LES MISERABLES

 

Les Miserables. Book and lyrics by Alain Boublil. Composed by Claude Schoenberg. Based on the novel by Victor Hugo.

Directed by Dale Reynolds. Movement Director Belinda Hassall. Musical Director Brigid Cummins. Assistant Director Sarah Powell.  Costume Designer Helen McIntyre. Lighting Designer Zac Harvey (Eclipse). Sound Designer Telia Jansen (Eclipse) Production Mager David Tricks. Conductor Jen Hinton. Repetiteur Sam Row/ Nick Catanzariti. Stage Manager Rachel Jordan. Properties Master Mel McDonald. The Q Theatre. Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre. May 22-June 6 2026. Bookings: www.queanbeyanplayers.com

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins

 

Dave Smith as Jean Valjean

 

When one thinks of musical theatre icons of the twentieth century Boublil and Schoenberg’s masterpiece is at the top of the list. For a largely amateur company like the Queanbeyan Players to take up the challenge to stage Les Miserables takes courage and the best talent in town under the auspices of a first rate musical theatre company that has built an envious reputation for producing top quality productions over recent years. Any doubts that I may have had were dispelled as soon as the lights came up on the convicts slaving away at the oars under the cruel eye of Inspector Javert (Max Gambale). What unfolds over the evening is a new production of Les Miserables of which Queanbeyan Players can be enormously proud. If you have never seen a production of Les Miserables then Queanbeyan Players’ production currently playing at The Q Theatre is not to be missed. If you have seen one or more productions then you will be thrilled, excited and moved by a production carefully and imaginatively directed by Dale Reynolds, authentically costumed in period dress by Helen McIntyre with musical direction by Brigid Cummins and set against an evocative set with lighting adding to the aura and impact by Zac Harvey of Eclipse  .

Based on the novel by Victor Hugo and set against the background of the 1832 Paris Uprising, the story of former convict Jean Valjean (Dave Smith) and his pursuit by the obsessed Inspector Javert is a powerful tale of injustice, tragedy, compassion and redemption. Claude-Michel Schoenberg’s magnificent composition and Alain Boublil’s lyrics embody the full scope of the drama from the suffering of the convicts (Work Song), Fantine’s  soulful longing in Jess Waterhouse’s rendition of I Dreamed a Dream and Cosette’s whimsical ballad Castle on a Cloud to the Ensemble’s stirring songs of revolution Do You Hear The People Sing and Upon These Stones (Building the Barricade). Treachery and avarice slither through every note of  Master of the House ,sung with obsequious relish by  Thenardier (Greg Sollis) and Madame Thenardier (Tina Robinson). Boublil’s book  and Shoenberg’s music conjure a dynamic adaption of Hugo’s novel in which we encounter a nation in which injustice is the oppressor of the innocent, fervour the passion of the rebellious and love and compassion the true values of the human spirit. Queanbeyan Players’ production is faithful to the spirit and the themes of both Victor Hugo’s rebellious novel and Boublil and Schoenberg’s musical version.

 

William Allington as Erjolas

 

Les Miserables is an actor’s musical which requires absolute conviction to character and story. Director Reynolds and movement director Belinda Hassall and musical director Brigid Cummins have assembled a cast of Principals and Ensemble that capture the essence of the characters and the period. It is a challenge for a local company to scale the heights of this titan of musicals. As Jean Valjean and Javert, Smith and Gambale command the character, matching believability with excellent singing. From the very opening number, Gambale’s rich baritone imposes brutal authority on Javert and his breathtaking descent into the void hits a high note of his performance. Smith’s Jean Valjean exudes humanity as he traces the character’s journey. His fine tenor voice lends honesty and feeling to Who Am I and Bring Him Home. There are fine performances from the entire company but the principals deserve special commendation for bringing the characters and the drama so vividly to life through their characterization and their songs. Those I have not already mentioned include Adult Cosette (Sophie Hope-White) and her lover Marius (Alexander Unikowski) with a beautiful duet A Heart Full of Love, Eponine (India Cornwell) with a beautiful heartrending rendition of On My Own, Ricky Best as the cheeky urchin Gavroche (Little People). William Allington gives another stirring performance with Do You Hear The People Sing and Drink With Me. There are also excellent performances from John Whinfield as Grantaire. Chris Bennie as the Bishop of Digne and David Cannel as Bamatabois. Note: The child roles of Young Cosette and Gavroche are alternated with Georgia Ginges, Matilda Hutchinson and Hannah O’Keefe playing Cosette on alternate performances and Ricky Best, Harlan Blazeski and Dude Gambale alternating as Gavroche. 

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Sophie Hope-White as Cosette and Alexander Unikowski as Marius 

 

In a musical so familiar and songs that keep swirling in my head, I wait for the goosebumps, the true gauge of whether I have been really moved and uplifted by a musical. One Day More at the close of Act One andDo You Hear The People Sing at the Epilogue succeeded. You will laugh at Gavroche’s impish child (Ricky Best), cry at Fantine’s death, be roused by the student’s resolve and feel moved by Valjean’s final scene. On opening night there were some technical hitches in finding the balance between the sound mix, the loudness of the orchestra, the clarity of diction in the vocals, but these are quibbles that should be easily ironed out and did nothing to diminish the rapturous reception of an enthusiastic audience that could not resist a well-deserved standing ovation.

Tina Robinson (Madame Thenardier) and Greg Sollis (Thenardier) and Ensemble

Queanbeyan Players’ production of Les Miserables is a visual spectacle that excites the eye, delights the ear and feeds the soul. The staging is wonderfully imaginative and director Reynolds and movement director Hassall has brought the period vividly to life. The use of blue LED lights at the front of the stage to “blind” the audience while the excellent orchestra played and the stagehands moved the large set unseen by the audience is a stroke of ingenuity to avoid the tedium of blackouts. It is an initiative that I would encourage all companies to consider.

I left The Q Theatre with You Can Hear The People Sing in my head and a spring in my step as though I had just visited an old and familiar friend. There is suffering and there is pain, injustice and social deprivation, but there is also redemption and a happy wedding and a final number of hope and salvation and all in this triumphant production that is not to be missed.

Photos - Ben Appleton. Photox