https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/arts/2025-02-05/les-miserables-is-definitely-not-miserable/

Les Misérables Is Definitely Not Miserable

By Cat McCarrey, February 5, 2025, 1:52pm, All Over Creation

Those who know Les Misérables know Les Misérables. There’s not really a halfway point – it’s either all-in or all-out.

As for me, I was steeped in the magic of the 1980s musical basically from birth. It was the first musical I saw onstage, the first album I played on repeat, and the first concert film I obsessively watched – most notably on repeat one summer on a backyard TV, extension cord strung through the back door. I’m living proof that Les Misérables captures hearts. Composer Claude-Michel Schönberg, with lyricist Herbert Kretzmer (based on French text from Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel), created the perfect musical. Anyone who says differently is highly suspect.

For the sadly uninitiated, the show follows escaped convict Jean Valjean (Nick Cartell) before and during the June Rebellion, a post-French Revolution skirmish in Paris. Valjean adopts a new identity, cares for the dying Fantine (powerhouse Lindsay Heather Pearce), and promises to raise her daughter, all while pursued by the strict police Inspector Javert (Nick Rehberger). The first act sets up Valjean’s background and puts him and Javert in conflict before a time jump into summer 1832, when student revolutionaries, street gangs, and an older Valjean and Javert get sucked into skirmishes.

Even as a true fan, it had been over a decade since I’d seen Les Mis onstage. This touring production – part of Texas Performing Arts’ Broadway in Austin series – offered several impressive updates, mostly notably in a projected backdrop that added to the drama. There was also added depth to relationships, especially between the revolutionaries. The slew of students became actual characters instead of various featured soloists. In particular, the connection between drunkard Grantaire (Kyle Adams) and street urchin Gavroche (Jack Jewkes, alternating on tour with Jackson Parker Gill) served a tenderness I’d never seen before. With that and a few slightly adjusted set pieces – a lack of tables here, less turning radius on the barricade there – each change resulted in a new plot twist. This was particularly true of a revamped “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables,” a weeper of a second act song from survivor Marius (Jake David Smith) made extra poignant.

In fact, everything in the second act was perfectly pitched after a shaky start. The first act felt off sync. Some scenes seemed too dark, the orchestra seemed to gallop along a clip too fast, and the actors who sang interstitials seemed the slightest bit off key. Specifically, Valjean’s narrative bars were delivered with a biting edge that roamed sharp. But everything with Valjean was a bit too sharp. To be frank, it was completely disorienting to see a hot Valjean. No offense to the OG Colm Wilkinson, but it’s a role I’m used to seeing as a benevolent father figure and not as a Daddy. It's easier to imagine a hot Javert than a hot Valjean, because, well, only one of them has handcuffs. Cartell’s Valjean rock star swagger threw me off.

I remained skeptical until he sang “Bring Him Home,” which electrified with its crystalline purity. It’s a notoriously high tenor ode, and Cartell’s clear tones gave me goosebumps. Every big number in the second act did the same, from poor pining Éponine (a powerful performance from Mya Rena Hunter) to Rehberger’s final song as Javert. I walked into this show a bit jaded, thinking my familiarity would protect me from pain. I left the show a blubbering mess.

In depicting Valjean, Javert, and French governmental failings, Les Misérables explores the demands of true morality. Does a good person follow the laws of the land? What are the compromises made in the name of survival? In the lead up to battle, and echoed near the end, revolutionaries sing: “Will you join in our crusade? Who will be strong and stand with me? Somewhere beyond the barricade, is there a world you long to see?” During my night at Bass Concert Hall, I was reminded of the power in the masses. Valjean and crew showed that people can choose good. There is lovely, elusive hope in the air. Just hear the people sing.