It hasn’t gotten old.
The record 16th return of the national tour of “Les Misérables,” Claude-Michel Schönberg’s and Alain Boublil’s musical adaptation of Victor Hugo’s novel, stirs all the feelings in Minnesota. It teems with inspiring music, beautiful performances and transporting stagecraft.
The production now up at Minneapolis’ Orpheum Theatre vividly summons a 19th-century France caught up in struggles over love, salvation and justice, situations and themes that speak readily to today.
Lo these many years ago, Jean Valjean (Nick Cartell) stole a loaf of bread, was sentenced to an initial five years in prison that got extended to 19. Now out, he has broken parole and reinvented himself as a respectable businessman with a heart of gold.
But his old lawman nemesis, Inspector Javert (Nick Rehberger), holds Valjean to who and what he was — prisoner No. 24601 — not what he has become, and tracks him like a bloodhound, even at the cost of his own life and health.
Throw in some student idealists ready to die for a just social order, lovers with confusing feelings, prostitutes, factory workers and the colorfully craven Thénadiers, and you get a layered, rich story with a high body.
This vivid version of “Les Miz.” is not the same as those that have landed here over the past decade or so, but it boasts the same directing team, Laurence Connor and James Powell, and other similarities. What’s exciting about the show is that they keep it fresh, with a full orchestra led robustly by Will Curry.
True, one might quibble with specific elements of some of the players’ performances. Lindsay Heather Pearce acted “I Dreamed a Dream” more than she sang it, injecting drama in her big opening song even at the expense of lyricism and musicality.
