LES MIZ B'way '87

From "Les Miserables," original 1987 Broadway cast including Colm Wilkinson, Terrence Mann and Randy Graff. The original Trevor Nunn-John Caird-John Napier staging disappears from London this week. See also • LES MIZ Original B'way... ; • LES MIZ 10th Anniversa... ; • LES MIZ '96 B'way RICK... ; • LEZ MIZ 1993 Tour-Alic...

[@reconpancake5611]

I wish I was born earlier. I’d give anything to see a full performance of the original cast on Broadway

[@BethPaige]

Just found this vid. Love Colm as Jean, and remembered Terrence was the original Javert. And here's a vid of the Confrontation! THANKYOU

[@christopherbush9027]

I was so sad to hear the original staging will be gone for good. This was the first professional musical I saw and everything about it has stayed with me ever since. Those were the days when non-theater people raced to the theater to see Les Miz and Phantom because they were so talked about by everyone. Thanks for posting this Spiderwoman!

[@cloudbusting.heights]

Wait, what?! What are they changing?? I haven't even gotten to see it yet!

[@bookemdano7567]

It’s Cameron Macintosh that decided to change the staging from the original to the “25th anniversary staging. Apparently this newer staging is cheaper to run and you’ve paid the original designer for the last 34 years. Why not pay someone else less to design an inferior staging and save a couple bucks?

[@bookemdano7567]

@MiserablesMoments... so true!

[@beek.4860]

I was lucky enough to see the original staging only a week before it changed in London. It was strange to think that something that had been so iconic since before I was even born would be disappearing for good. I'm going to see the US national tour in a couple of weeks, but there's something a touch sad about the fact it won't be quite the same.

[@beek.4860]

@chuckbuskee That sounds really interesting! I actually love the idea of projecting the original illustrations.

[@chocolatesouljah]

This show was colossal. It just sort of swept in and so many have been moved by it. Randy Graff Will always be my favorite Fantine, Terrence Mann my Javert and of course Colm Wilkinson. In more recent years a lot of people don’t seem to care for Frances Ruffelle but I just love her! So much pathos and her voice. This clip was so wonderful and magical. It’s funny because at the time the show was considered so epic in at staging but by today’s standards I think it’s really quite simple. Seems like every show has a turntable nowadays

[@Rex-gu1bu]

Modern audiences are used to dumbed down pop musicals, their taste is suspect.

[@costerluver]

Based on this video, I think Colm Wilkinson is the only Valjean I've seen who really makes you believe that he used to be a hardened and potentially dangerous criminal. When Javert says "Men like you can never change" it's like a switch is flipped in Valjean's mind and he thinks "Fine. If you see me as the criminal I used to be, then that's how I'm going to be." His back then straightens up and he becomes taller and more domineering than he was just a second before, and even though he is the one backing away from Javert, his body language makes it look like he's the one who's really in charge here. When he says "I am warning you Javert, there is nothing I won't dare", even though the film is grainy, you can somehow still see on his face that he really means it, and he smashes that chair with a violence and rage that I have never seen any other actor have before. It's really quite remarkable

[@allanfhardman]

As a member of the 1992 Manchester cast it is the end of an unforgettable era. Will be missed 😥

[@caleb1413]

AllanFrederick do you have the audios of your as Javert which are on your channel?

[@FirstEarlOfHolland]

Terrence Mann will always be my favorite Javert!

[@smurf902]

Randy's interpretation, much different from the rest. Very tough, yet vulnerable and wasn't afraid to sound a bit more harsh although she does have a beautiful voice. Risk taker. And quite the actress.

[@bookemdano7567]

Patti, Randy and the Fantines of early didn’t play her as a weepy victim. They played her as a good, strong person that bad things happened to who needed to pull up her big girl panties to survive!

[@oliver91ist]

They taped the Broadway original production on its final night in 2003 I just checked the Toft archive so it’s there if anyone is able to view.

[@thomashartwell4335]

They also taped it early in the run with the original cast, if I'm remembering my archive searches correctly.

[@amoebaj]

What is this Toft archive? How can someone access it?

[@jscho8674]

Whoa. What a treasure. I'm thrilled to see this!

[@auroraspiderwoman5886]

Delighted to hear it.

[@AsiaMs]

I saw the original production the day after it opened on Broadway in 1987 and absolutely loved the turntable and revolving barricade. Frances Ruffelle and Colm Wilkinson made everyone cry. Standing ovations and bravas. Michael Maguire was a giant of an Enjolras. The ensemble was amazing. But Terrence Mann and Randy Graff were not quite right. And David Bryant as Marius was just awful. I sat in the 2nd row. He spit a lot and couldn't sing. They should have brought over Michael Ball. Still, the original staging was better than the revised tiny version. I miss the turntable and massive barricade and dead Enjolras hanging on it when it turned after the battle.

[@makeittrue]

I"m jealous of you seeing Judy Kuhn! I saw it a year later. Randy Graff, Leo Bermester, Michael Maguire were still in it. From the clips I've seen of David Bryant, he just yells to drown Judy Kuhn out. It was also my understanding that the producers were very close to firing him; how he was cast in the first place is still a mystery. Judy Kuhn's replacement was a disappointment and also had the tiniest voice I have ever heard amplified on any stage. From what I see here, Randy Graff sounds as off kilter as she does on the recording. However, a year later she was outstanding! I've seen the show in different venues and she stayed as my favorite Fantine. She had none of the reckless train wreck that shows in this clip. I also like that she had a lower range sound that was changed unfortunately afterwards. I didn't see Terrence Mann but his voice lacked the bite that I heard in other Javerts. Very talented guy but maybe just not the best choice for the role. I never wanted to see the new staging.I prefer to stay with the magic of the original concept.

[@NickiraFierce]

Holy crap!! Please tell me you have more!

[@dondouglass8665]

Thank you. A thousand kind ‘thank you’s’. What a treasure.

[@user-gy9th8ei8c]

It's great to be able to see the original staging! Thank you so much for this! I like this cast for the most part, though I have to say, the original London cast still has my heart. Nothing can beat the combined vocal and acting prowess of Colm Wilkinson, Roger Allam, Patti Lupone and Michael Ball all in one stage, I feel.

[@makeittrue]

I saw Randy Graff in March 1988. I kind of had to replay where it was a combination of "Look" & he picks her up at the same time. It sounded like a 'whoop". I would love to see a clip of Judy Kuhn & Frances Ruffelle in "In My Life" & "A Heart Full of Love". One thing that did not like was when the producers started editing out much of Cosette's lyrics to make it shorter. DID I like when Valjean meets Cosette in the woods. The last time I saw the same completed version that opened on 1987 was in Seoul, Korea in 1996.

[@lamisere8337]

@MiserablesMoments One of the cuts that completely boggles my mind due to how UGLY and sloppy it sounds is the bit of music, literally a few seconds that is cut between Grantaire's "Dogs will bark, fleas will bite" and Lesgles' "They will do what is right!" (this line also has some beats removed so that it is mostly speak-sung (more like blurted) rather than sung as originally intended. The result is so ridiculous in that it is so sloppy and obvious. It makes you wonder why they even bother making that bit sound so horrible if it amounts to a savings of literally 3 seconds? But that's minor to what is currently being performed....Les Mis on speed with screaming and shouting and other distractions thrown in to mask it. In the end, it only drains it of ...everything. The only people who like the speed and the cuts are those who don't care enough about it to bother sitting through the complete uncut version.

[@lamisere8337]

@MiserablesMoments I agree! In fact I was just thinking that exact thing the other day; how I would shorten the running time and I also think I'd do a better job than they did. BTW, I discovered your channel a few days ago and it's Les Mis Heaven! I had recently been searching for anything with Susan Gilmour in it with no luck. I searched on your channel and BAM! A video of her singing I Dreamed a Dream. Then one of her doing Come to Me. Your channel is a treat. Lots of stuff I've never heard before and I thought I had heard them all! Thank you for sharing your fabulous collection!

[@marisamitchell8611]

I don't understand why Les Mis isn't having a long run on Broadway like The Phantom of the Opera...

[@chocolatesouljah]

Marisa Mitchell at this point it’s apples and oranges. I like Phantom but I don’t understand why it has run as long as it has period. Although my understanding is that Noni English-speaking tourist who come to New York City for example can follow phantom without really understanding the words. That may attribute to some of it.

[@bookemdano7567]

Chocolate Souljah... They closed Les Mis originally because tickets sale started to dip and they wanted to close the show while it was still on top. In my opinion, they closed it prematurely. Seeing how it came back for its 1st “revival” 3 years later for a limited run of, I think it was suppose to be 6 months and it ran for another 2 years! And then a few years later the second revival showed up with the, in my opinion, inferior staging and talent. And that lasted another 2 years.

[@andkyrmar]

The new staging, I assure you, is a welcome reboot. Well.worth seeing.

[@auroraspiderwoman5886]

Yes, NY got to see it in the most recent Broadway revival, 2014, with Ramin Karimloo.

[@lamisere8337]

As a seriously long time fan of this musical, you can bet everything that I placed a considerable amount of effort to like the new production. I'm actually impressed with just how open minded I became, considering my love for the original production has always been unshakable Still, the last thing I wanted was to not like it. Why would I want to not enjoy it? I decided to let go of my attachment to the original and welcome the new one with open arms. Then I went to see the new version at L.A.'s Ahmanson Theatre in 2011. I nearly left at intermission. Disappointed. Angry. Shocked. Confused. Let-down. Empty. Just some of what I felt. Don't get me wrong, the cast was superb but what I saw left me so cold, I saw it once and once was enough. I've seen the original 30 times and could go for 30 more. The budget feel of the new version, the thinned out and reedy cartoony new orchestrations, the ridiculous shouting overemoting and hammy performances, the unneeded sexual gags, the barely-there lighting that resembled a campfire half the time, the cheap looking costumes (Fantine was wearing what appeared to be a nightgown from the 1980's) that appeared to be laundered in bleach (no stage dirt), the overhyped projections that brought nothing except a cheesy sewer animation and doodlings that mostly seemed disconnected to what was going on, the stage design which was lifted directly from John Napier's original but in a clueless way. For example, the new version featured similar to the original brick, wood, and heavy iron elements in its set design but Napier interconnected those elements strategically so you got a sense of something more than just sets that set a scene's location or distract audiences by being abstract representations of real and believable things. His set was dark and imposing, always seemed to be collapsing in on the action on that revolve with giant wooden beams barely supporting crumbling, brick structures for a crumbling society. Those giant wooden beams themselves being supported by rusty iron plates. It gives the sense of urgency, that at any minute, it can all come crashing down. And being a sculptor at heart, Napier spent a considerable amount of time and effort to arrange barricade elements and design the surrounding set so that it would frame the action onstage in a meaningful way. One of my favorite scenes is "On My Own," with those big shuttered but warmly glowing windows scattered haphazardly around a small girl wearing an oversized trenchcoat with the lights from those windows shown upon the cobblestone floor, stretched and giving the overall sense of immensity and incredible lonliness at the same time. The barricade wasn't just a bunch of crap thrown together, Napier's barricade had a sense of majesty to it, resembling a bold mountain at times. I could go on and on. The new production borrowed those elements but failed to use them effectively. The new production also featured a layered. brick set like Napier's but without the evocative framing or "personality." No interconnectedness, no sculpture, no sense of anything meaningful other than a bunch of brick ways placed in front of another and literally framed by wooden sticks. The wooden rods seem to be placed there as decoration rather than serve any useful purpose of evoke any semblance of anything. The designer of the new version placed two literal New York City-looking apartment buildings on either side of the stage. Napier's shuttered windows inspired the new productions cheesy use of a wall used to conceal set changes while other scenes are performed. How so? Well, instead of shuttered windows on the walls of the set, those shutters were thrown together to form a giant foldable wall of shutters, much like those closet doors that were the rage in 1980's and would appear on commercials for ClosetWorld. So we went from seamless scene transitions thanks to the effective use of the revolve to ClosetWorld closet door shutters to hide scenes changes. I recently saw a picture of the new set installed at the Sondheim Theatre in London and it made me giggle and scratch my head at the same time because there appeared to be a considerable amount of Cats-style junkyard junk randomly shoved and compacted to form a sort of proscenium. Not barricade elements but more like literal trash and scrap furniture. No, not even scraps of junk as used in the set for Rent that form an abstract sculpture that stretches over the stage. Just random, useless junk and trash you'd find at modern day Skid Row. I was slightly offended that the designer thought "junk" when designing the set for a show about poor people. At least it's better than what served as a proscenium in I believe was the Singapore production of the new Les Mis...a bunch of random thin poles of wood that resemble a stack of toppled chopsticks on either side of the prosceium. Definitely inspired by Napier's use of a further set of those heavy wooden beams supporting the crumbling brick structures, slanted and framing the entire set in an aesthetically pleasing manner at the same time. But the new designer (a former assistant to Napier) seemed to not get Napier's artistry, thinking a pile of lumber is a variation of the original without being the original. It's not even a variation. It's just clueless use of elements from the original. Jeebus, another disssssertation! No pun intended. It was not just a shadow of the original, it was a rush job that didn't know what it was doing and stuck elements from the original randomly and ineffectively. And that's just the set! There were far more serious problems with the new version to me. I won't get into it all but one of the most unsettling was the "humanizing" of Javert, which only made him seem like a lost puppy yearning for Valjean's warmth...and love. By the time Javert takes wing and flies through hell's anus at his suicide (thats what it looked like anyway), you wonder why the lovebirds don't just get a room already. Javert was so unimposing throughout by the end, I was like Javert-who? It was just a mess and a sad whimper of a great musical.

[@jonlieberman7797]

The new version is awful and so is the watered down orchestration.

[@Rex-gu1bu]

@@jonlieberman7797 Agreed.

[@bookemdano7567]

@@lamisere8337…. YES, YES, YES and YES!!! To everything you’ve said!! I’ve seen the original staging 35+ times and I saw the “new” cheap staging once and it’s horrendous, sterile and blah! Everything from the over singing, over acting, unnatural movements, bad edits, tiny orchestra, bright clean clothes to laughable choreography. I’m sad for what my favorite musical of all time has become and I’m sad for the people who are going to see this trash and thinking it’s the best thing since sliced bread.

[@ErinLovegood73]

Thank you for this, and all you do. This is a treasure.