway, or Stratford, or Mirvish, or wherever.